BOCA BETH: One Song at a Time

Aren’t all of us teachers really actresses/actors in so many ways?!?!?!  We love to be in front of a crowd (one that is hopefully listening!), we thrive on the audience’s appreciation of our talents (hopefully garnering some great words of wisdom to carry them through until the next time!) and we really get a kick out of playing a variety of roles on a regular basis (no 9-5 desk job for us educators!).

As my summer wrapped up with some terrific local Head Start and Early Head Start training in Pinellas County (a hop, skip and a jump from my home office in Hillsborough County) I once again was slapped in the face with the realization of what I just said above!  I love, love, love being on stage!!!  The room in the morning session for Pinellas County Head Start staff was about 100 people strong and ready to rock ‘n’ roll!  The afternoon one was a bit less crowded but still fun and informative nonetheless! 

Everyone made shapes to go along with the “I Know My Shapes/Yo se mis formas” song - track 14 off our More Boca Beth music CD.  Then some volunteers even got up and acted out how they would introduce the shapes with the song and the visual aids they had just made.  I love training with a Make and Take if time and funding allows it.  The staff members walk away with instant tools to bring my bilingual music to life!  It’s almost a 100% guarantee that they will start the bilingual educational fun the next day in their classes knowing they have something to work with immediately!

A few nights after this great big training I conducted an interactive, high energy 1.5 hour training for a staff of four and the two owners of a local after school care program called Kidscope in Tampa, FL.  Now that is a commitment on the owners’ parts to say, “We are going to bring bilingual fun into our facility, we have one staff member out of four that speaks Spanish, so let’s get the English-speaking teachers some fun and practical training and provide them with materials to make it happen.”

I gave the same energy that night for six people as I did for the 200+ people days earlier………………I love when they ask me what I take to be so energetic, so happy, so full of life!!!  It’s truly just how I am.  I am a positive person with a great mindset that rubs off on all those I meet and interact with.  It’s a natural thing - no drug induced state of euphoria, no alcohol (though that Sunday afternoon glass of vino is sounding good right about now!!!!!).

It’s great to be back in excellent health again - to be able to travel the country (and even the world!  They have asked us to come to Jamaica and train next month!) and share my passion for second language learning with teachers that reach so many children daily.  Then to be able to take BOCA around now to centers and zoos and malls and conferences to promote the language learning even more is AWESOME!  Our fees are so affordable still because we are still the ‘new kid on the block’ in so many ways! 

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth