Welcome to the page!

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Okay, so I have returned to blogging after a little bit of an absence.  I have done this for several reasons, but mainly to sound off about what I feel is important, especially as now it seems that teachers have to demonstrate that they are learning as much as the kids.  If you read anything you feel strongly enough about to comment on, drop me a line!

Popular posts from this blog

Are you a Spinner or a Grinder?

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Thanks to the good weather that the UK has experienced this summer, I was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time in the saddle cycling around Scotland.  During these trips I got to considering how I was approaching the many challenges that appeared around almost every bend, namely hills!  In cycling there are two main approaches to climbing a hill – spinning and grinding and, while both have merits, everyone has their own preference. In layman’s terms, spinning is where the cyclist selects a lower, easier gear and pedals faster, although it can be tiring after a while.  Grinding on the other hand is where a higher gear is chosen, and the cyclists has a slower cadence but has to put more effort into turning the pedals. Many cyclists when they first start are grinders, and stop when tired or the incline is too steep, awhereas most pro cyclists will opt for spinning to keep the cadence (of their pedalling) more consistent.  This yea...
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Well, Why Did I Not Think Of That?!

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Day One on the San Francisco Level I Orff Schulwerk Course completed and I feel tired (I blame the remnants of jet lag) and stiff from having used muscles that I have forgotten about for a while.  I have clapped, stamped, jumped up and down, realised Scottish ceilidh is very similar to folk dances from other parts of the world, and dad danced like there was no tomorrow. via GIPHY While we did cover an awful lot of new material, it was actually the fresh perspectives on the basics of teaching that possibly had the greatest effect on me.  These included: I must admit that only seeing a class once a week sometimes means I get to the end of the year still not too sure on one or two kids names.  I take the register every lesson and even try to make it interesting through clapping it, rapping it, singing it etc.  Today we were shown games in which we repeat the names of the students several times, or get the students to talk to one another before presenting i...
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The Revenge of the Recorder aka the Ongoing Orff Experiment

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Slowly but surely I am persevering with looking into applying Orff Schulwerk ideas in the classroom.  And I have just reached the chapter of Doug Goodkin's Play, Sing & Dance  about using the instrument that sends shivers down many music teacher's spine - the recorder ! Personally, and having been initially thrown out of recorder classes for not practicing (I was 7!), I returned to playing it during my teacher training and now love playing the tenor recorder as it has a warm, rich sound.  A number of teachers I know laugh and make comments about not understanding how someone with my qualifications can stomach the sound of the recorder.  Worse, others have told me that it is irrelevant in the age of the ukulele.  I believe that these thoughts are at best a little misguided, and at worse closed minded and borderline uneducated.  I agree that the recorder can be a little grating with classes of 30, but after spending hours tuning ukes and guitars only ...
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