Last Thursday, the students of "The Den" (the habitat from which we combine voice, instruments and movement at Fox Ridge Middle School) had to think flexibly.
I had introduced a new challenge to The Den - how to cope with change. Specifically, change from a known to an unknown. Specifically, and with great sadness, I was leaving Fox Ridge; and with bittersweet excitement, I was joining Louisville Middle School.
We had created a place where it was possible to take wild risks, like singing and dancing in front of your peers without being judged and laughed at. We had created a family where everyone had a place and everyone belonged. We were well aware of each others' talents, strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures.
And I told them the move was because of my future daughter, and wanting to spend more time at home rather than extra hours on the road, and they believed it - because it was true. We always spoke honestly and respectfully to each other in the Den.
The best part about our classroom was it seemed that most of the time, each of us bought into the fact that everyone belonged. From that belief came some of the most creative interpretations, arrangements, compositions, and thinking that I have seen among middle schoolers - during performances and during rehearsals.
We had created a family where we were allowed to make mistakes in order to grow, in order to realize our potential. And none of us really wanted it to end because we were growing so much- as we took risks, as we failed, as we reflected, and as we took more risks.
And I learned, and now I believe, that building a safe place to take risks enables students to take more conscious risks, and in turn learn more/grow more. I believe we had a good thing going at Fox Ridge, and I believe we can do it again at Louisville.
But, as I wrote to the parents of my students last week, I'm really going to miss the children that inspired me to back off and take risks to become a better teacher. They taught me, over time, that as I (a teacher) relinquish more control to the them (the students), they are able to fly that much higher.
