Teaching on-Line Parent/Child First Steps in Music Classes
by Connie Greenwood
As I write this reflection, I am ending my “into the unknown” season of on-line First Steps in Music parent/child classes. Since the quarantine in March, I have taught 11 Facebook “live” events and 10 weeks of Zoom parent/child classes. I have watched many other teachers present their programs online and I have learned a lot. I am reflecting on what I will continue to do and what I will change for future online learning.
The three preschools I worked for, have all gone through major losses. I was put on furlough after 2 weeks and I am still not sure of my status for next fall. I created the Facebook “live” events to stay connected to the children and families. I presented a 30-minute preschool First Steps in Music routine and had a steady turn out for the first several weeks. Many parents wrote me kind notes and thanked me for providing this for their children. As time went on the numbers decreased. From what I have gathered, parents became overwhelmed with “live” events. I considered this a learning opportunity for myself and finished my commitment. Overall, it was a good experience. I learned a lot about pacing and timing. In this case less is better.
One discipline I did Monday through Saturday, for 12 weeks was record myself doing one or two musical activities each day. I made short videos of myself and put them on an unlisted YouTube channel. I feel like that was the most productive part of this season. I learned so many new songs and this was my way of documenting them. I now have many resources to draw from. One thought that motivated me was that I was building my “brand” and my closet of videos will come in handy with future on-line teaching.
I have been teaching Saturday morning classes at the University of Hartford, through the Hartt Community Division, for over 20 years so thankfully I have a faithful following of committed families. If I did not have this network already in place, I am not sure it would have worked. I made a YouTube demo of what Spring online classes would look like and thankfully I had enough interest for a toddler class and a nursery/preschool class. I set up 10, 45-minute classes on Zoom and we sent the families the link every week. I am grateful for the Community Division’s support with technology. I have had my panic attacks when the power went down during class or the server would not let me be the host, but I am learning to stay calm and carry the music on.
When the classes first meet, I greet everyone while we keep the steady beat to upbeat classical music. I use the same one every week as the opener. I unmute everyone and I allow them to interact. I say everyone’s name and welcome them. Then I mute everyone, and we begin the class. I have learned to get right up to the camera. The purpose of these classes is for human connection, so I do my best to keep it personal. I tell the parents in the beginning what props they will need- a scarf, egg shakers, a beat buddy, a box for a drum etc…I have recently created First Steps in Music Kits, including 2 egg shakers, 2 lumi sticks and a new scarf in a small drawstring nylon mesh bag for easy cleaning. I will be sending these to the families in my summer sessions and I have created activities where these items are used in almost every lesson.
I go through the 8-part First Steps in Music workout, but I have added more props, puppets, instruments, and movement activities to the lesson. I find the students respond better to active learning situations and it becomes more engaging when the students are playing along with a beat buddy or an item from the music kit. I am purposefully adding more ethnic music to move to and songs to sing as well as song tales and puppets with racial diversity in each lesson.
For my Zoom set up, I am sitting on the floor in front of my laptop, which is up on my coffee table. I need enough room because I am constantly moving forward and backward in front of the camera. I have a large whiteboard set up behind my laptop, on which I write my lesson plans and I have a clock nearby to keep time. I have my music ready on an iPod, and I play it through my Bose speaker. I enjoy seeing the children’s smiling faces and hearing their voices. Sometimes the children are just watching me and that is okay. I tell parents these are tools I am giving the parents so they can play with their children throughout the week.
The nursery/preschool class is a little different. I like to unmute them more so they can hear each other. They have been able to take turns singing solos and I have been able to follow their steady beat. We know, an excellent child vocal role model is the best teacher, so I try to encourage this as much as possible. I use Google classroom to communicate with the families. They have word sheets and song files for all the materials covered in class. Next year, if online, I would like to incorporate Flipgrid to get more feedback from the families and give personal encouragement.
Things I continually need to work on is to keep it simple and to not be in a rush. It has been a challenge to have less time with the students. I also have struggled with technology, but I am becoming a better teacher through this process. My goal is to help raise the next generation of little music makers and First Steps in Music continues to meet a need. I do not know what the future holds. I can imagine the preschools may not be inviting me back into the schools this fall, due to the pandemic, so I need to continue to become more comfortable with technology. I am motivated to continue because I know children need the arts and parents need encouragement.
It has been quite the journey this spring and I am thankful we have so many new ways to grow musically and to stay connected. My hope is to keep growing, learning, being proactive and to stay inspired to be inspiring. When I focus on this, I know, the future will take care of itself.
Connie Greenwood, West Hartford, CT. FAME endorsed First Steps in Music teacher trainer and preschool music teacher as a self employed owner of Greenwood Music Services.