Closing off the school year

As the end to the school year rapidly approaches, what are some important or interesting things that artists who are teaching should touch on or do for their classrooms during the last week in order to provide a meaningful closure for students?

Tags: buitrago, closing, end, hernando, school, year

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Permalink Reply by Laura Page on April 22, 2011 at 11:33am

I think a capstone performance is a great idea, if there's time.

If not, and the students are older (middle school or high school), I think teachers should play a couple tracks of bands that are in town over the summer, and give the students a handout of resources where they can find free concerts from those bands. Keep music on their minds!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Howarth on April 22, 2011 at 11:41am

Perhaps some sort of recap/montage in the form of video footage and/or music learned? When I used to give guitar and bass lessons I would teach them theory, technique, and how to read music using music books of their favorite bands. When it came down to our final lesson I'd make a set list of sorts with all the songs we had learned and we'd play through it the way you'd play through a set at an actual gig (i.e. timing between songs, talking a little about what's cool and whatnot about the song before it starts, picking up the best you can when you make a mistake in the middle of the song, etc.). It always seemed pretty cool and gave them a chance to see how far they'd come and a lot of times inspired them to start a band with their friends. Also a jam session of sorts always seems a fun way to conclude a year!

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Permalink Reply by David Watterson on April 22, 2011 at 1:17pm

I would suggest holding a "final campfire" for students to reflect, share, and feel the bond between them as artists and human beings. Of course, the campfire can be figurative, but the concept is the same. Let students sit around in a circle, set the tone for the activity as a reflective moment, and let them control how they want to engage in the activity from there - don't make it too structured. Let them feel the sense of shared spiritual energy and creativity and bond they've established together as artists over the year, and encourage them to carry that bond with them.

If you want to make it a little more structured (which can be easier for middle school/high school youth to engage with), you can let each of them grab a bead (or other small item) out of a big bowl, and then one by one, they can share a favorite memory or moment from the past year and dedicate their bead to that moment. After they share the moment/memory, they dedicate their bead by walking to the center of the room and placing it in a small container (like an empty spice container). At the end of the bead ceremony, they have created a small maraca or percussion shaker made up of their shared experiences. You can tell them that you will always keep it to remember the community they established and the passion they brought to the class everyday, and whenever they want to come visit, the shaker will be there for them to come and use. You can even wrap up the ceremony by having a jam session where the bead shaker is passed around and each of them can take turns shaking out a rhythm on it!