Performances: On Changing My Mind

I must confess: I’m not a huge fan of performances. They take A LOT of work and the work takes A LOT of time. For example: We’ve been in school a little over nine weeks, and I have been working on a performance with my 2nd and 3rd graders since week one. The performance is tonight. It will be the first performance at GES in years. I am nervous. I would have been fine not doing a performance. And yet. I know that performances are important.

On Friday night, I went to my niece’s piano recital. At the beginning of the recital, her piano teacher gave a little speech about the importance of…performance. It was as if she’d crawled into my head and read my thoughts. She said that performances are important because: 1) they give students a goal to work toward; 2) they provide students with a sense of accomplishment; 3) they give students the opportunity to receive applause and recognition; 4) they require courage and self-confidence; and 5) they create opportunities for working together and following leadership.

When she finished her speech, I felt about an inch high for not being a fan of performances. Yet I simultaneously felt about an inch taller because I knew that tonight was going to do all of those things for my students…as well as provide parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends, and neighbors an opportunity to be proud of their little people. I know that I was super proud of my niece after she played Friday night, and I imagine that there will be some pride tonight after our performance.

Finally, tonight’s performance will honor our nation’s veterans. We have talked a lot about veterans and how important they and our current military personnel are to our country. We have discussed that sometimes the best thing we can do for someone is say thank you. Tonight’s performance will give us that opportunity to say thank you.

So…I must confess: I’m not a huge fan of performances. But. My mind is changing. After 15 years of teaching, my mind is changing…and my niece’s piano teacher can be credited for beginning the shift.

What is something that you have begun to or completely changed your mind about recently—even if it’s something you’ve held to for years? Can you pinpoint an exact moment when your thoughts began to shift? Please share. I’d love to hear.