arrange • compose • conduct
Finite games have winners and losers. Think basketball, Words with Friends, elections. One participant wins, and in so doing, causes all other participants to lose. Infinite games don’t have winners. Think playing catch, duck duck goose, choir festivals, Snapchat streaks. Having success in a round doesn’t compel another to lose, it either has no […]
In teaching a student a jazz standard in a voice lesson yesterday, we listened to Sarah Vaughan. In her performance of “I Could Write A Book”, Sarah barely touches on the melody from the opening bars. How, I asked my student, could she get away with that? The answer is […]
“I want to be on the leaderboard!” So my son said to me as he methodically inputted his reading into our local library’s online Summer Reading Program. My son, who will regularly be up past midnight, reading – because he got to the good part. My son, who will finish […]
Students don’t seek unity in their algebra class. They don’t seek safety in chemistry, inspiration in social studies, or hope in their phys. ed. class. They seek all of those things in choir. And more. Judging from the increasing passion and divisiveness seen across our country, our kids will be in greater need for […]
Early on in parenting, I read about the concept of playing up and playing down. It turns out that children really don’t have a specific age as a range – and they can play more or less maturely depending on their playmates. So my seven-year-old can have markedly different behavior […]
Cross-stitch patterns tell you what to do. Use this yarn with these holes, make no alterations, and you’ll complete the picture as promised. The tools and materials are provided to complete the project. Recipes tell you the amounts and techniques to create a dish. Add this much flour and yeast, whisk in liquid, proof until […]
This week, I’ve repeatedly tried looking for hope in the wrong place. Twitter. Twitter is not for finding hope. Twitter is great for many things, but for supporting optimism about the future, it’s, um, not so good. Going forward, I’m going to try finding hope in likelier spots. My family. My work. Music. The […]
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead From the culture in your classroom to the future of the nation – be thoughtful, be committed. Take action and change the world. We’ve got this!
We all have artistic potential. Can we all be Picasso? McFerrin? Baryshnikov? Of course not. But we can all reach further than we might think, and we are all leaving too much potential behind. That’s why arts educators are important. We help to uncover potential, and empower students to tap that potential to […]
It used to be there were two states for people: motion or stillness. In recent years, we’ve created a third category between the two. Let’s call it static motion. Kinetic stillness. In static motion, we get the feeling of momentum, even as we are still. It is facilitated by the screens that occupy […]