Workshop Blog

Amy Fowers, a Music Mind Games teacher in Utah saw Alsye's email S.O.S. (see blog entry "Great! I've Been Asked to Teach at a Student Workshop.  Now What?!) and offered some more helpful suggestions:

1. Michiko gave me some great advice at my last training; ask the parents which subjects they would like the children to be introduced to, or have learned by the end of the week.  The parents will probably say "note reading".  It is important to help the parents understand that while you can get students started, you cannot expect to make expert note-readers in one week.  Learning to read notes is a process that happens over time with repetition.

2. Ask the students what they already know: have them close their eyes and then raise their hands to answer questions that will help you assess where they are in their theory studies. (By closing their eyes, no one will feel pressured to raise their hand just because the rest of the class is.  Sample questions: Raise your hand if you know how many sharps are in the key of D Major.  Raise your hand if you know how many beats are in a whole note, etc.)  You don't want to cater to the highest ability but you can't to the lowest either, so keep it somewhere in the middle.

3.  Don't do all teaching games.  Do fun ones, too!

4. Use students to demonstrate games rather than explaining by talking.

5. Use the Rhythm Playing Cards as much as you can.  Kids love War, Suspense, Danish Zoo, and Slow and those are easy to learn.

6. Plan 3 games for each class.  Begin each day with "Daily Do", reviewing and adding to it each day and telling the students the musical terms for what they're singing (Major Scale, Intervals, Minor Scale, etc.)

7. You might also play Hello Jello each day.  It helps with their learning of the rhythm names and you can add more difficult ones each day (be sure to leave in the easy favorites!).

8.  Plan at least three other games.  You probably won't get to them, but it's nice to have a few as back-up so that if you get a vibe that one game will work better you can go to it quickly.

9.  Have fun!  Enjoy yourself (you know the kids will!).

Hello everyone!  As Chair of the Music Mind Games Workshop Teaching Committee I thought you'd find this recent conversation helpful.  Alyse (a new MMG teacher in California) asked:

"I'm starting to teach the theory class at a workshop tomorrow morning. I have four students, ages 6-8, four days and one hour each day. The students are book one/early book two cello students.
This is my first time teaching MMG/theory for strings at a workshop. How many games from each section should we play in the hour and what should I plan to accomplish over the four days???"

MMG is perfect for the community workshop or Suzuki institute but the approach is different from the classroom group class. Keep reading for my short list of suggestions to Alyse.

1. Don't rush through your daily greeting time.  Make eye contact with each student, help them feel quiet and relaxed before jumping into a game.  The theory games are loads of fun but the overall impression of the class rests on how loved and appreciated each student feels at the end of the week.