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col·lab·o·ra·tion
col·lab·o·ra·tion
/kəˌlabəˈrāSH(ə)n/
noun
1.the action of working with someone to produce or create something.
The definition above articulates my goals in collaboration: to work with others for the purpose of creation. In my personal and professional live I've been blessed to have many opportunities to work creatively with others - whether that's my colleagues, my students, or my family. The process is not always easy, and the products not always perfect, but the results of the creative effort are always memorable, and consistently worthwhile.
On this page you will find three examples of me as a collaborator: two with my students, and one with my son. I hope these are helpful in articulating my vision of what it means to me to be a collaborator.
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off!
Sometimes the best way to traverse a tense situation is to get everyone working together towards a common goal. That was my experience when I began teaching gr. 4/5. I think it was my 4th year teaching this wonderful age group, and I was working with an extremely, shall we say, 'high-energy' group. A dazzling array of starring actors ensured that in the theatre of my classroom there was never a dull moment. Towards the end of our year together things were reaching a crescendo, and the wheels were beginning to come off the bus, as they say. We just weren't working together, and strong individual personalities (my own included!) were creating more conflict and stalling than peace or progress.
A collaborative musical theatre project brought us all together and ensured that we finished the year off on a wonderfully high note! As a class we decided to enter the school talent show, and decided to enact the sum of our experiences that year through the use of George and Ira Gershwin's song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off!" As a class we decided how we wanted to present our story, and collaboratively we came up with the overall plan, the script, the choreography (kids are fantastic at this!), and the casting. The performance chronicles our journey from conflict to resolution, by learning how much we needed each other to be successful! We took a break from academics at the beginning of June and found that singing our hearts out and rehearsing together brought us all closer together.
This presentation started an annual musical performance tradition with my class which was brought to a halt by COVID last year. But I fully intend to re-introduce the powers of music and collaboration to my class next year and beyond. Enjoy our performance of 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off!'
Click the link below to watch the video of our collaborative musical presentation!
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off PME with lyrics.mp4More Soup for You!
You may have heard the saying that "Too many cooks spoil the broth", and I suppose it's true. But in my class we say 'the more, the merrier!'
For the last four years (until the COVID monster came, of course...) our class has worked together during our 'Soup Group' project in the chilly winter month of February, to plan, cook, sell, deliver, clean up after and enjoy homemade soup each Thursday. Students are divided into groups of 6, with names like 'Top Chefs', 'Iron Chefs', and 'Master Chefs'. During their respective weeks, group members are responsible for bringing that week's soup ingredients to school, and then we spend the first hour of Thursday together washing, prepping, food processing, sauteeing, seasoning and waiting together for our weekly soup to cook in our classroom's electric turkey roaster (yep, you can make great soup in it, too!)! Half of the group helps me prep the soup, while the other half collects orders and money from the school's 17 divisions.
At 11:15 there's a frantic hurry to package up the soup (Kindies first so theirs can cool down a bit, of course), and then deliver the soup to the student customers on our trollies. We typically sell anywhere from 80-110 bowls of soup each week ($2.00 for unlimited refills (as long as the soup lasts) and crackers) - all from whatever ingredients the students bring in: typically a few potatoes, a package or two of pasta noodles, 5 or 6 carrots, a few onions, a handful of dried spices, and maybe celery or chicken pieces if it's a good week. Plus, all the students in the class eat free. Oh yeah, and we get to do some cool field trips as the result of our fundraising!
All from just a few simple ingredients, and a group of people working together. The students in the class get a healthy lunch of homemade soup, and hopefully a lesson in the power of collaboration. Sometimes a little bit, added to someone else's little bit, adds up to a whole lot! Stone soup, anyone?!
When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground
Children grow up too fast. Since he was a toddler, my son and I have always sung together, and we used to talk about how neat it would be to record a song together! It remained one of those 'some day we'll....' projects, until one day I realized that, at 12, he was soon to enter the no-man's land of the changing voice! Spurred on by this fact, we decided to record a lovely song from the musical 'Finding Neverland', which tells the story of JM Barry, the hopeless optimist, and the author of Peter Pan. I was able to pull my son away from hockey and mischief long enough to complete the recording!
Anyone who's been involved in music knows that one of the aims is to take a bunch of people who bang, scrape and blow into things, and make them sound as one. Each instrument makes a different sound, and each musician has varying layers of talent and adds something unique to the mix. But the band can't play on, so to speak, unless every member is involved and contributing their part. Music is a collaborative process, and my son and I will never forget the amazing, if somewhat melancholic experience of recording this duet together. Two voices working together to sound as one, and create something new, unique, and rich.
Please enjoy this recording of 'When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground', by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy.
When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground 3.mp3Audio recording of 'When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground' - you may have to maximize the audio player.
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