Conducting by Beth Crumpler
It’s Five Minute Friday time! Remember you too can join in this “writing flash mob” and/or do it with your students. It’s a simple and quick free writing exercise. Read my post introducing Five Minute Friday for details on how to participate. Also, check out how to incorporate Five Minute Friday with creating interactive posters for the “Writing Process”.
Set aside five minutes of free writing time to join me on writing about “Rest”, today’s topic. Remember I’m applying my Five Minute Friday posts toward education and work, but you can write about anything about “Home” that sparks your interest.
Start…
Standing proud and tall, arms in air, and body as still as a statue, my smile softens the anxiety. Our eyes meet in silent applause as I scan and make eye contact with each student! The rush of adrenaline can be felt from head to toe making it feel as it 20 minutes have passed, instead of the mere seconds.
With no spoken words, I ask my students to stand with only the slight movement of my hands. They follow my direction, all rising in accord with glaring smiles. Their wide smiles can be felt echoing throughout room with pride and awe!
My arms slowly retreat while a roar quickly explodes from behind. Breath in, chin up, standing tall, and smiling with silence, I quickly gaze at my students with praise as I take a 180 degree turn to meet the rumbling sound.
Black space and bright piercing lights is all I see while the thunder continues to soar. I take a step to the right and motion my left arm toward my students in cue. One, two, three…in unison we bow towards the magnitude before us, we cannot see.
After bowing, I turn towards my students who are still stand in amazement and disbelief. Relief fills their faces, as they see me signal “two thumbs up” and whisper “Congratulations!” We all take a deep breath in and breathe out slowly in this moment, a moment of celebratory rest for a concert well done!
Stop!
Note: During Five Minute Friday, you are not supposed to stop to make any edits. Free writing without stopping is the purpose. Notice there are errors in my Five Minute Friday writing above. These errors will not be edited because editing them would defeat the purpose of Five Minute Friday. Part of the reason I’m featuring Five Minute Friday on adaptivelearnin is to teach students how to write without anxiety. I want them to see the errors to show them that errors are okay to make during free writing. I want this to be an educational experience for them. Feel free to use this as examples in lessons if you wish. Happy Friday!
adaptivelearnin 
Great play on the idea of waiting, rest and music. I love the irony. Thanks for sharing today.
Posted by Debi Stangeland (@DebiStangeland) | March 15, 2013, 12:38 pmThanks. This is what the conductor and performers feel at the end of a concert, after the anxiety and built up nerves, This is the moment of relief and rest for us all.
Posted by adaptivelearnin | March 15, 2013, 12:49 pmthis was great! i love how you are using it as an educational tool for your students.
and i have always loved being in the audience and seeing that same smile in the eyes of my boy when he has finished a concert well done!
Posted by richelle @ "our wright"-ing pad | March 15, 2013, 3:20 amThank you. I appreciate your insight. I’m sure as a parent this moment is a proud celebratory moment too. My son is young, so I have years before I experience this moment on the other end. Cheers!
Posted by adaptivelearnin | March 15, 2013, 1:31 pmi enjoyed your post…both the topic and the information. i write for fmf often, but wasn’t aware of all the rationale behind the writing. I always edit for spelling. I can’t stand to put out glaring grammatical errors. i’ll have to rethink and see if I need to change.
Or I may decide that since i’m putting out a blog primarily, I’ll have to do some small edits and compromise some so my writing will make sense. I have noticed that fmf helps me NOT agonize as much b/f posting. I just wish I could write as beautifully as you and some of the others do. but then I wouldn’t be accepting my place very well, would I? 🙂
Posted by Martha G. Brady | March 15, 2013, 3:01 amAwe! Thank you. I think how we approach fmf is an individual preference. We all have different styles and approaches. I think you are fine in how you are approaching it. My first two posts I used bullet points to brainstorm ideas. The last two posts I wrote in paragraphs. I’m trying to vary my approach a little each week because I’m doing fmf to guide teachers and teach students how to write without anxiety. Today’s post was an easy topic since I wrote about resting after concerts from music and conducting. Last week my post was short. It was harder for me to brainstorm ideas last week within the short 5 minute time frame. We’ll see what happens next week. I’m signing off for the night but will surely check out your post later. Happy Friday.
Posted by adaptivelearnin | March 15, 2013, 3:10 amReblogged this on that MADDENing teacher and commented:
I love this idea! Free write for 5 on Five Minute Friday!
Posted by barbarawmadden | March 15, 2013, 2:45 amThank you! When I saw Five Minute Friday, I knew I had to do it on my blog and approach it in that manner. Also, thanks for the reblog and follow. Much appreciated. I’m going to check out your site as well. Happy Friday!
Posted by adaptivelearnin | March 15, 2013, 2:52 am