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!
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.
