22 posts tagged “teaching”

So I'm coming down from, like, a two-hour freak out.

We're doing a Beginning Orchestra Festival. One May 6. (Two weeks.) This was just finalized today, and I had a crisis trying to decide WHO would play, WHAT they would play, and WHEN the hell we were going to rehearse it!

I eventually settled on about 25 beginners who are really good, and who always act right in class, and who would be able to handle performing on a stage. These beginners are also going to play for the Elementary feeder schools when they come to visit on May 5, 6, and 7.

I'm getting really good at writing parent letters at the very last minute.

So, in the last month or so:

• My Advanced Orchestra went to Festival and got two 2's and one 3. I told the kids that it wasn't about the numbers, all that mattered was their experience. (Not just bullshit, I really do believe that. No one will remember in 5 years that we got a 2 overall at Festival.)
• DONE A LOT OF KNITTING.

• My Intermediate Orchestra went to Festival on Monday of this week. They did pretty good. Some strange things happened onstage that had never happened in rehearsal, but it was Monday, and no one expects perfection on Mondays. I had them listen to their CD yesterday in class and grade themselves (A - F) on their performance. Most said about B or C, which I agreed with, but I know where they came from, so I gave them an A for hard work and effort. (I told this to my mentor teacher, and she said that I was talking like "an experienced teacher!") One of our judges was one of my favorite high school directors, and he said we did a good job. The other judge was a HS director who used to be the director at MY school, and he wrote on the comments sheet that the kids "are in good hands."
• I got a new phone! LG Rumor. Lime green. I spilled iced tea (not Long Island, unfortunately) on my Razr, and it had been working funky (or NOT working, really) for a while, so I got a new one. The new phone was worth the money for the peace of mind that it will actually work.
  
• Jessica and I went to New Orleans! I have pictures, but Vox is taking too long to upload, and I am impatient. You'll get those later.
• I bought the new Panic! at the Disco album. Thank goodness I only spend $10 on it, because it kinda sucks. Not nearly as awesome as the first one.
  
• I hit 10,000 miles on my car. :D

STORY TIME. I know you're all excited.

I have this student - we'll call him Bobby. Bobby has this stupid, long emo hair that is naturally my color blonde, and he came in one day with it dyed jet black. I wanted to cut it all off, because I couldn't understand how he could play viola with half his hair in his face. Bobby has been being an ass lately. I called his mom last Friday to let her know that his behavior was worse than it ever had been. (Bobby has never been the model student.) His mom said, "Well, maybe he needs a haircut."

Then, this Wednesday, Dean Angeles came in to work with that class on their music for festival, which is in a week and a half. Bobby made a very crude gay sex joke, and within 5 minutes of class, Dean had said, "Get him out. I don't want to work with him." I escorted Bobby into the hallway, gave him a packet, and told him to go sit in the band room and complete the packet. Bobby said something along the lines of, "That old fart had no reason ... " I think he even said "bullshit" at one point, but I can't be sure.

I called Bobby's mom to tell her about what had happened that day, and she was very upset, as was I. She said that she would talk to him, and I told her that if his behavior didn't improve, it would escalate into a detention and a counselor's referral.

Bobby was in class on Thursday, and he did fine. He got a good grade on his playing test.

He came into class today whining about "Can I wear my hood during class?" I said, "No, you have to put it down."

His head was completely shaved.

today was horrible.

too horrible for capitals. yes.

i took my first half-day today. 1st period went okay, i was a little hoarse still, but i felt okay. 2nd period, i got really frustrated because the kids weren't listening and my voice was getting worse and i couldn't yell over them anymore without my chest feeling like it was on fire. so i called the office to put in for a half-day sub, and went home to sleep.

i slept for about 2 hours, and then came back to school for 2 parent-teacher conferences. THAT DIDN'T SHOW UP. i came back to school for them because i want to get the kids out of my class, and this is one of the 328976million necessary steps to getting them out, and then they didn't show up.

THEN. i met with the "highly-qualified" lady to talk about how i'm not highly qualified yet. she told me that i had to take two more praxis tests before march 30, 2008, or i could be in danger of losing my job. THIS IS BULLSHIT, in my opinion. i was exempt from praxis I in louisiana, but apparently ONLY in louisiana. and i have to take ANOTHER music content test because it wasn't required in louisiana, but is required in nevada.

and i just HAD to pick the state that wants every. single. test.

and i'm still sick on top of all this, and i just want it all to end. goodnight.

Scantrons are the greatest invention ever.

TOMORROW, EXPLORATIONS TAKES THEIR FINAL EXAM. TUESDAY, I GET NEW STUDENTS.

I thought it would be tactless to write "GOOD RIDDANCE" on the board, so I restrained myself.

I think I put up with them pretty well this semester. Given all the disrespect, and how much they trashed my room every single day, I think I came out okay. Next semester, Explorations is going to spend about two weeks on procedures, and a whole nother week on team-building games and listening exercises. It is going to be A LOT DIFFERENT, and I can't wait.

This was a week where I really enjoyed my job.

I introduced a "Period Success Chart," where the kids get different sized blocks based on their behavior, and when they reach the top, they get a prize. They're really responding well to it, every class period except Explorations. Go figure.

Umm. We're having a bit of trouble finding an apartment. The one we really liked has a pretty bad rap sheet. In the last two weeks, there were something like 20 incidents in a 1-mile radius of the complex. So, that's a no.
It just sucks because nowhere we go is going to be cushy little suburbs, like where we live now. It's not going to be perfect and sometimes we just have to take what we can get.

In other news, my wound is getting better. It's scabbed over now, but there's still a chunk of my wrist missing. Maybe I'll post a picture for your viewing pleasure.

One of my Advanced violas came in to talk to me after school today. She's one of the real quiet ones who is actually a lot different than I expected. She wanted to talk about certain people in her class being very disruptive and annoying, and I told her that I knew exactly what she was talking about. She wanted to know if any of them would be leaving the class, haha. I told her that I didn't know how much control over that I had, but that I wanted to try a few things, like a seating chart, before I took it that far.

She said, "I just feel like we do more waiting than playing."

Kids amaze me sometimes.

Jessica and I had a "Screw teaching! Let's go be actresses!" discussion this afternoon.

Lastly, I think had no less than ten (10) children today ask me where I lived so that they could come trick-or-treating at my house.

Today:

• I found a plastic spoon and a Starburst wrapper inside of a bass. (I'm going to go through the Instrument Agreements from last year to see who used that bass, and then make then retrieve it.)
• A kid in my Explorations class punched another kid in the chest.
• My Advanced class started to turn on each other, calling each other out because of talking and etc.
• My Intermediate class stood outside for 20 minutes because they couldn't get quiet enough to actually play music. (This is the second day in a row that I've had them pack up their instruments and go stand outside. I told them that if they keep this up, they will not play on out December 19th concert, and they will note go to Festival.)

Now, time for knitting, ANTM, and sleep.