This may turn into another blog that I end up neglecting simply because I have so much going on. But I want to make a better effort this time, because I feel like someone needs to be saying something. If there are others writing about similar situations, I am happy to join those voices.
Beginning this all cam about because of where I am right at this moment. Sitting at a desk in possibly the most expensive and elite hotel in the state of Colorado where every year a three-day clinic and conference takes place for music educators in the state.
Wonderful people, wonderful workshops, but horribly biased.
Much has changed for me in my view of music education. As I went through my courses last year for my endorsement in LDE (linguistically diverse education), I discovered that my music curriculum didn't have much give in terms of differentiation and modifications for ELLs (English Language Learners). I was feeling stifled by the resources I had and coming up short on ideas for how to keep my students engaged while still teaching them what they needed to know and improving their skills.
After not attending this conference for 4 years I was excited to see what new ideas and methods were out there. Now more of a general music teacher, going to the Orff workshops were incredible and gave me more ways to support my students than I ever imagined. But I also have middle school students who have the potential to be spectacular singers, so I decided to go to as many singing readings as I could.
The result aside from a tired voice was 37 vocal scores from an elementary level to high school. Some I loved, some I wasn't thrilled with, some were too hard for my kids at the moment, and some were perfect. But I was left questioning the choice in picking these particular pieces. Yes they are very diverse, but culturally biased. Nursery rhymes, Lewis Carroll, 50s pop...subjects my students have trouble understanding because of their culture. Everything super melodic, moderately fast, nothing I knew that if I played for my kids they would like.
If I were in the 'burbs all of these would be "very nice" but in the 'hood of north Denver, the beat needs to be big, the accompaniment interesting, and most of all, they need to connect with the music. Wrapping my head around how to make some of these really exciting songs fun is going to take a while. We have not found our voice as a school in what we want in the arts.
