My Special Power is Music

This past week, I was inspired to share and play around with the song/story Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger.  I was first introduced to this story years ago at a summer workshop about music and children's literature.  What a deal that was!  Two days of paid training in an air conditioned space with a packet of books and sample lesson plans, plus time to make and take any manipulatives you might need to supplement the lesson?  Okay!

Since then, Abiyoyo has become an annual favorite of my Kindergarteners, who get to sing along with the title song, playing "air ukulele" and using pointing finger magic wands to help tell the story with me.  But their favorite part is when I put the book away and tell them that they are going to help me do some more magic tricks.  They then spread out throughout the room and as I say the book's magic words - Zoop!  Zoop!  Zoop! - they turn into whatever picture I show them.  After many years of doing this, I am still buoyed by their squeals of delight as they twist and turn their bodies to form the poses.  If we have time, I finish the lesson off with a "magic ball" trick I learned in an Orff master class a few years ago.  It never fails to impress the most skeptical of students, who end up thinking that I really can perform magic.  The true test of a good lesson is when the children ask to do it again, and this one has never failed.

But then, my true special power is MUSIC.  I never really thought of it that way until last week, when I received the following from a 5th grade boy:

"One day, Mr. D was waking up.  Suddenly he saw it was 7:00!  He quickly went out to school in his D-MOBILE.  He flew over to his classroom very quickly.  He was then ready for another boring day at school.

About Mr. D --> Mr. D was a strong handsome music teacher.  He always wore jeans and a polo.  He had short hair and a beard.  But people did not know that he was secretly a super hero."










Powers --> flight, handsomeness, knowledge

      Super practice suit
      Mask
      Awesome skills of instruments in brain
      Handsome
      Utility belt of instruments
      Super D-Mobile







I can only thank Evan for this depiction of my super hero personality and, while it's true that I am handsome and have "awesome skills of instruments in brain," I am a bit envious of the utility belt of instruments and the Super D-Mobile.  And, in reality, my alarm will go off at 5:00 AM tomorrow and I will wake up, head to school and, rather than endure another boring day, I will share my special powers of music and magic (and aren't those the same thing really?) with my amazing students!  Cheers to you all for sharing your special powers to inspire those around you!

The Good, the Not So Good and the Um, Really??

Talent Show.  Depending on your experiences, those two words might conjure up feelings of anxiety, pride, excitement or dread.  Over my seventeen years of teaching elementary general music, I have experienced all of those feelings and more.  Let's take a walk down memory lane:

The Good

Luckily, I have witnessed some very talented young students.  As their music teacher, I do what I can to nurture their budding talents, but there are some things that I just don't have the time or talent to teach.  Take, for example, the 8 year old who played Beethoven's "Fur Elise."  Not just the beginning section, but the whole thing.  Flawlessly.  From memory.  I certainly didn't teach him that.  Or the 10 year old (whose height and maturity made her appear much older) who choreographed her own modern dance complete with standard ballet maneuvers and acrobatics, all very nuanced and musically expressive.  I certainly didn't teach her that.  In fact, many of the Good talent show participants had the advantage of private lessons and dance classes.  And I have marveled at their talents.  But the ones that stand out are the ones who didn't have those advantages and still showcased wonderful talents that they had honed themselves.

I remember a curious 5th grader who taught himself how to play the ocarina.  By itself, that is an accomplishment.  But he didn't stop there.  Once he had figured out the ocarina, he taught himself how to play the melody of a popular song of the day.  Pretty impressive.  But he didn't stop there.  He asked a girl in his class if she would like to dance to the song while he played.  So she made up a lovely dance to go along with it.  And they performed together and I got chills.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, but just as satisfying, were the two boys who got together and did a comedy act that actually made me laugh out loud.  I still remember one boy explaining the "ancient art of phrenology" (studying the bumps on your head) as he bonked his friend's head and then did a pretend "reading" of the resulting bumps.  Ha!  Ah yes, when children are left to their own devices, their creativity tends to shine through.

The Not So Good

But sometimes, children left to their own devices just aren't ready to perform in front of others.  As a teacher, these are the ones who crush me.  I really want them to do well.  I really want to help them.  But when 70  students are trying out for a one hour talent show, not everyone can be in it and a line has to be drawn.  Sorry cute little girl, but lip syncing (in my humble opinion) is not really a talent worthy of the stage.  Especially when you forget to move your lips half of the time.  And just stand there.  Maybe next year we can work on actually singing.  I've heard you sing in music class.  You can do it!  And boys, that rap you made up about McDonald's is just fine, but your rhythm was all over the place and you forgot the words.  Twice.  Keep on practicing and try again next year. 

And the, um, Really?

And then there are those memorable talents that, for one reason or another, despite their best efforts, fell into a category of their own.  Needless to say, most of these didn't make it to the stage (although there are a couple that did and I take absolutely no responsibility for those decisions - more on that later) and for good, sometimes laughable, reason.  Now, don't think me unkind, but some of these delusions of grandeur still make me chuckle.  I'm sure these students have gotten over it and would laugh too, especially considering of they are, by now, 20-something men and women. 

Ah, yes.  My first Talent Show as a teacher was some fifteen years ago.  The veteran music teacher I worked with schooled me in how to put the whole thing together, including having other teachers help with the judging so we wouldn't have to bear sole responsibility for disappointing little would-be stars.  It was all very clear, no fuss and, in the end, easy to decide who would be in the actual show.  But when someone else was running the show, the results sometimes went a bit awry.

Witness Jimmy the Finger Bender.  At least that is how I will forever remember him.  I take no responsibility for allowing him to "perform" in the epic talent show coordinated by a colleague whose thought was, "If they're brave enough to try out, they should be in the show."  Well, sure, maybe, sort of.  So, Jimmy was given permission to bend his thumbs all the way back to his forearms, grossing out the Kindergarteners in the front row, while that music teacher wryly played "Get Back" by the Beatles as background music.  Had I been in charge, I would have told Jimmy that being double jointed, while a curiosity, is not really a talent. 

One year, the PTA of my school decided to host a talent show.  I'm not quite sure how it was all put together, but rather than select the talent, I was asked to be the emcee.  I was happy to do so and stood pleasantly by as one act after the other took the stage after my spirited introductions.  Then the group of three girls took the stage for their dance.  Now, picture this:  three girls dressed in black tights and knee-length dresses, hair pulled back into pony tails, very slick.  Two of the girls are a full head or more taller than the third.  The took their place on stage, centered and slightly toward the back, the smaller girl sandwiched between the others.  They had obviously practiced, right?  Cue the music.  They waited a few beats, then began.  Oh, did I forget to mention that they were wearing tap shoes?  Yes, they were.  They started walking forward.  Click click click click.  Then backward.  Click click click click.  Over and over and over and over.  Click click click click.  But as the routine wore on, they began to get out of sync.  Cl-click.  Ick-click.  Lick-cli-cl.  Cl-lick.  Then came the Big Move:  the group stopped and the two taller girls formed a bridge with their arms.  The smaller girl walked behind them and did a sort of "fall of trust" into their arms.  The two taller girls then flipped the smaller one over and her heels loudly hit the stage:  CLICK CLONK!  It wasn't that graceful but at least no one was hurt.  And then, back to the clickety-clack.  End scene.  This might have been more successful if not for the tap shoes. 

Like I said, I take no responsibility for those acts since I had no hand in selecting them.  If I had, I would have found a way to let them down easy or work with them on their act so it would be performance ready come show time.  But there are others that I did bear witness to and, mercifully, kept from embarrassing themselves in front of an audience. 

I was part of the team of judges that included the other music teacher, one of the PE teachers and the school counselor.  A fourth grade girl was called into the room for her tryout.  We asked her what she was going to do.  She told us that she was going to sing the pledge.  I was a bit confused, since we normally speak the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the Star Spangled Banner, but maybe she was equally confused due to her nerves.  She proceeded to start reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at warp speed, slowing down midway through to bend on one knee to tie her shoe and finish with a flourish, standing up on the word "all."  Thank you.  Next!

By far the most memorable audition featured a group of girls doing a dance.  To give you context, the Back Street Boys were popular then.  And these 5th graders were in love with them.  And watched their videos all the time.  So I'm sure, to them, it seemed natural to do the dance from the video.  Cue the music.  Standing side by side, the girls began their dance which, at first, seemed pretty routine:  lots of interpretive hand motions and mostly step-touch in place.  As the routine wore on, it became clear that four of the five girls had practiced together.  They were fairly well synchronized and knew what they were doing.  But the fifth girl, on the stage left end, had obviously been a last minute add on.  She kept looking over at the girls next to her, copying their moves a split second later and doing her best to keep up.  It was nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little practice.  Then came the big move.  After all of that step-touching, we were to be wowed with a turn-2-3-clap that became a highlight of the dance.  But not for the reason they intended.  Four girls started to move to their right:  Turn-2-3....The fifth girl started to move to her left:  Turn--2-3....and CRASH!  Then three girls continued:  Turn-2-3-clap!  And two girls picked themselves up and tried to get back into the routine.  Meanwhile, stunned and, admittedly amused by this turn of events, all I could do was look down at the paper on my desk, trying to avoid further eye contact with the doomed quintet of dancers.  I felt my face turning red as I tried to stifle the laughter that was building up inside of me.  And then, to make it even more unbearable, the PE teacher leaned over to me and snidely said, "Mr. D., you might miss something."  Teachers are awful!  In that moment, I felt my shoulders bobbing up and down as a small snort escaped my mouth.  We all clapped appreciatively for the girls who, to their credit, finished their routine and knew that all were bets were off. 

Is there a Talent Show in my future?  Probably.  Though I have mixed feelings about them, I understand that students and parents enjoy them so I will probably have little choice in the matter.  All I can do is try my best to nurture my students' talents and remind them that one of the most important aspects of any show is the audience!

Getting To Know You, Part Two

A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor to present a Saturday workshop for an Orff chapter out west.  I've been presenting sessions since 2005 at local, state and even a few national conferences and even shared a few ideas for a few hours at a time with music teacher groups supervised by friends of mine.  But this was the first time I was invited to travel, present a full day workshop and get paid for having a good time hanging out with like-minded people and sharing some of my favorite activities.  Score!

At the workshop, I openly shared this fact:  in my previous teaching position, I was lucky enough to see my students twice a week plus every other Wednesday.  That school is on a trimester report card calendar so I was able to see my students 30 times before reporting a music grade.  This frequency of instruction allowed me to really get to know my students and garner a fairly accurate knowledge of their skills.  In my current teaching position, so-called "specials" classes are on a 6 day rotation.  That combined with the quarterly report card (nine weeks) means I see my students a total of 6 times before report cards are sent home.  As any pre-schooler might be able to tell you, 6 is a lot less than 30!

Needless to say, it has been a lot more challenging to get to know my students when seeing them so infrequently.  Name tags have helped.  Seating charts (for some classes) have helped.  Luckily, I have 16 years of experience to keep me afloat as I navigate these new waters.  Aside from getting to know my students, I have had to take a really good look at what I'm teaching them.  Thinking back to my first year of teaching, not knowing any better, I just taught the next song each week and never really allowed my students any time to get to know the material.  Over the years, I learned that spending some time with the material is crucial to fostering students' understanding of it.  Worrying about checking off a list of standards that students should know does not foster good musicianship.  Spending time with good material, enjoying it, nurturing it and watching students grow with it is, in my opinion, much more important.

To that end, I have looked at some of my traditions and had to say, "maybe next year."  There just isn't time enough to do them justice.  Happily though, some have remained in tact because I feel they are worth the time.  For example, during the last entire grading period, my Kindergarten students learned about the Bremen Town Musicians.  It is a unit that typically lasts 6 class periods or, in this case, an entire nine week quarter.  But it has been worth it.  Every one of those 6 class periods was packed with singing, movement, literacy, instrument playing and, well, standards.  For the curious among you, here's what we did:

• Classes 1 and 2:  read through the Bremen Town Musicians story.  Any version will do, but I prefer the illustrations in the Ilse Plume edition.  As I read the story, the students make the appropriate animal sounds each time one is mentioned (donkey hee-haw, dog woof woof, cat meow, rooster cock-a-doodle-doo).  Each time an animal "goes down the road to Bremen Town," we sing a theme song I wrote and get up to move like the animal just introduced (gallop, walk, tiptoe, run).  We also run when the robbers run away, tiptoe when one of them comes back and run again when he runs away at the end.  One the story is finished, I show the students how to make rhythm patterns from pictures of the animals and play them on instruments.
• Class 3:  Rooster Day - we do a movement activity to Mussorgsky's "Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks," we sing Let's Put the Rooster in the Stew along with John Feierabend's Choppity Chop rhyme.
• Class 4:  Cat Day - we sing Ding Dong Diggidiggidong (from Music for Children), we share stories of why the cat might be gone, we sing The Cat Came Back.
• Class 5:  Dog Day - we sing BINGO and practice taking away the letters one by one, we sing Bow Wow Wow and learn the lovely circle dance that goes with it.
• Class 6:  Donkey Day - We sing Sweetly Sings the Donkey, Donkeys are in Love with Carrots (with movements I learned from someone at a recent Orff workshop - thanks!) and sing and move to the Donkey Riding Song.

After spending so much time on Bremen Town Musicians, you'd think the students would get bored with it but, no.  Not true.  Not one student groaned, "not again!" as I suspected they might.  Instead, they enthusiastically asked, "What animal are going to learn about today?"  Score!

Getting to Know You, Part One

Happy New Year!  Okay, so I'm a bit late, but I wanted to make sure the first month of the year didn't go by without writing something.  Three months into my latest teaching gig, I've started to get more comfortable with who, what and how I'm teaching.  Even though I've taught for 17 years, any new situation is likely to throw off my game and make me question myself:  how do I compare to the teacher I'm filling in for?  Do the students already know this?  How receptive will they be to active music making?  Luckily, these questions pop up less and less the more I am there and, thankfully, I am winning over most of the them.  This process of getting to know my students and reflect on my teaching reminds me of two of the more profound learning experiences of my life.

I don't quite remember the reason why, but one day in my college calculus class, the professor asked if any us spoke German.  I awkwardly raised my hand, something I didn't often do in a math class.  He asked, "How do you say 'to know' in German?"  I was happy to explain that there are actually two ways:  kennen, which is used for social knowledge (Ich kenne Susie = I know Susie) and wissen, which is used for factual knowledge (Ich weiss zwei und zwei macht vier = I know two and two makes four).  The difference here is that factual knowledge is just that:  memorized, never-changing and impersonal.  Social knowledge goes much deeper.  Of course, his point was that a lot of mathematical thinking is based on facts, but to succeed in advanced math, those facts must be applied at a deeper level.  Now, I'm no mathematician but I am grateful for that conversation because the underlying principal can be applied to almost any endeavor.  As a teacher, getting to know my students is one of the most important aspects of my job.  At first, I might know Susie's name but that's about it.  I don't know Susie in a way that will help me effectively teach her.  After a few months, I am not just remembering students' names, but getting to know them better.  I know that Roniyah will ask a lot of questions and needs redirection because of her ADHD, but loves to sing and actually is listening when it seems like she isn't.  I know that Christian and Cameron, brothers, are both taking music lessons and enjoy being challenged.  I know that Nakayla is a student leader and winning her over has helped my cause (e.g. If she likes it, other students in her class are likely to give it a try).

Getting to know my students is, obviously, something that will take more than a few months.  They have to get to know me and my style of teaching, too.  I, like possibly many others, have often sprung things on my students that I knew would be a big hit only to have them fail miserably.  And then sit there wondering why aren't they getting it!  Well, either they weren't ready for it or I didn't take the time to teach it in a way they understood.  This makes me remember another profound teaching moment from my Level II Orff training.  Any of us who have taken levels have to realize that we are living in an Orff dream world for two weeks.  Trained adult musicians will learn a lot faster than typical elementary school students and it is easy to forget that when we bring something back to students and wonder why they aren't getting it as quickly.  This point was brought home to me by master teacher Mary Shamrock as she wrote lyrics for one of the pieces my group was sharing at the end of our two weeks together.  We threw together our skit in just a couple of days, once again giving the false impression that students might be able to do so just as quickly.  But Ms. Shamrock, having wisely practiced Orff approach for many years, included in the closing lyric of our skit, the reminder that what we are doing will take "patience, work and time."  In other words, give your students the time it takes to know what they are learning.  It will make a big difference.  More on this topic soon!

Justin......or is it Nicholas?

Now that I've begun teaching at my 6th school in seventeen years, the phenomenon I have jokingly referred to as Doppelganger Students has once again come to the surface.  Doppelgangers, according to Wikipedia (and The Vampire Diaries) are someone's living double.  Of course, I take this notion with a grain of salt, but having taught at half a dozen schools during my career, it has become an interesting pastime of mine to notice how many of my newfound students look, and even act, amazingly like students I had previously taught.

Over the past two days, as I handed out name tags at my new school, I spent the better part of the day initially thinking, "There's Eric.  That's Karla.  Oh, look, it's Isaiah!" only to find that, instead, they were Joseph, Estefani and Kiani.  Whoops.  My bad.  But can you really blame me?  Until you really get to know a student, all you have to go by is physical appearance and maybe a smidgeon of their personality.  And first impressions, however accurate or inaccurate they may be, naturally lead me to Eric, Karle and Isaiah.  A few years back, while teaching a class of 2nd graders at a new school, I decided not to back away from this confusing phenomenon but instead to honor and, indeed, celebrate it with them.  As I attempted to learn the students' names via some tried and true Orff name games, I was doing pretty well until I got to Justin.  Unfortunately, I kept calling him Nicholas.  Every time I did so, the class laughed a little and corrected me.  Finally, I broke down and, with good humor and patience, explained that it was just because he reminded me of one of the students I taught at my previous school.  Rather than taking offense at such a notion, Justin was intrigued.  For their part, his classmates were extremely eager to find out what their "other" names were.  And, not wanting to disappoint them, I went around the circle and named names.  And, for those who did not have a virtual double at a previous school, I simply told them they were themselves.  Eventually, I learned all of their correct names and the Doppelgangers ceased to exist.

As music teacher, I have observed an interesting, related phenomenon among my students over the years that might be called Musical Doppelgangers.  It's the phenomenon that students express when they insist that a song they have just sung is called by another name.  Well, that may ring true for a few folk songs or nursery rhymes for the younger set:  Twinkle Twinkle and The ABCs, Yankee Doodle and The Barney Song (egads!).  At least a dozen echo songs I use on a routine basis have the same melody.  So many classroom teachers use piggy back songs to teach all manner of subjects from counting to spelling to days of the week that Musical Doppelgangers do seem to exist.  And one of my favorite Doppelganger moments happens just after I finish teaching a song I know I've never taught my students before and Karla/Estefani asks, "Didn't you teach us that in _____ grade?"  But when students insist that Old MacDonald is really called BINGO, I have to take a stand and be the Music Teacher.  Sorry Justin, er, Nicholas.  They may sound similar, but the melodies and words are indeed different.  Let's sing each one again so you can hear.  After that, at least for a moment, the Doppelganger spell is broken.

Change is inevitable

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?  To be honest, I have been avoiding this because of my own pride.  If you've been following me (and if not, go ahead and read previous blogs to get the gist of it), you already know that I lost my job last spring.  To make things even more bittersweet, I had to move far away from a place I had grown to love because we simply couldn't afford to live there any more.  Now, I face the challenge of new surroundings, new people, a new way of "doing things" but, sadly, no new music teaching job.  And with the school year now into its 2nd month, the chances of that happening are getting slimmer.  Oh, I'll keep putting myself out there just in case that elusive mid-year position pops up (in fact, I'm waiting on a couple of prospects right now).  I've signed up to be a substitute teacher with a few school districts and hope that starts rolling along pretty soon.  I have joined my local Orff chapter and have already made plans to present a couple of mini workshops in February.  After learning a lot about how the job search goes around here, I'll be much better prepared to jump on the jobs that do open up.  Consider that the Lessons Learned portion of today's post.

So, what now?  In my current situation, I will probably focus more on the Musical Memories aspect of things.  And, with that in mind, here's something I have used with my younger students that has always been met with rave reviews!

I bought 16 of these little guys and drew differently shaped eyes on them with a Sharpie:  rectangles, triangles, Ts and circles.  They were then scattered around the perimeter of the classroom to make a "pumpkin patch."  Students sat in a circle and we sang Paw Paw Patch, changing those words to Pumpkin Patch.  Students were given instruments that corresponded to the shapes drawn on the pumpkins:  sand blocks, triangles, tick tock blocks and hand drums.  Then we played a little game.  One student was selected to be Johnny, who walked around the room collecting pumpkins as we sang the song twice  (I made a rule that he could only take one at a time and bring it to me before getting another, otherwise we might have run out!).  When Johnny was finished, the pumpkins were arranged into patterns like in the picture and used as a score for playing instruments.  They had a great time and loved the game!

Here's a variation that ties in a bit of rhythm reading skills:  Circle game without instruments (or with if you want....):  each student receives a pumpkin (die cut, toy or real) with a quarter note, paired eighth notes or quarter rest (or whatever you're working on) drawn on.  Select a student to be Johnny and sing the song.  Whomever Johnny stops next to at the end of the song brings over his pumpkin, then becomes the new Johnny.  Repeat until four pumpkins have been collected to create a pattern.  (Of course, you could also draw four beat patterns on each pumpkin and cut down on the repetitions, but I find that students don't mind singing songs over and over as long as there is a chance they might "get a turn.")  Then select a student (or whole group, whatever) to say/clap/play the pattern.  Repeat the process as many times as you want.

Enjoy!

The End of an Era

This has been one busy week!  Three concerts, practically in a row, with just one day between the second and third.  These were the last concerts I would present at my current elementary school

Monday was a mere warmup, assisting at the middle spring band concert shared by its feeder elementary band students.  Amidst the 24 students from three other schools, my two drummers showed up to play and I got to conduct Let's Go Band.  Then we listened to the jazz band and went home at intermission.  Like I said, it was an easy warmup to the concerts ahead.

On Tuesday, all of the instrumental music students from my school gathered for their spring concert:  beginning strings, intermediate strings, beginning band, intermediate band and Orff ensemble.  Aside from setting up (and tearing down) the Multi Use Room without the aid of the night custodian (there was a conflict with the classified staff barbecue), it went off without a hitch.  I am amazed every year at the progress of my students from the first day of honking on a mouthpiece to now playing concert music in parts.  Amazing!  Of course, my heart is with my Orff ensemble because I get to delve further into the Music for Children volumes than I can in a class of 32 students.  What a fun and talented group they are!

Then, last night (Thursday), the week wrapped up with the Kindergarten and First Grade performance of The Bremen Town Musicians.  I have used that story every year with my Kindergarten students.  I read the story to them, we sing a theme song I wrote, they make animal sounds and get to move like each animal (gallop, walk, tip toe, run), then each animal gets its own special day with songs and movement activities.  It seemed like just the ticket for our spring concert.  And, since it was so familiar, I couldn't just let it be.  I had to find a new rooster song (Let's Put the Rooster in the Stew), create original artwork depicting the story, put it all into Power Point with narration in English and Spanish and expect it all to go smoothly.  Well, it didn't.

As concerts go, this one was fairly typical at the beginning.  At 6:25 only about 20 students had shown up and I started to panic.  Then, right around 6:30, when the concert was supposed to begin, they started coming in droves.  We ran out of space and had to have students sit on the floor.  There was not much thought about where students were placed other than their size.  That was mistake number one.  Two students, chatty friends, were seated right next to each other in the front row and sat talking to each other throughout the performance, even during the songs.  Even as I stared them down.  Even after I told them to stop talking and sing please.  Meanwhile, another student, while sitting on the floor, fell asleep.  Her little head just fell forward into her lap and all you could see was her mop of thick brown hair.  I think she woke up in time for the last song, maybe.  There were more, of course:  the first grade boys who kept pushing each other as they stood on the top step of the risers.  The shell shocked Kindergarteners who just stood there, eyes wide, not singing at all.

The main glitch, the one that really got me, was the *&%$@ computer!  I put a lot of work into the Power Point and it was going really well.  The narration was loud and clear and all could understand  d the story.  That is, until the audio stopped working.  I looked at my techie and he just shrugged.  The audience and the kids started to grow impatient.  We checked all connections and everything was fine.  I even, with the projector still on, checked the settings of the slide show and everything was fine.  I was so set on the telling of the story that I asked my principal if she would translate for me.  She suggested we just sing the songs and forget about it.  Okay then.  So I made a "technical difficulties" announcement and told the audience we were simply going to sing the rest of the songs and forget the story.  They cheered.  Ouch!

 

So we went on with "Let's Put the Rooster in the Stew" and it was charming.  Then, just for fun, my techie advanced to the next slide and just as we were ready to sing the next slide, low and behold, the audio started working again.  Sigh.  Whatever.  By then, it was a moot point.  I was disappointed that my story hadn't gone off without a glitch, but I had to remind myself that this was a concert and what counted most was the music.  And that part went very well.  They all sang beautifully.  Well, the ones who actually sang did!  And in the end, all that mattered to their parents was the experience of being there, seeing what their children had learned and that they were happy.  On that note, I would call it a rousing success.