It began as a random search and ended with a school filled with smiles!
By Kristin Clark Taylor
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Music teacher David Diab, in Kowloon, Hong Kong, says Quaver “definitely helps make teaching – and learning – fun and exciting!”
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A “Pretty Perfect” Combination
It began as a simple Google search.
David Diab, who happens to teach music halfway around the world, at Christian Alliance International School in Kowloon, Hong Kong, had just plopped down in front of his computer to look up a tidbit of information about the quaver note for a lesson he was preparing for his students.
But when he sat down and typed in “Q … u …. a … v …,” he got a pleasant surprise.
David, already familiar with the British eighth note because he’s a music teacher and because he grew up in South Africa, where British-based terminology is common, remembers that search with a smile:
“As I was typing the word, up pops QuaverMusic!” he says with surprise and delight. “So I started digging deeper and finding out more about it, and I loved everything I saw! The rest is history.”
From that single, seemingly random search, then, sprang a purposeful, powerful connection – and now Quaver has become an indispensable tool for this dedicated teacher.
“Quaver is very easy to get along with,” he says appreciatively, “and the curriculum matches spot-on with our school’s required curriculum. It’s a pretty perfect combination – not just for me, but for other teachers throughout the school, at many different grade levels.”
David calls it “cool” – the fact that teachers from so many different grade levels utilize Quaver. “Teachers from prep to Grade 5 use Quaver in my school, so the benefits expand far beyond just my classroom. It’s pretty amazing.”
As he speaks, I can hear the smile in his voice … but I can also see the gratitude on his face, thanks to the easy, wonderful wizardry of Zoom. We laugh easily together in our living rooms, sitting halfway around the world from each other.
David explains that Christian Alliance International is a large, English-speaking school, and that its sprawling campus serves grades K-12. He says his students “simply can’t get enough of Quaver.”
“At the moment, we just can’t stop singing, ‘Hey, Mrs. Beat Girl’ and ‘Hey, Mr. Beat Boy.”
Then his smile shines again.
“I’m a percussionist, so sometimes I’ll play the drums to that song, and the kids just think it’s the coolest thing!”
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Yes, You Can Still Rap while you’re wearing a Mask!
David says that the super-popular song is a favorite amongst his students, and they particularly enjoy the section where they get the chance to try to rap.
“When you’re rapping, you really need to enunciate every, single word,” he explains. “Under normal circumstances, I can easily see if my students are enunciating correctly just by watching their lips and their mouths …”
But you guessed it: These are definitely not normal circumstances.
Mandatory mask-wearing has hampered his efforts to evaluate how well his students are enunciating, but David’s definitely not daunted:
“I just tell them, ‘I should be seeing those masks moving! If your mask isn’t moving, then you’re not enunciating! Enunciate! It’s the only way to rap well!’ And guess what? After a while, I see their little masks moving!”
Whether you’re in Hawaii or Hong Kong, Dallas or Dubai, Pittsburgh or Puerto Rico, Quaver is shining its light into every corner of the globe, helping teachers become the best teachers they can possibly be. Creating a community of caring that is not bound by time zone, territory, or circumstance. Creating a curriculum that allows teachers to meet their students precisely where they are, whether it’s in the classroom, the living room, or on the other side of the globe.
David seems to agree. He lays it out, plain and simple:
“Here’s the bottom line: Quaver makes my students happy. And because the resources are so user-friendly, it’s easy for the kids to use and for the parents to use,” he says.
With more families staying home these days, this next part is important: “As long as I can make this user-friendly for the parents, then I’ve made it user-friendly for the kids. Quaver addresses both.”
With Quaver, the future looks bright.
Although David’s Google-inspired stumble onto Quaver Street happened fairly recently, he says the entire school can already see the benefits of the cloud-based curriculum and “everybody’s really happy with the purchase. The entire CAIS team decided to invest in this, and the entire CAIS team believes in its value,” he says graciously — and with that wonderful smile again.
“We haven’t even touched a tenth of what Quaver has to offer … which is great, because we know there’s so much to look forward to. The fun is only just beginning!”
David says his kids have been “frothing to get to Quaver Street! And that fact that they can direct that little avatar and travel wherever they want around Quaver Street is, to them, the coolest thing in the world.”
And taking that stroll down Quaver Street is the coolest cloud-based stroll in the whole, wide world.
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Kristin Clark Taylor is an author and a journalist.
