Open Dream Ensemble

What a great experience, for our BHESA tigers today! We were visited by the Open Dream Ensemble. They did a performance for our students on the Wright Brothers and the trials of learning to fly and build an aircraft. They used our students as their test drive (not literally). The producers writers and cast performed two shows and afterward asked our teachers and our students what they could do better. WOW! What a noble thought. Professional artists asking kids what they can do better and actually listening to their audience. Artists asking non-artists about how they could improve.

I thought about the parallel to our profession.

Do we listen to our audience? Do we ever ask our students what they thought of our lesson, or our performance? Did they get it? Did they like it? The approach these performers took today reminded me that we are never above asking the two most important questions in the field of education. What can we do better? What can we do different? Often times we satisfy our own need to teach, but miss the students need to learn, because we don't ask the question. In teaching it's what did you learn today? If they can't answer it then we should re-think our performance. We should re-cast our crew. We should re-write our script. However often we file our production into the vault of lessons to be re-produced to next year's audience.

Remember to take time to think about what it is you want to teach, what it is you want your students to learn, ask the questions and perform as if you were on stage seeking the response you have worked so hard for, the silent applause of a mind that has just learned something new.

And Action.......................................................