THE POWER OF MUSIC

At #CUEROCKSTAR, Jennifer Kloczko, @jkloczko, show us a video of the dancing Assistant Principal.  If you have not seen it, take the 1 minute and 38 seconds to watch this amazing educator. (http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/09/22/dancing-assistant-principal-conway-arkansas-school-pkg.kark)

The look on the student's’ faces of joy and excitement about coming to school with the “dancing Assistant Principal” won me over.  I knew I was going to steal this idea for my school.

As I sat at Skywalker Ranch listening to Jen, I went on amazon and ordered myself a portable sound system (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KRCJMQ4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01).  When it arrived Monday night (I love amazon prime!) I was like a kid in a candy store.  I ripped open the box and started playing with the system.  It has so many features, more than I can handle.  Once I figured out how to hook my phone to the speaker (via Bluetooth) I was set.  I had made a playlist of oldies and kidz bop songs to play and couldn’t wait for Tuesday.  On Tuesday, I rolled the speak out to the front of the school and hit play.  I watched as the students walked into school with an extra bounce in their step.  Parents, students and siblings were dancing and singing.   At first, they would look around to see who was “blasting” the music.  Then, realizing it was the school, the bounce got bigger.  The little siblings were the best, they would run to the speaker and dance as only a 2-4 year old can.  Even my crossing guard said it made people happy and that the people driving by were kinder to her.

Coming off the high of a fun and stress free drop off, I decided to carry this into recess.  The kids danced all of recess and wanted music at lunch too.  It was the best team builder for the students at the school.  They were singing and dancing together.  They were bonding as a group.  After recess, the 1st graders were running laps for PE, they begged me to stay out with the music.  Awe, the power of music.

We have been doing this for almost 2 weeks.  Students still beg for music before school, recess and lunch.  They love the songs that have dances that go with them.  They still love to sing to the songs.  The staff loves to come out a dance.  Parents comes up to me and say “My student comes how and tells me how cool the Principal is. When I ask why, my student says ‘Because she plays music and dances with us.’” Being with the students and “playing with them” is so powerful.  It is amazing how music has changed the culture of the school in such a short time.

“How is Elementary School different than Junior high?”

So, I keep getting asked, “How is Elementary School different than Junior high?”  I have spent the last 17 years in Junior High.  The last 9 years as a Junior High Adminstrator.  Junior High students are amazing.  They are full of energy.  They have the struggles of hormones and peer issues.  They want to be adults and they are not ready to be adults yet.  They want to be serious and goofy at the same time.

So, the biggest difference in my mind is Kindergarten students.  No, this is not because they need you to open their go-gurt (which I am now an expert at opening) or because they need me to tie their shoes.  It is the wonder in their eyes every day they arrive at school.  It is how they run into the school every day with excitement, joy, and amazement.  It is the excitement in their eyes when they share with you the new word they can spell or showing you their writing journal.  It is how the Kindergarten students hold your hand and pull you to something they want to show you they have learned.

It really got me thinking, when do students lose this spark?  How do some of those in Junior High and High school students kept it?  What are we doing in education to help students keep this love of learning alive?  When talking to others about this, the idea of difficulty came up.  “As students get older, the curriculum is harder. They don’t want to work hard.” is what I have heard teachers say.  At the #CUEROCKSTAR Admin conference this weekend, I heard Ramsey Musallam said “Difficulty builds mental muscle and ease builds confidence.”  Difficulty also is more rewarding and sparks curiosity.  It drives us to learn, as long as we are guided through the difficulty towards success.  For the past 15 years we have been told what to teach and how to teach it.  With Common Core we have been given the permission to actually let students learn.

According to google, learning is defined as:

1. the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught.

We get to provide experiences for students to discover knowledge.  We get to watch students learn from each other and work together.  We also get to “teach” them.  If we balance “the experiences” with “the teaching”, will that keep the spark alive?  In Kindergarten, students do much of their learning by “discovering new things.”  They get to learn through “fun” experiences.  The teacher also gets to “teach” them sounds, numbers, counting, how to write letters correctly and so much more.  Why wouldn’t you want to come to school when it is fun and your curiosity is sparked?  

When I took the leap to Elementary, Kindergarten was my fear.  They are little, cry, sneeze, and touch everything. They can get lost.  I knew all 54 names within the first week so I could call for their attention.  I had nightmares about losing a student.  Who knew Kindergartners would be one of my favorite changes, besides the biggest change, about moving to Elementary?? Probably all Kindergarten teachers :)