It's time for the obligatory Thanksgiving "I am thankful for..." post! Here we go...
I am thankful for...
1. My job. In today's economy, I am thankful to simply have a job. I can be doubly thankful that I am doing what I love. These kids are really starting to find their way into my heart. I feel like they're my little brothers and sisters. I want to protect them and see them do well. I get genuinely disappointed when they're in trouble, and I get just excited as they do (and sometimes more) when they are successful. We still have rough days every now and then, but there's a mutual respect and understanding there that carries us through most things. I like knowing that, when they have issues, they feel comfortable enough to come to me to talk. I also like knowing that choir is the reason why lots of my students come to school every day. It's so cool to feel like I've already made some kind of difference. My vice principal came to observe me on Wednesday for my KTIP internship program that I have to complete to get an official Kentucky teaching license. She is the toughest evaluator we have at our school. I got a perfect score. I am thankful for the education I received at DePauw and the people that I met along the way. Patrice Villines, Debbie Prather, Gabriel Crouch, Jay White, Craig Pare, Cindy Johnson-- You have been fabulous mentors, and I will always thank my lucky stars that we crossed paths.
2. My friends. I've got to try to personally thank each of you for putting up with me. I love you guys, and I am so thankful that we are friends. Nickie, Scott, Margaret, LC, Palmer, Merwin, Sarah M, Riggs, Moss Moss, Martin, James, Andrew, Jared, Sara, Renee, Tricia... I know I must be leaving some people out. Maybe I should just say Alpha Chi Omega, Fiji, and the DePauw School of Music! Love you guys!
3. My family. Love ya. Couldn't make it a day without ya. Let's eat turkey! 'Nuff said.
4. My cat- Love you, Elphie Boo!
5. Caleb. He's pretty cool, and he has great hair.
6. My apartment
7. My church(es)
8. Starbucks coffee
:-) Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Miss Representation
This isn't really what I had intended to blog about today, but it's on my mind. I'm sitting here watching "Miss Representation" on OWN, and I am just completely appalled by the way that the media has finally reduced women to two categories: bitches and sex toys. We are painted as emotional, crazy, weak... and only valuable during child-bearing years. And, you know, it really makes me think about my experience thus far in my new teaching job. From the beginning, I had to work twice as hard as the other new teachers-- all male or older women-- to be taken seriously. Everything that I say is questioned and challenged. If I raise my voice at a class, I am a "bitch". If a male teacher does so, he is "assertive." I am the youngest teacher in my school and the only female teacher who has never been married and never had children. The kids are constantly asking me if I like to "go out clubbing", and, before I met Caleb, they asked me constantly if I was sad because I didn't have a boyfriend. The kids are always scrutinizing my hair and what I'm wearing. I once had a fellow teacher, a male, ask me if I would please take my shirt off because he was sure it would make the other male teachers' day. When I applied for this job, the principal (who is now retired) asked me how long he had before I got myself a boyfriend, got pregnant, and left. If I wasn't so desperate for a job, I most definitely would have gotten the heck out of there.
Here's the thing-- I wouldn't call myself a feminist. I don't burn bras or refuse to shave my legs. I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theories about how males are out to get us. However, I am a very independent person, and I've set a lot of goals for myself. I would love to get married and have kids someday, but it's not my only aspiration in life. (Not that it's a bad thing if that's what you want to do. Moms are amazing.) I am saddened by the inequalities that still exist between men and women. I am further saddened by the effect that the media is having on young people today. My female students think that they always have to have a boyfriend or they aren't worth anything. They put on pounds of make-up and treat one another like crap... If I hear one more girl call another girl a "slut" or a "whore" I might vomit.
Here's the thing-- I wouldn't call myself a feminist. I don't burn bras or refuse to shave my legs. I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theories about how males are out to get us. However, I am a very independent person, and I've set a lot of goals for myself. I would love to get married and have kids someday, but it's not my only aspiration in life. (Not that it's a bad thing if that's what you want to do. Moms are amazing.) I am saddened by the inequalities that still exist between men and women. I am further saddened by the effect that the media is having on young people today. My female students think that they always have to have a boyfriend or they aren't worth anything. They put on pounds of make-up and treat one another like crap... If I hear one more girl call another girl a "slut" or a "whore" I might vomit.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A short novel...
Okay, Sara! I'll update my blog! ;-) Thanks for keeping me on track!
CHAPTER ONE: Nightmare on Second Street
A couple of months ago, I scheduled a dress rehearsal field trip at the church where our concert was going to be. I requested permission to pull 160 kids out of school (7th/8th grade first, then 6th grade in the afternoon) so that we could practice as a combined choir at the church. It would also give us the opportunity to practice with our accompanist (instead of me trying to conduct and play at the same time) and figure out how to fit all 160 of us in the front of the church. This has been done before in the past for the Christmas and spring concerts, so my principal approved. I worked out all of the details that I could possibly think of and then, two weeks before the field trip, emailed the final details to the administration and office staff to be looked over. I had the permission slips out, and the kids were getting excited. Four days before the trip, I ran into my principal in the hallway. She let me know that she wasn't so sure about the field trip anymore..... ajskfl;sdkjfalsdjfasuwiowerjkslkahfksldj! I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. How in the world was I going to put this together without a dress rehearsal? As if this wasn't all stressful enough, I also was dealing with All-State choir confusion... I'll spare you the details on this. There was talk that I was going to be observed by the assistant principal during concert week for KTIP (the stupid Kentucky program that I have to do to get my Kentucky teaching license). Things got so crazy that I seriously considered running out into the middle of Highway 41 and ending it all. I threw up in the bathroom between classes. There is so much pressure put on you to do well at the first concert-- everyone is judging you and comparing you to past directors-- This concert needed to be good or I was looking at losing the trust, respect, and support of my students, their parents, the staff, and the community. Sound dramatic? It's not an exaggeration. Later that day, we got the news that we would be allowed to go after all. I worked non-stop over the weekend to think of every detail. I typed up minute-by-minute schedules and made lists of all the students involved for our secretaries.
When Monday finally arrived, the kids met me at 7:52 sharp in the front lobby- ready to go! They were prompt and prepared. The busses were scheduled to arrive at 8:00, so at 7:55 I pulled them out onto the curb to load. As I was sorting them into seventh and eighth grade, our attendance secretary burst out of the front doors wearing a look of absolute horror. "What are you DOING? This is a NIGHTMARE! Get these kids back to homeroom so we can take attendance!" I calmly handed her my list of involved students and told her that I would phone with absentees. She, not so calmly, told me that this simply wouldn't do. I couldn't help but laugh. I sent out the itinerary with the exact details of who, what, when, where and how we would load the busses to get to this field trip weeks ago. No one spoke up to tell me that it would be a problem to leave first thing in the morning. I wanted to get there as early as possible so that the kids didn't have to miss as much class. Long story short, I had to send 100 kids back to their homerooms so that attendance could be taken electronically instead of the old-fashioned way. I then had to wait for over fifteen minutes while the kids made their way back to the front curb to load the busses. By the time we finally got on the busses, we were already a half hour behind schedule. Fabulous. I realized as soon as we got to the church that, in the chaos, I had left my box with all of my music, my standing order charts, our props, and our simple percussion instruments on the curb outside of the school. I had to call and have someone bring it over to the church.
Did the dress rehearsal go well after all of this work? Hmmm.... it was okay. The kids sang well, but their behavior sucked. They were hyper (as they were so excited to be out of school), and my parent volunteers didn't show up. One girl vomited on the floor of the church, and two others got written up by the bus driver for being out of their seats. I probably would have lost my voice had it not been for the microphone.
CHAPTER TWO: Proud Momma
On the day of the concert, I could tell the kids were nervous. They know that I'm new at this, and I think they were having a hard time trusting that it was all going to be okay. I was getting REALLY sick of hearing about how their old teacher used to do things. After school, I changed into my concert dress and brushed my teeth in the bathroom. I went back to my room and read over the program a few thousand times to be sure that I'd thought of everything that could possibly go wrong. At 5:15, I headed over to the church to finish setting up. Then, somehow, a concert happened... my memories are fuzzy as my blood pressure was so high that I think I may have blacked out through most of the performance. I went into hyper-focus, crisis-aversion mode. I think I came back to this planet just in time for the final combined piece, "How Can I Keep from Singing?". It was some of the most beautiful music that I have ever heard these kids make. Their vowels were tall, their faces were energized, and their crescendos/decrescendos were superb. I looked back for the final bow and saw nothing but huge, silly grins on all of their faces. They were so proud...and I was, too. I heard from several teachers that it was the smoothest choir performance they'd ever seen. I also heard that we blew away the high school performance earlier in the week. The superintendent of the district was present as his daughter is in my choir. It made me feel good knowing that he witnessed the event as my principal and vice principal were not present. I'm not bitter.
A couple of cute stories to warm your hearts.... :-)
I have a student with lots of behavior issues who refused to participate for the first month of school. We'll call her *Sherry. Nothing worked-- calling home, private conferences, loss of privileges, detentions--- nada. I started allowing her to come hang out in my room before school, and we'd chat while I got the room set up for the day. I noticed that, the more we talked, the more she participated in class. At the concert, Sherry had her hair curled and pulled back. She was wearing a nice button-down shirt and black slacks. I told her that she looked beautiful, and her response made me melt: "Ms. Taylor, I really wanted to look nice and do well at the concert for you because you're the only teacher who doesn't yell at me." I almost cried.
Then there's *Ralph. Ralph is another kiddo that I hear a lot of teachers complaining about. He can't stay in his seat, he enjoys pestering the other students, and I don't think he showers often. I had to move Ralph to a seat away from the other students early in the semester because he seriously couldn't sit by ANYONE without getting in trouble. When I have morning duty, I'm required to sit outside of the cafeteria doors and make sure kids don't try to sneak in or out of breakfast. Ralph doesn't ever have anyone to sit with, so one day I let him sit with me. My one condition: He had to let me quiz him over letter names. Every morning for two weeks, Ralph came to sit with me and work on letter names while he ate breakfast. Turns out, the kid is really smart and knows his letter names backwards and forwards.... I guess not EVERYTHING that I said went in one ear and out the other. He aced his letter names quiz and, surprise, started participating in class. I didn't even have to say his name to get his attention anymore. The week before the concert, Ralph came to me in tears. He found out that he was moving and today would be his last day. He was upset because he still wanted to be able to be in the concert. Well OF COURSE I let him participate. On the night of the concert, Ralph showed up dressed like a million bucks and grinning from ear to ear. I placed him on the risers and prayed that he would leave the kids around him alone. After the concert, a woman approached me and introduced herself as Ralph's mom. She thanked me for including him and told me that choir was the best part of his time at our school. He plans to continue choir at his new school. Again, my heart melted in two. This is why I do what I do. You can't save them all-- regardless of what Ron Clark may tell you. There will be some kids that you will just never get through to. They will hate your guts and write vulgar things about you in the bathroom stalls. They will put gum in your chair and do the opposite of everything you ask. But there will also be some Sherry's and some Ralph's that you WILL get through to. And that's all that matters.
CHAPTER THREE: After the Storm
My relationship with my students has changed so much since the concert. They trust me now, and they're all whole-heartedly on board. On Friday, we wore our new choir shirts for a "Choir Spirit" day. We were a maroon army of music nerds! I have chosen our Christmas concert theme: GRINCH!. Can't wait to get all of my little Who's in Whoville started on our new music next week when we get back from fall break.
And, oh yeah... Did I mention that I've got this wonderful boyfriend who was there through it all? He even stayed after the concert to help me clean up. :-) Caleb deserves a gold medal for putting up with me.
So that's the update. If you read this, "bless your heart." ;-) That's how we say it down here in Kentucky, y'all!
CHAPTER ONE: Nightmare on Second Street
A couple of months ago, I scheduled a dress rehearsal field trip at the church where our concert was going to be. I requested permission to pull 160 kids out of school (7th/8th grade first, then 6th grade in the afternoon) so that we could practice as a combined choir at the church. It would also give us the opportunity to practice with our accompanist (instead of me trying to conduct and play at the same time) and figure out how to fit all 160 of us in the front of the church. This has been done before in the past for the Christmas and spring concerts, so my principal approved. I worked out all of the details that I could possibly think of and then, two weeks before the field trip, emailed the final details to the administration and office staff to be looked over. I had the permission slips out, and the kids were getting excited. Four days before the trip, I ran into my principal in the hallway. She let me know that she wasn't so sure about the field trip anymore..... ajskfl;sdkjfalsdjfasuwiowerjkslkahfksldj! I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. How in the world was I going to put this together without a dress rehearsal? As if this wasn't all stressful enough, I also was dealing with All-State choir confusion... I'll spare you the details on this. There was talk that I was going to be observed by the assistant principal during concert week for KTIP (the stupid Kentucky program that I have to do to get my Kentucky teaching license). Things got so crazy that I seriously considered running out into the middle of Highway 41 and ending it all. I threw up in the bathroom between classes. There is so much pressure put on you to do well at the first concert-- everyone is judging you and comparing you to past directors-- This concert needed to be good or I was looking at losing the trust, respect, and support of my students, their parents, the staff, and the community. Sound dramatic? It's not an exaggeration. Later that day, we got the news that we would be allowed to go after all. I worked non-stop over the weekend to think of every detail. I typed up minute-by-minute schedules and made lists of all the students involved for our secretaries.
When Monday finally arrived, the kids met me at 7:52 sharp in the front lobby- ready to go! They were prompt and prepared. The busses were scheduled to arrive at 8:00, so at 7:55 I pulled them out onto the curb to load. As I was sorting them into seventh and eighth grade, our attendance secretary burst out of the front doors wearing a look of absolute horror. "What are you DOING? This is a NIGHTMARE! Get these kids back to homeroom so we can take attendance!" I calmly handed her my list of involved students and told her that I would phone with absentees. She, not so calmly, told me that this simply wouldn't do. I couldn't help but laugh. I sent out the itinerary with the exact details of who, what, when, where and how we would load the busses to get to this field trip weeks ago. No one spoke up to tell me that it would be a problem to leave first thing in the morning. I wanted to get there as early as possible so that the kids didn't have to miss as much class. Long story short, I had to send 100 kids back to their homerooms so that attendance could be taken electronically instead of the old-fashioned way. I then had to wait for over fifteen minutes while the kids made their way back to the front curb to load the busses. By the time we finally got on the busses, we were already a half hour behind schedule. Fabulous. I realized as soon as we got to the church that, in the chaos, I had left my box with all of my music, my standing order charts, our props, and our simple percussion instruments on the curb outside of the school. I had to call and have someone bring it over to the church.
Did the dress rehearsal go well after all of this work? Hmmm.... it was okay. The kids sang well, but their behavior sucked. They were hyper (as they were so excited to be out of school), and my parent volunteers didn't show up. One girl vomited on the floor of the church, and two others got written up by the bus driver for being out of their seats. I probably would have lost my voice had it not been for the microphone.
CHAPTER TWO: Proud Momma
On the day of the concert, I could tell the kids were nervous. They know that I'm new at this, and I think they were having a hard time trusting that it was all going to be okay. I was getting REALLY sick of hearing about how their old teacher used to do things. After school, I changed into my concert dress and brushed my teeth in the bathroom. I went back to my room and read over the program a few thousand times to be sure that I'd thought of everything that could possibly go wrong. At 5:15, I headed over to the church to finish setting up. Then, somehow, a concert happened... my memories are fuzzy as my blood pressure was so high that I think I may have blacked out through most of the performance. I went into hyper-focus, crisis-aversion mode. I think I came back to this planet just in time for the final combined piece, "How Can I Keep from Singing?". It was some of the most beautiful music that I have ever heard these kids make. Their vowels were tall, their faces were energized, and their crescendos/decrescendos were superb. I looked back for the final bow and saw nothing but huge, silly grins on all of their faces. They were so proud...and I was, too. I heard from several teachers that it was the smoothest choir performance they'd ever seen. I also heard that we blew away the high school performance earlier in the week. The superintendent of the district was present as his daughter is in my choir. It made me feel good knowing that he witnessed the event as my principal and vice principal were not present. I'm not bitter.
A couple of cute stories to warm your hearts.... :-)
I have a student with lots of behavior issues who refused to participate for the first month of school. We'll call her *Sherry. Nothing worked-- calling home, private conferences, loss of privileges, detentions--- nada. I started allowing her to come hang out in my room before school, and we'd chat while I got the room set up for the day. I noticed that, the more we talked, the more she participated in class. At the concert, Sherry had her hair curled and pulled back. She was wearing a nice button-down shirt and black slacks. I told her that she looked beautiful, and her response made me melt: "Ms. Taylor, I really wanted to look nice and do well at the concert for you because you're the only teacher who doesn't yell at me." I almost cried.
Then there's *Ralph. Ralph is another kiddo that I hear a lot of teachers complaining about. He can't stay in his seat, he enjoys pestering the other students, and I don't think he showers often. I had to move Ralph to a seat away from the other students early in the semester because he seriously couldn't sit by ANYONE without getting in trouble. When I have morning duty, I'm required to sit outside of the cafeteria doors and make sure kids don't try to sneak in or out of breakfast. Ralph doesn't ever have anyone to sit with, so one day I let him sit with me. My one condition: He had to let me quiz him over letter names. Every morning for two weeks, Ralph came to sit with me and work on letter names while he ate breakfast. Turns out, the kid is really smart and knows his letter names backwards and forwards.... I guess not EVERYTHING that I said went in one ear and out the other. He aced his letter names quiz and, surprise, started participating in class. I didn't even have to say his name to get his attention anymore. The week before the concert, Ralph came to me in tears. He found out that he was moving and today would be his last day. He was upset because he still wanted to be able to be in the concert. Well OF COURSE I let him participate. On the night of the concert, Ralph showed up dressed like a million bucks and grinning from ear to ear. I placed him on the risers and prayed that he would leave the kids around him alone. After the concert, a woman approached me and introduced herself as Ralph's mom. She thanked me for including him and told me that choir was the best part of his time at our school. He plans to continue choir at his new school. Again, my heart melted in two. This is why I do what I do. You can't save them all-- regardless of what Ron Clark may tell you. There will be some kids that you will just never get through to. They will hate your guts and write vulgar things about you in the bathroom stalls. They will put gum in your chair and do the opposite of everything you ask. But there will also be some Sherry's and some Ralph's that you WILL get through to. And that's all that matters.
CHAPTER THREE: After the Storm
My relationship with my students has changed so much since the concert. They trust me now, and they're all whole-heartedly on board. On Friday, we wore our new choir shirts for a "Choir Spirit" day. We were a maroon army of music nerds! I have chosen our Christmas concert theme: GRINCH!. Can't wait to get all of my little Who's in Whoville started on our new music next week when we get back from fall break.
And, oh yeah... Did I mention that I've got this wonderful boyfriend who was there through it all? He even stayed after the concert to help me clean up. :-) Caleb deserves a gold medal for putting up with me.
So that's the update. If you read this, "bless your heart." ;-) That's how we say it down here in Kentucky, y'all!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
I'm a Big Kid Now!
I am happy to report that this blog is coming to you straight from my new apartment! (Pics to come.) This week was the LONGEST and CRAZIEST yet... early morning duty, all-state choir auditions, theory ws, theory test, test re-dos, midterm grades due (involved long hours staring at my online grade book), t-shirt orders, fundraiser planning and, oh yeah, I decided to move out. So, needless to say, I didn't have a second to even think about packing until Friday night. My friend Caleb came over to help me pack and discovered that packing/moving is quite possibly the one thing that manages to bring out the very worst in me. I didn't know where to begin, then I pouted, then I cried, then I started randomly throwing things in boxes, cried some more, took out my frustration on everyone around me, and then gave up and went to bed. I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn on Saturday and finished the job. By 8:10, we were loading up the Penske truck and heading to my new home. Two trips later, I was in. The place looks great-- not as bare as I thought it might. I made a trip to Wal-Mart with my mom and got groceries/ a few decorative things to add some touches of home. Caleb showed up with flowers and wine. We sat and enjoyed the wine on my couch... the one he sold me a couple of months ago... that's how we met. ;-) Elphie Cat finally ventured out from her hiding place under my bed around 10ish and explored her new home. She is terrified of the stairs, so I have to carry her past them so that she will go into the living room. I woke up this morning and found her right back under the bed again. She only leaves to visit the litterbox. She really hasn't eaten anything. Hopefully she will acclimate soon, because I miss my purr box!
Highs of the week: Caleb's surprise flowers/wine, Hanging out with the fam at my new pad, Drinking tea on my balcony and watching the rain this morning
Lows of the week: A kid called me an f-ing B in an anonymous comment on our choir webpage. He also threw in a line about how much he hates one of our pieces. My thoughts? Well, at least you know what we're singing! His screen name, comically, was PEN1S. Luckily, I have to approve everything before it goes up, so I'm the only one that could see it. Pretty sure I know who it is. This kid was the star of the show with the old choir teacher, but I call him out when he is being disruptive. Not going to give him special treatment just because he is talented. Pretty sure he doesn't appreciate it. Oh well!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Highs of the week: Caleb's surprise flowers/wine, Hanging out with the fam at my new pad, Drinking tea on my balcony and watching the rain this morning
Lows of the week: A kid called me an f-ing B in an anonymous comment on our choir webpage. He also threw in a line about how much he hates one of our pieces. My thoughts? Well, at least you know what we're singing! His screen name, comically, was PEN1S. Luckily, I have to approve everything before it goes up, so I'm the only one that could see it. Pretty sure I know who it is. This kid was the star of the show with the old choir teacher, but I call him out when he is being disruptive. Not going to give him special treatment just because he is talented. Pretty sure he doesn't appreciate it. Oh well!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Friday, August 26, 2011
T.G.I.F.!
Wheeeeeewwww.... I am so glad it is Friday.
This week was great but SO crazy. I had Glee Club auditions and was at school every night until 7 or later. Vocal auditions were Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and dance callbacks were today. I got to be bosom buddies with our custodians, Glen and Clem. So many talented kids auditioned- about 80... had to narrow it down to 30. Ended up with 33- 11 boys and 22 girls. Each boy has 2 dance partners.
Lots of drama this week (as always when you're working with hormonal chipmunks from outer space)... but things ended on a wonderful note. I played a rhythm review game with each of the choirs and brought candy for the winning teams. We ran our fall concert songs.... most of which are nearly concert ready. I may need to add another song to keep them busy... possibly a combined number? In the last ten minutes, I let the kids watch some of my favorite scenes from "Singin' in the Rain" while I passed out papers. They LOVED Donald O'Connor in "Make 'Em Laugh". I've never seen them so hypnotized by a movie---even when I let them watch Shrek last week. The class that won the free day today wanted to watch my high school's version of "Singin'" in which I played Kathy, the lead female. Their reactions were hysterical: "Ms. Taylor-- I didn't know you could sing! I didn't know you could dance! Is that REALLY you? You were so much prettier then!" Thanks, guys. Gotta love middle school.
The "class gotcha" reward system is still working pretty well. I am afraid my seventh grade classes might give up in a couple of weeks, though. They always lose by a mile because their class as a whole is SO rough. Lots of behavior issues. Lots of special needs. As I said before, it doesn't even work to move them because they can't stand to sit by anyone. Several kids have notes from their parents saying that they're not allowed to sit by certain students. Several kids have to sit near me or near the front of the room. It makes shuffling things around rather tricky. Hoping that I can finally find a seating chart that works and keep them motivated to win.
One last thing-- created a website for the choir this week. It's so cool! Here's the link. Check it out!
http://www.eschool.henderson.kyschools.us/laurentaylor/
This week was great but SO crazy. I had Glee Club auditions and was at school every night until 7 or later. Vocal auditions were Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and dance callbacks were today. I got to be bosom buddies with our custodians, Glen and Clem. So many talented kids auditioned- about 80... had to narrow it down to 30. Ended up with 33- 11 boys and 22 girls. Each boy has 2 dance partners.
Lots of drama this week (as always when you're working with hormonal chipmunks from outer space)... but things ended on a wonderful note. I played a rhythm review game with each of the choirs and brought candy for the winning teams. We ran our fall concert songs.... most of which are nearly concert ready. I may need to add another song to keep them busy... possibly a combined number? In the last ten minutes, I let the kids watch some of my favorite scenes from "Singin' in the Rain" while I passed out papers. They LOVED Donald O'Connor in "Make 'Em Laugh". I've never seen them so hypnotized by a movie---even when I let them watch Shrek last week. The class that won the free day today wanted to watch my high school's version of "Singin'" in which I played Kathy, the lead female. Their reactions were hysterical: "Ms. Taylor-- I didn't know you could sing! I didn't know you could dance! Is that REALLY you? You were so much prettier then!" Thanks, guys. Gotta love middle school.
The "class gotcha" reward system is still working pretty well. I am afraid my seventh grade classes might give up in a couple of weeks, though. They always lose by a mile because their class as a whole is SO rough. Lots of behavior issues. Lots of special needs. As I said before, it doesn't even work to move them because they can't stand to sit by anyone. Several kids have notes from their parents saying that they're not allowed to sit by certain students. Several kids have to sit near me or near the front of the room. It makes shuffling things around rather tricky. Hoping that I can finally find a seating chart that works and keep them motivated to win.
One last thing-- created a website for the choir this week. It's so cool! Here's the link. Check it out!
http://www.eschool.henderson.kyschools.us/laurentaylor/
Friday, August 19, 2011
Ten Minutes at a Time...
This week went MUCH better. We spent all Monday going over a power point about my "great expectations" for choir this year. Students had a bell-ringer about how one person's choices can affect an entire team. We talked a lot about what it takes to be a successful choir. I started a new positive behavior system where the kids get a "class gotcha" for every ten minutes they go without anyone getting a warning and without me having to quiet them down or fight to hold their focus. The class with the most gotchas on Friday wins a "Chill Friday". I will bring in movies that they can pick from and a bunch of candy. They don't have to sit in their assigned seats, and they can also finish their homework for the weekend. Each day, I let the first kid who asks be the "timekeeper." This student watches the clock and crashes together some toy cymbals at the end of every ten-minute chunk. I give the time-keeper a thumbs-up if we made it, and he/she can put a tally up on the board.Class gotchas are tallied on a four-foot tall chalkboard that I set right in front of the piano. At all times, they can see which class is in the lead and how many more gotchas they need to win. The competition was stiff all week, and two classes ended up tying for the win: a sixth grade class and an eighth grade class. No surprise that seventh grade was quite a few tallies behind.
Highlights of the week:
1. I still have a voice today because I didn't talk over a single class this week. (Yay, class gotchas!)
2. I managed to connect with a student who was causing a lot of behavior problems. I wrote her up last week, and she came to me to apologize. She loves choir and is a fantastic singer, but she can have a terrible attitude. We worked out a deal on Monday: If she could show me a marked improvement in attitude and participation by Friday, I would let her switch her assigned seat to be by her friends (who I had purposefully moved her away from.) Worked like a CHARM. She finally started using her powerful voice and queen bee personality to be a positive leader instead of a negative leader. I gave her extra responsibilities in class and let her run some errands for me. In the midst of our deal, we connected and she learned that she actually really loves choir. Now she is signed up for the glee club. She wants to continue to be a leader so that I will put her in the group. Woohoo!
3. I had my first "walk through" observation this week. A big shot from district came into my classroom at the beginning of seventh period (danger! danger! seventh grade!) and watched me teach a theory lesson. He came back today to deliver his comments-- all of which were positive! He said that he loved the way I was asking kids to "think" about music. Apparently the kids were all engaged and focused. I would argue that this is a bit of a stretch. I have a handful of kiddos that I know had glazed-over eyes. But hey, I'll take it! I also, luckily, had done everything district had asked (no matter how time consuming or ridiculous.) I wrote every "target" (learning goals/standards) on the board and had another portion designated for vocab... Seriously, there was no room for me to write after I had everything that I was required to have on the board up. I think that this was really what he was there to look for.
4. I broke up a girl fight today.
5. I had a lot of meaningful conversations with my sixth grade homeroom about bullying and the excitements/woes of middle school. They are so cute!
6. I had another twenty kids sign up for glee. I started signing up two kids for every ten minute slot because I really have no more time left. Next week is going to be so crazy!
Starting to think that I can actually do this. How can I actually be three weeks in to my first year of teaching?
Highlights of the week:
1. I still have a voice today because I didn't talk over a single class this week. (Yay, class gotchas!)
2. I managed to connect with a student who was causing a lot of behavior problems. I wrote her up last week, and she came to me to apologize. She loves choir and is a fantastic singer, but she can have a terrible attitude. We worked out a deal on Monday: If she could show me a marked improvement in attitude and participation by Friday, I would let her switch her assigned seat to be by her friends (who I had purposefully moved her away from.) Worked like a CHARM. She finally started using her powerful voice and queen bee personality to be a positive leader instead of a negative leader. I gave her extra responsibilities in class and let her run some errands for me. In the midst of our deal, we connected and she learned that she actually really loves choir. Now she is signed up for the glee club. She wants to continue to be a leader so that I will put her in the group. Woohoo!
3. I had my first "walk through" observation this week. A big shot from district came into my classroom at the beginning of seventh period (danger! danger! seventh grade!) and watched me teach a theory lesson. He came back today to deliver his comments-- all of which were positive! He said that he loved the way I was asking kids to "think" about music. Apparently the kids were all engaged and focused. I would argue that this is a bit of a stretch. I have a handful of kiddos that I know had glazed-over eyes. But hey, I'll take it! I also, luckily, had done everything district had asked (no matter how time consuming or ridiculous.) I wrote every "target" (learning goals/standards) on the board and had another portion designated for vocab... Seriously, there was no room for me to write after I had everything that I was required to have on the board up. I think that this was really what he was there to look for.
4. I broke up a girl fight today.
5. I had a lot of meaningful conversations with my sixth grade homeroom about bullying and the excitements/woes of middle school. They are so cute!
6. I had another twenty kids sign up for glee. I started signing up two kids for every ten minute slot because I really have no more time left. Next week is going to be so crazy!
Starting to think that I can actually do this. How can I actually be three weeks in to my first year of teaching?
Saturday, August 13, 2011
In like a lamb and out like a lion...
My first full week of school. It is hard to know where to begin because SO MUCH happened between Monday and Friday. We had Open House where I met the parents and learned why my students are the way they are. :-) There was a line outside my door that didn't die down all night. Everybody wanted to check out the new music teacher. Some had sweet things to say like, "My kid didn't think he'd like choir but now it's his favorite class!" or "She sang all last night and wanted to tell us everything she learned!". A couple of parents even said that their kids described me as "fashionable". Haha! Other parents wanted to tell me how the last choir teacher did things or tell me how to do my job. That part wasn't fun. At the end of the night, I was probably the most tired that I've ever been. I thought my face was going to crack in two from all the smiling.
In the classroom, we started the week learning new warm-ups, working on some simple part-singing canons, and talking about posture/breathing. The kids did a listening activity with the Jackson 5 song, "ABC", that they really liked. The kids were talkative and every class had one or two minor disruptions that I had to deal with, but most things went smoothly. If I told them to get quiet, they would. I got to know most everybody's names by Wednesday. On Thursday, we started our music for our first concert. I have the seventh and eighth graders already singing in three part harmony. My sixth grade classes are singing harmony in a round-style song. So exciting! The sixth graders were completely darling all week. I think I could teach them all day. They really make my job fun. It's like I can't believe I'm getting paid to teach them because it is so easy.
Then there's the upperclassmen. Our "honeymoon" period ended on Thursday. My seventh graders suddenly grew springs out of their butts and couldn't manage to hold themselves in their seats. They bickered with each other almost constantly and basically ignored me when I told them to get quiet. Moving seats did absolutely nothing. It's like no one in the seventh grade likes each other and can handle sitting by another student. They classes just don't mesh, so the whole "We're a team!" thing that I had going on did a giant belly flop. How can I get them to sing together if they won't even sit together? By mid-way through the period on Friday, I had had enough. I stopped my entire rehearsal to talk about how we can make our rehearsals function more efficiently. "Well... people shouldn't talk so much." Okay, so what should we do if "people" are talking? After much discussion, they eventually came to the conclusion that our classroom rules and consequences were fair. I should just be more strict about enforcing them. Apparently their old choir teacher was strict and they feel like that's what they need. They don't believe that I will actually follow through. "Okay... I can do that." So we resumed our rehearsal and I started giving warnings and minors and following through. TOTAL MUTINY. The kids went crazy. You see, it's one thing to say what should happen when "people" talk, but it's another thing entirely when "people" is YOU. They asked for strict and they got it. On the way out the door, I heard them muttering about how much they hate me now. I wanted to say, "You asked for it!"
My patience was already thin when my last eighth grade class of the day came in on Friday. Their rehearsal went well overall, but then we had to have a talk about what happens when the dismissal calls come. Our school dismisses bus riders by grade level. Traditionally, walkers and car riders are dismissed first before the students who ride busses. Yesterday, they forgot to make a call for walkers and car riders so I just dismissed those kids myself. All but two students got up and left. The two girls left said, "Um, half of those kids ride the busses." The kids had totally taken advantage of my kindness and that's something I just can't stand for. So Friday I told the kids that we would ALL wait until they dismissed the eighth grade because I can't trust them anymore. TOTAL MUTINY. "I have to go get ready for cheer practice! That's not fair! My Mom is going to call you! I have an appointment to get to! Blah Blah Blah!" And I said that I didn't care. Five minutes wasn't going to make or break them. We would all wait. I turned my back from the door to address a student who had smarted off in class about her attitude. As I sat to write her discipline notice, the students grabbed their books and crowded around the door, waiting for the 8th grade call to come. In the midst of the crowd, a few girls slipped out the open door and into the hallway. A fellow teacher caught them and I heard, "What are you doing out of the room?" My head flew up from the paperwork and I bee-lined for the door. Had someone really tried to sneak out of my classroom? Seriously? Yep. "Out of my way! Go back to your seats!" I cut through the sea of angry eighth grade girls and corralled everyone, including the offenders, back into the room. Without thinking, I slammed the door and screamed "SIT. DOWN!". I don't think I have ever made that big of a production in my life. I was even shocked that it happened. I went to my desk and quietly continued filling out the discipline notice. The classroom was completely silent. They called for the eighth grade dismissal and nobody moved. I continued writing for three-four minutes after the call and then walked into the hallway. I came back inside and very quietly said, "You are dismissed." The students filed out with their heads down and mouths shut. Holy crap. Oh and did I mention that the superintendent's daughter is in this class? Yep.
So my week came in like a lamb and out like a lion. I think we are going to spend all Monday talking about my expectations for the classroom. I am going to have to come up with a new system for my room, because the school's classroom management plan just isn't working for choir. They practically have to kill someone before they feel any consequences. They are all probably going to hate me next week, but I really don't care. The disrespectfulness that I witnessed on Thursday and Friday both from individual students and from the class as a whole just can't happen anymore.
On a bright note, I have had so many students interested in auditioning for my Glee Club that I had to make another additional day of audition time slots. I now have three days worth of ten-minute long auditions from after school until 7:00. That's almost eighty students auditioning for a group of 30. If the talent pool is strong enough, I'm considering creating two groups- an all-girls and a mixed group. I am pleased with the number of guys auditioning. Lots of really strong singers. I don't have tons of guys in the program overall, but each of them are extremely talented and dedicated. Exciting stuff.
This year might very well kill me. I will have someone observing me in my room just about every week from one facet of the school corp or another. I'm K-TIPping... which is essentially Kentucky's new teacher program that requires an obscene amount of busy work and additional observations. I am already over-committed when it comes to groups at school (my own darn fault) and I also volunteered to start helping with the music direction at my home church. I decided to keep a few private lessons students on the side. WHY WHY WHY do I always overcommit? Here I go again...
In the classroom, we started the week learning new warm-ups, working on some simple part-singing canons, and talking about posture/breathing. The kids did a listening activity with the Jackson 5 song, "ABC", that they really liked. The kids were talkative and every class had one or two minor disruptions that I had to deal with, but most things went smoothly. If I told them to get quiet, they would. I got to know most everybody's names by Wednesday. On Thursday, we started our music for our first concert. I have the seventh and eighth graders already singing in three part harmony. My sixth grade classes are singing harmony in a round-style song. So exciting! The sixth graders were completely darling all week. I think I could teach them all day. They really make my job fun. It's like I can't believe I'm getting paid to teach them because it is so easy.
Then there's the upperclassmen. Our "honeymoon" period ended on Thursday. My seventh graders suddenly grew springs out of their butts and couldn't manage to hold themselves in their seats. They bickered with each other almost constantly and basically ignored me when I told them to get quiet. Moving seats did absolutely nothing. It's like no one in the seventh grade likes each other and can handle sitting by another student. They classes just don't mesh, so the whole "We're a team!" thing that I had going on did a giant belly flop. How can I get them to sing together if they won't even sit together? By mid-way through the period on Friday, I had had enough. I stopped my entire rehearsal to talk about how we can make our rehearsals function more efficiently. "Well... people shouldn't talk so much." Okay, so what should we do if "people" are talking? After much discussion, they eventually came to the conclusion that our classroom rules and consequences were fair. I should just be more strict about enforcing them. Apparently their old choir teacher was strict and they feel like that's what they need. They don't believe that I will actually follow through. "Okay... I can do that." So we resumed our rehearsal and I started giving warnings and minors and following through. TOTAL MUTINY. The kids went crazy. You see, it's one thing to say what should happen when "people" talk, but it's another thing entirely when "people" is YOU. They asked for strict and they got it. On the way out the door, I heard them muttering about how much they hate me now. I wanted to say, "You asked for it!"
My patience was already thin when my last eighth grade class of the day came in on Friday. Their rehearsal went well overall, but then we had to have a talk about what happens when the dismissal calls come. Our school dismisses bus riders by grade level. Traditionally, walkers and car riders are dismissed first before the students who ride busses. Yesterday, they forgot to make a call for walkers and car riders so I just dismissed those kids myself. All but two students got up and left. The two girls left said, "Um, half of those kids ride the busses." The kids had totally taken advantage of my kindness and that's something I just can't stand for. So Friday I told the kids that we would ALL wait until they dismissed the eighth grade because I can't trust them anymore. TOTAL MUTINY. "I have to go get ready for cheer practice! That's not fair! My Mom is going to call you! I have an appointment to get to! Blah Blah Blah!" And I said that I didn't care. Five minutes wasn't going to make or break them. We would all wait. I turned my back from the door to address a student who had smarted off in class about her attitude. As I sat to write her discipline notice, the students grabbed their books and crowded around the door, waiting for the 8th grade call to come. In the midst of the crowd, a few girls slipped out the open door and into the hallway. A fellow teacher caught them and I heard, "What are you doing out of the room?" My head flew up from the paperwork and I bee-lined for the door. Had someone really tried to sneak out of my classroom? Seriously? Yep. "Out of my way! Go back to your seats!" I cut through the sea of angry eighth grade girls and corralled everyone, including the offenders, back into the room. Without thinking, I slammed the door and screamed "SIT. DOWN!". I don't think I have ever made that big of a production in my life. I was even shocked that it happened. I went to my desk and quietly continued filling out the discipline notice. The classroom was completely silent. They called for the eighth grade dismissal and nobody moved. I continued writing for three-four minutes after the call and then walked into the hallway. I came back inside and very quietly said, "You are dismissed." The students filed out with their heads down and mouths shut. Holy crap. Oh and did I mention that the superintendent's daughter is in this class? Yep.
So my week came in like a lamb and out like a lion. I think we are going to spend all Monday talking about my expectations for the classroom. I am going to have to come up with a new system for my room, because the school's classroom management plan just isn't working for choir. They practically have to kill someone before they feel any consequences. They are all probably going to hate me next week, but I really don't care. The disrespectfulness that I witnessed on Thursday and Friday both from individual students and from the class as a whole just can't happen anymore.
On a bright note, I have had so many students interested in auditioning for my Glee Club that I had to make another additional day of audition time slots. I now have three days worth of ten-minute long auditions from after school until 7:00. That's almost eighty students auditioning for a group of 30. If the talent pool is strong enough, I'm considering creating two groups- an all-girls and a mixed group. I am pleased with the number of guys auditioning. Lots of really strong singers. I don't have tons of guys in the program overall, but each of them are extremely talented and dedicated. Exciting stuff.
This year might very well kill me. I will have someone observing me in my room just about every week from one facet of the school corp or another. I'm K-TIPping... which is essentially Kentucky's new teacher program that requires an obscene amount of busy work and additional observations. I am already over-committed when it comes to groups at school (my own darn fault) and I also volunteered to start helping with the music direction at my home church. I decided to keep a few private lessons students on the side. WHY WHY WHY do I always overcommit? Here I go again...
Sunday, August 7, 2011
First two days of school!
Well, I survived my first two days of school. Here's a brief synopsis:
Day One:
I had early morning duty in the gym and watched in anticipation as the bleachers filled with kids that might be in my class. I tried to guess which ones were choir kids and which had probably opted to take something else. No major discipline issues that I had to address because the kids were all on their best behavior for the first day. Then the bell rang and they headed to their first period classes to hear the school rules read aloud until lunchtime. That's right-- the poor kids had to stay in the same room going over the dress code, code of conduct, and forms that needed to be returned for three hours. I assisted a teacher upstairs as I don't have a first period class. She had a bunch of sixth graders who couldn't work their locker combinations. So cute. I helped them assemble their locker shelves and hang up their mirrors inside... the important stuff, you know.
The kids eventually got to move on to their third period class which means I began my teaching career with a room full of seventh graders. These seventh graders are supposedly the most difficult class that the school has ever seen. I can understand why my colleagues felt the need to warn me. Even on the first day of school, before I'd even read our classroom rules, these kids were going bat-sh** crazy. They talked and talked and talked and talked while one kid ran circles around his seat. As soon as I would get them quiet and somewhat focused, the door would open and in would come a late student. Or, the bell would ring and they would think it was time to go even though it wasn't. At one point, all the teachers dismissed the students because we thought it was *finally* the real bell and then they made us call them all back into our rooms. No one knew the schedule for the day, so I had no idea if I had another 2 minutes or another 20 minutes with the kids. I ended up scrapping my lesson plan and letting them socialize. I had really good intentions of actually warming them up and teaching them a silly song, but there was no way I was going to get them back after all of the interruptions. We would start anew the next day.
I have decided that sixth graders are my favorite. They are still so respectful of their teachers and so excited to be in school. None of my sixth graders have ever sang in a choir before and many of them didn't have any kind of music in elementary school. When I teach them a silly warm-up, they giggle the whole time. After class, they come up and want to give you a hug and tell you that you are their favorite teacher. If I could teach sixth grade all day, I totally would. I can't wait to start music with this bunch.
Seventh graders test my patience. End of story.
Eighth graders are too cool. They're going to make me prove myself. They're constantly telling me the way that their old teacher did things, and they argue with me about just about everything. I have some really great kids in the eighth grade but I also have some kids that straight up told me they hate choir and are in my class for an "easy A". When I announced that we would actually be having a little bit of homework and taking some tests/quizzes, there was mutiny. The only thing that will save me with the eighth graders is that, eventually, they will realize I know what I am doing and take my side. I made the announcement that I am starting an after-school glee club and won many of them over. The kids are obsessed with the show, "Glee", and ask me questions about auditioning every chance they get. I hope the new opportunities make up for their distaste of my occasional homework assignments.
Day Two:
Went much better. Once I got the seventh graders back on schedule, they were a lot easier to manage. Sixth grade classes went so well today that I almost cried in the middle of class. I've never had a group of kids hang on my every word like this. They are so hungry to learn and so excited about music. Eighth grade was a little more talkative today. They're going to hate me on Monday when I start actually enforcing our classroom rules. After I reviewed my policy on disruptions, one girl commented, "You're tough!". Supposedly, this is what I want them to think, though. I'll start out tough and then pull back.
I have one boy in my eighth period choir. I had four boys, but two dropped and one moved to the other class to be with other boys. This boy in particular wants to be in my class because he wants to be with his girlfriend. It pisses me off because I could have an all-girls choir. I may have another chat with the counselor about this...
I taught each of my classes a part-singing canon today called "Fish and Chips." They thought it was a lot of fun, and they actually got to do some singing on the second day of school! I also taught them some more warm-ups, a posture rhyme, and discussed good singing posture. When I got each of the choirs sitting up, they looked absolutely fabulous. These kids definitely have potential. I am really excited for this year.
This next week we'll be doing voice placements Monday-Wednesday. On Thursday, I am starting new music. Woohoo! I think I am most nervous about handling the talking situation. It is difficult for me to find a good balance between good cop and bad cop. I'll let you know how it goes!
Day One:
I had early morning duty in the gym and watched in anticipation as the bleachers filled with kids that might be in my class. I tried to guess which ones were choir kids and which had probably opted to take something else. No major discipline issues that I had to address because the kids were all on their best behavior for the first day. Then the bell rang and they headed to their first period classes to hear the school rules read aloud until lunchtime. That's right-- the poor kids had to stay in the same room going over the dress code, code of conduct, and forms that needed to be returned for three hours. I assisted a teacher upstairs as I don't have a first period class. She had a bunch of sixth graders who couldn't work their locker combinations. So cute. I helped them assemble their locker shelves and hang up their mirrors inside... the important stuff, you know.
The kids eventually got to move on to their third period class which means I began my teaching career with a room full of seventh graders. These seventh graders are supposedly the most difficult class that the school has ever seen. I can understand why my colleagues felt the need to warn me. Even on the first day of school, before I'd even read our classroom rules, these kids were going bat-sh** crazy. They talked and talked and talked and talked while one kid ran circles around his seat. As soon as I would get them quiet and somewhat focused, the door would open and in would come a late student. Or, the bell would ring and they would think it was time to go even though it wasn't. At one point, all the teachers dismissed the students because we thought it was *finally* the real bell and then they made us call them all back into our rooms. No one knew the schedule for the day, so I had no idea if I had another 2 minutes or another 20 minutes with the kids. I ended up scrapping my lesson plan and letting them socialize. I had really good intentions of actually warming them up and teaching them a silly song, but there was no way I was going to get them back after all of the interruptions. We would start anew the next day.
I have decided that sixth graders are my favorite. They are still so respectful of their teachers and so excited to be in school. None of my sixth graders have ever sang in a choir before and many of them didn't have any kind of music in elementary school. When I teach them a silly warm-up, they giggle the whole time. After class, they come up and want to give you a hug and tell you that you are their favorite teacher. If I could teach sixth grade all day, I totally would. I can't wait to start music with this bunch.
Seventh graders test my patience. End of story.
Eighth graders are too cool. They're going to make me prove myself. They're constantly telling me the way that their old teacher did things, and they argue with me about just about everything. I have some really great kids in the eighth grade but I also have some kids that straight up told me they hate choir and are in my class for an "easy A". When I announced that we would actually be having a little bit of homework and taking some tests/quizzes, there was mutiny. The only thing that will save me with the eighth graders is that, eventually, they will realize I know what I am doing and take my side. I made the announcement that I am starting an after-school glee club and won many of them over. The kids are obsessed with the show, "Glee", and ask me questions about auditioning every chance they get. I hope the new opportunities make up for their distaste of my occasional homework assignments.
Day Two:
Went much better. Once I got the seventh graders back on schedule, they were a lot easier to manage. Sixth grade classes went so well today that I almost cried in the middle of class. I've never had a group of kids hang on my every word like this. They are so hungry to learn and so excited about music. Eighth grade was a little more talkative today. They're going to hate me on Monday when I start actually enforcing our classroom rules. After I reviewed my policy on disruptions, one girl commented, "You're tough!". Supposedly, this is what I want them to think, though. I'll start out tough and then pull back.
I have one boy in my eighth period choir. I had four boys, but two dropped and one moved to the other class to be with other boys. This boy in particular wants to be in my class because he wants to be with his girlfriend. It pisses me off because I could have an all-girls choir. I may have another chat with the counselor about this...
I taught each of my classes a part-singing canon today called "Fish and Chips." They thought it was a lot of fun, and they actually got to do some singing on the second day of school! I also taught them some more warm-ups, a posture rhyme, and discussed good singing posture. When I got each of the choirs sitting up, they looked absolutely fabulous. These kids definitely have potential. I am really excited for this year.
This next week we'll be doing voice placements Monday-Wednesday. On Thursday, I am starting new music. Woohoo! I think I am most nervous about handling the talking situation. It is difficult for me to find a good balance between good cop and bad cop. I'll let you know how it goes!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
My Soapbox and My Mission
Yesterday...
My morning began with the strangest occurrence of my life. I sneezed and SNAP!... blew my back out. After twenty minutes on the floor with a heating pad, I had to start getting ready for work because we had orientation at 7:30. I couldn't twist, bend, or lift--- just stand straight up or lie flat on my back. So, needless to say, my hair looked goooooood when I finally rolled in to work. Did I mention they took our pictures for our ID's? Yeah, so I get to look at that for the next few years.
Anywho, after yet another mingle and Ra-Ra speech with my new coworkers, we headed to our individual schools for some more PD. Today's challenge? Get with other middle school teachers in your content area to design a common curriculum and common assessments. The curriculum must be written out in "I CAN" statements... For example, "I can count a rhythm aloud involving quarter notes and half notes." The "I CAN" statements must be specific, and you have to be able to assess every single one of them. They should get sequentially harder and be organized into units. Perform an item-analysis on each assessment that you will give for the year to make sure that questions are fair, effective, and balanced.
Hmmm.... what could possibly go wrong? The other choir teacher in our district is also responsible for teaching computers, drama, and arts/humanities at his school. He was also asked to revise program evaluation documents for the district. So guess who was left all by herself to do the choir stuff? Yep, the new girl. I had a general idea of what I wanted to teach over the course of the year, but I didn't have an updated curriculum from the state of Kentucky to reference. I also didn't have my assessments from last year to dissect as I wasn't a teacher last year. To me, this assignment sounded like, "Plan your entire year and make all the tests in the next four hours. Go."
A few of my colleagues approached me and said, "You know, you're different as an elective. You really don't have to do this. I mean, what is there to assess? They just sing and dance, right?" I swear, there must have been smoke coming out of my ears. I had to do this. I let myself panic for ten seconds and then just started typing. Four hours later, I had an entire curriculum written and outlines of my assessments... didn't have time to make the actual tests but I was all alone... what did they expect? This project isn't so bad if you have twelve math teachers that can each tackle a unit. Overall, I'm pleased with what I came up with. I am integrating more music theory and history into the curriculum that what has been done in the past (so I've been told). I'm also doing an additional concert and adding an after-school group. Call me naive or crazy-- I very well may be-- but I just think that kids need a well-rounded musical education.
SOAPBOX: I am already sick and tired of being told that all I do in choir with the kids is sing. I am "just" an elective (hate the word elective), and my class is essentially just to give the kids a break from the "real" classes. I have been told that all this community wants from the choral program is a couple of good concerts a year. Who cares if the kids can read music or not-- you should just teach everything by rote. You won't have enough time to teach them anything other than their three or four pieces per semester anyway. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Dear fine arts educators across the country,
Do you want to know the reason why your programs get cut? It's because you buy into this crap. It's because you don't stand up to people when they label you as "just an elective"... a glorified babysitter! If you want to be a valued part of the school's curriculum, you need to show them that you are teaching the kids so much more than just how to put on a good Christmas concert or paint a pretty picture for the Open House. When they try to excuse you from creating a detailed curriculum or from designing assessments, politely refuse and create a curriculum that puts the "core" subjects to shame. In music, show that you are teaching history, theory, logic, writing, reading, creativity, speech, professionalism, presentation, expression, and so much more. If you treat your subject are as a "core" subject and hold yourself to the same level of accountability as a "core" teacher, your students and your school will start to view you as a "core" subject. If you treat your subject area as an elective... just something extra for funzies on the side... then don't be surprised when your program is the first to go.
That's my soapbox. And this is my mission: I want to make music a valued part of the curriculum, not only at my school but also across the district. It may not happen this first year, but I plan on hanging around. :-) After all, when have I ever gone anywhere and NOT stirred things up?
My morning began with the strangest occurrence of my life. I sneezed and SNAP!... blew my back out. After twenty minutes on the floor with a heating pad, I had to start getting ready for work because we had orientation at 7:30. I couldn't twist, bend, or lift--- just stand straight up or lie flat on my back. So, needless to say, my hair looked goooooood when I finally rolled in to work. Did I mention they took our pictures for our ID's? Yeah, so I get to look at that for the next few years.
Anywho, after yet another mingle and Ra-Ra speech with my new coworkers, we headed to our individual schools for some more PD. Today's challenge? Get with other middle school teachers in your content area to design a common curriculum and common assessments. The curriculum must be written out in "I CAN" statements... For example, "I can count a rhythm aloud involving quarter notes and half notes." The "I CAN" statements must be specific, and you have to be able to assess every single one of them. They should get sequentially harder and be organized into units. Perform an item-analysis on each assessment that you will give for the year to make sure that questions are fair, effective, and balanced.
Hmmm.... what could possibly go wrong? The other choir teacher in our district is also responsible for teaching computers, drama, and arts/humanities at his school. He was also asked to revise program evaluation documents for the district. So guess who was left all by herself to do the choir stuff? Yep, the new girl. I had a general idea of what I wanted to teach over the course of the year, but I didn't have an updated curriculum from the state of Kentucky to reference. I also didn't have my assessments from last year to dissect as I wasn't a teacher last year. To me, this assignment sounded like, "Plan your entire year and make all the tests in the next four hours. Go."
A few of my colleagues approached me and said, "You know, you're different as an elective. You really don't have to do this. I mean, what is there to assess? They just sing and dance, right?" I swear, there must have been smoke coming out of my ears. I had to do this. I let myself panic for ten seconds and then just started typing. Four hours later, I had an entire curriculum written and outlines of my assessments... didn't have time to make the actual tests but I was all alone... what did they expect? This project isn't so bad if you have twelve math teachers that can each tackle a unit. Overall, I'm pleased with what I came up with. I am integrating more music theory and history into the curriculum that what has been done in the past (so I've been told). I'm also doing an additional concert and adding an after-school group. Call me naive or crazy-- I very well may be-- but I just think that kids need a well-rounded musical education.
SOAPBOX: I am already sick and tired of being told that all I do in choir with the kids is sing. I am "just" an elective (hate the word elective), and my class is essentially just to give the kids a break from the "real" classes. I have been told that all this community wants from the choral program is a couple of good concerts a year. Who cares if the kids can read music or not-- you should just teach everything by rote. You won't have enough time to teach them anything other than their three or four pieces per semester anyway. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Dear fine arts educators across the country,
Do you want to know the reason why your programs get cut? It's because you buy into this crap. It's because you don't stand up to people when they label you as "just an elective"... a glorified babysitter! If you want to be a valued part of the school's curriculum, you need to show them that you are teaching the kids so much more than just how to put on a good Christmas concert or paint a pretty picture for the Open House. When they try to excuse you from creating a detailed curriculum or from designing assessments, politely refuse and create a curriculum that puts the "core" subjects to shame. In music, show that you are teaching history, theory, logic, writing, reading, creativity, speech, professionalism, presentation, expression, and so much more. If you treat your subject are as a "core" subject and hold yourself to the same level of accountability as a "core" teacher, your students and your school will start to view you as a "core" subject. If you treat your subject area as an elective... just something extra for funzies on the side... then don't be surprised when your program is the first to go.
That's my soapbox. And this is my mission: I want to make music a valued part of the curriculum, not only at my school but also across the district. It may not happen this first year, but I plan on hanging around. :-) After all, when have I ever gone anywhere and NOT stirred things up?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I'm an Eagle, and I am LOST!!!
After two long weeks of cleaning, organizing, and decorating my classroom, it is finally time to start thinking about actually teaching. I've been attending professional development meetings and orientations to become better acquainted with the school corporation's policies, procedures, resources, and technology. Most of the sessions have been a bore, but others have been really fun! I loved learning to use the smart boards (even though the choir room is the ONLY room without one), and I've enjoyed getting to spend some time with my fellow teachers... all of whom are fabulously supportive and all-around great people. The administration is great... my principal used to teach English and vocal music K-6.... she feels my pain and always keeps her door open for my 1,500 million bazillion questions. The secretaries are as sweet as Kentucky pecan pie~ haha! And the custodians helped me carry eight jumbo bags of trash out of my room without even batting an eye. Awesome! The staff is a good mix of younger people and seasoned veterans. Regardless of age, everyone I have met has expressed their love for the school and their job. This makes me feel really good about where I am. Is it possible that I may have landed my dream job as my first job?
Today I was in the middle of a session about co-teaching when two little girls knocked on the door. "We can't find the choir teacher!" I turned around in my seat and said, "Um... that's me!" I went out into the hall to see what they needed. I was greeted by twelve terrified-looking sixth graders with schedules in hand. "It's fourth period. We're supposed to be in choir right now."
I was totally confused as school doesn't start until August 4th. Another teacher came down the hall and explained that the students from one of the feeder elementary schools were getting to walk through their schedules. As I am not a sixth grade homeroom teacher, they forgot to notify me. Oh. I unlocked my door and the kids filed inside. They all sat in the very back row, and I coaxed them to come down to the front of the room. My mind was racing. I have fifteen whole minutes with these kids. What should I say? Mer.
"Hey, guys! Um.... welcome to choir! We're going to do a lot of fun stuff this year.... We're gonna sing a lot..." DUH! What was I thinking? So dumb. I was so nervous. The kids just stared back with their giant saucer eyes.
"Has anybody ever been in a choir before?" No hands went up. "Okay, that's alright! Has anybody had music class before?" A few hands went up. "Alright, then... Well, this year you'll learn to read music and we'll learn about music history (You know, the dead old guys all the way up through rock n' roll hopefully). We'll talk about musicals and maybe some operas...." More staring.
A hand went up. Thank God. "Yes?"
"My mom said we get to dance. Do we get to dance?"
"Sure!" I noticed the one guy in the classroom get a panicked look on his face. "But it won't be the hard stuff and there will always be a guy part!" He relaxed.
"Well, I guess I could start learning your names...." We went down the row and I tried to remember their names. I told them I'd probably forget them because I'm bad with names, but it's a start! I reassured the one boy that he wouldn't be the only guy in the class (there's five of them actually... haha). Apparently his mom made him take the class. I really hope he sticks with it. I told him that the ladies love guys that can sing like Justin Beiber.
"I don't like Justin Beiber," he challenged.
"Selena Gomez likes Justin Beiber... Do you like Selena Gomez?" I answered.
"Yeah!" His face lit up. Great... now I just have to find some way to get Selena Gomez to my choir concerts.
After some more chatting about concerts and what kind of music we might sing, the bell rang for the kids to head to their next class. A little girl from the front row came up and threw her arms around my waist. "You are already my favorite teacher! You are so happy!" I didn't know whether I wanted to laugh or cry more. Haha!
On our way out the door, the one boy in the class came up to me--- that deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes all over again. "I'm an Eagle and I am LOST!!!"
Mer? Then I realized that the kids are put in learning groups: Eagles, Constellations... and some other crazy names I can't remember. He didn't know where his group was supposed to go next. "Let me see your schedule." Social studies. I was pretty sure that was upstairs. "Come on bud, I'll walk with you. You won't be late, don't worry!" We passed some custodians and I heard them joke about how it was like the blind leading the blind. Yep. I had no idea where this room was. Soon, we ran into the teacher designated as the Eagle leader and she took him to social studies. Phew. I went back to my professional development session and eagerly awaited the next group of 6th graders headed to choir.
When I worked at Washington, I hated the sixth graders. They seemed so elementary-- like they needed to be babysat constantly. But these sixth graders are different somehow. I love them already, and that makes me really excited. They are just so. darn. cute. Seriously. For the first time in years, I am pumped to go back to school. I can't wait to meet my students. Thank you, sixth grade. Thank you, Eagles. :-)
Today I was in the middle of a session about co-teaching when two little girls knocked on the door. "We can't find the choir teacher!" I turned around in my seat and said, "Um... that's me!" I went out into the hall to see what they needed. I was greeted by twelve terrified-looking sixth graders with schedules in hand. "It's fourth period. We're supposed to be in choir right now."
I was totally confused as school doesn't start until August 4th. Another teacher came down the hall and explained that the students from one of the feeder elementary schools were getting to walk through their schedules. As I am not a sixth grade homeroom teacher, they forgot to notify me. Oh. I unlocked my door and the kids filed inside. They all sat in the very back row, and I coaxed them to come down to the front of the room. My mind was racing. I have fifteen whole minutes with these kids. What should I say? Mer.
"Hey, guys! Um.... welcome to choir! We're going to do a lot of fun stuff this year.... We're gonna sing a lot..." DUH! What was I thinking? So dumb. I was so nervous. The kids just stared back with their giant saucer eyes.
"Has anybody ever been in a choir before?" No hands went up. "Okay, that's alright! Has anybody had music class before?" A few hands went up. "Alright, then... Well, this year you'll learn to read music and we'll learn about music history (You know, the dead old guys all the way up through rock n' roll hopefully). We'll talk about musicals and maybe some operas...." More staring.
A hand went up. Thank God. "Yes?"
"My mom said we get to dance. Do we get to dance?"
"Sure!" I noticed the one guy in the classroom get a panicked look on his face. "But it won't be the hard stuff and there will always be a guy part!" He relaxed.
"Well, I guess I could start learning your names...." We went down the row and I tried to remember their names. I told them I'd probably forget them because I'm bad with names, but it's a start! I reassured the one boy that he wouldn't be the only guy in the class (there's five of them actually... haha). Apparently his mom made him take the class. I really hope he sticks with it. I told him that the ladies love guys that can sing like Justin Beiber.
"I don't like Justin Beiber," he challenged.
"Selena Gomez likes Justin Beiber... Do you like Selena Gomez?" I answered.
"Yeah!" His face lit up. Great... now I just have to find some way to get Selena Gomez to my choir concerts.
After some more chatting about concerts and what kind of music we might sing, the bell rang for the kids to head to their next class. A little girl from the front row came up and threw her arms around my waist. "You are already my favorite teacher! You are so happy!" I didn't know whether I wanted to laugh or cry more. Haha!
On our way out the door, the one boy in the class came up to me--- that deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes all over again. "I'm an Eagle and I am LOST!!!"
Mer? Then I realized that the kids are put in learning groups: Eagles, Constellations... and some other crazy names I can't remember. He didn't know where his group was supposed to go next. "Let me see your schedule." Social studies. I was pretty sure that was upstairs. "Come on bud, I'll walk with you. You won't be late, don't worry!" We passed some custodians and I heard them joke about how it was like the blind leading the blind. Yep. I had no idea where this room was. Soon, we ran into the teacher designated as the Eagle leader and she took him to social studies. Phew. I went back to my professional development session and eagerly awaited the next group of 6th graders headed to choir.
When I worked at Washington, I hated the sixth graders. They seemed so elementary-- like they needed to be babysat constantly. But these sixth graders are different somehow. I love them already, and that makes me really excited. They are just so. darn. cute. Seriously. For the first time in years, I am pumped to go back to school. I can't wait to meet my students. Thank you, sixth grade. Thank you, Eagles. :-)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Looking back and what's next!
I feel really bad about letting my blog fall through the cracks. I found out that I actually had a few folks reading it... but just know that I had my reasons for putting down the pen. It's really dangerous to tell stories about what happens at school because, even if you don't use names, there is always the possibility that someone will figure out who I am talking about. I felt like, if I couldn't tell you the good stuff and be totally honest, it wasn't worth my time or yours. But now that student teaching is over, I feel that an update is in order:
1. Student teaching ended up being an amazing experience. I got super close with my fellow teachers and the kids FINALLY warmed up to me. The musical was incredible, ISSMA was full of gold ratings, and I made my conducting debut at the final concert. I taught several of the pieces and even choreographed a few numbers. I arranged a version of Justin Bieber's "Baby" for a guys' group that, with the choreography of our good friend Jamie, stole the show. After the concert, I immediately had to pack up my stuff and leave for Greencastle the next morning. Yay, graduation practice!
2. Graduation suuuuucked. We have this family joke that any time something good happens in my life, it rains. Seriously, it's creepy. It's been this way since high school at least. As soon as I stood up to get my diploma, it started to pour. LC got to get her diploma, and then they moved the whole show (minus our parents) into Meharry Hall. I had done a great job of keeping it together up to this point, but as soon as we left Meharry I started bawling about how unfair it was that some kids' parents didn't get to watch them graduate. Namely, my international student friends. It took two strawberry pina coladas from Cheeseburger in Paradise before I stopped crying. For a week after graduation, I moped around thinking about how alone I was going to be in E-town without my friends. Indy was far away, but E-town is farther.
3. Solution to this problem? Travel. I went to San Fran for a family vacation and had a blast watching the sealions. I consumed my body weight in sourdough bread, Irish coffee, clam chowder, and pinot grigio wine by the bay. I biked across the Golden Gate bridge, hiked through Muir Woods among the tallest trees in the world, and bought some super fancy tea in Chinatown. As soon as we got back, I had to take a couple more Praxis tests for Kentucky certification (so fun! not!) and filled out a crap ton of paperwork for them as well. Uncommon success: DePauw had us applying to the wrong licensure site all along. That's why I was having such a hard time getting my IN license. As soon as I finally got the IN license, things started falling into place. On July 8, I get my test scores back and can (hopefully) go sign my contract/ get into my classroom. Fingers crossed!
4. In other news... I've been apartment-hunting like crazy and plan to move to Newburgh, IN (a growing suburban area just outside of E-town) sometime in September or October. I want to get a few paychecks under my belt before I leave the nest. Elphie, my kitten, is very excited about a new place to explore, but she is sad that she won't have the dog to pounce on anymore. :-) All I've ever wanted is my own place with my cat. Dream. Come. True.
5. I've started collecting inspirational posters for my classroom.... why am I still numbering these things? Oh well.
6. I cleaned my room/closet for the first time in four years. It took me three full days... but I feel like I can stand to be in my room again.
7. I am going to buy a couch over the 4th of July weekend. SALES! Sofa shopping is so fun!
8. I've been teaching a few piano lessons, but only one day a week. Not really working is also fun.
9. I just got back from saying goodbye to my beloved Margaret in Indy. I will have to make another trip up to say bye to LC. Margaret is off to pursue her career in D.C., and Lauren will be attending the New School in NYC. Darn, I guess I have to go visit D.C. and NYC at some point this year... haha! So excited!
10. I just felt like I needed a number 10. It would be weird to stop at 9.
Thanks for reading! Have a great week, everybody!
1. Student teaching ended up being an amazing experience. I got super close with my fellow teachers and the kids FINALLY warmed up to me. The musical was incredible, ISSMA was full of gold ratings, and I made my conducting debut at the final concert. I taught several of the pieces and even choreographed a few numbers. I arranged a version of Justin Bieber's "Baby" for a guys' group that, with the choreography of our good friend Jamie, stole the show. After the concert, I immediately had to pack up my stuff and leave for Greencastle the next morning. Yay, graduation practice!
2. Graduation suuuuucked. We have this family joke that any time something good happens in my life, it rains. Seriously, it's creepy. It's been this way since high school at least. As soon as I stood up to get my diploma, it started to pour. LC got to get her diploma, and then they moved the whole show (minus our parents) into Meharry Hall. I had done a great job of keeping it together up to this point, but as soon as we left Meharry I started bawling about how unfair it was that some kids' parents didn't get to watch them graduate. Namely, my international student friends. It took two strawberry pina coladas from Cheeseburger in Paradise before I stopped crying. For a week after graduation, I moped around thinking about how alone I was going to be in E-town without my friends. Indy was far away, but E-town is farther.
3. Solution to this problem? Travel. I went to San Fran for a family vacation and had a blast watching the sealions. I consumed my body weight in sourdough bread, Irish coffee, clam chowder, and pinot grigio wine by the bay. I biked across the Golden Gate bridge, hiked through Muir Woods among the tallest trees in the world, and bought some super fancy tea in Chinatown. As soon as we got back, I had to take a couple more Praxis tests for Kentucky certification (so fun! not!) and filled out a crap ton of paperwork for them as well. Uncommon success: DePauw had us applying to the wrong licensure site all along. That's why I was having such a hard time getting my IN license. As soon as I finally got the IN license, things started falling into place. On July 8, I get my test scores back and can (hopefully) go sign my contract/ get into my classroom. Fingers crossed!
4. In other news... I've been apartment-hunting like crazy and plan to move to Newburgh, IN (a growing suburban area just outside of E-town) sometime in September or October. I want to get a few paychecks under my belt before I leave the nest. Elphie, my kitten, is very excited about a new place to explore, but she is sad that she won't have the dog to pounce on anymore. :-) All I've ever wanted is my own place with my cat. Dream. Come. True.
5. I've started collecting inspirational posters for my classroom.... why am I still numbering these things? Oh well.
6. I cleaned my room/closet for the first time in four years. It took me three full days... but I feel like I can stand to be in my room again.
7. I am going to buy a couch over the 4th of July weekend. SALES! Sofa shopping is so fun!
8. I've been teaching a few piano lessons, but only one day a week. Not really working is also fun.
9. I just got back from saying goodbye to my beloved Margaret in Indy. I will have to make another trip up to say bye to LC. Margaret is off to pursue her career in D.C., and Lauren will be attending the New School in NYC. Darn, I guess I have to go visit D.C. and NYC at some point this year... haha! So excited!
10. I just felt like I needed a number 10. It would be weird to stop at 9.
Thanks for reading! Have a great week, everybody!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
It's ma birfday! (almost)
Today the fam is coming up to help me celebrate my 22nd birthday (early). We're going to go to Bucca di Beppo's for some giant meatballs and then have raspberry truffle cake from Coldstone. So excited! This week was so long and crazy that I really didn't get to blog, but I'll give you some of the highlights.
1. Taught an African hand clapping lesson in general music that didn't totally suck. Yes!
2. Taught a breathing lesson to the choirs that didn't go as well as I had hoped, but I know now that I really need to be more firm about nipping talking and goofing off in the bud. I am scared to give warnings/detentions at this point, but I think it will get easier after I've done it a couple of times.
3. Led warm-ups with the choirs... fun!
4. Helped judge musical auditions! This was probably the best part of my week. The kids did SUCH an awesome job and they are SO talented. Some of the auditions (no joke) almost brought me to tears because I could see little pieces of myself or my friends in them. Most of the kids were incredibly nervous but totally rocked their auditions with a little bit of encouragement from our end. This is why I love being a teacher. You get to give kids that extra little nudge in the direction of their dreams. Corny? Yes. True? Yes. We were at school until 7 on Wednesday and 8 on Thursday. Totally worth it, though. I was a new kind of tired on Friday.
5. Getting better at learning kids names, but still struggling. This is harder than I thought!
6. I still LOVE my school, my fellow teachers, and my students. I am already thinking about how difficult it will be to leave at the end of the semester.
7. I think I want to live in Indy after school.
Friday night-- returned to the Blu Martini and got to see the lovely and talented Margaret. Got hit on by the bartender who is twice my age. Awkward turtle... I hope he was kidding.
Saturday-- went shopping at Castleton mall. Didn't buy a thing... good girl!
Saturday night-- went to see the Naptown Roller Girls (Tornado Sirens) defeat the Fort Wayne Bomb Squad at the Roller Derby. Awesome! Ate way too much junk food.
All for now! Love!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
I am a piano wizard!
Anyone that knows me knows that I play the piano... but only kind of. I have taken lessons since I was four, but I still can't manage to play anything with more than three flats (hate sharp keys!) or anything that moves much faster than andante. What can I say? It's not my gift. I discovered yesterday, however, that I play more piano than anyone at my school which means (lucky me) that I get to accompany rehearsals this semester. I may also be accompanying the choirs at ISSMA, the musical rehearsals, and at least one soloist at ISSMA. Today we are rehearsing Ching-A-Ring Chaw (check it out on youtube) and it is such a bear to play! Copland. I practiced for at least 2 1/2 hours last night and still can't make it through. I can play the whole thing at a tempo about half as fast as it's supposed to go. Additionally, I wrote two lesson plans last night... TEACHING MY FIRST FULL LESSON EVER TODAY!!!... so I worked pretty hard. By bedtime, I was so ready to crash. I just keep telling myself that I will, hopefully, be a better pianist at the end of the semester for this experience. My fingers hurt.
Funny story: Yesterday we were having lunch in the teachers lounge and watching T.V. when all of the teachers started yelling "Shut up! Turn it up! Please, God, please!" and I was like, "What happened?" and my mind is thinking terrorist attack, a shooting, something awful... It was the weather report. They wanted school to be cancelled. Just thought it was funny that teachers want it as badly as the students.
In related knews, it's going to snow a ton while we are in school today and I don't know if I'll be able to drive home. Zippy sucks in the snow. Grrrr... Oh, Zippy is my car btw.
In unrelated knews, I still think many of my general music students strongly dislike me. I introduced myself yesterday and just kept getting that line from Elf stuck in my head: This place is like the North Pole... except it smells like pee and everybody looks like they want to hurt me.
:-) All for now.
Funny story: Yesterday we were having lunch in the teachers lounge and watching T.V. when all of the teachers started yelling "Shut up! Turn it up! Please, God, please!" and I was like, "What happened?" and my mind is thinking terrorist attack, a shooting, something awful... It was the weather report. They wanted school to be cancelled. Just thought it was funny that teachers want it as badly as the students.
In related knews, it's going to snow a ton while we are in school today and I don't know if I'll be able to drive home. Zippy sucks in the snow. Grrrr... Oh, Zippy is my car btw.
In unrelated knews, I still think many of my general music students strongly dislike me. I introduced myself yesterday and just kept getting that line from Elf stuck in my head: This place is like the North Pole... except it smells like pee and everybody looks like they want to hurt me.
:-) All for now.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
I Love the Weekend!
So this has been the greatest weekend EVA. Fishers is really growing on me, and so is Indy as a whole. On Friday night my cool aunt and uncle took me out to The Blu Martini, a martini/sushi bar in Carmel. California rolls, Philadelphia rolls, and French martinis. I also sampled the Thin Mint martini and HAVE to go back to get one. The decor is so fab that I seriously can't say enough. The bartender, John, is a good friend of ours. He coaches golf at a university in Indy and knows a guy who I went to high school with and had a huge crush on in first grade. I put two valentines in his mailbox in V-Day. Big deal. He texted this guy and told him that I was a Ketel One vodka girl and was at the bar trying to convince him I was smart in high school. This guy texted back like, "No way! I am so baffled by everything you just said right now." Come on, is it really that unbelievable? Was I truly that hopeless in high school? Okay, maybe so. Then we rented a movie and snuggled with the pugs until I crashed around 11:30. I am getting old. That used to be when the night was just getting started.
YESTERDAY I CHOPPED MY HAIR OFF! Yep. I was so fed up Friday afternoon because the kids kept asking me if I was one of the high school interns. So I went to a spa and took the day to re-create LT. I have a bob that's layered forward with side bangs. :-) So happy. Probably the best hair cut I've ever had. Everybody needs to visit Dream Weaver Spa and Salon and ask for Angela, the manager. She's awesome. She also informed me that, due to chronic hairspray usage and Garnier Fructis shampoo, I have managed to coat my hair in a thick layer of silicon that will prevent me from being able to dye my hair someday if I want to. SOOO I bought some super expensive organic shampoo that will hopefully strip away the silicon so I can dye my hair when these children turn it grey.
After I got my hair cut, my aunt and uncle took me to see TRON in 3D. Best. Movie. Ever. I was skeptical going in because I haven't heard much about it, but it seriously blew my mind. And the lead guy is hot with two T's... HOTT. We came home, ate some yummy chicken with couscous, and watched the Colts game... waa waa waa... we won't talk about that. But I did wear a jersey and cheer for a football game! I made it to the fourth quarter without falling asleep. And then I crashed.
This morning (Sunday), I practiced piano for an hour (10 songs to learn because I'm accompanying 3 groups at ISSMA!) and then the pugs and I snuggled whilst watching Bridalplasty, my new favorite TV show. It is so wrong, but you just can't look away. My favorite scenes are when the girls come back from their surgeries and look like all kinds of hell. Hysterical. So this afternoon I got on the elliptical and nearly died. I am so out of shape. Then I did some dishes and NOW I'm gonna shower/ clean the bathroom. I try to help around the house so I don't feel like such a freeloader.
All for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekends everybody. Miss you guys!
YESTERDAY I CHOPPED MY HAIR OFF! Yep. I was so fed up Friday afternoon because the kids kept asking me if I was one of the high school interns. So I went to a spa and took the day to re-create LT. I have a bob that's layered forward with side bangs. :-) So happy. Probably the best hair cut I've ever had. Everybody needs to visit Dream Weaver Spa and Salon and ask for Angela, the manager. She's awesome. She also informed me that, due to chronic hairspray usage and Garnier Fructis shampoo, I have managed to coat my hair in a thick layer of silicon that will prevent me from being able to dye my hair someday if I want to. SOOO I bought some super expensive organic shampoo that will hopefully strip away the silicon so I can dye my hair when these children turn it grey.
After I got my hair cut, my aunt and uncle took me to see TRON in 3D. Best. Movie. Ever. I was skeptical going in because I haven't heard much about it, but it seriously blew my mind. And the lead guy is hot with two T's... HOTT. We came home, ate some yummy chicken with couscous, and watched the Colts game... waa waa waa... we won't talk about that. But I did wear a jersey and cheer for a football game! I made it to the fourth quarter without falling asleep. And then I crashed.
This morning (Sunday), I practiced piano for an hour (10 songs to learn because I'm accompanying 3 groups at ISSMA!) and then the pugs and I snuggled whilst watching Bridalplasty, my new favorite TV show. It is so wrong, but you just can't look away. My favorite scenes are when the girls come back from their surgeries and look like all kinds of hell. Hysterical. So this afternoon I got on the elliptical and nearly died. I am so out of shape. Then I did some dishes and NOW I'm gonna shower/ clean the bathroom. I try to help around the house so I don't feel like such a freeloader.
All for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekends everybody. Miss you guys!
Friday, January 7, 2011
TGIF
Today was basically more of the same at school. I helped some kids with their auditions for the musical, both vocals and dance. I was pleased to find out that I remember a lot more tap than I thought. The old dance team captain in me came out when I found myself screaming out counts and yelling "I need sharp arms!" and "Pointed toes, ladies!". It was pretty fun. I love school SO MUCH and am still so excited to wake up and go every morning. I hear this wears out relatively quickly, so I'm definitely going to enjoy it while it lasts! Side note- I'm having a really easy time connecting with the girls. They seem very excited to have me there and frequently ask for help/advice. The boys, on the other hand, treat me like I'm a total dork... not so much in musical rehearsals/choir but more in my general music classes. Seriously, I can't crack a joke without one of them rolling their eyes. I tried to talk to some of them about sports this morning, but they weren't having it. I know that I shouldn't be concerned about whether or not my students "like" me, but I am such a people pleaser that I really can't help it. Grrrrr... I need to get over this.
I love my "job". Can I say that enough?
I love my "job". Can I say that enough?
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Baptism by Fire
So today was seriously like the best day of my life thus far. My host teacher let me lead a musical audition workshop after school and almost fifty kids came! I was so scared when they walked in that I seriously thought I might pee in my pants. I was actually left alone in the classroom for a couple of hours and really felt like a real teacher. It was awesome. My students are so cool, and I am really enjoying getting to know them. There is an unbelievable amount of talent in this school.
High of the day: Musical rehearsal and the possibility of being even more involved than I had ever thought.
Low of the day: I am so bad at filing music. I accidentally filed some SATB stuff in SAB and then had to re-do everything. fjaklsdfj;daks
High of the day: Musical rehearsal and the possibility of being even more involved than I had ever thought.
Low of the day: I am so bad at filing music. I accidentally filed some SATB stuff in SAB and then had to re-do everything. fjaklsdfj;daks
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
First Day of School! First Day of School!
Today was my first day of student teaching and all I'm really going to be doing (with a few exceptions) for the next week and a half is observing. So I've made some observations:
1. Middle school girls need to stop dressing like they're 21 and going out for a night on the town.
2. Most girls are taller than the boys, so it's totally adorable.
3. Teachers cuss like SAILORS in the teachers' lounge.
4. It feels wrong to be able to hang out in the teachers' lounge and use the teachers' bathroom. I still feel like a kid inside.
5. My host teacher and I are pretty much the same person. It's crazy!
6. My school is AWESOME and I LOVE it.
7. Our musical, "Guys and Dolls" is going to ROCK.
El fin for now.
1. Middle school girls need to stop dressing like they're 21 and going out for a night on the town.
2. Most girls are taller than the boys, so it's totally adorable.
3. Teachers cuss like SAILORS in the teachers' lounge.
4. It feels wrong to be able to hang out in the teachers' lounge and use the teachers' bathroom. I still feel like a kid inside.
5. My host teacher and I are pretty much the same person. It's crazy!
6. My school is AWESOME and I LOVE it.
7. Our musical, "Guys and Dolls" is going to ROCK.
El fin for now.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Move-In Day
Hello all!
Yesterday was the big move-in day, so Dad and I made the four hour journey to my uncle's house. I think I've managed to create what I call a "ball of sunshine" in the chorus of their bonus room... bed, piano, bookshelf, Rubber-made dresser, cardigans hung in a row, and a ton of shoe boxes in a nook next to the cats' (2) litter box closet. The whole set-up is actually larger than anything I ever had in college (Hoghetto... what what!). AND I really love living with a branch of my family that I haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time with because they've almost always lived so far away. Phoebs and I played GLEE karaoke on the wii after dinner last night, and I even got my uncle to sing! All in all it was a great (but terribly stressful) day. I think I-465 is the worst road EVER. Seriously, the traffic made me start praying for my life. I am glad that I probably don't have to drive it again for a couple of weeks.
Now to the exciting stuff... Would you ever imagine that there was a cat out there I might not like? Well guess what... I've met him... and his name is Strychnine... like the rat poison. My aunt and uncle have two cats, two dogs, and two children ages 10 and 13. The dogs, two pugs named Vicky and Rhino, are adorable. They are always so excited to see you through their wrinkly little faces and will fall asleep in your lap with their tongues out. The cats, Ike and Strychnine are, as my aunt says, "dinosaurs." They are the two biggest cats I have ever seen in my life and weigh so much I can hardly pick them up. Ike is super lovey-dovey and generally stays out of your way unless you want to hold him. Strychnine, however, demands your attention via force. Last night, he jumped up on my bed about eight times. At first, I let him lay there... but then he took up like half of the bed! So I pushed him off. Over and over again. Eventually, he got the idea. At about three a.m., I awoke to the sound of a cat puking. I turned on the light to find Strychnine yakking all over a decorative throw pillow that I had tossed off my bed and my stuffed animal tiger, Toby. *Blargsfhm* Strychnine totally hates me and wanted revenge, so he barfed on two things that I have no idea how to get cat barf out of! Both cats puke pretty much everywhere all the time. Not hairballs, barf. And I have NEVER seen cats that puke like this. I need to find some kitty antacid and a screen to keep them out of my corner at night. Because for once in my life I've decided: No kittens allowed. There you have it. A cat I don't like.
Today my plan is to explore the town (ha... I always manage to get lost) and try to locate my school. I will hopefully be going in for my first day of work tomorrow if my host teacher gets a chance to email me back. If I get to go in, I will have some more exciting stories to share soon! Buh-bye!
Yesterday was the big move-in day, so Dad and I made the four hour journey to my uncle's house. I think I've managed to create what I call a "ball of sunshine" in the chorus of their bonus room... bed, piano, bookshelf, Rubber-made dresser, cardigans hung in a row, and a ton of shoe boxes in a nook next to the cats' (2) litter box closet. The whole set-up is actually larger than anything I ever had in college (Hoghetto... what what!). AND I really love living with a branch of my family that I haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time with because they've almost always lived so far away. Phoebs and I played GLEE karaoke on the wii after dinner last night, and I even got my uncle to sing! All in all it was a great (but terribly stressful) day. I think I-465 is the worst road EVER. Seriously, the traffic made me start praying for my life. I am glad that I probably don't have to drive it again for a couple of weeks.
Now to the exciting stuff... Would you ever imagine that there was a cat out there I might not like? Well guess what... I've met him... and his name is Strychnine... like the rat poison. My aunt and uncle have two cats, two dogs, and two children ages 10 and 13. The dogs, two pugs named Vicky and Rhino, are adorable. They are always so excited to see you through their wrinkly little faces and will fall asleep in your lap with their tongues out. The cats, Ike and Strychnine are, as my aunt says, "dinosaurs." They are the two biggest cats I have ever seen in my life and weigh so much I can hardly pick them up. Ike is super lovey-dovey and generally stays out of your way unless you want to hold him. Strychnine, however, demands your attention via force. Last night, he jumped up on my bed about eight times. At first, I let him lay there... but then he took up like half of the bed! So I pushed him off. Over and over again. Eventually, he got the idea. At about three a.m., I awoke to the sound of a cat puking. I turned on the light to find Strychnine yakking all over a decorative throw pillow that I had tossed off my bed and my stuffed animal tiger, Toby. *Blargsfhm* Strychnine totally hates me and wanted revenge, so he barfed on two things that I have no idea how to get cat barf out of! Both cats puke pretty much everywhere all the time. Not hairballs, barf. And I have NEVER seen cats that puke like this. I need to find some kitty antacid and a screen to keep them out of my corner at night. Because for once in my life I've decided: No kittens allowed. There you have it. A cat I don't like.
Today my plan is to explore the town (ha... I always manage to get lost) and try to locate my school. I will hopefully be going in for my first day of work tomorrow if my host teacher gets a chance to email me back. If I get to go in, I will have some more exciting stories to share soon! Buh-bye!
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