Day Four:Rockin

Ok - Day four... only missed one day so far. It's 9 am, and I am getting ready to rock. In the words of Hannibal Hayes, the fictitional character from the original A-Team tv show... "I love it when a plan comes together!"

      Yesterday at Masters Academy of the Fine Arts was our first day back after Christmas break. I was having a mini-crisis; not one of those sackcloth-and-ashes-wailing-and-gnashing-my-teeth type of crisis, but a crisis nonetheless. I like to work around a theme each semester for each class I teach, and I had not decided on that theme for my 7th grade music appreciation class. Couldn't decide. Had no clue. So as a stop gap measure, I put on Peter and the Wolf by Provokief, to let the kids hear how a great composer uses music to communicate about characters. As the music progressed, I watched these 7th graders REALLY get into the  music, to the point where one of them started imitating a duck whenever the duck showed up... a really good duck imitation, btw. This is what I was looking for. When I teach, I know what I want the student to know, and they will get that no matter what. But I keep my eyes peeled for that indefineable something - that moment when a child's eyes light up and gives me  glimpse into what captures their heart. Last semester the kids got totally caught up in the Mozart and Salieri story and the mystery surrounding Salieri's possible poisoning/murder of Mozart. So we had a trial. Salieri was exonerated... too late to do him any good, sorry to say. So what lit them up this semester? Peter and the Wolf. A great piece of music that illustrates various instruments in the symphony. So there it is... our theme. We are going to characterize each of their teachers, assign an instrument to each one, and write a motif (a teeny tiny musical theme) for each one.  The kids are totally jacked up for this project... so off we go.

       Actually - for me, this was a life-lesson example about how God usually works in my life. When Moses was leading Israel out of Egypt, when did God part the Red Sea? When it was time. Not a moment too soon, not a moment too late. Just in time. Moses was as prepared as he could be, he just did not know exactly what was coming. He did all he knew to do, and then he got to the Red Sea. Bummer. No way were that many Israelites gonna swim over that thing. He looks over his shoulder... great. The Pharoah and his army were coming. I know a good time when I see it, and that was NOT it. Well you know the rest of the story - the Red Sea  parted, etc.

      That's what happened to me - except no Red Sea, no Pharoah, no army... but other than that it was EXACTLY the same thing. I was prepared as I could be.... and God showed up. In the guise of a young man imitating a duck. A REALLY good duck imitation.

I am indeed ready to Rock. God showed up. 

Mr G