Originally Posted by The Orffsite Webmaster on Monday, June 6, 2011

It's summer time! Time for many of you to take more training in your profession. I have taken Orff Level classes for the last three summers and am "taking off" this summer. I'm actually going to be busy writing arrangements and lesson plans. I'll be brushing up on my djembe technique via YouTube lessons and completing a couple of podcasts. Back to the subject...
I hope that as you take the Orff Levels you are beginning to create your own lessons. Here is a great quote from Diane Lange of UTA Austin, in her book "Together in Harmony:..."

"A trained Orff teacher can look at a piece of music, write an accompaniment, logically teach the instrument parts to every student, and ask the students to perform the piece at the conclusion of its instruction."   

My first year of teaching, after taking Level I, was a year of trying out lessons that I had seen in my class or in workshops. I gained experience in trying to teach the lesson much like the instructors I had sat under. It's a good plan.
I recommend that you copy every good teacher you witness, at least in approach, if not personality. 
I didn't write or arrange anything, other than what I had done in my level classwork.
  The second year, I again, used lots of lessons from workshops, books, and Level II, but I tried out a few of my own. Some were highly successful and well received by the class. Others bombed. I learned from those bombs. Why didn't they work? Were the parts too hard? Did I not have an effective way to teach the rhythms or melody? Was the text a problem?
  After my third level and in my 3rd year of using the Orff approach, I wrote even more. I had fun orchestrating blues and jazz style pieces. I created visuals and used them with Smartboard/Airslate software. I simplified pieces from "The Volumes" and introduced students to some of the "hits" from those books.
I haven't "arrived", but I'm getting close enough to claim the title of "Trained Orff Teacher" and feel pretty good about it. You can do it, too!