I am the first to admit-I am not a guitarist by any standard. It's a good thing that in my interview my beautiful colleagues didn't ask me to play or inquire about my guitar studies, because there are none. They were more interested in working with someone who wanted to build up the program.
I am sure that I would be able to share much more with my students had I taken lessons or was able to play some amazing licks on guitar, but as it stands, my guitar skills are not impressive compared to some of my friends and colleagues. That being said, my "informal" training has actual been a benefit to my teaching, at least I think it has been a benefit. Guitar seems to be a very community based instrument-one that you can play and sort-of have a conversation, or sing silly lyrics, or serious lyrics. It takes some concentration (students are understanding this as we learn about shifting chords and strumming patterns) but overall, it is an instrument that can really bring people together.

​My approach to guitar is completely different than my approach to guitar last year. This year we are more about community. We start each morning off with a conversation, we sit in a circle (this is more due to the size of the room, but also so I can sit with the students, rather than be at the front of the room) and we work together. There is a lot of independent or small group time to practice, but most days we end the day jamming.

​This week and next week, our focus has been on how music brings people together. We start each week with a quote and we have a discussion about the quote. We then have a chalkboard question which is a question (on a chalkboard in the hallway) that the students answer. This week's quote was:

​Music creates order out of chaos: for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent, melody imposes continuity upon the disjointed, and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous.
​                                                                                                                                                                        -Yehudi Menuhin

​We discussed at length the elements of music and how they bring order of what could seemingly be chaos. But we also talked about how music can bring a sense of calm to a life of chaos. So the chalkboard question was:

The whole purpose of this was to set up a conversation about Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind", which we worked on this week. On Monday we didn't even get our guitars out. We listened to the 1963 recording of Dylan singing the song, then had a group discussion about what was going on in the world at the time and what is going on in the world today. Then students engaged in a silent discussion activity regarding the lyrics.

Students were extremely thoughtful in their responses. At the end of the second round (some classes did a third round of exchanges) each group got their original paper back, discussed the additions made and shared some of the responses. This is a great activity for all students, but especially those students who aren't as comfortable sharing their thoughts through their voice. It was a super healthy conversation and something that our students desire. One interesting observation, which is a sign of the times, many students were concerned about Dylan's use of the word "man" in the lines: "How many roads must a man walk down, before he is called a man?" There was a big discussion of gender and masculinity. I pushed back a bit, encouraging the students to think as if they were in 1963 and what "man" may have meant then as opposed to the gender-norm conversations that are surrounding us today (which are good conversations as well!). It was an interesting shift in perspectives and one I was proud of my students for recognizing!

​The end product was our "gallery" of our discussions. These will remain for the next week as we start our song writing project: revising Dylan's lyrics to ask questions about events happening today. Same chords, same melody, maybe some of the same questions....but with new words. VERY excited to see what happens!

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Blowin' in the Wind-Bob Dylan

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

 Creating access points for music education is something that South HS is pretty good at. We have a beginner band and a beginner string orchestra that meet everyday for 55 minutes. That's amazing in the high school world! It makes sense....there are beginning language courses, arts courses, remedial math and language courses, and there is usually an entry point for choir, so why not our instrumental classes. Our beginning class meet the same time as the "youngest" concert band (Concert Band) so that when students are ready, they can just move to Concert Band. There is a great group of students in beginning band....25 to be precise. Twenty-five beginning band students in high school! The challenge is to keep them engage while dealing with the intricacies of individual instrumental needs.

I think I may have figured out how to do this....finally. Now, some folks may argue up and down about this, but until someone has figured out a better way to teach transposition to beginners, while reading standardized notation, rhythms, which end is up on an instrument...and all that goes along with something new, I think I will keep doing this. Not to mention, this is much easier for those students who are also learning how to speak English. This is part of the scaffolding process that will lead into reading standard notation, which will occur next week.

Last week the students started playing their instruments. Rather than teaching them notes and rhythms first (ie, theory) we started playing first. I taught the first three notes of each instruments B-flat major scale to each group, but I didn't assign note names, just 1, 2, 3. We played around with different melodies, the students even created their own melodies (no rhythms yet). Then we added in rhythms. The numbers underneath the rhythms represent the notes. Each student, regardless of their instrument, received this same paper because I taught them the transposed notes, but as numbers. For the most part, these melodies were recognizable to the students, so they were able to attach the rhythm with what they were playing. The best part about this is that the students were playing together and experiencing success as individuals and as a group-SO important in beginning band. I also have a "rhythm" deck, so students combined different rhythms and we played through them together. Lots of opportunity for students to create, thus reinforcing what we were learning in class. 

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Next week students will be delving into standard notation. I intend to discuss both clefs with the students, so that they understand how they both work. Then I will hand out sheets of music that have the first six notes of the B-flat scale (number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to the students) and we will then connect the number with the actual note. I think it will work. I HOPE it will work! 

For some reason, I feel really good about my lesson planning this year. Well, I should start off by commenting that this past week was the BEST first week of school I have ever had. Things got frantic at times, but overall, it was awesome! Great classes: students are enthusiastic and incredibly kind which makes the job so much easier. But I also wonder if part of it had to do with my planning.

​For many years I planned rehearsals and working towards achieving a certain sound with the groups. I do not want to dismiss that part of my life nor diminish that at all. There is tremendous work being done by music educators who work with performing groups, but I think I finally (FINALLY, after 13 years) figured out how to plan for learning. So, I am a pretty slow learner. I always have been, but my job has really transformed how I approach learning and teaching. My classes  focus on learning and the sound eventually comes along with that. It makes so much sense to me and I wish I would have seen the writing on the wall so many years ago. Of course, my students learned when I was in the band classroom, but this feels different to me. I often wonder if is because there is a lack of pressure to perform at a certain level. Allowing the students to experiment with sound and creating their own music has fostered some pretty incredible learning, even within the first week of school. Last week in the guitar classes, we learned a simple melody, the chords that went along with the melody, how to de-code tab and create our own songs, all within the first four days of having a guitar in our hands. The students weren't upset that they weren't learning how to shred their favorite solo, but they were amazed at how much they learned. I was amazed at how much we learned, and we get to do it again this week!

​It is likely that anyone reading this is thinking, "Seriously, Sarah, this is nothing new. You have been teaching for 14 years and you are now just figuring out how to plan for learning??" Well, this is my blog and I am still learning the ropes as well :) Considering that, I wonder how discovery and planning to learn might look like in different classrooms. Care to share?