Sailor heart

What ho, tis I, Le Kez!

Hope that your day was successful and fun.

I had a slightly bizarrely successful afternoon which only resulted from me going off on a tangent!

In year 3, I went to teach a lesson. I was introducing the concept of Time Signatures - which would then lead into them getting the feel of time signatures, learning to conduct in those time signatures, listen to some music to identify time signatures and then answer some other comparison questions between 2 songs- Tomorrow the Fox and 'Didlan' (based on The Ashgrove folk tune).

Anyway, I introduced it by asking them what comes first on the stave in music (the treble clef).  I asked them what that told us (that it was a high-pitched instrument playing).  Then, as a reminder, I asked what the name of the clef was that means it's a low instrument (they dutifully answered 'Bass Clef') - I then added the Alto clef as a tangent which was greeted with "Cooooool!", "I love this!"  (??????)

I then started to say as a mere note aside, that a key signature comes next and somehow got into explaining key signatures, how they work, what sharps and flats are and what they mean etc' and somehow, they were highly enthusiastic about this and were really getting into this (I'm talking boys and girls who can be a bit disruptive) and were just amazed to be learning all this (I think I maybe did ok by starting the Alto clef comment by saying, "You don't need to know this, but I know some of you like knowing harder, extra information," which meant everyone wanted to be THAT person I was inferring) .  So we had this massive tangent on key signatures and sharps and flats and enharmonic equivalents and they were just bizarrely really with me on it!!  There was no distraction, no one who had to be called to order or made to face the correct way. We're talking a solid block of music theory!

When I introduced the time signatures, the delight of learning how to conduct and what conductors are really doing was a delight!! 

When they came to do the listening- everyone was totally focused.  Bizarre how that happens sometimes. I usually find them really hard work. That said though, they are quite a musical class- they are probably one of the best singing classes in the school.

Anyway, if you have survived that long and waffly tangent, well done, have a gold star, biscuit and a cup of tea, you deserve it!

I thought I'd share 2 pictures of two of my Charity shop purchases which featured in 'The Buyer's archive' post. The gorgeous Topshop sailor jumper from Sue Ryder and the heart skirt from Barnados!  Just needed the tiny addition of some navy knitted tights, gold Toms and my Punkypins Bee necklace and I was good to go! 

I love my new tree with its crops of daffodils! What will I do when they all die!?!? I've never quite had such a happy blogging posing spot!

xxx