Watching Tae Kwon Do class from the sidelines. Confused looks on most of these 20 kids between 6 and 10.
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Teenage sensei yells “There are plastic cones on the ground red, orange, blue and yellow. When I say go, the first one in your line runs to the yellow cone touches it once, then runs to the blue cone touches it twice, then runs to the red cone touches it then runs back and hi fives the first person in your group, then takes their seat at the back. Everyone understand?” They don’t respond. “Ready?” One kid runs. “Stop! Stop! I never said go!” Kid returns to his line. The exercise starts and young sensei has to yell a lot, again and again about how wrong they all are. At least my daughter laughs once or twice.
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Basic bad music lessons. Too much information for the beginner brain. Maybe 3 kids will get it right but most will bullshit their way and then young sensei will have to decide what to communicate to those who don’t get it. Will he make them feel bad for not understanding? Will he repeat the same directions they didn’t follow the first time like customs agents raising voices at people who can’t speak English (that should solve things). Will he consider the error could be how he set it up?
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So many people in positions to teach lost me in showing too much. Eager because they knew how to do it but insensitive to the mind of a beginner. Good teaching is keeping it simple. To master a simple thing is not simple. You see how the piano has a pattern of two black notes and 3 black notes? Play with that every day, see you next week.
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So weird, I just taught my daughter two days ago how to find middle C by telling her a story at the piano. The story is about a little girl who has to get home during a rain storm. Clusters of low end notes are the thunder. High end notes at a pianissimo are the first drops of rain. Next, the little girl has to jump up from each set of two black keys, starting at the lowest end of the keyboard. When she gets to the middle set, she does a little jump to the left, at which point she is home…at middle C.
Now she knows a tune, and how to find middle C.