Remember Me? and other questions

hello world. 

I know, long time no post. Like my friend Dana, I've tried to post meaningful things for the last month and a half but I haven't really felt like there was anything of importance.  And being that I like to analyze things in my life, the fact that I haven't wanted to post anything is something to post about. Let me explain.

Teaching kindergarten and 1st grade general music, it's hard to feel like anything I'm doing is groundbreaking, interesting, or worth telling my loyal readers about.  Not that what I'm doing isn't worthwhile or that I'm not into it, but it's just not something to record for all time on this blog.  I think what this stems from is the fact that this is just a stepping stone in my career as a music educator.  I know that I won't be in this district next year (unless something extraordinary happens) because I'm looking for a full time instrumental job and as of right now there aren't any anticipated openings.  I would assume that most educators, like me, want to put their stamp on things and make a lasting difference wherever they are working, but I don't feel like I can do that in my current situation.  

curriculum 

During the original research project that Dana, Devon, and I did, we all grappled with curriculum issues; one of us had difficulties because there was no curriculum and I didn't like the book that the curriculum required me to use. Fast-forward to now and I have a curriculum that I really really have to follow.  Being that my class is the first music class these students have in this district, I need to make sure what I'm teaching aligns with the curriculum so that next year they will be on the right track with whatever teacher they have.  One thing I brought up in a department meeting was that the new kindergarten curriculum (since this is the first year of full day kindergarten, thus the first year of kindergarten music, art, and physical education) is pretty close to the 1st grade curriculum.  For example, both grades need to be able to sing and identify sol and mi.  It's hard to know how far my kindergarteners will go until I continue to assess them.  Will they be able to do what the 1st graders can in terms of sol and mi identification? If they do, won't that mess up the 2nd grade curriculum because these students will be more advanced? Will that end up inflating grades and have all students end up being above grade-level (not that it's bad to have high achieving music students, but we want the curriculum to push the students, right)?  I brought up these questions at a department meeting and no one knew the answer because we all have the same thoughts.  It's just interesting that in real life teaching in a large and successful district, when I thought that teaching within the curriculum would be super easy, it has made me question long-term goals for these students...in a district I won't be teaching long-term...which brings us back to the issue of me feeling like I'm not leaving a lasting mark. Mid-year malaise? I don't know.

on deck

Sorry for that baseball reference - it's just now that the Giants are out, I'm counting down until my next sports disappointment, my beloved NY Mets.  Because we lost days for Sandy, our district has school straight through January 2nd and March 23rd.  No. Days. Off. Needless to say, lots of us teachers will be taking personal and sick days to alleviate the discomfort of that much school. For me, I'll definitely be taking off a few days to go to my state music education conference and for the NAfME All-Eastern conference.  One thing I really liked from one of my instrumental pedagogy classes was the idea of a unit study.  It makes lesson planning easier when it's in big chunks based upon the same idea.  I just finished one that I used for all of December on The Nutcracker.  The kids danced to, drew, listened to, critiqued, compared and contrasted, and watched performances of parts of The Nutcracker.  It hit lots of national standards and was fun for them to learn little by little.  Maybe I like it because it's like watching the next episode in a series - "tune in next class for the dramatic conclusion of the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy!". But anyway, to get myself through this next long haul, I will most likely be doing a unit on Peter and the Wolf. I know I'll definitely do it for 1st grade, but I have to think about how I'll do it with the little ones. 

Well world,  I feel better having this all down on...paper screen. Happy New Year!! I promise to post more regularly from now on. Let's call it a resolution.

We're Baaaack!

the "first" week back

We are gladly back in school after missing 9 school days! I missed 10 days actually because I had plans to go up to Boston to shop for a wedding dress.  We were supposed to (as in before the hurricane) not have school on Nov. 8-9 for the teacher convention in Atlantic City, which was damaged during the storm.  Because of the devastation of Sandy, the convention was cancelled and schools were in session.  Since we had already made the hotel reservation and I booked an appointment at this bridal boutique, we went up anyway and I took the day off. So on Monday, it was my first time seeing the kids in 2 full weeks. Also, the week before the hurricane our district had half days for parent-teacher conferences. Having not seen the kids for full days/at all in a while, it was like the first week all over again! Some of the classes surprised me with how well they behaved - maybe it was that surprise and excitement factor that had them behaving so well in the first couple classes? For other classes, they were more out of control.  The kindergarteners were the ones I thought I'd have problems with, but it was actually one first grade that was the most shockingly annoying.  

the best laid plans, yadda yadda

I had a wonderful plan to do a fun composition on the Smart Board as a big summative assessment for steady beat, high and low (sol and mi really but we just call it high and low right now), and showing contour.  This was supposed to happen after we did all of our spooky songs for Halloween, but then we didn't have school so I shifted things around.  It's all about being flexible. Now I have to come up with another summative assessment project but that will be a good way to end out the calendar year.  I don't give out grades for my students every marking period - just 2nd and 4th.  It gives me time to be able to set a good foundation, get to know them, and give a more complete and accurate grade for each student. 

halloween

I wasn't planning on doing a lot of baltantly-Halloween-themed songs; the only song I did that said the word Halloween was a cute little ditty called "What Will You be for Halloween". I added in between repetitions a place for the kids to come up and sing to the class what they were going to be using sol and mi.  One little kindergartener came up when it was his turn to sing to the class and said that he doesn't celebrate Halloween. I did not anticipate this, especially because I had done this song with 6 other classes before theirs.  This boy handled it like a champ, though. I asked him if he would sing the name of his favorite cartoon character and he smiled and sang "Spiderman".  I was very proud of his reaction! He didn't melt down or make a scene.  A few days later when I was leaving the building, he yelled my name and waved with a big smile (he's a huge fan of mine, nbd).  His mother walked over and said very nicely how her son told her that we did a Halloween song.  She wanted me to know that her family does not celebrate Halloween and to not require her son to sing those songs. I let her know that her son handled it so well and how this was going to be the only song we did specifically about Halloween.  I assured her that her little boy was a wonderful student and acted very maturely in a situation that could have been iffy.  That made her smile and helped comfort her fears.  I have to make sure before I do any winter songs that there are no other issues, but this kid is a joy!

November has flown by. Next time I post, I'm sure it'll be about my favorite turkey tunes!
Happy Thanksgiving in advance in case my next post doesn't occur before the day of turkeys.

Sandy

Today is the seventh school day that my district has been out due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  I think everyone knew that this "superstorm" had the potential to bring heavy damage to our state and the eastern seaboard in general, but it's really overwhelming to see exactly what the storm brought.  In these difficult times, I think about my students and how they're coping.  My kindergarteners and first graders are young and probably don't fully understand what happened, but children can pick up on stress in the home and can understand from the tone of voice of the adults around them that something is wrong.  A lot of the district where I teach is still out of power.  The lasting damages of Sandy in my area were caused by all of the trees that fell.  I took a walk around my town on Wednesday (the storm made landfall on Monday night) and there were 100something year old trees that just uprooted.  There wasn't as much rain with this storm as there was with Hurricane Irene but the intense winds were what damaged these old, amazing trees. A large portion of my district is still without power.  It's a very sad situation because it's getting to be pretty cold at night - last night went down below 30 - and without heat it's obviously not easy to be comfortable.  

My finance's parents have a house down the shore on one of the barrier islands.  The ocean and the bay met on every barrier island (meaning the whole island had water on the ground at a point during the storm).  Check out these before and after interactive photos.  The one of Mantoloking is really breathtaking. Look closely and you'll see that there is a new inlet between the bay and the Atlantic there that wasn't there before.  I've driven down those roads that no longer exist hundreds of times. We haven't been able to get down to the beach house to look at any possible damages because there is sand all over the roads, sinkholes in the towns, no power on the island, and houses in the middle of the roads.  The town is slowly letting citizens back to the island, starting by bussing in 90 full-time residents and eventually letting everyone back to check their homes, recover what they can, and winterize the homes since there is no heat.  I am cautiously looking forward to when we are allowed to go back to the house because it means that we can start to recover.  We are so happy that the house is still there because it could have been so much worse.  In the next town over, Ortley Beach, is being called the "ground zero" for damage in this area.  All of these interactive photos are from the island where the house is. 

Despite the difficulties that the shore is facing, we all must be thankful for certain things.  NJ is a strong and resilient state.  The cleanup and rebuilding have begun already and people have been donating their time and energy to help others.  One of the most inspiring things that happened after the storm was a small gesture by a church down the shore.  My cousin Amanda got married the Saturday after the storm hit.  Her house, the church, and the reception hall were all without power.  I was the cantor for the mass and used everything I ever learned about breath support to make sure people could hear me! But more importantly, the ceremony was beautiful.  It was a little chilly...but absolutely beautiful.  The reception had to be postponed to next year and we were expecting to go to the church hall for cake (not the real wedding cake but a sheet cake), but when we all walked in, there were appetizers, drinks, hot food, a dessert table, and a someone with battery-powered iPod speakers.  It was a complete surprise to everyone.  It made the day even more special.  Those small gestures are something that will get everyone through the tough times.  

I look forward to seeing my students again and pray that they will recover from this disaster. 

This and That

Smart Board!

So my Smart Board classroom management strategy is working really well! Since it aligns with the strategies that the students are used to in their classrooms the kids picked up on it right away.  It was nice for me to be able to collaborate with the classroom teachers, steal a few ideas here and there, and come up with something beneficial for all students.  Also, anything that's on a Smart Board is fascinating to them! With the compliment jar on the screen for them to see, it keeps them focused on getting that "prize at the end of the tunnel".  I like that way more than the constant sticker giving.  

I guess my initial excitement and happiness with technology had to wear off eventually and that happened this week.  Our district has half-days this week for parent teacher conferences so I wanted to plan a short but rewarding Halloween-ish lesson. I have the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" clip from "Fantasia" on my flash drive as an mp4.  In this lesson, we can discuss the job of a conductor in an orchestra, the way the music tells a story, how music can be inspired by stories and art, etc. I got to the first school I was going to teach this lesson at early to test that I would be able to show the video on a school computer.  It played perfectly through Quicktime, so then I made the critical error of assuming that if Quicktime was on one school computer, it would be on all of them. Whompwhomp. It was incredibly frustrating to show up in a kindergarten room, tell them that we'd be watching a video clip and then having that clip not play because this particular computer didn't have Quicktime. Luckily, I lesson planned for a Plan B and had a recording of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" ready.  We instead did an activity where the students listened to it, drew what story they thought the music told, and then I shared the actual story.  It worked well and accomplished similar SWBATs, but still, it stinks when you have a cool lesson planned but there is a problem. 

Teacher's First Sick Day

I don't really get sick. I mean a seasonal allergy here, a sniffle there, but on the whole I'm not a sicky person. This weekend I was really busy and on Saturday night I thought I was just cold from being out all night, but ended up having the chills from a fever. I was still feverish on Sunday so my mom wouldn't let me go to school; she has a one day fever free before going back to school rule. That was awesome when I was a kid, but I felt so bad not going to school on Monday. I mean I teach a half-day every day from noon-3:15 which would make me fine to teach with some acetaminophen..but my mom said I shouldn't risk getting the kids sick which is valid...although I blame them for the random fever! Anyway, it was weird worrying about if the sub showed up, if they went to the right school, the right room, if the kids were behaving, if the plans made sense, yaddayaddayadda. But then I started watching a Frasier marathon and took a nap and it was fine. 

Control and Scheduling

I've probably mentioned this before but I like to make lists, be organized, and in general be in control of my situations to the best of my abilities.  I compulsively check my schedule to make sure I'm in the right building at the right time even though I have my schedule memorized.  This week of half-days for the students made for some interesting scheduling conundrums.  Every building has different schedules - one of my schools has 40 minute specials and the other three have half hour specials.  It was difficult not knowing until a few days beforehand what my schedule would be.  One thing I've had to do my best at is remembering to not sweat the small stuff. Okay, so I might not have been 100% sure about which rooms I was teaching in or if my schedule worked quite right, but the important thing was to just go with the flow. It is pretty much opposite of what my normal organized self would have wanted, but in a school setting it's hard to be really in control of anything. I have 4 building principals who made the schedules who gave them to my supervisor and above him there are even more decision-makers.  The nice thing about not being in control, however, is it doesn't put a ton of pressure on me as a teacher to do much besides teach. 

Life.

We started our wedding registry, I got two credit cards, I'm going shopping for a wedding dress soon, we booked the photographer, and are getting engagement pictures taken sometime next week after this tropical storm passes!

Analog Girl in a Digital World

The title of today's post comes from a RX Bandits song. The real lyrics are "Analog boy in a digital world" but I'm not a boy...so sorry Bandits for taking artistic liberty. 

smart boards

I teach in a well-funded district that is lucky enough to have Smart Boards in almost every (if not all) classrooms.  Some rooms have Promethean Boards, but regardless, every room in which I teach has a Smart Board.  My wonderful alma mater JUST got Smart Boards and students there are now learning how to use them. A lot of good that does me now, amIright?! Most of the other teachers in the district have embraced their Smart Boards and do super cool stuff with them. This is where the title of this blog comes in - I felt kind of out of the loop technology wise, which is weird because as a "digital native" this should be second nature to me.  Luckily I attended one session at New York's music teacher convention where the presenter showed a lot of really cool activities to promote note reading, recognition of musical symbols, and even how to do a full-class dictation using this fun bit of technology.  I remembered key phrases (because I have a memory that likes to retain useless tidbits like what I did at my kindergarten placement test) such as the "move to back" function, how to lock things in place, and that there is a way to make an endlessly replicating object (which is called infinite cloning).  Those few things plus the fact that the Smart Board interface is very user friendly made it possible for me to make a classroom management tool on the Smart Board.  I'll post a picture of it in my next blog.  I was, as my colleagues can attest, a little too excited about what I made considering it's not fancy, but I hope it does the trick.  

It was important to me to tailor my classroom management to align with what my students have in their classrooms.  There isn't much of a difference between what the kindergarten and first grade teachers do in their rooms which was great for me.  Almost all of the teachers have some sort of system where the students get downgraded on a chart - such as moving from the green section of the chart to the yellow if they are on a first warning.  I decided to adopt this idea into my Smart management thing.  Fundamentally, I have an issue with the growing trend that we positively reinforce everything that a child does: "Great job, Jimmy! Thanks for blowing your nose in a tissue and not into Jane's hair! Here's a sticker." I'm sorry, but I don't think that kids should get in the habit of expecting a reward for everything he/she does.  Rewarding good behavior for a full class period is great because especially with the little ones to teach them that they need to sit and listen.  But, when I have a kid come up to me and say - and this has happened - "I just helped John tie his shoe! Can I have a sticker now?", well that's where I draw the line. Helping someone tie a shoe is something that a nice human does. While it is a wonderful thing to show kindness, kids shouldn't expect a reward each time they do anything. So, that's why I don't have a prize box (also because I'm not lugging a box of chotchkies between 4 schools) and instead have a compliment jar on my Smart Board.  I used the infinite clone feature to make a star that can be moved from the treasure box into the jar.  It works similarly to House Points in Harry Potter - if a student earns a compliment from me, like "Jenny, thank you so much for sitting with good posture during class today and singing more confidently than ever before", Jenny gets to add a compliment star to the compliment jar. Or, if the whole class is improving their steady beat keeping, I can compliment them as a whole and add a compliment star on behalf of all of the students.  When the class reaches the magic number (TBD) of compliments, they get a round of a game (probably Freeze Dance, because who doesn't love that?!)  Like I said, I haven't implemented this yet, but I have explained that it will be happening to the kids and they seem down with it.

r-e-s-p-e-c-t

Your welcome for giving you an excuse to belt some Aretha Franklin.  
As basic as this might sound, respect is something that we as teachers have to be cognizant of.  Teachers are usually pretty decent at being respectful and empathetic toward each other but we all, myself definitely included, need to remember that we have to respect our students and remember that they are still growing and learning.  When a kindergartener is being a pain, it's easy to think "what's wrong with this kid?!" (I know I do that about 10 times every class) but this student may have a rough time at home or something.  I have been constantly reminding myself that we need to respect our students and keep in mind that we need to guide them in the right direction.  Especially with the little ones, treating them kindly even when they're being irrational and "annoying" sets a good example that they should do the same when encountered with a similar situation.  

Just think - with every student you encounter you're looking into the face of a person who is just learning what it is to be a person, to be in school, to be a kindergartener, or even to be an 11th grader.  I hope that when people look at me, they respect my situation and realize that they're looking into the face of a girl who is still trying to figure out this adult world, and who has no more of an idea of what it means to be an adult than a 5 year old knows what it means to be a kindergartener.  We're all just passengers on this crazy ride called life and every single soul, young or old, is trying to discover themselves.

Think about it next time you want to snap at a kid. I know I will.  

Processing Time

long time no blog

I've been trying to think of what profound pieces of information to impart upon the world of the interwebs over the last two-ish weeks.  All I keep thinking is that I am just pushing forward and that I haven't really had time to process what is important to take note of.  Despite this, I'm going to put some of my thoughts down on paper laptop.

opinions of the faculty room

I'm sure we all, as current/potential music educators have heard to stay away from the faculty room! All those teachers do is complain about their kids, about administration, it's crowded, you don't know anyone, yadda yadda yadda. During student teaching, I never set foot in the faculty room (mostly because we ate pie during lunch in the middle school band room and I'm not one to miss out on a baked good) but I did when I substitute taught during semester breaks.  That was a little bit of a different experience because almost everyone in the faculty room was a parent of a friend or was my teacher when I was in school, so it was more of a "How are you?!" type situation than a listening to complaining situation. I don't have a classroom or space to call my own in any of my four schools and since I travel so often and that means I spend a lot of my prep times in the faculty room.  I have found that it is very important for me to have face time in the faculty room because no one really knows me anywhere. I think that for any new teacher, especially music teachers who touch so many students, it is important for you to get a sense of the school community, chat with other teachers, and let them know that you exist when you're in the faculty room.  Yes, sometimes I do overhear a lot of jibberjabbercomplaincomplain, but also sometimes there are cookies and bread with spinach artichoke dip. You take the bad with the good.

observation

I was observed for the first time. It was fine. Real people observations are different than student teaching observations.  When we got observed for student teaching during undergrad, we got instant feedback; our junior year student teaching supervisors gave us written sheets along with the discussions we had in the car on the way to/from the school and senior year, our supervisors met with us as soon as we were done teaching to give feedback.  With this observation of a kindergarten class, my supervisor left as soon as I was done teaching and that was it! I know that I will have a post-observation meeting with him, but hey, I think it went well!

based on our old data...

Okay, that was a very brainy heading. I'll explain. When my two research buddies and I coded our data from our junior student teaching, one thing we discovered was that at one point or another we all felt like we had no idea what we were doing.  To some extent, I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing.  The one thing that I have to keep reminding myself of is that my kindergarteners and first graders have never had music in the public schools before, so sticking with the basics for a while is just fine for them...and me! Some of the other teachers in my district are very well versed in Kodály and that's how they work their lesson plans.  I, on the other hand, had an overview of different methods that included Kodály but that wasn't the main focus.  I'm very happy that I've had a big overview of methods because it's helped my bag of tricks, but I still feel a little like my skill set isn't up to par.  One other thing that has made me feel a little like I don't know what I'm doing is the fact that there are a lot of general music teachers in the 8 district elementary schools, but we aren't covering concepts at the same times. For example, I've already started with rhythm sticks, jingle bells, and tambourines with all of my students but other teachers save that for later.  I talked to my mentor teacher about this and she said to just try it and if it fails, then I know for next time.  It's nice to hear that there is some leniency and that me wanting to try things is okay.  I like that I still feel a little like student teaching, that I can learn about what works as I go and I don't need all the answers.

My dad once told me that he feels like he shouldn't have gotten paid for his first few years of teaching because he didn't know what he was doing.  I thought he was joking, but now I know it's not an exaggeration because I feel the same way! For some reason, I thought that having a job would mean that I felt super confident about everything I was doing - like a job gave me this treasure chest of knowledge that I was unaware of until then.  Nope. 

last but certainly not least, lesson planning

Writing plans for general music is way different than lesson planning for beginning band lessons or high school band. I can very easily open up Essential Elements 2000, turn to the next page, know what will be difficult, and say SWBAT within two seconds, or even open up a score and know what passages you'll have to work.  While the general music teacher editions are full of tons of information and well laid out ideas to teach the kiddies, I don't want to do everything in the same order as the textbook editors want to.  I mean, yeah, we all start with steady beat and high and low, but I've been taking time to get songs from different kindergarten and first grade books across publishers. It also takes a lot of time to tailor the lessons to the short attention span of 5-7 year olds.  The lessons are so full of different activities that it inherently takes longer.  In any lesson planning situation, it behooves you to plan extra just in case but with the little ones, it's especially true.  I'm starting to get more in the flow as get to I know my students, their interests and abilities, but lesson planning for general music is a different beast. 

Now it's time for one more small tidbit of information.  If you don't have time to work out in the morning before school, do an activity with your students that incorporates a workout. For example, the song "I'm Tall, I'm Small", I had students squat down when they sing about being small and then jump up when they're tall.  After doing that approximately 50 times on Monday and 50 times on Tuesday, my legs were KILLING me yesterday. Win.

The First Full Week

Where to begin, where to begin...

I think I'll start with my favorite story from teaching thus far.  A teacher dropped off a class to my room and didn't tell my why this kid was crying bawling out loud.  Apparently, he missed his mom.  Then about 15 minutes into the class, one other girl goes "I miss my mom, too!" and also starts bawling. Then 5 minutes after that, a third child goes "They're crying and it's making me think about my parents and I want to see them, too!" and so now I have 3 children crying out loud. I decide to do the Hokey Pokey as a review (because it was too ironic to sing "If You're Happy and You Know It") from last week and while all the kids are having fun, between versus all you hear is "WAAAAAAHHHHHHH".
I try to find one thing to make me laugh in every day so I don't go nuts and this incident has provided me with a good chuckle each time I think about it (but obviously I didn't laugh at the little ones). 

What I learned this week...

dealing with difficult students

I have a student who has been having a lot of issues in school - this student is disrespectful, destructive, won't listen to anyone, shows no real emotion/remorse when they do something wrong.  I was speaking to my mentor teacher about it and she said that I should write everything down that this child does during my class that is inappropriate so that if Special Services needs facts from each teacher, I have written documentation.  

when you have a problem, provide a solution

Okay, that's super vague so I'll explain. I teach in four schools, as I have mentioned before.  In 2 schools I teach the students in their classrooms, in one school I teach in the general music classroom while the full-time teacher is on prep time, and in the fourth school I teach some classes in the general music class while the full-time teacher is on prep and in the instrumental music room while the string and instrumental teachers are not in the building.  In this fourth school, we discovered that there is a scheduling issue - the full-time general music teacher, string teacher, and I all have classes at the same time but only two rooms in which to teach. It doesn't take a math major to realize this is an issue. Since, as I said, I spend a lot of time teaching in not-a-music room, I went to the principal and asked if I could teach the two conflicting classes in the classrooms to clear up the space issues. The principal said "Sure! It's very easy when you come in here with the solution to the issue you are bringing up." My supervisor had the same attitude when I brought it up to him. So, if you have a problem, don't go to your supervisor/principal and complain without first thinking through the options. 

Tales of a travelor

I have to be on top of the procedures for 4 schools, which can be confusing sometimes.  For example, on Tuesday, I accidentally ended a class 10 minutes early because their "bell schedule" is different than the other schools.  By the time I realized it, the teacher had already moved on to the next activity so it's not like I could have run in and said "Time for more music!!" I just chilled in the hallway until the art teacher was done with my next assigned class. I felt kind of dumb, but now I'm sure I won't forget the time again!  My name still hasn't been on any of the 4 lists typed correctly (in some places not typed at all).  All issues aside, I like my travel time because I can get some fresh air, eat my "lunch" (food bar), and listen to the classical radio station.  It keeps me on my toes. I think the second week will be a little easier (especially because it's only a 3 day week)!

 

Gettin' paaaaaid

My school districts split up each person's salary into 20 equal paychecks, received every two weeks. It works out well; some weeks you get "overpaid", some "underpaid" but at least it's a reliable check each payday.  Today's check was definitely one of those overpaid checks because we've only had 7 school days instead of 10 in this pay period. But hey, I liked the number I saw! Getting that check made it all real. Today was especially real because as soon as I celebrated my paycheck, my dad brought up the things I need to start paying for, being a salaried woman and whatnot. Kind of a buzzkill for my big moment, but whatever.

Onward and upward!

Ta Ta Ti Ti Ta

Hello again, world! So. A lot has happened since my last post.  I'll try to break it down.

You Bettah Werk.

I've always been goal-oriented and have accomplished almost everything I've set my mind to.  I worked incredibly hard during my undergrad to prepare myself to be the best music teacher I could be when I was let into the real world.  Also, in general, I like to be in control (or at least feel like I'm in control) of my situations.  So I thought that I was setting myself up for success and putting myself somewhat in control of my job search with my hard work. Nope.  By the time September rolled around, I still had no job.  I kept not getting jobs for reasons I never really considered - I wasn't a percussionist, I wasn't a vocalist, I wasn't a brass player, I didn't have experience.  I have always considered myself a well-rounded musician - I have decent piano chops (although I'm not as good as I was when I was 14...), I have a pretty extensive choral music performance background having sung in choirs since I was in 4th grade, I have solo singing experience as a cantor, I'm a good doubler, and I'm really modest.  I'm a good young teacher and, minus the phase in my life when I wanted to be a comedian, teaching is all I've wanted to do.  So when I had no job for legitimate but hard to swallow reasons, it was crushing and made me question pretty much all of my musical life.  It was horrible and I felt really down and out. I know I know, I've heard it a million times and I really do believe it, but when you're in a bad place, it's hard to keep your mind on the idea that everything happens for a reason. 

A New Job (or is it pronounced yob...maybe it's a soft J), A New Identity.

One of the districts where I interviewed had a maternity leave position and since the supervisor was impressed with my teaching and interview the first time, he interviewed me for this position.  It's a part-time (noon - 3:15 every day!) kindergarten and first grade general music job across 4 elementary schools.  I was hired on Tuesday, went to a department-wide in-service day on Wednesday, and taught on Thursday.  It was a really fast turn-around which meant I missed the new teacher orientation day. I didn't know in which rooms I was teaching until I got to each school the day of my classes because I didn't have time in the preceding days to visit each building. I still don't have access to my school email, the online district resources, the class lists, the grading system, haven't signed my contract, or been board approved.

All things considered, the first two days are all I've done so far and I think I'm doing okay! I like the little ones, but I've never taught them music, having not student taught with that age group.  You can't bargain with them; saying "Boys and girls, we have to be able to accomplish this task and listen to our directions or else we can't have fun with the next music game" doesn't go over as well with them as it does with middle/high school kids.  But laying down the rules - using ta ta ti ti ta to get attention, being quiet before entering the room, using a quiet raised hand, etc. seems to have worked so far.  Things that are making me feel better when I start to worry that college has not prepared me for this? Remembering that this is the first year this district is having full day kindergarten means that NONE of my students (K or 1st) have had any in-school music class.  It makes for easier lesson planning thus far because the K and 1st have the same objectives.  One thing that is less in my control is my teaching space.  I was unaware, because of the aforementioned reasons, that I was teaching some kindergartens in their rooms, some in the instrumental music room, some in the general music room. However, I made sure to cover my bases and I planned for the whole first lesson to be a cappella so that I could accomplish my objectives regardless of a CD player, piano, board, or Orff instruments.  I'm looking forward to collaborating more with my mentor teacher and the other K and 1 teachers in the schools I'm at.  I know that even though I only had my one general music methods course, my musical sense will guide me through this phase of my teaching life.  I feel like I'm going to learn more about general music and teaching in general from doing it even part-time then I would have from student teaching for 7 weeks.  I'll check back in with you, my adoring public, after my first full week.  

As for my identity, a funny anecdote.  My fiance and I joined the church choir at the parish we now belong to and Thursday was our first rehearsal.  I asked the choir director what he wanted me to sing because I could do church soprano (aka not super high) or alto (or honestly church tenor because it's not super low and practically alto II range but I didn't mention that because this choir actually has men).  He said soprano because this group has a lot of altos. Thursday was also the first day of school, so in one day, I became 2 things that I pretty much didn't think I'd be at this point in my life - a general music teacher and a soprano. 

 

Why, You Might Ask.

The other day, I was thinking about how this whole research project got going and the journey it has taken.  I figured that the brief description that I've provided on top of this blog doesn't really do it justice.  So here's the short history.

Back in the fall of junior year (Oct. - Nov. 2010), one of my professors asked if anyone would be interested in doing a self-study research project on our junior student teaching experiences.  The goal was that this research would be accepted to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), which was being hosted at my college starting on March 31, 2011.  Our group ended up being 3 people - Dana, Devon, and me.  We gathered data by using the reflections that we had to write at the end of each lesson plan.  So, the over-all data included about 27 reflections or so.  We coded our data (aka looked for recurring themes), then swapped and coded the reflections of each other. 

The coding part was really interesting and was the most valuable part of the whole experience, in my opinion.  This was when we all learned more about ourselves and each other.  It was nice to realize that I'm not the only one who feels totally inept at time management in lessons or the only one who feels a lot of pressure to make sure these students get a proper instrumental music experience.  We ended up (with some wording help from our professor) having a snazzy sounding abstract to submit. 

THE INITIAL TEACHING EXPERIENCES OF PRESERVICE MUSIC EDUCATORS

The student teaching experience is a critical phase of the occupational socialization of a professional educator. For most music teachers, this student teaching phase begins in the senior year of undergraduate study. The format of music student teaching varies considerably among music teacher preparation programs. Research on the impact of student teaching on the development of future music teachers has shown mixed results. The purpose of this study was to uncover information about the lived experience of three undergraduate students during the initial four months of their music student teaching experience. The participants in this study are members of a unique junior level student teaching program at a comprehensive college in the northeast United States. In this multiple case self-study, the researchers will collect qualitative data and present their personal experiences during the initial months of this unique junior teaching program. Data sources include self-reflections, cooperating teacher and supervisor feedback, and written self-analysis of videotaped teaching episodes. These data will be coded, salient themes extracted, and findings triangulated to ensure validity. Connections to the university preparation program and the impact on teacher confidence will be explored. Implications for music education and student teaching will also be presented.

Our abstract was accepted! We made a PowerPoint, worked out a 10 minute presentation, and went over questions that we might be asked during the 5 minute question period. It went over very well so we decided to submit the same research to the Symposium on Music Teacher Education (Sept. 2011 at University of NC Greensboro) and the New York State School Music Association Conference (Dec. 2011 in Rochester, NY).  We were accepted to both of those conferences as well! This was something that none of us really though would happen - especially being selected for SMTE.  


Only Dana and I were able to go to SMTE because Devon was student teaching, but we had a big fancy poster and handouts to let everyone know that Devon was included too.  

It was genuinely one of the best experiences in my college career.  We were the only undergrads who did their own research and presented it at the symposium - there were other undergrads at the symposium, but they were the subjects of the study, not the researchers.  So that was an accomplishment in itself! Another cool thing about being there was that all of the prestigious college professors who make their careers of researching education were impressed with what we had done.  People who would normally be "Doctor" to us as students were introducing themselves to us by their first names.  While reflecting on each day with Dana, we realized that this was something that we should continue because now, we could call ourselves "researchers".  It was during this symposium that Dana and I got the idea to continue blogging about our experiences as actual teachers and not student teachers.  Professors from other universities already use blogs to keep track of their students who are student teaching so Dana and I snagged that idea. These blog posts would be a way to track our progress, thoughts, feelings, etc. as we enter the "real world".  Dana has already started in her blog to tag the posts.  It's a very easy way to code the data as we go.  I will wait and start tagging once I actually have a job (haha) so that the data doesn't get confused with my pre-employment feelings. Devon will not be entering the workforce yet, so for now it'll just be the two of us.  

We really do hope that in 5 years or so, we will have data to publish a paper on the evolution from student to teacher and/or how student teaching helped/didn't help us in the real world or something else like that; we'll let the data lead us to a paper.  I'm excited to see where the next chapter of this research project takes us!

Feelings

Just like my fellow blogger, Dana, said in her latest post (linked on the right!) - it's been a while since I've posted anything! I've been trying to hold out with a post until I heard back from the school district where I did a sample lesson so I could report in with a verdict.  However, I'm still waiting to hear back.  Last Wednesday when I did my sample lesson, my interviewer said that he would try let me know by the end of the week.  Naturally I sat glued to my phone from 9-4 Thursday and Friday waiting...and Monday and Tuesday and yesterday and today, but alas, no phone call.  Good things come to those who wait.

I feel like a lot of things are up in the air - not just because of the job situation but definitely not helped by the job sitch.  So many feelings! I feel like I should be doing more planning for my wedding and that it's not really planned at all (probably because it's not).  We're approaching the 1 year countdown and I'm itching to get into planning. I do like to plan things and make lists of things to do, so I'm looking forward to the details.  Also up in the air are my living situations in the future. I can't live with my parents forever, especially with the impending marriage! But I can't think about where I'll be living until I have a job.  Blerg. 

I'm heading up to my alma mater (now I kinda like saying that!) on Sunday to spend Monday - Friday playing in the band for the conducting symposium they hold each summer.  It's great to learn about conducting through observation.  Conducting is something that a music educator can always - and should always - work on for not only personal growth but for the betterment of the students.  Fringe benefits of the symposium include being able to spend time with some of my bestest friends from the school of music!  It's going to be bittersweet on the last day of symposium because I will be signing out, handing in my keys, and leaving my apartment for the last time.  In fact, I'll be the last one of my roomies to close the door on our home for the last 2 years.  As silly as it sounds, I feel like it's really the end once I can't say that 190-01 is my apartment anymore.  My roommate since freshmen year is still there so I'll be with her until Thursday when she leaves for good.  I know as of right now that I'll see my roomies in about a year at my wedding, but after that, I don't know when I'll see them again.  It's hard and I get all sad when I think about it (read as: I'm crying just thinking about it).  I feel like I'll be reliving the sadness I felt saying good bye to my roomies on graduation day and the day after except this time it'll just be me crying over a building. But let's be honest, that apartment was more than a building for the last 2 years. I think one thing that was holding me together after graduation was knowing that I'd be back the last week in June.  Even though I know 4 of my 5 roomies are in Colorado, Connecticut, North Dakota, and California (not in our apartment) I've been feeling like going back would make me with them. Okay I'm a kook and holding on to the past. I don't know. Just crazy feelings. But rest assured roomies, I'll be sure to leave our apartment with a smile and hope that the people who next inhabit it will be kind to it.

In other world news, I've been feeling really good about my playing lately! I'm playing in an orchestra for a summer concert that is on Saturday.  We've rehearsed the last two Wednesdays and it's been lots of fun.  I'm playing second to a lady who is getting her DMA in flute performance and it's a joy because we match so well! Our tones blend well and she plays in tune so it's very easy to sit next to her. The lady playing piccolo is getting her masters and she's great too. I'm glad I can carry my weight in the section and that they were impressed with my playing. Woo! 

Looking forward to:

• teaching my little flute student tomorrow for the first time in a while
• watching movies with my girls tonight and campfire tomorrow night (pending weather)
• seeing Matt tomorrow
• gig on Saturday
• going to campus on Sunday
• a phone call

Here Goes Nothing

I only know what I've been told
And I was told what others know
And others know what they were told
And they were told what others know - The Dear Hunter - "No God"

Since my last blog post, I received some good news!  I was called by the district next to mine for the second round of interviews, which is a sample lesson. Tomorrow is the big day - teaching 5th grade trumpets (they start band in 5th grade there) how to play dotted quarter notes.  I'm very excited because it's a great district, close to home, and they might hire me!

I'm constantly reminded that in music education, there are few new ideas.  I think the quote that I used in the opening of this post pretty well sums up what I mean.  In my first interview for this district, I talked about introducing students to band instruments by bringing them into the general music classes for the students to try.  Advantages: it's a smaller crowd to control, it's easier to sanitize the mouthpieces, there are two sets of adult ears and hands to help the kids try the instruments, etc. When I was talking to my parents about the interview after the fact, I said that I couldn't remember where I heard that idea and my mom reminded me that I heard it from her!  It was a great idea and it was well received by my interviewer.  It wasn't a new idea and I didn't come up with it myself, but at this point in my teaching career, all I really have to go on are the ideas of others and my brief elementary band experience during junior student teaching. 


So yeah, tomorrow is my interview.  I think I'm ready! I asked for the names of the students I will be teaching (a tip I picked up from my mom who picked it up from someone she interviewed once - see nothing new here) and made hanging name tags to put on the music stands.  That way, I can address the students by name and immediately have a connection with them.  I'm only a little nervous but I know that once I get going, the kids and I will all have fun and the nerves will go away.  I also wrote up a lesson plan and made it look all nicey nicey in case any of the people observing my lesson want to see it.  I practiced trumpet yesterday with my papa so I sort of have chops (well chops enough for 5th graders). I also made rhythm charts on pretty colors of construction paper to help explain counting the dotted quarters.  I found out from my interviewer that the students use the Kodaly counting system (ta, ti ti) in general music so I will use what the kids know instead of trying to get into the subdivisions right away. "You see, the dot is half the value of the note it's attached to...blah blah blah jargon jargon math math".  I only have a half an hour so I figure since it's an introductory lesson, I'll stick with what they know. Known to unknown. Holler Jerome Bruner!  


Also on the docket for tomorrow are a bike ride/jog/maybe both/maybe only one (pending this rain stopping) and an orchestra rehearsal.  I'm lucky to have 2 very athletic friends that are willing to run and bike with me.  I'm also lucky to have parents who are musicians and get me gigs! It's been forever since I've played in an orchestra so I'm really looking forward to the 2 rehearsals and a gig this month. 


Fingers crossed for my sample lesson in approximately 13 hours. Here goes nothing!

The Waiting Game

Brought to you from TX!

So I'm currently on vacation in Texas with two of my best friends! It's awesome.  Our condo/hotel room has a kitchen fully stocked with dishes, plates, utensils, pans, etc., a bedroom with a king size bed, a balcony overlooking the giant pool and Gulf of Mexico...yeah it's pretty darn cool. The only thing that's kind of weird is that while I'm trying to relax, part of me has a hard time not following a schedule.  As a music education student, my life has been scheduled very strictly (by both my own doing and the rigorous coursework of my...alma mater) for the last 4 years.  Now, not knowing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing when causes me a little anxiety.  Old habits die hard, I guess.  Regardless, I have to keep telling myself "HEY! YOU'RE ON VACATION!"

...

But wait. I'm not totally off duty. I'm waiting to hear back from two school districts as to the status of my application.  I had one interview in each of the districts but now I'm waiting to see if I have been selected to be a "finalist" for either/both districts.  As a "finalist" (a cool title if you ask me), I'll have to go in and teach a sample lesson to real students! No more "If this happens, what would you do?". It's all me showing my stuff.  I think that if I get called to do a sample lesson in either of the schools, it will be a strong point for me because I have always had good rapport with kids.  So while taking in the pool, Gulf of Mexico, and the relaxation that I hope to achieve, I will be awaiting the incoming call from somewhere east of me. 


Oh and one more thing, my loyal readers. Please check out the blog written by my wonderful friend Dana.  I neglected to include a link when I published my first post.  It's a great read, especially for people who are embarking on their "real life" in music education. Dana's blog!

General Job Seaching Tips

Chock Full of Vitamin C Good Advice!

The job search is a daunting task, especially for future music teachers.  I'm very thankful that I got a somewhat early start on the whole process.  I took my Praxis test in January and once I got my scores in early February, I knew I would be able to start looking for jobs and be on my way to certification.  I highly recommend getting an early start on taking any state-mandated tests so that you know if you'll get the grades and be able to start looking for jobs ahead of the rest of the pack.

My Firefox is unhappy every day when I open 19 tabs of school websites and job search engines.  I check these sites every single day because that way I don't have to look at the whole page; I just use the "find" function (ctrl+F for all you PC peeps out there and probably command+F for the Macs) and put in the date so new postings pop up quickly.  I knew of a few sites that were specific to education jobs in my state and then began to look at other job posting sites as well, such as the local newspaper classified.  I also bookmarked the human resources pages of neighboring school districts because not all schools advertise past their website (which I didn't realize when I first set out to find positions).  

The career services office at my now former (woah) college offers a service where you can pay them to keep all of your credentials on file - aka they'll make sure that the appropriate human resources people at the places you are applying receive all of your letters of recommendation and other pertinent factoids about your life as an academic while ensuring confidentiality.  The theory is that the writer of a letter of recommendation will be more honest if they know the student won't see the finished letter. Valid concern, but in these days with all of the electronic applications, those credential files seem to be falling by the wayside.  Websites such as Applitrack and School Spring require you to upload PDFs of your letters of recommendation, resume, certification, Praxis scores, etc.  There is no way that you can claim confidentiality when you will have to upload the letters of recommendation as PDFs.  What I did was contact people that I wanted to write me letters of recommendation and tell them upfront that I would need the file as a PDF so that I could input it on the job website.  Professors and other teachers that you would ask for letters know that online apps exist and won't think it's some kind of ploy to be able to read what they say about you.  And it saves you like $30.00! 


Besides looking online for postings, be sure that you tell any/all current music teachers that you know that you are/will be looking for jobs in that area.  An especially good way to achieve this is to go to your state music teaching conference (NYSSMA, NJMEA, PMEA, etc.).  During my junior year, I went to two state conferences and when I was talking to teachers that I knew (and some that I didn't) I mentioned that I would be looking for jobs during that time next year.  Just putting it out there has been a great help.  In addition to getting emails from the listserve run by my alma mater (okay that's weird to say), I've gotten emails from current teachers in my state who have let me know that they are anticipating openings in their district or in a nearby town.  It's great to have current teachers looking out for you and making that connection early is never a bad thing.  


I hope this will be helpful to you, my loyal readers. And yes, I do believe that you are loyal even though this blog-to-reader relationship is still so new. I'm a trusting person, I guess. No but really, I hope that this helps my undergrad friends in their journey into the real world. If I think of any other informative tidbits, I'll be sure to let you know.

Interview #1

Thankful.

This word pretty much sums up how I feel after my first interview.  I received a lot of positive feedback after today's interview which was incredibly validating.  I felt nervous and unprepared before the interview but when I entered the room, I was filled with confidence.  I actually (sort of) know what I'm talking about (maybe).  The answers thankfully came to me easily, which I attribute to my undergrad training. I would love to have this position and I hope that I make it to the next round.  I'm really looking forward to what the next round entails because I would teach a sample lesson to actual students if asked to continue the interview process.  I love working with kids and think that will definitely come across in my favor in a teaching demonstration


We'll see how my next interview goes at the end of this week, but as of right now I'm feeling great about the first one!


Things to look forward to tomorrow - getting fit for running shoes, going on another run, playing my wonderful flute for FUN!


Things I have to do but don't want to tomorrow - finish unpacking my life and organizing my room.