As I predicted both choirs were exactly how I thought they would be in rehearsal. The younger choir, ages 5-9, were full of energy and excitement. They entered my classroom with a buzz, singing remnants of the music they remembered from last week and declaring to me the interesting things that had happened to them since I had last seen them. They truly are the physical reality of "galumphing". I kept this in mind as I presented an excited yet somewhat controlled demeanor in my lesson for the day. Occasionally too much "galumphing" creates a loud buzz that is difficult to teach over! When they left after their rehearsal I could not stop thinking about why or how these children were so energetic after a long day of school. Don't get me wrong I would more often rather children to "galumph" and be energetic and excited about choir then have to pry the energy out of them.
My senior choir arrived fifteen minutes after the junior choir left. The majority of the senior choir is 10-15 years old. As usual they came into my classroom declaring how exhausted they were from the day and when I asked them to stand for warm ups there was the occasional, "My legs are so tired, can we just sit", request. I, being in a "galumphing" sort of mood from my junior choir was trying to get the senior choir energized through movement and one silly song game. My efforts were thwarted by the "exhaustion" of my students. There are the occasional days where any students are truly tired and no matter how energetic you are they may just need to have a "tired" day. Taking this into account I decided to bring up the term "galumphing" with my senior choir. When I said it they laughed and said, "That's a silly word". (By they way I'll reiterate, they laughed, which I will be counting as a burst of energy!)
When I asked for a definition they answers were creative and outlandish and my students were beginning to use their imaginations and snap out of their "exhaustion" for a few minutes. After a montage of creative definitions I read the definition by Nachmanovitch and they all understood.
I would say out of the 45 minute "tired" senior choir rehearsal yesterday, my students gave me about 20 minutes of pure energy just from the discussion of "galumphing"!
1 comment:
Teachers as Galumphers.
What happens to the class when teachers Galumph? Do you think Galumphing is a group process? Is it like the tree falling in the forest... if no one sees you galumphing does the galumphing exist? Do elephants galumph? Do mosquitos? Is it easier to galumph inside or outside the margins?
Post a Comment