Experience the Joy of Teaching With Martha Crowell

"Some moments of joy are so tiny they are easy to miss, and some are gloriously overwhelming in their scope and permanence,” writes SCH music teacher Martha Crowell, in her recent article for The Orff Echo, “The Many Joys of Teaching and Learning in the Orff Schulwerk Philosophy.”

Crowell, who has been a music teacher at SCH since 1982, penned an article for the winter 2024 edition of the publication. In it, she reflects on her decades of “joyful” Orff Schulwerk-inspired teaching from feeling welcomed to inspiring creativity to connecting with the natural world. With this philosophy, she writes, “Everyone is welcome, everyone belongs, everyone matters, everyone is safe, and every person has something unique to offer.”

In addition to her work at SCH, she has been a committed member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, teaching recorder courses, serving on various committees, and presenting at conferences often.

Crowell is the consummate educator, asking her peers to consider exploring multi-disciplinary approaches to teaching such as tying the study of native birds into lessons by inviting their students, as she does, to play bird calls on recorders in the woods and then “experience the joy my students and I share when the birds answer their calls!”