In a Nutshell...

Somebody (quietly points to self) has been slacking. There's been a lot of stuff happening over the last six weeks or so that I would usually blog about. But a couple of things on this list overtook a lot of brain power and focus. Also, a lot of these are things we've had in place for a couple of years now so this year has been about continuing to refine instead of create.

And so, here is the abbreviated version of the end of my school year:

We attended State Band Festival.

• After this year, I swore off State Festival forever. The added stress of this performance on the time of year is just too much. Instead of prepping for our Spring Concert, we were trying to focus on this one. Students were burnt out on the music. Many were unable to attend on a Saturday afternoon in the spring due to travel league sports competitions. Our Spring Concert was not at all as clean as it should have been. However, MSBOA has recently revamped the State Festival process so if we qualify next year, I'll consider it try out the new clinic experience they're offering, but the time of year is still less than ideal.

Students taught and conducted a piece.

• Again, State Festival really messed with this process. Last year we had a lot more fun with it and could take the time to refine. This year felt very rushed with only two weeks between Festival and our Spring Concert. The kids did well and our conductor was excellent, but I felt bad that it was not the level of performance it could or should have been due to focusing energies elsewhere.

We had our annual Chamber Music Night.

• Two years of tweaking made this the most musical Chamber Night we've had so far. Very few nervous giggle and train wrecks. Students were better prepared and the pieces for them to play are improving each year as we refine the requirements for the high school composers. Next year we're going to try having them write pieces in more of a "flex band" style. In keeping this a more informal event and more of an intro to small group playing, we let them choose their ensembles. This can cause issues for the kids who want to play with their alto sax or bass clef friends though. Flex style arrangements will hopefully give students the opportunity to play with friends more easily.
• Mother Nature was highly uncooperative and it poured all afternoon and evening which really put a damper on our outdoor performance. However, thanks to some help and hard work from the high school, their auxiliary gym was decorated with drama props to give us a "park" feel. We had a couple of park benches, flowers (some donated real and some props), even some lamp posts and kites around! Families still brought lawn chairs and blankets and we topped it off with a food truck from a local restaurant with some tasty pizza and gelato. It wasn't what we originally planned, but it came together really well and everyone still had a lot of fun.

We started and finished our Genius Hour projects.

• We changed it up a little this year and did Gallery Walks instead of traditional presentations. For the most part, students enjoyed the set up more. They got to show their work for other students and teachers and since it was less formal it eased some of the anxiety some experience from presenting. It was also a lot of fun connecting to some other classes doing Genius Hour projects at the same time. We were able to share with students at an International School overseas as well as students in a different part of the state. I want to formalize our interactions with other students a little more next year. If we're able to connect with another class, it will be part of their requirements to comment on others' blog posts. Learning to connect outside their own school environment is one of my favorite things about Genius Hour.

My sister got married.

• Not school related, but it was still a big deal and one of those extras that I was focused on! Not only was I MOH, my daughter was (the most adorable ever) flower girl. Lots of planning, get togethers, dinners, and fun to be had all around. The wedding was wonderful and I'm super happy for my sister and her new husband.

I packed my entire room up for summer construction.

• One of the many reasons I'm fortunate to be a part of the district I'm in is that a major bond passed a couple years ago. One of the big aspects of the bond included some serious building updates and renovations. Our building is part of the second major wave of construction and the band and choir room are some of the first on the list. Construction basically started days after school got out and is scheduled to be wrapped up just before the school year starts (fingers crossed!!!). This meant that every instrument and piece of equipment that wasn't bolted to a wall or floor had to be inventoried and marked to be moved out of the room. It was quite an undertaking to make sure everything was tagged and accounted for so that it makes it back to our room when construction is done. The room itself may not look all that different come fall, but with new lighting and an updated HVAC system it'll be more comfortable and efficient!

We held interviews for the a new part time orchestra teacher to get our new string program started.

• Another reason I'm grateful and proud to be part of our district is that they're expanding instead of limiting music options! Starting in the fall, 6th graders will be able to take orchestra. Since the choir teacher and I have full schedules already, we had to hire someone to get our program started. I'm glad the music staff got to be a part of the process and I'm excited for the additional opportunities we'll be able to offer future students as well as having another music colleague to collaborate with.

I accepted my first full time student teacher and will be starting with her in the fall.

• While I've had several field placement students over the last couple of years, this will be my first time working with a full time student teacher. However, she'll only be full time for half the semester as she's finishing her student teaching in a different country which will leave her with an international certification when she's done. So that she has as many chances to get in front of kids as possible for the six weeks she'll be with us, it's definitely going to speed up the typical timeline, but I'm looking forward to learning with her and examining my own practice along the way.

I had LASIK.

• Again, not necessarily school related, but it will make my life as a musician on both sides of the baton much easier! With some pretty severe nearsightedness, I hated conducting and playing with glasses. Both made it hard to see both my music and what was going on around me. But I could only wear contacts for a short period before wanting to forcibly remove my eyes right along with the lenses. The surgery was less than a week ago, but I'm really enjoying the novelty of no more lenses of any type in order to function as they continue to heal and clarify. 

And that's the end of the school year in a nutshell or two. We're a week into summer break and as always I'm looking forward to the chance to rest, recharge, hang with my daughter, do some learning, and prepare for the coming school year! 

Making Space

I feel like I should write something, but I can't seem to brain together a solid post. Too many random thoughts and ideas bouncing around. I'm hoping that maybe if I just write them all down, it'll make some space to let one of them grow some more.

• I'm hoping that the relative smoothness to the start of the year is due to the combination of families and I getting to know each other and improvements on my teaching/communication...and not the calm before some (wackier than normal) storm. Excuse me while I go knock on wood and maybe throw some salt over my shoulder.
• All four of my field placement (pre-student teachers) came to school this week. I'm excited to learn with them  over the course of the semester. My colleague is also working with a full time student teacher this semester, so I'm looking forward to learning about mentoring a new teacher second hand a little too.
• My organizational skills still need work, but they're improving. While the vast majority of any information or assignments this year will be online, color coding copies of things like permission slips or supply order forms is making it a lot easier to track the paper we do use. I also got rid of my desk and downsized to one just large enough for our new laptops and some space for my phone. Less desk space equals less space to put stuff I don't need.
• Any guilt over not checking or responding to emails after school or over the weekend is really diminishing. Unless it's something major, it can wait. My work/home line needs to become a little clearer. There's no way to totally avoid doing school work at home, but better limits will help keep it from taking over. 
• Now that things are rolling, I want to revisit class jobs. This flopped last year but I want to try it again. Students will apply this year instead of being voluntold. 
• I'm glad I get to teach multiple grade levels within my day. K-12 was a bit excessive, but 6-8 gives me enough variety in my day so I don't feel like I'm teaching from a script by the end of my day.
• How do I keep my brass players, especially low brass around? We start a good number in 6th Grade but both the 7th and 8th Grade Bands are pretty woodwind heavy. I try and find good music for low brass, and demo often on baritone but something's not clicking for them. 

And I think that's it for now. Nothing earth shattering. But there it is.

Bring the Extra Batteries

There's still a calendar month left on the school year, but I'm hitting that combination of reflecting/looking ahead that comes with the end of the school year. In no particular order, some thoughts as I look back:

• Classroom management is something I've always taken some pride in, but this year was kind enough to kick me in the pants on that one. Not only have I hit a point where I'm starting vocal therapy due to blowing out my voice over the last year (mostly due to bad habits of talking over kids and singing parts out while the band plays), I'm still having very frustrating moments with some of my groups and I blame myself for much of it. Next year will bring clearer expectations and follow through for the sake of both my students and me.
• Much of our scheduling of events is still based around what used to be a fall season for state tests. Some things need rearranging now that tests have shifted to Spring.
• I am an educator. But sometimes I forget that I need to educate beyond the students in my classroom. Families, colleagues, and others sometimes need help in understanding some of the unique challenges and benefits of a performance ensemble. 
• If some part of me thinks I should pack something for a field trip, such as extra AAA batteries just in case a student's insulin pump starts to fail, I should definitely bring them.
• My grading still needs an overhaul.
• With the exception of a few cases here and there, emails can wait until Monday, and I need to stop feeling guilty for not doing more school stuff at home.
• Some email responses are best done after waiting for a bit anyway so that I'm responding rationally and not emotionally.
• It's the end of my ninth year of teaching and even though there could be 100 things going right, I'll still obsess over the one that's going wrong.
• I really enjoyed working with student teachers this year, even though it was only one day a week. It helped me look more closely at my teaching and rehearsal habits and I'm looking forward to having them full time in the future.
• I love my job. Seriously. My alarm is too early. I get stressed. I sometimes miss things like Moms and Muffins with my daughter because it's the morning of our Spring Concert. My students drive me nuts on occasion. But I really love getting to make music with kids every day and the relationships I get to form with them over time.

There are still a few weeks to learn new things and reflect, but that's where I stand right now. What are some of your big takeaways from this year?

Expanding Roles

Tuesday I had my first two student teachers join my classes. They'll be coming once a week for a few hours at a time and I'm really excited for the experience of working with new teachers.

It felt weird stepping into the role of educating future educators, even on a small scale for the time being. It's something I've always wanted to do. Without others being willing to take me on as a student teacher, I wouldn't be in the career I've always wanted.

Having someone in the room taking notes on how I plan lessons, conduct, and work with students who isn't officially evaluating me in some way is a new experience. They're not watching me to help make me a better teacher (though working with them will absolutely help me grow), they're watching me to develop their own teaching and suddenly I feel a new (but good!) kind of pressure to be on my game even more than usual.

They're coming from pretty different backgrounds and types of experiences, so we worked out a plan for each of them to get them in front of the groups to varying degrees this coming week. I was appreciative of the fact that both were honest about what they feel is their current comfort zone and some things they want to do to get outside of that. Once we see how this Tuesday goes, we'll take it from there.

I hope that I'll be able to give them the experience they need to prepare them for the next part of their education and career, but I'm also excited about what I'll learn from them as we work together.

What are some favorite things you've done with student teachers? Suggestions? They're only with us three hours a week, but I'm open to ideas!