The Power of an Audience

Sometimes, when I least expect it, I catch myself thinking about learning and this happened today while I was preparing supper. As I was tending to the pots on the stove, my oldest son was practicing the piano. The song he was practicing at first sounded vaguely familiar, however once he started playing it with a little more confidence it occurred to me he was playing my wife’s favorite Christmas carol, Little Drummer Boy. Stopping and starting, he really struggled with the song. He knew how it should sound, for he had heard it numerous times in the past, and he also knew what he was playing was just not quite right. The notes were off. He would mess up the timing. He would lose his place. And he would growl with frustration. One thing that is important to understand is that my son has inherited his father’s short fuse. When I get frustrated or angry it’s not a pretty sight, and if I’m trying to complete a task and I end up in this zone, the only thing I can do is walk away and try to reset. I could sense Bobby was heading this direction, so I asked why he was practicing this song with such intensity.

His answer reminded me of a powerful tool we have as educators, audience.

Bobby told me his motivation for practicing was that he wanted to perform this song at his auntie Susan’s house this Christmas season. One of our family’s Christmas traditions has been to gather around the piano and sing carols. I recall Christmas sing-a-longs many years ago at my grandparent’s home in Carrot River, and as young child I loved to hear my aunts, uncles, and grandparents sing together. I’m so happy that my children have had the opportunity to be part of this experience, even if their dad does not sing along (I’ve come to accept that my musical talents are pretty much restricted to playing the radio). I’m even more excited that Bobby now wants to have more prominent role in this and actually play the piano to lead one of the carols.

This is why he is practicing over, and over, and over. This is why he is getting better and better. He is learning.

He is learning so he can perform for an audience. This makes me think of how often our students are asked to ‘perform’ for an audience. I recall asking students to complete learning tasks as a classroom teacher, and at times their hearts were just not in it, however, if I asked them to create something for a learning fair that involved other classes or parents, they would always be a little more diligent. This also makes me think of ‘performances’ I’ve seen in our school in the past, such as:

  • the grade 1 class singing at the Remembrance Day ceremony
  • the grade 7 science fair
  • the genius hour presentations at parent/teacher conferences
  • Life Transitions learning fairs
  • math cafe
  • readers cafe
  • writers cafe
  • assemblies
  • plays

These are many things that you may have also seen in your school in the past. There are also some other very cool ‘performances’ I’ve seen that create an opportunity for students to present to an audience.

  • the IA teacher lets his students know their projects will be shared online via Instagram (check it out here)
  • a geography teacher inviting his students to present their tourism ideas to two other adults instead of just presenting their ideas to the class or the teacher
  • the journalism teacher asking her students to seek real sponsorship from businesses in town to support the school yearbook
  • the Psychology teacher challenging her students to create real learning activities that will be taught to the Kindergarten class
  • the senior ELA teacher inviting the kindergarten class to hear his students’ If you give a                             stories (for example, If you give a panda a crayon)

In all of these cases (and there are more) the students know that the audience will not just be the teacher or their classmates. They know it will be a more diverse set of eyes and ears, and because of that their pride kicks in, and they usually put in a greater effort.

Obviously not every learning activity can be set up for an audience, but, are there ways to invite students to share their learning with more people than just their peers or the teacher? I’ve seen an increase in the use of online sharing tools, like See-Saw, Class Dojo, and FreshGrade. What else can you do? There is Facebook Live, Twitter, and YouTube. Of course with online sharing comes other factors teachers must consider. Some families do not want their children sharing online, but are there ways to share processes and products without sharing faces and names? If we want our students to work towards mastery and deep learning, how can we occasionally use the power of an audience to accomplish this? I’ve seen it in our school, I’d love to hear other ideas, so please comment below.

And as far as The Little Drummer Boy, I’m expecting to hear an awful lot of it over the next few weeks!

You May Also Like

About the Author: Bruce Mellesmoen

48 Comments

  1. Good day! This post couldn’t be written any better!
    Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate!
    He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this page to him.
    Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!

  2. Hi I am so thrilled I found your web site, I really found you by mistake, while I was browsing on Digg for something
    else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a fantastic post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at
    the moment but I have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so
    when I have time I will be back to read much more, Please do keep up the fantastic work.

  3. Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading?
    I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if
    it’s the blog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
    cheap flights 32hvAj4

  4. Greetings! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering
    which blog platform are you using for this website? I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve
    had issues with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
    I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good
    platform. cheap flights 3aN8IMa

  5. Greetings from Idaho! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your website on my
    iphone during lunch break. I love the knowledge you present here
    and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how
    quick your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G ..
    Anyhow, wonderful blog! cheap flights 2CSYEon

  6. Remarkable issues here. I’m very satisfied to look your post.

    Thanks so much and I am looking forward to contact
    you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail? cheap flights 31muvXS

  7. I pay a quick visit daily a few blogs and websites to read articles or reviews, but this blog
    presents feature based writing. cheap flights 2CSYEon

  8. Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis.
    It will always be helpful to read articles from other writers
    and use a little something from other websites.

  9. I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my
    own blog and was wondering what all is needed to get setup?
    I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
    I’m not very web savvy so I’m not 100% sure. Any suggestions or
    advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

  10. I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this site.
    I really hope to see the same high-grade blog posts by you later on as
    well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to
    get my own site now 😉

  11. Heya! I know this is kind of off-topic but I needed to
    ask. Does managing a well-established website such as yours take a lot of work?
    I’m brand new to blogging but I do write in my journal on a daily basis.
    I’d like to start a blog so I can share my experience and feelings online.
    Please let me know if you have any kind of suggestions or tips for new
    aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!

  12. Excellent website you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics talked about here?
    I’d really like to be a part of online community where I can get advice from other knowledgeable people that share the same
    interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
    Many thanks!

  13. I’ll right away snatch your rss as I can’t to find your
    email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you’ve any?
    Please let me recognise so that I may subscribe.
    Thanks.

  14. great post, very informative. I ponder why the
    opposite experts of this sector do not understand this.

    You should proceed your writing. I’m confident, you have a huge readers’ base already!

  15. Unquestionably believe that which you said. Your favorite justification appeared
    to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of.

    I say to you, I definitely get irked while
    people think about worries that they plainly do not know about.

    You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal.
    Will likely be back to get more. Thanks adreamoftrains web hosting service

  16. Howdy! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook
    group? There’s a lot of folks that I think
    would really enjoy your content. Please let me know.
    Cheers

  17. Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to
    my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
    I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite
    some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
    Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog
    and I look forward to your new updates.

  18. Howdy would you mind letting me know which web host you’re using?
    I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different web browsers and
    I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you recommend a good internet hosting provider at a
    honest price? Kudos, I appreciate it!

  19. whoah this weblog is fantastic i really like reading your articles.

    Stay up the great work! You recognize, many persons are looking
    around for this info, you can help them greatly.

  20. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as
    though you relied on the video to make your point.

    You definitely know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos
    to your site when you could be giving us something informative to read?

  21. Hey! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
    I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on.
    Any suggestions?

  22. fantastic submit, very informative. I’m wondering why the other experts of this sector don’t realize this.

    You should continue your writing. I am sure, you have
    a huge readers’ base already!

  23. It’s going to be finish of mine day, but before ending I am reading this wonderful
    piece of writing to increase my experience.

  24. Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your weblog posts.
    Any way I will be subscribing to your feeds or even I achievement you get entry to
    constantly rapidly.

  25. Link exchange is nothing else however it is only placing the
    other person’s web site link on your page at appropriate place and other person will also do similar in favor of you.

  26. I feel this is one of the most significant information for me.
    And i’m happy reading your article. However want to remark on few general issues, The site
    taste is wonderful, the articles is truly great : D. Just right task,
    cheers

  27. Hi everyone, it’s my first go to see at this web site,
    and paragraph is truly fruitful for me, keep up posting these types of posts.

  28. Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article.
    I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more
    of your useful information. Thanks for the post.
    I’ll definitely comeback.

  29. My brother recommended I would possibly like this web site.
    He used to be entirely right. This post actually made my day.
    You cann’t believe simply how so much time I had spent for this info!

    Thank you!

  30. Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The text in your content seem to be running off
    the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I
    thought I’d post to let you know. The design look great though!
    Hope you get the issue solved soon. Thanks

  31. naturally like your website but you have to check
    the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I to
    find it very troublesome to tell the truth then again I’ll surely come back again.

  32. I really appreciate your blog post. It really covers most things about this subject. Keep it up! Don’t forget to check out my website also!

Comments are closed.