Elementary Music instructors modern take on teaching

By: Eva Thomas

On a rainy, but warmer-than-average December morning, a frenzy of fifth graders

runs into room 2102 of Horace Mann Elementary School in St. Paul, Minnesota,
each grabbing their own chair and placing it on a colorful carpet cutout on which
a group of first graders sat the hour before.

The wall on the right side of the room is completely covered in posters, but not
the typical posters you would see in an elementary music classroom. The faces
of some of rocks most influential musicians welcome students upon entering the
roomalbum covers of Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles were a few of
the posters music teacher Kevin Dutcher was able to acquire from a secret stash
at the Electric Fetus.

After the students settle in their seats, Dutcher sits down and plays the piano,
starting class with Oklahoma, a musical classic. After this quick warm-up, music
books are passed out amongst the students, and seconds later, the sounds of
Youve got a Friend, a James Taylor hit, fill the room.

Dutcher started working as a music teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School

during the 2012-2013 school year. Since then, he has built a music curriculum
that incorporates songs he considers to be the building blocks of an intelligent
musical vocabulary, something that Dutcher has been able to develop and build
upon for many years.

Dutcher attended college at Iowa State University, starting out as a computer

science major. He eventually switched to theater after his best friend from high
school auditioned and made it into a play at Iowa State, inspiring him to do the
same.

I tried out for the play, fell in love, and I knew thats what I wanted to do [and that]
I wanted to be in theater, Dutcher said.

Dutchers parents discovered his switch from a major in computer science to one
in theater while attending a production in which he was performing.
After the show, they were like, So Kev, yeah the show was good, but whats this
about you switching from a major from the very secure profession of computer
science to theater, where youre [going to be] poor your whole life? Dutcher said.

But Dutcher, 54, said now is the time where everything is coming together, adding
that he feels very satisfied in the work he does because he is a much more
artistic, big picture type of guy.

With a theater degree and years of theatrical experience, Dutcher said he treats
every class as a show, in total performing as many as seven shows in a single
day at Horace Mann Elementary School.
Dutcher was asked to put together a curriculum for grades K-5, allowing him the
freedom to incorporate teachings into the classroom that are important to him
and the things he believes everyone should know about. He has now created a
music curriculum that incorporates Rolling Stone Magazines list of top 100 songs
of all time.

I feel like I was always a big list guy, he said. I wanted to do something that was
counting a sense of anticipation, Dutcher added.

Students did not have a rigid music class before Dutcher started working as the
music teacher.

We didnt have music [before Mr. Dutcher], Eleanor Osmond, a fifth-grader who
has had Dutcher as her music teacher since second grade, said. [A teacher]
would come in and do plays with us, but thats all I remember, Eleanor added,
vaguely remembering once being assigned a role as a flower in this theater/arts
class in kindergarten.

Now, Eleanor and her classmates eagerly talk about the music class they have
taken since second grade.

It is nice to have a consistent [class] and a consistent teacher, Eleanor said.

In fourth grade, students count down from song 42 to song 22, and in fifth grade,
the countdown continues to the number one song of all timeLike a Rolling
Stone by Bob Dylan. The countdown gives them something to look forward to,
Dutcher added.

Dutcher said he usually asks his students how many of them heard the song for
the first time in his classroom, of which almost 90 percent raise their hands. He
added that just being able to expose the kids to this music and [being in the
room] the first time they hear the songs is a gift in itself.

The songs Dutcher chooses for his classes also have valuable messages and
always lead to some great discussions, he said.

Music is such a great starting point, such a great springboard for discussions
and life experiences, Dutcher said. And thats why I do that.

His fifth-graders had a discussion about the Civil Rights Movement when the
class learned song 14, which is Blowin in the Wind by Bob Dylan. They talked
through the songs messages and what the movement was all about in the
1960s.

For every new song, Dutcher said he talks about the song and the musicians, its
background and any important musical events that occurred during that time.
Every music lesson is interactive, and Dutcher makes sure everyone is
participating. Dutcher said when he was a kid, all of his music teachers were
always stuck on the piano, which resulted in a physical distance from the kids,
something that he has tried to eliminate between him and his students.

I play piano, and I play a super cool blue guitar with rainbow strings, which the
kids love, he said.

Eleanor said she likes the different instruments Dutcher uses in his teaching
instead of having [them] sing to tracks.

Dutcher added that he is able to walk among the students with his instruments,
and if somebody is not singing, he will kneel down until they start singing with
him.
Being able to interact with the children without a physical barrier is important in a
classroom. And when students are not participating or singing along, he said he
kneels down and requests their help.

I always say, Man, I need your help. I cant do this by myself, and when were all
singing together it just sounds so great...I need your help, I need you to be a
good singer with me and help me out here, he said with smile.

Dutcher said that when you ask children for their help, they typically come
through.

We are all humans, and when you ask another person for help, their instinct is to
do it, he said. And a kid likes to be asked for help by a grown up [because it]
makes them feel good.

Dutcher creates an atmosphere in which music learning flourishes and one in

which the students interests in music are heighted. His energetic and happy
teaching style is something his students said they love about him.

He is funny, and he picks out songs we all like, Greta Stoyke, a fifth grader,
said. She added that her parents know all of the songs she and her classmates
sing in Dutchers class.

My parents will always wake me up and [then well] sing the songs, Greta said.

Dutcher said he has received nothing but positive feedback, from both students
and parents, about the songs he teaches.

Ive had parents come up to me and say, My daughter came up to me and

asked to listen to some Jimi Hendrixthank you, he said. And I get that a lot
from parents.

Dutcher added that many parents have told him that he has changed their lives,
as well as their childrens lives. Parents have told him that their children never
listened to music or cared so much about it before. But now, their interest in the
subject matter has peaked.
They tell me that their kids are going through their record collections, CD
collections, seeing what they have and exploring it, all of it, Dutcher said.

And this is exactly Dutchers goal as a music teacherto share his passion for
music with his students, hoping some of it rubs off on them, which, according to
some parents, has been the case.

Dutcher said out of all the things he does, working with kids gives him the most
satisfaction and a great sense of accomplishment.

When you see the growth in the kids, the growth in their self-esteem, their self
worth, their feeling of accomplishmentI have seen it change so many lives. It is
such an amazing thing, he said.