I am a retired elementary school music educator and I taught over 30 years in Michigan public schools. I am now mostly retired. I am a teaching artist for an Aesthetic Education program and I have my own private Orff Music Studio, teaching 2 days a week. I love being able to stay in touch with educators and students while picking and choosing my work load. (I also do some work for a local university among other odd jobs.)

I am still active with my local Orff Chapter—the West Michigan Orff Chapter. As a retiree and past officer, I am able to attend our local workshops for free. (I am also an AOSA member.) I like to stay active with the chapter and keep in touch with current practices, as well as make new friends and keep in touch with previous acquaintances. It keeps me going!

I look back at my career and am so grateful for my mentor teacher when I was hired in at my first real elementary music job. I was trained to be a band director and I wasn’t sure what to do with these little ones. Beverly introduced me to the world of Orff Schulwerk. She introduced me to local chapter members. She encouraged me to attend my first national conference. When she retired she passed on all her materials—including a full instrumentarium she purchased herself when the school district wouldn’t buy them for her. During my time in my district, I became the elementary music team leader. We created an Orff based curriculum and included the instruments in our necessary materials. (I can say that all 8 elementary schools in the district have a full set of barred instruments.) My fellow music educators shared their ideas, songs, successes and those things that didn’t work out so well. Bottom line, the people I collaborated with during my 30+ years (including all those amazing clinicians) have given me so much.

In my (mostly) retirement years I’ve decided I need to pay it backward. I was given so much that helped shape the musical path I followed for over 30 years, I’d like to share that knowledge with others. I’m doing that through our local chapter. I have started a library of resource materials for our chapter members to use as needed. I donate materials I no longer use for a silent auction, as well as hand knitted items. 100% of the money raised goes to the chapter’s scholarship fund for Orff training. And I offer to visit members’ music rooms as either an observer to give suggestions or to demonstrate a process lesson with a class or two.

Our West Michigan Orff Chapter is a small but dedicated group. I hope that I can continue to work with and help this chapter that has done so much for me in the past. I encourage others to support their local Orff Chapters. Be a member, be an officer, recruit new teachers in your area. Music educators are amazing people with so many great ideas—and we like to share them. Join AOSA and attend a national conference. It is so good for the soul to be surrounded by like-minded people. And when you retire, don’t be afraid to keep in touch with your chapter. Your experience is worth sharing.

The post Making It Work: Paying It Backward first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

The element I find that separates Orff Schulwerk from other teaching processes is the creativity factor. I had no problem setting students up for success and giving them the tools to improvise and create with untuned percussion and the barred instruments. I felt I covered the elements of movement and dance forms so that they could develop their own movements to music and create their own dances. But for a long time, I had difficulty letting students create dramatic scenes. Too often their dramas would either be stiff and very literal or totally whacky and silly. I wasn’t giving them the structure and set up they needed to be successful with their dramatic play.

I attended a workshop by Janet Mattke many years ago and she gave me the tools to lead my students to success. I’ve taken her process and made it my own and I have her permission to share with you what I have done with Fairy Tale Tableaus.

My second-grade teachers always do a fairy tale unit in their reading lessons. The classroom goals are to identify the main characters given in the introduction, define the setting, the problem and the solution in the story. This is a natural gateway into creative drama!

The first step is to have students brainstorm and list different fairy tales. It could be ones they’ve read as a class, books they’ve signed out of the library and read on their own, stories they’ve heard at home, or TV shows/movies of different fairy tales. Once the list has been created, ask the class how many know each story. Write the number next to the title. You will want to have enough stories so that when you divide your class into groups of 4 or 5, you have a title for each group. (If you have 25 students and are doing groups of 5, you’ll need at least 5 stories. It’s always good to have one or two extra so the last performance isn’t a give-away.) Use the titles that have the highest number of student awareness. If you end up using stories some students don’t know, have a student give a quick synopsis of the tale. OR—you can have more than one group perform the same fairy tale. Once your titles have been chosen, the fun can begin at the next music class.

Next class: Take the brain stormed list of fairy tales and create a rhythm chain. Make sure the completed chain has a sense of pulse and phrasing. Examples:

The A section has been created. Now it is time to develop a sample tableau using an example that didn’t make the final list.

PREP:

• Explain that a tableau is like a still photo. There will be no movement or sound once the picture is taken. To practice this concept, play some music and have students move about in free space. When the music stops, they must freeze. Repeat, giving different scenarios such as: You meet someone you are really happy to see. Move to the music SILENTLY and freeze when the music stops. The next scene might be you’re at a football game and your team is behind, but comes back to win the game; or, you meet a bear in the woods, you got a 100% on a test and you share it with your parents. Set up the scenarios giving students a chance to show different emotions and reactions—all while being silent.

Step 1: Breaking the story down

• List the main characters. Have the class practice how each character might stand, walk, speak (silently)
• Describe the setting.
• Set up the order of events. Try to refine it to a BEGINNING—MIDDLE—END format. (These will be the 3 tableaus. If you need to, use up to 5 freeze frames to tell the story.)

Step 2:

• Divide the class into 3 groups—one to show each tableau. Give them just a few minutes to figure out who is who in the story and how they with start and move silently into their tableau position to freeze.

Step 3:

• When each group is ready, speak the A speech section as group one takes the stage. If more time is needed to take the stage, you can repeat the A section or perform it with untuned percussion. Group 1 performs and freezes. Repeat the A section as the 2^nd group performs, etc.

Step 4:

• All applaud and give feedback. The Mass Class Practice is done. Time to move to individual groups.

THEY ARE READY! Give each group of 4 or 5 students their fairy tale title. (I put all the chosen titles in a drum and I draw it out and hand it to the group. Saves on arguments.) THE GROUPS SHOULD NOT SHARE THE TITLE OF THEIR FAIRY TALE. Students will be asked to guess the tale after the performances.

Give the groups time to go through the above process, identifying characters and sequence of events. They will then need to decide on who does what and how they will move into starting position and move from one tableau to the other during the A section. Read your class. You might want to wait until your next music class to start the individual group performances. You may just assign the fairy tale and have them think about things until the next class. Use a time line that fits your students.

PERFORMANCE DAY: I had flip forms in my room. I set up 3 of them flat to create a stage area. The rest of the students faced the stage to watch the performances. At the end of the final tableau, the performers take a group bow so we know they have finished. After each performance, I give the audience a count of 3 and students use a whisper voice to say what story they thing was being performed.

In summary, the final performance for each group goes like this:

Class speaks/plays the A section—Fairy Tale 1 Group performs their first tableau—class does A section as group morphs into tableau 2—class speaks A section as group morphs into tableau 3, etc. until the performing group takes their final bow.  Applause, teacher counts to 3 and audience whispers the title of the fairy tale. Take time for a final reflection on the performance as the next Fairy Tale group prepares to take the stage.

NOTE: You or a student could take photos of each tableau, print out each one as a series, and use these as a display at conferences or open house. It also can be used as evidence that your music program supports reading literacy goals.

The post Lesson: Fairy Tale Tableaus first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Ideas by Marcia Working

I teach Orff classes in a private studio. I have a wonderful and large teaching space. I’m also a traveling music teaching artist and I go to different locations as part of my job. For both types of situations, I LOVE MY POLY SPOTS!

I often use my poly spots as “sit spots”. With a large room for movement, I will toss out the spots so students can choose a color to sit on. Sometimes the spots are in random formation, sometimes they are in a circle, other times lines. The colors can also be put in a pattern or in random order. The spots can be spread out or condensed to make a  small or larger grouping.

Poly spots are a great way to define your space. I can set up the spots to create a large circle or make it a square or other shape. I can create several smaller spaces for groups to work in by using colors to set the outline of each groups’ space.

Is there anything else you can do with these spots besides define parameters? YES! Here are a few things I use my poly spots for when it comes to teaching musical concepts.

Music is about time and space. Children often have difficulty managing this concept. Here are a couple of different ways I address this with poly spots.

1.  Teacher keeps a pulse using a frame drum as students move their feet to the beat. I cue my students when to stop by playing the pattern:
After students recognize the ending cadence, add the polys pots.

2.  I put the spots out in random places throughout the movement space. There should be at least one per child. (I like to have a couple extras, especially to start with so there is a better chance of each student getting a spot without running across the room.) Play the pulse game as before, but this time students must stand on a spot when they stop. What if they don’t make it to a spot? The student is out. I have students sit out until someone else gets out, then they can go back into the game. If no one gets out after 3 turns, everyone automatically gets back in.

3.  I like to play this game with recorded music. My favorite is “Rock and Stop” by Eric Chappelle. (Music for Creative Dance Vol. 3) While students are playing the game, I can evaluate who is moving to the pulse.

Poly spots are great for marking student places for performances. I work with a special needs teen to adult choir. We often practice while seated as several members have difficulty standing for any length of time. When we do practice standing, some have a hard time staying in their standing spot. A polyspot can show them where their feet should be. Also, we never get to practice in our performance space, so I put out the poly spots to show each person where their feet should be in the performance venue.

Poly spots help students know when it is their turn to play an instrument. Don’t have enough instruments for your entire class, but want to make sure everyone gets a turn? I set up the instruments in a circle formation. In between each group of instruments is a poly spot or two depending on my student to instrument ratio. Even if I have enough instruments, I like to have a balance of singers to instrument players. If students are on a spot, it is their job to make sure they are focused on the vocal part of the piece. After each turn, students rotate to the next spot or part. I often add a speech interlude of 8 or 16 beats so students know just how long they have to get to their new job.

Ployspots make good drum pads! Whether you are floor drumming or bucket drumming, polyspots help protect your floor and your ears. I have a hard wood floor, so when we practice playing rhythm patterns with mallets or drum sticks, I have students use a polyspot for the drumhead. It also helps students to focus where they will be striking the drum head. When bucket drumming, put the polyspot on top of the bucket for practice purposes. Once the parts are learned, take the spots off and perform.

Use polyspots on your floor staff. I like to use them for note recognition games. You can use them to define line and space notes with your younger students, as well as high/low notes on the staff. Older students can play a game divided into 2 (or 3) teams. Call out a note name, and students race to see who can place the spot correctly on the staff.

Once you have your polyspots you will find many uses for them. These are just the most frequent ways I use them with my classes. There are many other situations that arise in your classroom and lessons that you might find them handy to have. I use them in every class. Please share the ways you use polyspots in your classroom in the comments below!

Marcia Working, Director Crescendo Academy Orff Studio Kalamazoo, MI

The post Poly Spots: What to Do with Them? first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

As musicians and music educators, we are aware of many types of transitions in the music we perform and teach. There are sudden sforzandos and gradual crescendos; grand pauses and slow moving ritardandos. We have transitions in our classrooms between activities, and transitions to get students on stage and to the instruments during a performance.

There are also many transitions in our lives. My first major transformation in my professional life came in my third year of teaching. I was introduced to the Orff process and I knew then that this where my career was meant to go.

My mentor, who introduced the Orff Schulwerk to me, retired when I had 10 years or so under my belt. I was working on my levels courses and attending local and national conferences putting these ideals into action. She had purchased an entire instrumentarium when the school district refused to foot the bill. (Since then, each elementary building has a basic instrumentarium thanks to my co-worker’s efforts.) When she retired, she gave me all of her instruments, along with the carts she had purchased.  This led to me think about what I would do when I retire. Could I ever truly give up teaching music? It got me thinking about how I would transition into this new phase of my life even though it was still a ways down the road.

After 30+ years of working in the public schools, I did retire, and I am in the process of living my dream of transition. My dream was to run a private Orff studio and work with children and adults. After my mentor’s retirement, I continued to acquire more instruments. When I retired I took those instruments with me and partnered with a local non-profit, Crescendo Academy of Music. I have an incredible studio space, which is a former dance studio. My rent is based on the students I bring in. And the only condition of this agreement was that I work with a music therapist, and the choral director for the local RESA’s special needs choir.

The Community Voices is an ensemble offering musical experiences for teens and adults with a variety of mental and physical challenges. Our 25-voice choir participates in singing, playing instruments and movement. The Orff approach is a perfect match for our members. We meet once a week for an hour and we put on a program every 12 to 16 weeks. The variety of activities meets the needs of our students. Movement works well for those who love to dance and feel the music in their whole body, instruments provide an outlet for our non-verbal members and we have some amazing individual voices.

The choir is a type of transition for many of our members. We have a gentleman who started coming and would sit in his chair with hands on his walker and never looked up. When we began preparing for our Christmas performance, a certain song lit a spark and he has been singing his heart out ever since, he even had a solo this year! We perform at the auditorium in our facility and have taken the group on the road to sing for charity events, art hops, and other community functions.

What are some of the other aspects of my transition to retirement?

I am a Music Teaching Artist for our county’s Education for the Arts Aesthetic Education program, modeled after the Lincoln Center program. This job allows me to stay in touch with the schools and teach with classrooms of different age levels, from kindergarten through high school. I work not only with the students, but with their teachers as well.

I have begun working for Music Is Elementary in their vender booth at several state and national conferences. This job allows me to stay in touch with music educators, their needs and their challenges.

I am a clinician for hire. I lead workshops on a variety of topics, including movement, curriculum, and process.

I play my clarinet in our community band—Kalamazoo Concert Band. This is my music, just for me!

And lastly, I learned how to knit. I am an official yarn hoarder and I love trying new techniques with my knitting.

As I’m writing all this down, I’m thinking that perhaps I haven’t really retired. I’ve just transitioned to a position where I can choose to teach what I love most. And I’m able to set up my own schedule so that my husband and I can travel when we wish.

Retirement and the Schulwerk. What a great combination!

These activities have helped Marcia in her transition to retirement. Please share your own plans and experiences in the comments below. Your thoughts may be just the thing to help another music educator “Make It Work” during their career transition!

Working in the booth at the 2016 AOSA Professional Development Conference

The post Making It Work: Transitioning into Retirement first appeared on Teaching With Orff.