I'm on Spring Break. My wife suggested I take the week off, but I didn't want to do that. I'll be performing the Bach "Magnificat" along with Morten Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna" in April. I don't imagine I'll be able to write much during that production week, so I plowed ahead - and I purposefully use the word plowed here, because Indiana got 9 inches of snow this weekend. Yeah... break out the skis.
I saw a post on Facebook, perhaps you've seen it too? Supposedly it's an Albert Einstein quote that says, "Play is the greatest form of research." ... something to that effect. I honestly don't know whether Einstein said that or no, but I agree with it. Reflecting on my own experiences verifies it for me. How did I learn to play the piano? I sat down and played it. I played for hours and hours and hours. My parents never one time asked me to stop. Also, they let me play what I wanted to play. Ever-so-often my mom would say, "Did you practice your scales today?" but she never poo-pooed my learning "Cold November Rain" by Guns n' Roses, and I think she was sort of tickled when I figured out how to play Lynryd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".
When I began trying to write music my father procured a copy of a music composing software known as Finale. How did I learn how to use it? I played with it. I put notes on the page and listened to them. When those notes didn't sound good together, I tried other notes until it was just the way that I wanted it. My first compositions were horrible, but now I have published works.
When I started singing, it was a matter of play. My sister and I would drive around in her black Pontiac Firebird Trans-am that looked like KITT from Knight Rider. We listened to Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Aerosmith, and we'd sing at the top of our lungs with the radio. I began to harmonize (because she always sang lead) just messing around; just playing. There is no doubt that much of my musical ability came from those car rides too and from my sister's tennis practices. My life has been forever changed by the musical sense and listening abilities derived from simply driving down the road singing harmony to my sister and Madonna.
I took up the bass guitar at a friends birthday party. He was in a band and they played a few tunes at the party. I felt like the odd man out. When they were done I asked the bassist if I could play around on his bass. He allowed it, and now I play bass guitar in regular sessions both with live bands and in studio.
The point that I'm trying to make is that play is a most powerful teaching tool.
Why? Because of these factors:
First, play is self-motivated. Again, my parents weren't telling me, "Get up there and practice!" I would come home from school and lock myself in the piano room. I needed no motivation, I just wanted to do it. I'm not sure why I felt compelled to do it? It made me feel good, I guess? I like the way the notes go together. I liked that I could manipulate and control the tones. I liked being able to figure out and master some lick that one of the pros played on the radio. I felt a sense of accomplishment. Jane McGonigal, in her TED talk refers to this concept as the "Epic Win" feeling. It felt good to unravel the mystery and replicate it.
How can you set students up to feel that "Epic Win" feeling when they unravel the mysteries of your content? Because if you do this, they will be self-motivated to do more for you. They will want to come to class. They will want to work for you. I'll confess that I have a daily goal for my teaching - I want to have such an impact on students that they are talking about my class at lunch. I want to walk through the cafeteria and overhear conversations like, "Foley's class today blew my mind! We put together _______ with _______ and I totally saw how it was relevant..."
Secondly, play is safe. I didn't feel bad when I made a mistake at home, I just started again. No one wanted their money back when I didn't play all of the notes correctly. I was at liberty to make mistakes. I need not tell any of you how much we learn from failure. Failure is the greatest teacher. Setting the stage of your classroom to support multiple attempts, in an upward spiral that encourages students, not discourages them, is key.
How can you make your classroom a place where failure is safe? How can you encourage your students to try again and again?
Also, play is quantifiable. Did you hit the right notes? Did you win? Did you nail the presentation? You know. The feedback is instantaneous. No one has to tell you anything. It is apparent when you have succeeded and when you need to attempt it again. Students need this as well. Self-monitoring is key to education. The teacher can't possibly see and hear everything. It takes students that are honest with themselves to say, "I didn't get that." and self-advocate another attempt, creating solid use of good feedback.
How can you make your class work instantaneously quantifiable? Students need to know right away whether they did it or not so they can either celebrate or re-calculate and re-try. That feedback needs to be honest and quick. If you wait too long, the feedback is stale and the students have moved on. Set yourself in a position to give quick feedback and encourage the students to express their feelings as well. I love it when a student says, "I bombed that, didn't I?" because they know what went wrong. If they know what went wrong, then they also know how to fix it!
And finally, play encourages collaboration. Play alone is fun, but that fun is exponentially better in groups. I mentioned taking up the bass guitar... the first thing that I wanted to do after I learned a few songs was join a band. I looked for guys that were in need of a bassist, and I found them. They had been doing the same things - practicing alone and looking for fellow collaborators.
How can you make your classroom a place where ideas, hypothesis, and theories are tested in such a way that students look for help from one another and from you? Including everyone in the process is a great way to learn. Allow students to pair up. Let them collaborate. Why wouldn't you do this?
All this talk of play makes me want to do just that...
Until next week, from snowy Indiana!
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