Today in our 8th grade band rehearsal, I sat next to the last chair trumpet player. He is such a nice young man. And, I played trumpet with him. I'm pretty sure I sound like Christopher Martin when I play. Unless you ask someone else.
Anyway, we were getting ready to play a really difficult passage (range wise for him, and who am I kidding, me too). There was an optional octave that was lower. But I asked him which one he was planning to play, and he said, "I'm gonna try the higher one. I'm going to at least try!"
THIS IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR PROFESSION.
If we can provide our students with a safe place and get them to take a chance, THEN they begin to see their real potential, and they do things they didn't even know they could do.
I say this all the time, "How can I get them to do 'X' or 'Y'?" And it usually boils down to the kind of environment I'm providing for them.
So, I continue to commit to making our rehearsal space a place kids feel secure about taking a chance. I don't always get it right, but I keep trying! Kind of like my trumpet playing....
This is so true Eddie. You know as well as I do that we learn just as much, sometimes more, from failures. We have to teach the kids that it is OK to try and fail, just as long as they are trying!
ReplyDeleteSo much of success comes from encouragement. If you're never encouraged to take a risk, you'll never know what you're capable of. And if you're beaten down when you fail, you'll never take that risk again!
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