Joyful, Joyful

I was sitting in the teacher’s lounge (of sorts) at school. Then I heard the faint noises of “Ode to Joy” coming from one of the classrooms. It was music class, and the students were learning to play the Ode on recorders. That tune is one of my favorites, so I decided to go watch. I just wanted to observe music class and see what they were up to.

I sat and listened and couldn’t help but quietly sing the words I know and cherish. After a while, I asked the teacher if there were words in Spanish. She said yes. Then we both learned that the kids didn’t even know there were words at all! They didn’t know they were learning a famous song! So the teacher sang the Ode to Joy in Spanish. Then the kids looked at me and requested the English. I sang. They liked my voice so much, the teacher wrote out the Spanish words for me so I could sing it in their language. (The Spanish words are more about brotherly love and less about adoring God for His glory and love, but oh well.)

Well, after music class, I hung around because English class was next. The one I observe and assist in. Not the conversation class I teach. Anyway, the kids told the teacher I had sung for them in English. She wanted to hear it. I sang. Then she decided everyone would learn the song as an English assignment!

She asked me to write the English words on the board. (The kids copy everything from the board. This is how they get all their info. They don’t have textbooks.) I wrote the words and then got to translate them and explain what they mean. They talk of adoring God and how He’s the Giver of joy, so I was MORE THAN HAPPY to explain such things to the kids!

Then we practiced saying and singing through the Ode line by line. Supposedly, they will be working on the song after I leave. Oh, how I hope some of the content’s meaning sinks in!