Organized chaos occurs on a daily basis in the South High guitar rooms. If you were to come into my room, you might find students working in pairs, groups of 3-4, or by themselves. You might find me working with individuals, mediating groups, or just sitting back and observing the learning that is occurring. Once in a while I may need to re-direct students to the task, but the generally rule of thumb is 80-20. Meaning, 80% of the time the students are on task, focused, and engaging in learning. 80% is a solid number and I think most them achieve that.

Today, I was inspired by the 6th hour class to start writing this blog. I am literally writing this entry while they are working in groups to put together a song. We have been working on "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. Yesterday they listened to the song, and, as individuals, came up with their own strumming patterns. Volunteers from each class shared their patterns and we learned them from the students. I came up with an easy bass line. Today, they are working in groups to put the patterns together so they make a cohesive whole. So, one person is playing a bass line and others are creating or re-creating the strumming patterns we learned. I am watching students take on leadership roles in their groups, and other contribute their ideas. I am watching two young men work together. One young man who has struggled to find his place in class mentor another young man who has missed so much class that I barely know him. The mentor is an excellent teacher!! I am watching four girls who speak four different languages work together to figure out the song. It is really incredible. I am just sitting back and observing and watching the learning take place. 

What happens when we get out of the way and let students experiment? There are eighteen different students in this class, eighteen different musical backgrounds, and eighteen different learning styles. These students are sometimes much better teachers than we will ever be, and it is important to let them take on that role. 

"Remember focus on the music. Listen to what you are playing."-WOW. That just came from a student who has never had any "formal" music training. That's amazing. That is beautiful and so encouraging. I am going to steal that from him. 

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!

​

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