Tree Frog Productionsand Kerri-

1. Develop a PHILOSOPHY or VISION for your teaching and classroom that holds your guiding principles dear (critical thinking). Write this down somewhere and refer to it each day; make changes as needed.

2. Create a SUPPORT SYSTEM of people and resources to provide help when you need it and cheer you on when things are great. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Take care of your own body and spirit by doing something for YOU each and every day, like a ritual!

3. Allow the PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT in which you teach to be a reflection of your vision and the students. Post student work; let them create your bulletin boards, write out/decorate classroom principles. You may wish to include some optional lighting (like a soft floor lamp), some kind of aroma therapy and a fan for better circulation of air. Play wonderful music as the students are entering the space. Your classroom should be a sacred "utopia" where you create beautiful music together and each person is deeply valued - you should want to go there!

4. Know all of your students' NAMES; make eye and physical contact within each gathering. Thank your students for attending your class :)

5. Ask the STUDENTS' OPINIONS often. Listen to them and use their ideas whenever possible. This creates a collaborative relationship and is a prevention to many discipline issues that may occur later.

1. Teach CONCEPTUALLY. A string of cool activities will only take the students so far. Empower your students by teaching the concepts of music and dance, in short, the concepts of life! We want to create independent learners who can create their own art and therefore have a voice in their world.

2. Use the FIVE PART LESSON PLAN to nurture your students into the creative process: Imitation, Exploration, Developing Skills, Creating and Reflection. (see Lesson Plan in Leaps And Rounds)

3. Play with and use the students' NAMES in your work somehow each day.

4. Spend time each gathering BUILDING COMMUNITY within the group.

5. Develop a short list of RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES with your students that everyone can agree on. Use the 5 A's Of Audience - attend, allow, appreciate, applaud, affirm; use the Cookie Principle (positive, something to work on, positive).Become adept and pulling something positive out of every effort, every experience, and every student.

6. Start each day with the BrainDance® (Anne Gilbert). See the BrainDance® in Concept Charts.

a. Hey!-What? - One partner makes a shape; the other travels around the room, tapping an interesting shape when they see one. The shaper can respond with Hey! or What? with expression, while the tapper takes their place and the shaper travels on. The only sounds are the chosen words and the sounds of movement. Pick up the speed of the game and add a variety of vocabulary. My favorites are No, Yes and Huh?

b. Human Knot - in a group of no more than 12, stand in a close-knit circle with arms crossed and outstretched. You must join hands across the circle with two different people (one for R, one for L hand). Do not join hands with a person next to you. Without letting go, the group must work together to "untie" the knot by moving their bodies. If anyone lets go, the group must start the game over.

c. Dominoes - Sit in a circle with legs outstretched. One person is the leader. The leader does a quick movement or sound that is copied by the person to her left, and then sequentially around the circle. When the last person has copied, the leader does a new movement or sound. The leader tries to get the whole group to copy at the same time; the group focuses to only follow the person to their right. Speed is of the essence to develop a group rhythm and focus.

d. The Red Sea - Partners line up facing each other (two parallel lines). Sit down across from your partner, with legs outstretched to the center line. One person starts at one end and runs fast through the channel. Partners draw their legs to chest as the person passes by and drop their legs back down when she has passed. This is a great trust activity!

e. There's An Echo In Here- The group stands in a circle. One person makes a movement or shape with a sound (like lifting up hands and shouting "Hey!") and the group echoes her movement, sound and energy. Everyone freezes in that shape until the next person in the circle makes a new one. Continue around the circle until everyone has had a chance to lead. Vary the game with different speeds and themes.

Provide ample time for you and your students to reflect on the experiences of their day, particularly before they leave. This creates group bonding and a closure to the work that session. Make use of transitions between activities: do a group breath, spinal roll down, sing a familiar tune together or play a relaxing piece of music as you move from one thing to the next. This gives the brain time to recuperate so that it can readily receive more information. If you can, structure your lesson to build towards a crescendo, then slowly and gently, come back to the starting point, creating a circular experience.

V. Teach Audience Skills

Sometimes, we assume that our students and parents understand how to be an audience, but where is this skill actually taught? Kids want guidelines about what is appropriate in a performance/informance situation. Here are some tips to help with this:

1. Use the Five A's Of Audience: attend, allow, appreciate, applaud, affirm

Attend - with your whole body, mind and spirit to what is being shared. Eye contact is critical as is body language and silent voices.

Allow - allow yourself to see the performers differently and give them the space to work through the learning process with success and challenge.

Appreciate - this is an inner attitude of acceptance, empathy and grace that is nurtured in each student. We show respect to our fellow classmates.

Applaud - this is the outer representation of our appreciate, a gratitude joyfully expressed to the performers/informers.

Affirm - an opportunity for audience members to give positive affirmations to the performers; suggestions and observations are discussed
in the group format.

2. Informances Verses Performances

Language is a powerful tool to convey meaning and clarity to students. Use informances (where we are informally informing each other) as opposed to performances, which tends to denote judgement. This helps students to see sharings as part of the process rather than the end all. When we share, we are informing each other of new ideas or perspectives that we may not have considered previously.

That Is Why I Teach Music

Not because I expect you to major in music,
Not because I expect you to play or sing
all your life.
Not so you can relax and have fun.

But
so you will be human,
so you will recognize beauty,
so you will be sensitive,
so you will be closer to an infinite
beyond this world,
so you will have something to cling to,
so you will have more love,
more compassion, more gentleness,
more goodness,
. . . in short, more life.

Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living
unless you know how to live?

Anonymous