Often I think about what I am implicitly teaching my students. I wonder if I’m acting appropriately in front of them, if I am speaking about all people mindfully, if I’m always showing respect to the environment around me. I believe that implicit actions outweigh the benefits of explicit teaching.
Last week I went to see Craig Smith speak about creative music making. I went because I was interested in making music, I learned a lot more about teaching than I thought I would have before setting out that night. While he did talk about skoog, music making, coding and giving everyone a choice I learned more about how to be honest in a class.
I’ve worked with a lot of learning support teachers, and many more regular classroom teachers. Part of my thesis was on how people act based on their values (often they don’t seem to be aligned in the classroom or regarding curriculum). I felt like I could tell a lot about what Craig believed just by how he interacted with his audience.
From all the presentations I’ve been too, I never had the sense that the person presenting actually respected and valued everyone, but Craig was different. In all his mannerisms, his speaking and how he handled everything he just showed a ton of respect. I came to learn about music making, but left thinking about so much more.
So, thanks Craig.
Joe Teft 