Adventures in Teaching, Part 562

Two interesting stories from recent weeks.

Number 1:

There are many kids in my school on the autism spectrum, but are mainstreamed. One of them, when I had him last year, would prove to be extremely sensitive to loud noises. For example, if the class split into groups and played percussion instruments, he would retreat into a corner, rocking in place with his hands over his ears.

This year, when the kids first start in my cycle, I have them write down their favorite kinds of music. What did this same kid write?

"Anything but soft."



Number two:

I was telling my fourth graders a biography of Scott Joplin. The story mentioned that he had perfect pitch. I explained to the kids that I had it too, and it meant that I could play piano by ear really well. I'd told them that in a voice lesson I'd taught the day before, I'd picked out the Taylor Swift song "You Belong with Me" for the student, even though I'd never played it on piano before.

One kid, upon hearing that, exclaimed "Can you play 'Forever?'"

"Please," a girl chided him, "She's not that funky fresh."

I turned toward them, "The Drake song or the Chris Brown song?"

The girl gasped. "Maybe she is that funky fresh!"