The Rookery

The opera was wonderful.  The gift of time and talent that the St. Olaf students gave us can not be overstated.  It was a tremendous opportunity.  And, for many students, it has not been an easy month.

We've talked a lot this year about the growth mindset – the idea that ability is is not fixed, one can get better at things with work.  But musical performance put what we've learned about the growth mindset to the test.  For some, getting up on stage and singing and dancing was not comfortable at all.  They felt silly and awkward, even inept.  And unlike struggling with a math problem where one can retreat to a table to puzzle things out — there was no private place to work on the opera.  We were all in it together and their struggles were out in plain sight.

Some reacted to the discomfort of risk by being silly.  Some seemed determined to try to disappear by moving as little as possible and not singing at all.  Some sought to get others to join them in minimal participation.  I did everything I could – bucking up confidence here, encouraging there, berating when I could think of nothing else that would work.  It was, at times, very frustrating.

But we continued to work and things began to get easier — not easy, mind you, but easier.  The steps came without thinking as much.  The songs didn't sound so awkward coming from our lips.  Still, not everyone was ready to fully commit to the project.  "It's not my favorite thing," one child whispered at a low moment.

But the thing about struggle is that it makes the payoff even bigger.  By Wednesday afternoon, it became clear to all of the Herons that we knew what we were doing and we were good at it.  Looking out at the audience that night, everyone was excited.  Then the lights went down and we stepped up.  It felt great to watch those kids up there doing their very best and, for a number of them, taking a massive risk they weren't at all sure about even a day before.  Watching their faces during the final song, I saw the importance of having a growth mindset (and, from a teaching perspective, forcing the issue a little.)  The feeling of accomplishment one gets when one works through the awkwardness of learning and becomes competent in a skill that seemed unachievable is powerful…almost magical.  (The thundering applause was icing on the cake.)

I was proud of all of the Herons.  I am especially proud of how they supported each other in taking what was, for many, a pretty big leap.  And now they can add another story to their book about the time they were told they were going to be in an opera and they thought it was going to be scary and awful but they kept at it and, in the end, it was pretty great.

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