Yesterday, I finished teaching my own students all of the lessons in the series, and I am thrilled with their progress! On Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, I will take my 300 students to the adjudicated festival where they will sing two prepared pieces and then head to the sight singing room. I plan to film them in the room so you can hear how they do. We will walk into the room with no idea what the example will be, and I am hoping that all of the hard work pays off in that moment! :)
Regardless of whether they are able to perfectly solve the 2-part Sight Singing example, I know that my students have learned so many incredibly valuable lessons....many of which have little to do with music or sight singing. Here is the list of a few of them:
a) When you falter a little, find a way to get back up....that's what "Recovery-Lesson 26" is all about.
b) Be independent and self-reliant. Once the teacher has taught you some tools, decide which ones work best for you and use them.
c) Compete only with yourself. Part of the philosophy of S-Cubed is to go into your bubble world, practice at YOUR pace and don't worry about the person next to you who has flown through the example 6 times in 15 seconds. This way, you improve at your pace.
Since 2006, I've wanted to write a book about Sight Singing to help middle school teachers, but what I've enjoyed the most about sharing S-Cubed in the way I've shared it is that it is the "anti-book". It is the anti-20th century way to learn to teach something better. The 21st century technology that is available now has given me the opportunity to share philosophical approaches to teaching and learning that I could never have shared in a book, and that might help teachers even more in other areas that have nothing to do with Sight Singing. I've loved opening up my classroom via video. It's been awesome. I wish I'd had the opportunity to see the daily workings of someone else's classroom when I started teaching in 1989! It would have saved me a lot of difficult days!
Only one more to go!
Woot woot!
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