Elemental Conversations with Victoria Boler

This conversation is about using percussion instruments, but it’s much more about the mindset to use when approaching these experiences.

Alicia spends a lot of time establishing the context in which these activities can take place, and creating the tone of the learning. One of the most valuable parts of the conversation to me was hearing Alicia talk about all the artistry and imagination that takes place before students even have the instruments in their hands. The instruments are the extension of the process - not the whole process in and of itself.

We also talked about classroom management with these instruments, and how conversations about classroom management are actually conversations about musical sequencing.

Alicia is someone who brings breathability to music education and I know you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

If you’d like to write Alicia a thank you note I know she’d appreciate it and she certainly deserves it. You can email her at [email protected], and read her bio at the bottom of these show notes.

Keep Learning - Alicia Recommends:

American Orff-Schulwerk Association Website

Find Your Chapter

Play Sing & Dance

Purposeful Pathways

Keep Listening:

Episode 5 - What Are Some Ways to Efficiently Pass Out Classroom Instruments?

Episode 28 - Teaching a Partwork Piece on Barred Instruments

Episode 34 - Strategies for Sharing Instruments

Episode 9 - How Should I Use Percussion Instruments as a Vocalist?

Barred Instrument Exploration Video - It Fell from the Sky

In This Conversation:

03:28 - It’s Alicia Knox!

5:04 - Teaching middle school

09:27 - Alicia’s pathway to Orff Schulwerk

17:38 - What are percussion instruments?

21:06 - What do I do with these instruments?

25:40 - Sequencing with flexibility

35:09 - Musical steps and classroom management steps to play the instruments

40:50 - First Steps for Unpitched Percussion - “The Napping House”

49:11 - “My kids could never do this” Backing up and moving forward appropriately

57:32 - First Steps for Barred Instruments

1:04:36 - Where to Learn More

1:08:51 - Quick Questions - What’s the last fun activity you did?

1:10:20 - Quick Questions - What’s the next teaching project you’re excited about?

1:11:38 - Quick Questions - What makes you so good at what you do?

1:12:48 - Where to find Alicia

As we wrap up the year, rhythmic building blocks can be a beautiful way too reinforce musical knowledge and skills, while offering lots of options for student choice. Whether rhythmic building blocks are a well-loved mechanism in your classroom already, or if you’ve never used them at all… I think you’ll enjoy this look into their (seemingly) infinite possibilities.

Find the full show notes at https://victoriaboler.com/elemental-conversations 

Let’s Connect: 

 Website  | Instagram  | YouTube  | Website | Planning Binder

The short answer: As often as we want, and as often as we see it serving students.

But there’s a lot more to dive into! Here are some things to consider thinking about in answer to this important question.

It’s concert season. Let’s look at some options for taking a short piece and extended it for a concert setting. When it’s time to put on a program of short recorder pieces, how can we keep the presentation manageable, while filling out a program?

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Find the full show notes at https://victoriaboler.com/elemental-conversations 

Let’s Connect: 

Website | Instagram | YouTube | Website | Planning Binder

We’ve all been there. What’s the balance between preparing for a concert, and “regular” teaching? What’s the connection between the two? And how can we structure next year so it’s breathable, joyful, and intentional?

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Find the full show notes at https://victoriaboler.com/elemental-conversations 

Let’s Connect: 

 Website  | Instagram  | YouTube  | Website | Planning Binder

What might early experiences with melodic pedagogy look like? Before the expansive melodic vocabulary in upper elementary, how do young musical learners explore and actualize melodic ideas? What does it look like at the beginning of the learning process? And is there a way to make early melodic experiences intentional, musical, pedagogically sound, and joyful?

That’s what we’ll explore today.

Episode 37 - Organizing the Music Lesson Plan - Concepts vs Activities

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 Find the full show notes at https://victoriaboler.com/elemental-conversations 

Let’s Connect: 

Website | Instagram | Youtube | Website | Planning Binder

When we move in music, we actually need practice not bumping into each other! Physical awareness of our surroundings is one of those things that may seem obvious to us, but it’s actually a learned skill.

Here are some concrete ways we can practice moving in open space, so that music class stays safe and fun for everyone.

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 Find the full show notes at https://victoriaboler.com/elemental-conversations 

Let’s Connect: 

 Website  | Instagram  | Youtube  | Website | Planning Binder

What’s the relationship between recorders, barred instruments, the voice, and movement? How might we approach recorders as another tool in our melodic toolbelt?

There are assessments we learn about in teacher training…… and then there are actual assessment challenges we face in the real world.

Let’s look at four teacher questions about assessment. We’ll talk about grading young musicians, the relationship between assessment and student motivation, how to assess active musical doings, and why we might rethink grading on effort.

Let’s go!

When we have a distance between instructional times, we may notice that students don’t always retain information from class to class.

What are some strategies we can use to help students reference back to their previous musical experiences so we can build skills sequentially?

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Find the full show notes at https://victoriaboler.com/elemental-conversations 

Let’s Connect: 

Website | Instagram | YouTube | Website | Planning Binder