We cannot all speak together, but we can all sing together… For music provides us with a regular pulse or beat, ensuring that we keep in time with each other. And even should we get a note wrong or mispronounce a word, we will soon rejoin the chorus of other people’s voices. And because of this facility which singing offers, songs have for long been the means whereby people created or celebrated their identity. (Bell 17)
Music helps me connect with students and helps them discover more about who they are as individuals and as a class community. Music is one way we worship and know God. I am in a unique and wonderful position as a music specialist where learning and connecting take place in different ways than it does in other spaces around the school. I cherish the opportunities to build relationships with students as we listen, sing, explore and create together.
Before I can expect students to trust me and learn with me, they need to feel safe. They need to be heard. At the beginning of every music class, I give students the opportunity to participate in a gathering activity. By the second or third class, almost everyone wants to participate, even if it involves singing a solo. As a grade two student is singing a question to our class mascot, Melody, we are building connections, learning to take risks, and students are given a voice. Plus, we have covered some of the British Columbia Curricular Competencies in the first few minutes of music class!
In primary music classes, we play, move, sing, and make mistakes together in all kinds of musical (and not so musical) ways. We learn about symbols and sounds and patterns. We tune in to listening. We explore certain aspects of God’s vast creation. I invite students into a relationship with that creation, with the music, and with me. Connections.
I have come to realize that very little of my formal education prepared me to connect with students.
CONNECTING: The Middle C
I have come to realize that very little of my formal education prepared me to connect with students. My courses were focused on lesson plans, Christian perspective, music theory and performance. However, music education can also lead to closer relationships and connections with students in beautiful ways that I had not realized when I began my teaching career. God has been using music and mentors to lead me toward more meaningful connections with my students and having lots of fun in the process.
Our school community has become more aware of the vital role of attachment in learning and developing. During recent professional development days, Hannah Beach (Neufeld Institute) reminded us that children and youth cannot learn unless they feel safe and comfortable with a leader. They learn best when they feel their teacher likes them, and adults need to “connect before we direct.” She emphasised that we must lead with direction and assertiveness and be willing and able to pivot at a moment’s notice. Therefore, in an effort to build relationships and connect with students, I try to plan highly choreographed music classes while always being ready to improvise.
Through some of the following examples, I try to let students know they are loved, they are known, and each one is a child of God.
Through some of the following examples, I try to let students know they are loved, they are known, and each one is a child of God. Perhaps one of my questions or a knowing smile or graciously letting them out of “music jail” at the end of a game will help them to know and trust me as they get to experience the deep love and grace God has for them. (Students end up in jail when they get “out” during a music game and they go to the music carpet which has five lines like jail bars of the treble clef staff.)
Students know the routines and rules in the music room. They also know it is a safe place to be creative and share their ideas. I strive to be one of the people in their village who cares about them, wants to know them, appreciates their gifts, and gives them age-appropriate boundaries so they can learn and grow. Music lends itself so beautifully to this as we sing together, make mistakes together, try new ideas, improvise on the Orff instruments, take turns listening and performing, and play games. The activities I select, as well as the ways I lead and respond to students, show a lot about who I am and what it is like to be a valued member of our music classroom. These are some of activities I use to build connections:
Gathering Activities (Music Mascots)
Routine is important for elementary students. At the beginning of every music class, students stay in their line up order and stand around the music carpets. I look into their eyes as they enter so each person feels seen, and then they have a turn (individually or as a group) to be heard. Connections.
Beat Bear comes out only for kindergarten students. He doesn’t see very well, but he hears everything! His favourite activity is the Beat Bear game, which is how we start every class for the first term. Throughout the term, each student shows different ways to keep the beat and leads the activity. Beat Bear also whispers compliments in my ear during class and students are excited to see what he has to say to them.
Melody is the grade one bumblebee. She can sing but doesn’t sting. When a student uses a singing voice to ask her a question, it is amazing what she can do: she can fly out the window, she can tickle your hand, and she can even write her name in handwriting on the chalkboard! If you ask Melody a question with a talking voice, however, she doesn’t respond. It is absolutely amazing how many reluctant singers emerge in grade one because they want to see what Melody can do. Her favourite song in term one is “Hickety-tickety bumblebee, can you sing your name for me?”
It is absolutely amazing how many reluctant singers emerge in grade one because they want to see what Melody can do.
BoBo loves it when students in grade two copy him. The inspiration for BoBo comes from Denise Gagne at MusicPlay.ca. BoBo has a big mouth that opens when he sings. He moves up and down to the contour of the melody. He shows up with a warm scarf or an umbrella, depending on the weather. With grade two and three students, he sings four or eight beat questions and the students sing their answers. BoBo has had some cousins join him in the music room and he has more accessories that he could ever wear since students love to bring gifts to add to his collection.
SQUILT (Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time)
Many of my students have programmed activities and lessons outside of school. Sadly, they do not have many opportunities for free play or being bored. One of the gifts I can give them is the opportunity to take a deep breath and quietly listen to music for 3-5 minutes. Students may sit or lay down, eyes open or closed, keep the beat silently, or conduct. They may not talk or touch others. Students daydream or tune in to a variety of new or familiar music. Our playlist includes carefully selected pieces from Beethoven, Jeremy Benjamin Zeyl, Pachelbel, TobyMac, Holst, Chris Hadfield, The Beatles, The Wailin’ Jennys, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Raffi, Lang Lang and many others.
If the lights are off when students enter the music room, they know that it is time for SQUILT.
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Rebecca Visser has been getting paid to sing, dance, play and write report cards since 1997. She has degrees from Dordt College and Simon Fraser University and she currently teaches primary music at John Knox Christian School in Burnaby, BC. She has been married to Mitchell for 25 years and she is thankful that at least one of her three children loves to sing. She regularly plays piano with the worship team at church and enjoys reading, gardening, cooking, cycling and paddleboarding.
Works Cited
Beach, Hannah. Creating a Conscious Invitation into Relationship. 2020. https://hannahbeach.ca/creating-a-conscious-invitation-into-relationship/
Bell, John. The Singing Thing: A case for congregational song. GIA Publications, Inc., 2000.
Fujimura, Makoto. Culture Care: Reconnecting with beauty for our common life. InterVarsity Press, 2017.