Teaching can be absolutely draining, but there are moments that can also be absolutely magical. I never thought I would ever say this, but one of those magical moments happened for me today in recorder class.
I had been working with the advanced group on a three part piece for what feels like eternity, but it probably has just been the better part of this semester. We are playing the song for vespers this friday night and we had never made it from beginning to end in one piece. Today was our last official class period before the performance so I was nervous, and definitely aware it was more than crunch time.
The first two times we tried to play it all the way through, the same thing always happened; the second part got a beat behind, the third part a beat ahead, and the whole thing crashed spectacularly at the end of the second line. After a little more rehearsal, figuring out where the problem spots where, and mapping out places to regroup, we finally made it all the way through without stopping.
My students were elated! After playing through the entire song twice, Nick made a comment about how everyone who knocks recorders is wrong, and how great the class had just sounded. By the end of class, I drastically decreased the amount of clapping I had to do and radient pride could be found on every one of their faces. Finally, all of their hard work had paid off and they tasted the sweetness of their success. I've never seen eight students more proud of something they had accomplished.
No comments:
Post a Comment