This post is all about celebrating success. This is my 100th post, and I have recently gained 600 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers!
I know that these are not big numbers for some people out there, but I am truly happy with the progress that I have made on this little journey into the world of online business. I am a full-time teacher, Head of a Faculty actually, and the proud creator behind the Jooya Teaching Resources store over at Teachers Pay Teachers.
I started my little store back in 2013. It came about quite by accident, and it was truly an experiment at first. I really wasn’t sure if people would buy the products that I had originally created for my own use in the classroom. After the first product was uploaded, a day later someone bought something! I was shocked, but excited at the same time. I then thought that I should try and make a bit more of an effort with this enterprise, and have kept going ever since. It really hit home to me about the small success that I was getting when I saw customers coming back to purchase more products! It was then that I realised that the products I was creating were being used by a much bigger classroom – and that was weird and fantastic at the same time. It was especially sweet as all the money I made on TPT went back into my school and purchasing things we needed.
At the same time as starting the store, I researched other successful TPTers and watched what they did. Most of the really successful stores had Blogs, a Facebook page and a big presence online. In an effort to try to do what I thought I was supposed to, I started this blog. It took me a while to get into the swing of things with it. In 2016 I was determined to be more regular in my postings, which up until that time had been very sporadic! I worked hard to bring new posts every week – and I did.
Now, I probably write more than I create products. I think my High School English teacher – Ms Kearney, would be very surprised by this, I was not the best English student! I was criticised for writing like I spoke – not a formal enough use of the English language in my essays! I think that is funny now, especially since the most successful bloggers, (I don’t consider myself one, yet) will write in a conversational manner – it makes the reading experience a lot more personal.
I am off track, because I wanted to share a FREEBIE with you to celebrate these milestones. I was in the drama room the other day, and my lovely Drama teacher had recently updated a lot of her posters on the walls in the Drama room. One poster caught my attention – BIRRP. It was about the Drama process – Brainstorm, Interpret, Rehearse, Refine, Perform. It got me to thinking, I could use this same idea in my music class room – and CHIRRP was born.
CHIRRP is simple. It is about the music performance process – Choose, How many, Interpret, Rehearse, Refine, Perform. Let’s break that down.
Choose
Students need to make good repertoire choices. A bad choice can really affect the outcome of the performance. The piece needs to allow the student to demonstrate all that they are capable of in their performance, but not so difficult that they make mistakes.
How many?
Is it just my students? Or do yours not think through their performance in terms of what instruments are needed in the ensemble? Mine do, all too often. I don’t know how many times I ask them – so who will be playing the drums/bass/guitar/backing vocals/piano, etc … in your ensemble? They simply have not thought that through – at all. Especially when they choose a piece very close to the time of the assessment, I remind them that they need to give ensemble members time to rehearse.
Interpret
In the HSC Music exams, more and more the examiners are looking for a unique and individual performance. The examiners want to see how the student can interpret the music with their own “flavour”, and not just do a perfect copy of the original. Again, the choice of music comes to play here. If the piece does not allow for an original interpretation of the piece, then maybe the student needs to choose another piece.
Rehearse
This can not be stressed enough – students need to find time to rehearse on their own and with the ensemble. They should be ready when the ensemble comes together, they should know how they want the music to sound and have a very clear idea of the structure of the music. And when they rehearse, they should rehearse with purpose and not “stuff around”.
Refine
During this rehearsal period, students should be constantly “refining” their performance. Hopefully during rehearsals, they have explored all the musical possibilities and taken some risks to see what works best. At this stage, students should have a clear idea of how the ensemble will be presented – where each member will be placed in the performance space and what equipment they need.
Perform
This last part of CHIRRP, should be the easiest. If a student has taken the time to use CHIRRP effectively, then the performance will be done with confidence and comfort.
Don’t forget you can download the CHIRRP poster for FREE! Click the image above to go to my TPT store and download. Remember you get TPT points for leaving feedback, even on the free stuff! So, go on and give me some feedback. I have stacks of other FREEBIES for you to enjoy in my store, click the link below to have a look, enjoy.
Until next time
Happy Teaching
Julia from Jooya