The annual TriChapter workshop hosted by The New York City Chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association:

Improvisation and Composition for Cultivating Mastery: 
An Exploration of Project-Based Learning
The art of being an Orff Schulwerk teacher is really about constructing learning structures within which students use what they know to create something new. You prepare the children with prerequisite knowledge, set the structure, and then set them free to explore and create. It sounds easy, but actually requires a lot of skill as an educator. 

This workshop will emphasize how to be the “guide on the side” rather than the “sage on the stage” and put the focus on students in creative process. We will focus on the pedagogical thinking required to create structures for improvisation, composition, and dance making that brings the classroom to life and empowers the students to cultivate their own points of view and artistic perspectives.

Dress comfortably for movement and bring your soprano recorder.

Roger Sams retired from the music classroom in 2013 after 31 years of teaching music in public and private schools. He has served as adjunct faculty, teaching methods courses and supervising student teachers at Cleveland State University and has been on the faculty in teacher education programs at the University of St. Thomas, Cleveland State University, Akron University, the University of Montana, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and other venues throughout the US. Roger is a regular presenter at state, regional, and national conferences, has served on the AOSA National Board of Trustees, and has worked with teachers in Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Poland, and Scotland. He currently serves as Director of Publications and Music Education Consultant at Music is Elementary (www.MusicIsElementary.com). Trained in Gestalt therapy, Roger is interested in the power of choice in the artistic process, teaching, and life. He is the co-author of “Purposeful Pathways:  Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom” and “Percussive Play.” He has published works for children’s choirs in the “Crooked River Choral Project” series and a collection of rounds and partner songs entitled, “A Round My Heart.”