Ha ha -You were FORCED to have folders! Last year I was told the budget couldn't even stretch to give my students exercise books for performing arts - I was vaguely offered some old manilla folders, which never turned up. And I was given a very tight photocopying budget. I armed myself with a guitar and a whiteboard marker and taught the kids using the "I sing the line, you remember it" method, which worked very well.
We charge our kids for choir. $10 for year 1-3. $20 for year 4-7. I've now got a considerable budget. We'll pay an expert to come in and work with them for a day. Some will go to copyright. Some to competition charges, some to buses. Some to party food. I mostly do my own arrangements so music costs are minimal. I want to spend the money on ukuleles for my classes but I'm not sure that's allowed!
Narelle - why do you have no budget? Any way of generating one? Where are you? Could we tour to your school? Do you want to tour to us?
We live in the Northern Territory! When we enrolled our kids in school the school had a performing arts unit and the principal at the time used it as a drawcard for new enrolments. When the performing arts teacher moved on, the school went for 18 months with no performing arts program. The P&C parents were very keen for the program to be reinstated so the new principal tracked me down and gave me two days a week to run a program last year. However, I don't believe the new principal was truly committed to the idea. I asked if I could run a school production and was given a tiny budget and an ever increasing number of restrictions. However, the kids loved performing arts and I was rewarded by many very enthusiastic children. It would have been nice to teach them again this year and build on what I have already done, but I decided to save my sanity and am now working at the School of the Air.
Working with novices can be testing
ReplyDeleteThe kids are actually fine with that.
ReplyDeleteI'm told the kids need to have music folders this year. So I have to have something to put in the folders.
Ha ha -You were FORCED to have folders! Last year I was told the budget couldn't even stretch to give my students exercise books for performing arts - I was vaguely offered some old manilla folders, which never turned up. And I was given a very tight photocopying budget. I armed myself with a guitar and a whiteboard marker and taught the kids using the "I sing the line, you remember it" method, which worked very well.
ReplyDeleteThe whiteboard method does work!
ReplyDeleteWe charge our kids for choir. $10 for year 1-3. $20 for year 4-7. I've now got a considerable budget. We'll pay an expert to come in and work with them for a day. Some will go to copyright. Some to competition charges, some to buses. Some to party food. I mostly do my own arrangements so music costs are minimal. I want to spend the money on ukuleles for my classes but I'm not sure that's allowed!
Narelle - why do you have no budget? Any way of generating one? Where are you? Could we tour to your school? Do you want to tour to us?
We live in the Northern Territory! When we enrolled our kids in school the school had a performing arts unit and the principal at the time used it as a drawcard for new enrolments. When the performing arts teacher moved on, the school went for 18 months with no performing arts program. The P&C parents were very keen for the program to be reinstated so the new principal tracked me down and gave me two days a week to run a program last year. However, I don't believe the new principal was truly committed to the idea. I asked if I could run a school production and was given a tiny budget and an ever increasing number of restrictions. However, the kids loved performing arts and I was rewarded by many very enthusiastic children. It would have been nice to teach them again this year and build on what I have already done, but I decided to save my sanity and am now working at the School of the Air.
ReplyDelete