one more thing...
Tomorrow I get to figure out the following equation:
44 eighth grade band members + 96 deg. F band room + first day of school + class directly after lunch + new teachers + other random factors = x behavioral problems.When my SCT and I went over to the middle school, we discovered that the air conditioning for half of the building, where the band room happens to be, has been broken since June. I am not sure what will happen, however, here is what could happen:
44 eighth grade band members: Large groups of middle school students generally tend to try to gang up against teachers when the teacher is lacking in the validation that the student needs. Generally, music kids are relatively well-behaved, but we'll see. This is, however, a great variable.
96 deg. F band room: It will be hot and humid in the room, it will drain the students of their energy. The lack of energy in an adolescent keeps the adolescent from focusing as well. Therefore, we will not have attention spans. The teachers' mental prowesses are included into this part of the equation as well. I really hope though that the heat will put them to sleep.
First day of school: Students will be jittery because they will not know what to expect. The nerves will keep them in their comfort zones and will help them behave, however, there can be exceptions.
Class directly after lunch: Students will be pepped up from sudden free-time. They will need to calm down somehow, and it's our class period to do it. However, digestion will also help them calm down a bit, I hope. We'll see how this will go. Generally, students are hyper after lunch, but will calm down quickly once in their seats.
Two new teachers: The students will be scared. The will not know what to expect as they do not know what will make my SCT or myself mad. This is the magic power that teachers have and know how to use well.
I have a key to the high school!
Well, today was the last day of school without students - as of tomorrow at eight something we're in business. So, in true school fashion, my first teacher's work day was a success.
Last night I tried to figure out what items I would need to keep with me at the school. Now, if I wasn't teaching lessons at DMS, I would just bring my instruments with me and leave the in my SCT's office, however, I still need those to teach elsewhere. Not a problem yet though, my SCT said that it would take me awhile to really figure out what I would need, and even then he had most of what I would need right in his office. I'll be able to lock things in his office if I don't want to bring them home at night. However, after reading the High School Faculty Handbook, I don't think I want to have much of my own personal property at the school in case of emergencies. Plus, the more I bring the less I need to take come January 19th.
As far as actual work went, my SCT had it mostly under control; he did create a to-do list which we completed about two hours before the end of the workday. We already had most of our meetings taken care of, so it is now time to focus on the first things for school. We set up the classroom and cleaned up from summer band camp. SCT showed me the tapes of old half-time shows, and I'm now really looking forward to Homecoming. Seeing that it is so close, SCT told me that it would be best to "Just march 'em on and march 'em off." This will be easy for us to create the show this year. Normally he would prefer to march a choreographed show, however, there just isn't time (22 rehearsals left).
Gradebook will be interesting. This is the district's first year keeping track of all grades electronically. Attendance has been kept on the computers for awhile already, but now everything is online. Parents have the ability to go to the school's website and check how their children are doing academically at any time. It's nice in that parents who are willing/able to follow up this way are now able to. Theoretically, gone are the days of a parent calling a teacher to ask what grade their son/daughter recieved. Unfortunately, and I am just speculating here, this may just create more of a distraction with the so-called "uber-parents" being able to check on our every move. Not that I mind parents, I really actually enjoy their support, however, there is always the story of "that one parent" looming around the corner.
Anyway, what is making Gradebook intersting is the fact that it isn't working with the network servers at the moment, which means that we get to keep track of grades and attendance the old fashioned way (aka - the easy way). Look, I'm all for technology in the classroom, but if it doesn't work or interferes with the learning process, then it isn't a good thing to use.
Something new this year for my SCT is the fact that he now teaches at two schools in the district. I feel bad for my SCT because he really doesn't want to do this, and the middle school band teacher doesn't want it to be this way either, however, the school board decided to go this route for a reason. All I know is that I am an outside observer representing the university that I attend and do not wish to comment on the situation as I am a neutral character in the situation. I've spoken with several people at the university about this, and I hope that it does not wreak havoc with my placement. Unfortunately, this means that I now have to learn and read the policies for two schools rather than just one. I've read through the high school faculty and student handbooks to understand them, and my SCT read through the middle school's this afternoon and told me that there isn't much difference from what I am used to. The only thing I noticed was that my school day goes until 4 pm, so I'll have to rework my lesson schedule at DMS. Also, the staff meetings conflict with the lessons, so I'll have to rework it anyway. I currently have seven students there, so the load isn't too bad.
Well, back to the middle school. My SCT and I spent part of the afternoon there working out scheduling conflicts with the principal. She is also a wonderful administrator to work with. She is a former band teacher and is a trumpet player along with my SCT. We actually all got a moment to talk together (the middle school principal, SCT, and I) and were able to joke around as well; yes, I was mocked for not being a trumpet player, but the jazz studies degree made up for it. I am so grateful that everyone has been really supportive of me in the district .
The MS principal is allowing us to create the schedule based on our schedule from the high school. She said that the easiest thing for us would be to have flexibility in her school so that it will be easier for us to work down there. We managed to get a class roster and instrumentation of the group, so we kind of know what we'll be walking into tomorrow. SCT said that we will go through music tomorrow and collect students' schedules next week to schedule lessons. I'm looking forward to this.
Also on a positive note, everything has been finalized for my entire apprenticeship to be at the high school with one teacher. It's wonderful, and it's all falling into place.
unspoken rules 2
Well, I've completed another day - the second day of in-service. I'm finding that getting into the swing of things at school isn't as tough as it seemed like it would be; I've been teaching all summer and working on this for the last five years of my life. The routine that is the high school is actually a welcome thing again in my life; the last five years have seen a different sleep schedule for each day of the year.
We finished our poverty training today, and it was really just a repeat of the non-music-related portions of my ed psyche and special reading classes from last semester. The woman is a really good speaker, but about one third of the people there today taught subjects that could not use the assessment models she demonstrated - eg. music, phys ed, art, shop, etc... . In fact, the subjects that we discussed today were introduced in my educ classes as "subjects that don't really pertain to the music ed majors, but we have to cover anyway..." to quote my general education profs. I have to at least give our speaker credit: she kept my attention.
Went to my first faculty meeting today and was formally introduced to the other teachers in the building and was able to talk with the principal as well again. It pretty much covered the new study hall policy which directly affects the band and choir lessons throughout the week. My SCT and I also finally got some time in the band room today to get a little bit of work done.
Pretty much, long day, not much accomplished, and I still have to re-read my Field guide and summarize it for the SCT.
unspoken rules
Well, today was the first day of the rest of my life in in-service. I arrived at the school early to be greated by two school district's worth of faculty and staff (close to 300 teachers probably). And as I walked in, I realized that I didn't know anybody. So, I signed in and made small talk with the school's main secretary until the first teacher I recognized came (I know three and recognized several from volunteering at the school). I was able to finally meet the middle school band director and I may be able to finish the elementary placement with her.
The in-service for today and tomorrow focus on poverty, and our district combined with another to bring in the speaker that is running it. She is wonderful - both extremely knowledgable (book-wise and street-wise) as well as being a natural comedian. Sitting in this in-service is like watching Comedy Central, only it applies to my professional development.
The topic within poverty deals with the differences in economic classes and the unspoken rules of those classes. The three classes are mainly poverty, middle, and wealthy classes (if you're an economist and reading this, please do not correct me on these terms as this is what the Ph.D. is using for us). The main aims of the wealthy class is to continue tradition and stay in that class. The main aims of the middle class is to obtain material goods and achievement; their objective is to raise into the wealthy class. Meanwhile the main objective of the poverty class is survival. Moving from poverty class to middle class means leaving the social group in which an individual is most comfortable and possibly harming positive relationships in life.
More on this later...
the list
I sat down earlier this afternoon to play piano a little bit; playing always relaxes me and helps me just center my thoughts again. Well, as I was playing, I rememberd a chat I had with my advisor about compiling a list of things that went on in the music department that I wanted to change. I thought it was rather proactive on her part, but the more I think about it, the more ideas I come up with. Here are a few:
-Have an outline of procedures available for instrumental music ed (instr mued) majors that include what classes to take, when to take them, and general advice within the book.
-Let instr mued major know that there are two placements for student teaching.
-Change the piano proficiencies so that the theory/technique portions be a part of the music theory curriculum as there are many incoming freshmen who are place high in piano but know nothing about music theory.
-Have office hours for professors be more accessable; it is hard to talk with a proffessor in person when you have class during their only open times in their schedules.
-Have the department chair be more accessable to students.
-Allow students to jury out of piano requirements; I'm going to be graduating with 174 credits already, and the last thing I needed in there were 4 credits of piano lessons after having taken them every week since I was 4 and continually playing for fun.
-Tell the students about repetitive motion injuries.
-Don't say that 16 credits per semester isn't enough; those 16 credits often include taking ensembles for 1 credit each. Plus, there are semesters where the students will be burned out.
(edited 9/26/05 for grammer)
inservice woes
Well, I just got off the phone with the high school principal for where I'm student teaching and found out that I do not have to attend the new teacher inservice as I was told by others at the university. And, this guy proves the old adage of "a principal is your pal." This guy is really nice, and wonderful to talk with. I've worked with him one other time at the schoool's solo and ensemble festival last year, and he is a great guy; I'm really looking forward to student teaching there in the district - now if I can only fix the red tape from the university, and I'll be all set.
So, I don't have to go to the inservice tomorrow, just the ones next week and then we start school on Thursday. What I'm hearing from the school district is wonderful, and I'm getting up the nerve to talk to the middle school band teacher about allowing me to student teach under her as I had originally planned. So, I have one weekday left of freedom after today. Now to go and download their school calendar to see when my next free day will be.
the other parts were so much easier
So many of my friends have already gone through their student teaching and they all told me that it was the hardest part of the college experience for them, but none of them said why; I think I'm beginning to see why. For the first time in my life, I will not be a true student. I will not have my teachers there to "hold my hand." I will not be able to go to my advisor's office and just talk for hours. I will not be able to do all-night practice sessions, attend friends' concerts, cram for an exam, or anything else that made college what it was. That's what is the hardest, and I already miss it alot. I miss my friends, studying, classes, teachers, secretaries, everything. This is going to be the hardest five months of my life, isn't it?
red tape!!!!!
Well, I just got off the phone with my SCT and I am once again excited about student teaching - very nervous, but excited. The thought of suddenly being in charge of sixty adolescents at a time kind of scares me. I'm actually responsible for them - and the more I think about it, the bigger the knot in my stomach gets. I now make the transition from student to teacher, rule-breaker to enforcer, underdog to authority figure. This really scares me a lot. Then, to make it worse, is the Clinical Field Experiences handbook. I've read that so many times, and I feel horrible each time that I read it: "Remember, you are a liability," "You are at no time permitted to be in charge without your CT or the school principal." Geez. I understand that yes, I am a liability, but HSM (the head guy at the university for student teaching) keeps enforcing that we will make too many mistakes and are not responsible enough to do this, despite the fact that a majority of student teachers have logged over 200+ hours of observing and teaching experiences before even entering into this phase of my apprenticeship. It's scary.
What's even scarier is the fact that I'm still having the problem with finding a second placement for the "elementary" section of my student teaching. I had first been told that it was okay with middle school students, but then was told that it had to be elementary. Plus, there have been budget cuts in the district in which I'm student teaching in as well, so my placement was first 6-12, but now it's 8-12 after all those cuts. I've been e-mailing my SP, who told me to be in contact with the music educ coordinator and the director of field experiences (HSM). After leaving voicemail for both of them, I now know that this problem won't be resolved until after I begin student teaching. I have no idea what to do at this point in time, and I am scared stiff of not getting that other placement. I at least have a teleconference scheduled with HSM for Monday, but that's when I'm already starting at the school. With luck, I'll be able to talk to the middle school band director in the district and have her okay me helping her out; that's what it was supposed to be originally. Maybe I'll just have to take the initiative and hunt the middle school band teacher down before Monday.
I hate red tape!
ugh! technology!
You know on TV, how on everyshow and commercial that shows a laptop, how they show it not connected to any powercords or ethernet wires or anything like that? And it actually works?
Tonight we had some rather beautiful storms roll through Wisconsin, which included two tornadoes on either side of our city, with one being less than a mile away from where we lived. In the process of saving the computers, I managed to somehow snag my third power cord for my laptop and now have a short/tear in the cord in the same spot where the last two died (and to make matters worse, this is the third since November). It wouldn't be bad if I could just run down to Radio Shack and pick up another one, but they don't carry these things in a town of 7,000 people! So, now I have to go to the mall, fight the Valley traffic, fill up the Beast (and old SUV from when there was
a lot of oil), and pay the bill, all so I can do stuff for my student teaching!
At least on a positive note, the software and modem from the new ISP arrived today! Once the SBC guy comes out, I'll have good internet again and I'll be able to stay online again! Why did the state have to impose these new guidelines now? Gotta love PI-34!
summer's almost over!
Well, I just got back from DMS, and that has been the best job so far. TS and I delivered rental instruments to the middle school for their band camp which starts on Monday (which to parents out there reading this, this is another reason for not teaching next week - all of my students will be at this camp!). So far, most parents are renting from us or already have the instrument rather than renting from the big store that was in the area in the pre-DMS era (c. 1995 and earlier). It's always so cool spending time with TS cause we just bounce ideas off of each other for DMS. Unfortunately, DP doesn't want to really expand the store as he just started it as a little project with his daughter; his daughter opened a flower and gift store and he had a little music area for reeds and accessories for band. Well, the music portion quickly surpassed sales of the flowers and gifts and it took off from there, hence why I am now a teacher there at DMS.
Now, it's still early, and my dad and I are at home without a vehicle because ours is in the shop for repairs, so I have an entire day ahead of me to play with ongoing summer projects, and I still want to get around to re-painting some of the trim in the house and my bedroom - oh and taking down that wallpaper border!!!
(edited 9/26/05 to correct grammer)
at the end of the day
Well, the confrontation with Saxophone Mom went well - they actually showed up early after I called them with an opening earlier in the day. I assumed it was them as a four foot ten year old walked in carrying an instrument case as large as she was. At that point I smiled; my fate was sealed, and my knowledge of music education once again confirmed (teaching privately has boosted my ego) as there was no way that that child was going to be able to play that instrument yet. I even managed to get out of teaching her an additional lesson this week. Also, if you are an elementary general music teacher, I thank you if you have taught your students how to play the recorder as this now makes my job easier for the daughter of Saxophone Mom.
My voice students on Mondays are gems - they like the same music I do and begged me to let them sing music by Evanescence today for fun in their warm-up, which I had planned and purposely left the music out in front of them as they came in. I love that. And I love the fact that everyone at DMS is into ALL music and not just classical music. I've even convinced one to do a solo by Aaron Copland for solo and ensemble festival.
So, overall, not as bad of a day as it seemed to start off as. Everyone around me at DMS (minus Saxophone Mom and kids) were in the same dejected mood as I was in, so we drank coffee, shared stories, played music in minor keys, and laughed it off. Oh, and my students today dressed the same as me - yay! This truly made today better.
do I have to?
So, I'm having one of those days - the kind I dread as a teacher. Let me explain a little more: it is one of those days where I'd rather just hide in my bedroom reading trade journals and writing up lesson plans than dealing with some people. If I had to state my weakness, it would be that I at times cannot stand people who think they know more than the experts. Case in point: I'm starting a student today, matter of fact, she'll be my late one today. Her mother called DMS last Tuesday as I was leaving the store (half an hour after we closed) and said she wanted to start her daughter on saxophone lessons, but missed the deadline through the schools. "Not a problem, I have an opening tomorrow, come by and we'll get her a saxophone." Well, she had to think about it. That wasn't the hard part - I can understand thinking about something, but I cannot understand pairing an 11 year old girl with a tenor saxophone which is half her size and will hang off her neck as she plays. I say, "It would be a lot easier for her to start on alto and then grow into a tenor." Still, she says she'll have to think about it and will get back to me, hangs up not leaving her name or number. I tell TS about it, she shrugs, locks up, and we leave.
Friday night right as we sit down to dinner, long day, and I'm not feeling well. I get a call from Saxophone Mom (as I'm dubbing her) saying she wants to start the lessons. "Awesome, not a problem, I'll find her a really good alto sax." Sax Mom wants her daughter on tenor, AND she wants her daughter to have at least four lessons before school starts. Problem A: the kid is too small for the instrument. Problem B: I teach three days a week; anything more and the gas price is more than I earn for the lessons. Problem C: Sax Mom wants all the lessons before school starts, which for me is three days of lessons at DMS. So, I negotiate and say, we'll try the kid on both instruments on Monday (today) and will see how she's doing. Sax Mom doesn't seem to understand that her daughter will need a week to practice the things I will teach her today. Instead, she is going to bicker and complain and try to tell me and my experience that her daughter is different. She's going to tell me that practice doesn't matter and that everything this kid is going to learn will be through a teacher and not through her own experience. That's when I say that a majority of things learned come through practice and use the Dr. Seuss to Shakespeare analogy (you wouldn't had a first grader Hamlet and expect them to read it, would you?). Hence why I feel like I should be House, MD today and not Amanda the saxophone teacher. More and more I feel like I should just stick out the student teaching, take time off, and take the MCAT.
lesson plan idea:
find a way to incorporate Bjork into a lesson.
I need a better ISP...
So I finally got to check my e-mail today for the first time since Wednesday, and I recieved an e-mail from my SP. Ironically, I was supposed to call her on Thursday night in her office - let's see: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday --- oops, four days late. Note to self - call the DSL place and get rid of the dial-up.
I should probably re-read my Field Experiences manual as well soon and create the required timetable for the SCT, although I know that I should be able to help out with lessons right away - if we even have them the first week (gotta love the first day of band - logistics!). In my band room eventually, my students will actually play on the first day, maybe even do some easy improvisation exercises (acutally, that would be a lot of fun and could lead into some interesting field shows for any sort of marching my administration may require of my students).
Just a thought.
11 days counting...
Wow, just looking at the calendar and there is only a week and a half left of my summer vacation. I'm looking forward to getting started at the high school inservice. I figured that to make it easy for me to keep track of everything for myself, my cooperating teachers, and supervising professors (did I get those terms straight?), that I would keep a blog. I know that I need to keep track of what happens and what I observe, so what better way to make sure that everyone involved in my education can see what I'm actually doing.
I should probably introduce myself for the random person just surfing the web late at night or whenever. My name is Amanda and I'm student teaching this fall in instrumental music in the state of Wisconsin. I'm living at home with my parents and on the side teach lessons at our local music store. In accordance to my university's policies, I cannot post names of my students or any identifying information, so that means any names other than my own will be substituted by something else:
SCT - secondary cooperating teacher (high school band)
ECT - elementary cooperating teacher (elemenatary band or strings - not sure yet)
SP - supervising professor
random names such as: flute girl, oboejazz, etc...
TS - my boss at the music store
DP - the owner of the music store
DMS - the music store
Well, it looks like it's time to go return the rentals to the university, so I'll have to add more later!
A
