Tim Wiegand - Energize Your Music Classroom: Then Light up the Stage!

On Saturday January 30th, 2016 we were treated to an energetic and impactful session with Tim Wiegand. Tim is an educator from Las Vegas and a self published author of a number of elementary music resources. The turnout for this workshop was fantastic and it was great to see some new faces in the crowd.

The morning started with a fun activity entitled “Tubano Wars,” where one student (robot) is blindfolded and guided by a second student (controller) with two npp instruments. One instrument is to have the blindfolded student march forward and the other is to rotate right. This activity really brought the energy up in the room and was enjoyed by all. What a great way to reinforce knowing the different instrument timbres.

Later in the morning the focus remained on activities that were highly engaging and enjoyable. Dr. Frank’s Activation Game where students were paired up as human props having different body parts activated and deactivated. The Revolution Rap helped reinforce basic recorder technique with a popular music focus to really hook students. Air Before Time had a beautiful melody, sentiment,  and accompaniment and focused on students moving.

Two stand-out activities that Tim shared were “A Splash of Blue,” which had students using Boomwhackers in a Blue Man group-esque performance piece and “Tender Care” which was a tender and meaningful way for students to share their love of their parents/caregivers. It seemed that there were many people in the crowd who may have had some dust in their eyes.

Throughout the workshop Tim shared ideas toward more effectively managing the music classroom. A big focus was on using fun and engaging activities to keep students focused and on task, though specific mention of the use of clear and consistent expectations was made. Some significant take-aways would have to be the idea of using overly expressive voices for rhythms to ensure that all note values are observed (especially quarter note and longer), and having the teacher walk around the inside of a moving circle in the opposite direction as the student to maintain the circle shape.

All in all our time with Tim was extremely well spent with everyone coming out with ideas that they will likely have tried in their very next music classes. Tim’s energy, enthusiasm and expertise were very much appreciated and what a fantastic way to spend a Saturday morning! Thank you to the chapter executive for bringing in Tim who delivered such a useful and engaging workshop.