Ahhh...the week has come to an end and along with realizing how many things we did not get to, I am also thrilled with the way this course went. What an amazing group of high energy, enthusiastic teachers! Thank you for giving up a week of your summer to sit in our very hot, sticky, breathless Hamilton-Smith and work on yourselves and your teaching! What dedicated people you all are!
Reflection...or as Darlene would croon, "What's it all about?" What IS it all about? How much of Pink we did not get to discuss and how many classroom applications we were unable to explore....how amazingly well you all did with getting a piece of writing ready for Friday. I know it was a quick week, and that there was a lot packed in, but with rigor and relevance we find ourselves going places that we may not have expected to go. Pushing ourselves out of our comfort levels is disconcerting, but also necessary!
This week I did that myself! I am not a musician...remember, I am one of those "expert listeners" who loves to sing her lungs out in the car! This was also a course I had to develop with no model at all. I was outside of my comfort zone, and with that I discovered so many things that I will be able to keep with me in my work with teachers and kids this next year and beyond!!
You are all encouraged to help me out with this if you are interested. Should I ever teach this course again, I would like to have even more resources and ideas. Those ideas can come from you and what you try in your classrooms. Feel free to post here your ideas, or e-mail them to me and I will post them for you. Also, if you are somewhat local and planning on doing something with music in your classroom, e-mail me and perhaps we can arrange for me to come and see all that you are doing in your classrooms!!
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What else? Honestly, I think I need to take some more time to really think about the week and what went well and what could have gone better and so on! Of course the technology piece on Monday was a nightmare...but what other things would I change?
As I unpack my many LL Bean Bags I will try to figure out the changes I would make and why. When I come up with them I will post them.
Keep the music!!!
Tomasen

Are we educated OUT of creativity?