A cheeky student was sitting behind my desk this afternoon after the bell. "I'm Ms. S!" she proclaimed. "Do you want a Jolly Rancher?"
"Come out from there," I directed her.
She complied, but on her way, she grabbed the ukulele. A few kids were hanging around before they headed home, shooting baskets and putting golf balls, mostly. Another teacher came in; she needed to leave, but she had a student who was willing to stay and work on a project coming due. I shrugged and invited him to find a seat.
"Will you play the ukulele?" another kid asked.
I had forgotten I was holding it after I had confiscated it from the student exiting my desk. I looked over at the new arrival; he had set his violin down and was opening his iPad to work. "Do you play ukulele?" I asked him.
"Actually, I do play a bit," he answered and so I handed him the instrument. He plucked the strings and hummed, then asked what note each one was. Clearly, he did not play, but soon he was fingering chords and strumming a little melody. "Now we just need some harmony," he said, more to himself than anyone else.
Scanning the room, his eyes lit up when he saw that one of the other kids was a fellow violinist. He handed her the ukulele. "Play a melody!" he said as he unpacked his violin.
She took the instrument and ran her fingers across the strings. She tried a violin chord that sounded very dissonant, then another that was lovely, minor, and moody. She strummed a 4/4 beat while he rosined his bow. And then he began to play, and she did, too, moving her fingers and varying the rhythm. He matched her improvisation with his own, and then a couple of other students pulled out a clarinet and a flute, and all of a sudden we had a little wind and string ensemble of our very own.
Oh, it was over in minutes (they are only 12), but it was pretty amazing while it lasted. then they got back to bickering about stickers, writing for the 100-Day Challenge, and finishing their other work.
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