tri-m music honor society
Lighthearted Moments in Teaching Mark Lakmann, WMEA State Chair, Tri-M Music Honor Society
The book I keep going back to for guiding principles in my teaching is Ros and Ben Zander’s national bestseller, The Art of Possibil- ity. In chapter 6, the Zanders explain the concept of some-
thing they call Rule #6, which is “Don’t take yourself so damn seriously.” Essen- tially, if you lighten up, those around you will also lighten up. Following our theme of “The Sunny Side of Music Learning,” I thought it would be nice to ask some of my music colleagues from Southwest Wisconsin to write some short vignettes about the lighthearted moments in their teaching careers. Enjoy!
Brian Renkas – Logan High School At Solo & Ensemble one year, a great trumpet player in my program was playing the Artunian, and just killing it! The day of the performance, things started incred- ibly well. Then, about halfway through, the accompanist inadvertently bumped the drum set button on the electronic key- board. Needless to say, he and everyone in the room were quite surprised! They didn’t know what to do, so they just kept playing in tempo along with the really heavy backbeat! Eventually, the perform- ers and audience couldn’t hold it together anymore, and just burst out laughing. The kind judge had him restart, and it was a really great performance! Even so, it was really hard to keep a straight face for the rest of the solo!
Jacob Klingbeil – Central High School It’s been good “catching kids being kids.” Although, yes, we focus on continuing our musical development, there are many opportunities for students to even relate music to something they identify with in life (usually something silly). Some kids relate music to outdoor activities they like, while others video games (like Pokemon).
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In the end, it’s all about getting the kids to “loosen up” within the curriculum and, again, just be kids.
Dave Kies – West Salem High School “Sleigh Ride” has become a staple piece for our wind symphony at our winter concert, as it is my wife’s favorite holiday song. One of the funniest texts I have received was from a former French Horn player (out of school for 3-4 years) that read, “I’m in Barnes and Noble and “Sleigh Ride” is on the muzak. All I can hear is the 2nd A LOT!”
French horn part. THANKS
Robbie Coe – Onalaska High School If you ask any of our students, the com- mon thread is always family. It was my first year in the district, and I was telling students that I had just witnessed a car crash. Minutes later, as we stood there at a standstill, I looked at my phone and saw a text message from the middle school team saying holy #%&! (insert word here), did you see that? When I told this story, the students’ faces lit up with shock and I said, “I just said something I shouldn’t have.” Five minutes later my first flute player said the principal wanted to see me. I then said to the whole band laughing, “Well if I am not here tomorrow, it was great to know you all.” I quickly learned to check your surroundings before telling stories and that telling a good story can make lasting memories. It is the relationships students build in music that keep them coming back.
Michelle Jensen – Holmen High School One of my favorite memories is the first time I did a team building activity called “Touch Someone Who…” The students were sitting in a large circle with their eyes closed. I then randomly selected five students to join me in the center of the circle. While the students in the circle kept their eyes closed, I instructed the students
in the center to tap the sitting students who matched the given prompts. Touch someone who:
• You would like to be stranded on a deserted island with…
• Will be a rock star... • You’d like to get to know better...
Throughout the activity there were giggles and even tears, depending on the prompt. Community and connections!
Charlie O’Brien – Tomah High School I often think back to my second year of teaching when the Tomah High School band traveled to Florida to perform in the Outback Bowl. My principal asked me, at the last minute, if we could have a foreign exchange teacher from Egypt travel with the band so he could gain meaningful cultural experiences. I agreed knowing that the teacher had many language and cultural barriers that made traveling dif- ficult and I would have to keep a close eye on him.
We went on numerous rides at Disney and Universal Studios, which was his introduction to roller coasters. He would ask if the rides were scary, or went upside down, and no matter the ride, I would re- ply, “No.” He caught on to my deception after descending Splash Mountain and was hesitant to go on any additional rides.
The highlight of the trip was seeing JJ Watt in the tunnel of the football stadium (the Badgers were playing) and wanting to get a picture with him. There was heavy security nearby so I “borrowed” a flute of one of my students so I could look more important and get past security to get my picture with JJ Watt. I succeeded.
Mark Lakmann is band director and music department chair at Logan High School in La Crosse.
Email:
mlakmann@lacrossesd.org January 2021
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