Letting Go

At this time in the year the students have learned many different skills in music class from rhythm to melody, playing instruments and even a little bit of dancing. It is now time to put all of these skills together. Students in grades 1-3 and 6 are working on Folk song arrangements with at least four instrument parts. Students in grades 4-5 are beginning their recorder unit which also puts together the skills they have learned over the course of the year.

The most difficult thing for me as their teacher is the ability to let go and watch what they can do on their own. I have taught them the skills necessary to complete the task so I should take a step back and wait to see how they put all of the information together. I mentioned that this is a hard step because it is my nature to step in and help right away when a student isn't getting something right away. However, when I have taken a step back, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of the students were looking to their partner to help them or even finding strategies on their own to fix what they might be missing.

My true roll as their teacher is to fill their tool bag with skills that they can utilize on their own, whether I am with them or not. This is a bit of a struggle for me, but if I keep seeing these wonderful results, I will keep on building their skills and learning to let go.

Below I have some pictures of students doing the learning together.