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!

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!

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.

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!

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?

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

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.