S-Cubed: Philosophy AND Sight Singing method

This week, the Sight Singing lesson with my middle school students was called "Awakening".  I named it this because I wanted my young beginners to "awaken" to the work that is still left to do as we prepare them for Georgia Music Educator's Association Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE).

So, I pulled out an actual sight singing example from last year's LGPE.  I pulled out my stopwatch, and told them to pretend that were at the event.   I treated the experience exactly as they will experience in March.   I knew full well that there was no way they would succeed, but I told them to try their very hardest and to use every tool I'd provided for them in their toolbox.

They did their very best.  They actually got a part of it correct, but mostly, it was the horrible failure I had hoped it would be.

That sounds horrible, right?

It isn't.

What this experience does for the children is to help them become invested in the preparation process in a way they might not have been otherwise because they want to succeed.

I developed S-Cubed because most methods, in my experience, caused failure from the beginning.
In S-Cubed, we work to create success after success so they are used to getting it right.  Then, we set them up for failure right in the middle of the process for one brief day so they realize the challenges that still lie ahead....and we handle it carefully...and we make sure that we tell the students that part of the reason they failed is because I (the teacher) haven't finished preparing them.

The questions above were designed to help them remember the feeling they had while trying to figure out the example and the feelings they had after they finished attempting to sing it.

I asked them to describe how they felt.  They said:
dumb
unprepared
panic
stress
embarrassment

I asked them if they wanted to feel that way when they left the sight singing room in March, and they answered with a resounding "NO!"

I told them they shouldn't panic at all.  They should work.  Because, as along as we work hard and consistently, they will have all of the tools they need in their toolbox to solve the Sight Singing example at the event!  Every day matters.

I've seen so many students and teachers leave the Sight Singing room completely embarrassed and upset because they had done so poorly in the room.

S-Cubed: Successful Sight Singing for Middle School Teachers is the perfect solution.  We take one step at a time and make sure that our children really learn how to use the tools they need to succeed.

Here is a comment that a teacher left on my TPT page this week-  I was honored and thrilled!  I hope that I get the opportunity to help many other teachers have a more successful experience teaching Sight Singing to their young students!

OMG!! I just finished this lesson with my AWFUL-ly behaved 7th/8th grade choir. What a difference!!! It was magic. I had one student say "This is fun, I ilke your class now." Wish I had had this at the beginning of the year:O) I am looking forward to purchasing the other lessons….

January 8, 2014

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