The sun is shining, the sky is blue and the temperature is soaring. It’s perfect beach weather. It’s awful classroom weather. If you’re are ludicrously lucky, then you will have air conditioning in your music department but the majority of music teachers will be dealing with sweltering, sweat-scented classrooms filled with children who haven’t yet mastered the art of bathing. Worse still, the practical nature of music making can lead to rising body temperatures that exacerbate the situation. This week’s Teacher and Musician Challenge is designed to minimise movement and give you some degree of hope that you can make it through the day without melting into a music teacher shaped puddle next to your piano.
The challenge: cool down
Abandon the practice rooms, put away the instruments and turn off the computers and projector. Look for anything in your classroom that could be generating heat and turn it off. All that’s left is the need to make music and probably the least wilting way to do that is to lead an a cappella singing lesson. Don’t insist on getting the pupils to stand up (but, as always, be fussy about posture) and keep any body percussion to a minimum (perhaps the odd finger click), then lead them in a few simple songs that are bound to lift some spirits. There’s no shortage of material and this could be a great opportunity to try out some of the arrangements that you’ve had in your head. Alternatively, why not have a look at the singing activities from Emma Watson in this post about a TeachMeet?
The focus is to stay as cool as possible, so keep it calm, keep it chilled.