Therese Johnson is one of our LMS teachers. While lot’s of us have been working from home during lockdown, Therese lives on a narrowboat on the Lancaster Canal which presented an additional challenge for virtual teaching! During the latest lockdown, Therese ran all her drumming sessions from her boat which was a huge achievement and she was very proud of the pupils taking part. Here’s her blog:
“As the sun sets on another week, I thought this was an appropriate time to reflect on January, February and March online samba drumming sessions at schools across Lancashire for the Music Service.
A whopping 49 online samba drumming sessions have been delivered since this lockdown was announced. The initial feeling was fear of running online sessions using many different communication platforms (Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet). Many music educators and teachers, including myself, were all flung in at the deep end to work out how to teach online. What I found was a real feeling of togetherness between me and the teachers and the schools. We all helped each other to find our feet and to make online sessions work. The teachers tell me that the children are excited every week for music sessions – it is a chance for them to dance, play music, relax and have fun! It was new way of working for me and the teachers, however, we worked together to make the sessions happen, adapting to the new way of working and helping each other along the way. That moment when you press “join meeting” and it worked felt victorious every week….
Feedback I’ve had has been incredible and really highlighted how the music sessions supported the children’s well-being:“I just wanted to say thank you so much for our lesson today. It was absolutely brilliant! The kids in class loved it and I’ve already had feedback from one parent” Class Teacher“Just a line to say thank you for a great live music class this afternoon, it is amazing how one session has lifted my daughter so much. Thank you for your efforts in making this happen” Parent“Oh we all love our samba sessions! The parents are so pleased we are offering music and they love the lessons, so thank you so much! Headteacher“I have been struggling with teaching music this year, so it has been a great experience to be able to watch you teach. It has also been a pleasure to see your interaction with the children. I love the idea of the children picking a band name, it gives the lessons a purpose and an end goal.” School Music CoordinatorIt was great when I went back to face to face sessions because the teachers and all the children had been trying to work out where I ran the sessions from – all my online sessions were run from a 65 foot narrowboat!”
