Just found the loveliest blog, Aura Art Creations, by a "fellow fairy" I met at My Everyday Magic.
She's the coolest artist, living and creating in Guam. Check out her lively blog!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My Everyday Music!
Here is my post for an upcoming Monday on the "My Everyday Magic" blog:
* Getting to go to 2 big education conferences this week and share my music!
* Sharing with group leaders how easy and fun it is to slip songs in everywhere, any time.
* Gently emphasizing that we are all natural music-makers and singers---and that there is no such thing as a "bad" singer!!.
* Learning about all the song-writing being created by many of you on this blog!!! Awesome!!!
* When feeling stuck, sitting in "the silence" and being open to a higher power that inspires and guides us in the creative process.
* Singing with kids!! Total joy, wonder and fun: MAGIC!!!
Music and magic are simply everywhere---share some of yours here today by posting in comments below, and watch your world glow!
Fairy wishes and music kisses,
Lisa aka "The Song Fairy"!
* Getting to go to 2 big education conferences this week and share my music!
* Sharing with group leaders how easy and fun it is to slip songs in everywhere, any time.
* Gently emphasizing that we are all natural music-makers and singers---and that there is no such thing as a "bad" singer!!.
* Learning about all the song-writing being created by many of you on this blog!!! Awesome!!!
* When feeling stuck, sitting in "the silence" and being open to a higher power that inspires and guides us in the creative process.
* Singing with kids!! Total joy, wonder and fun: MAGIC!!!
Music and magic are simply everywhere---share some of yours here today by posting in comments below, and watch your world glow!
Fairy wishes and music kisses,
Lisa aka "The Song Fairy"!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Aren't we all singers? or What happened to singing in the Classroom?
Here is a letter I wrote to Rick Morris, a renowned education workshop presenter and master problem-solver. I highly recommend checking out his New Management website.
What I see as the challenge in the subject of my music workshops is getting teachers to realize the value and rewards of singing regularly with their students. To engage in this, they have to be comfortable with their voices and be open to launching into songs with their classes.
The advantages to teaching with songs are many. One of the most obvious is rhythm and rhyming enhance input/output of concepts, vocabulary, etc. Many teachers use CDs for this purpose and that's fine. But I want them to be mindful that we are all natural music-makers and singers, and that uplifting our voices together in song is a life-affirming, creatively-fulfilling part of our human experience.
Yet it seems that so many have come to think that if you can't sing perfectly you shouldn't sing at all. When teachers believe that they can't sing, they convey this notion to their students; the students pick up the idea that there are people who don't sing or that have bad voices. Singing and singing together may be considered a luxury or worse, trivial.
Problem: While singing is inherent in each of us, invaluable as a means to build community and foster safety, and is an excellent classroom tool, it is getting lost as a communal means of sharing information, feelings and beauty. It is being relegated to special occasions and experts only.
What I see as the challenge in the subject of my music workshops is getting teachers to realize the value and rewards of singing regularly with their students. To engage in this, they have to be comfortable with their voices and be open to launching into songs with their classes.
The advantages to teaching with songs are many. One of the most obvious is rhythm and rhyming enhance input/output of concepts, vocabulary, etc. Many teachers use CDs for this purpose and that's fine. But I want them to be mindful that we are all natural music-makers and singers, and that uplifting our voices together in song is a life-affirming, creatively-fulfilling part of our human experience.
Yet it seems that so many have come to think that if you can't sing perfectly you shouldn't sing at all. When teachers believe that they can't sing, they convey this notion to their students; the students pick up the idea that there are people who don't sing or that have bad voices. Singing and singing together may be considered a luxury or worse, trivial.
Problem: While singing is inherent in each of us, invaluable as a means to build community and foster safety, and is an excellent classroom tool, it is getting lost as a communal means of sharing information, feelings and beauty. It is being relegated to special occasions and experts only.