And We're Off!

It's been two working weeks since I last posted and man this job is tiring, yet oh so rewarding! The first week back, I was at the district office for 8 hour days of meetings (most of which had NOTHING to do with my music job), where I met three other first year District 6 teachers.

Last week, I started the daily shuffle between my three schools--in and out of meetings. In my "spare time" I set up my classrooms and tuned up instruments for school to start. As this week began, I had my first day of school outfit all picked out, and set off on my new adventure with all the optimism in the world. Throughout the past three days of classes, I began a list that I wanted to share. Take from it what you will...

Things you don't learn in school:

Fire drills, especially when followed by lock downs, affect the rest of your class period and it's like herding cats to even try accomplishing anything else that day, but it IS possible.

Learn the students' names as quickly as possible. Classroom management works much more efficiently if you can talk to each student by name rather than just pointing or signaling in their direction. It also shows that you care enough about them to get to know who they are. (Seating charts are easy cheating methods!!)

Talk to other first year teachers so you remember you aren't alone, but stay in touch with your mentor teacher because they are proof that it is possible to get through even the bad days during the first year.

Always be thinking of an extra way to teach a concept. Even between your different classes, some techniques will be working and some just won't. Be prepared with every trick up your sleeve.

Spend time studying and learning about your subject matter before school starts. Especially if you will be teaching instruments that you aren't familiar with, the last thing you want is being put on the spot when a student asks you a question about a fingering or position.

Be ready to think about multiple things at once. Not only are you constantly monitoring student behavior, you have to continue teaching your lessons, check posture and positions, and keep an eye on the clock to manage your time.

When you graduate from college, you are at the peak of your playing thus far (hopefully!) The thing to remember is that your students are NOT college musicians--in fact they are far from it! Learn to let things go or to put something on hold till the next rehearsal if something isn't connecting. Some of the students may have never sang or touched their instruments before, so it's your job to be understanding and available for anything they may need.

Save all your handouts from every methods class in school, even if you think you may not ever need them. You never know what subjects you will be asked to teach regardless of what you think you want to teach. Of the four new music teachers, none of us are teaching exactly what we had in mind, whether it is at multiple schools, different areas of music, or even an extra drama class or two.

Research as much as you can about the school to find out the colors and mascot, the layout, the fire drill and other drill procedures, names of your administration/clerks/custodians, the neighborhoods where the kids are coming from, and anything else that seems helpful.

Planning is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. So much happens at the beginning of and throughout class that if things aren't written down you will more than likely fail. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you will remember everything you have planned for the day.

Be sure to write down notes or experiences from each day at the end of each class. This is an easy way to learn from your mistakes, remember what worked, and know for sure what did not. Go back to these notes once a week or so to make sure your notes are useful and not just sitting around unusable.

Be prepared to make at least five mistakes a day and to admit them when they are made. Make sure the students know you made a mistake so they aren't afraid to take chances and make their own.

Real life teacher situations are completely different from simulated college "lesson plans" or even student teaching. Middle schoolers will test you and push your limits so that you can prove to them that you can and should be their teacher. Even if you can get past that, just know that parents are WORSE.

Back-to-School Night is like open grounds for parents to attack the new teachers. Humans are creatures of habits, and as a new teacher you pose a threat for them. Even if your student is fine in your class, be prepared to meet parents with your shield up and ready to be confident in your answers to any and EVERY question thrown your way.

Meet and make friends with those parents as soon as possible. They will be able to help you in ways you wouldn't think are possible. If you can get the parents to respect you, then their children will probably hear about it at home which will be reflected in your classroom. Just be patient your first week or so for this to start up.

Use your manners and then some when communicating with clerks/custodians. If you can butter them up to be on your sides, the keys to the city will be granted to you and your whole school-world will open up.

Don't show any fear when stepping in front of a classroom or the students will eat you alive. Confidence is key.

Learning has to occur at all times.

Look professional at all times, even if the other teachers in your school have a tendency to dress down. Fight the urge to slip out of bed into something and look professional.

When someone is acting out in class, if you hold them after take the time to get to know the student rather than reprimanding them. More often than not, the student just wants the attention. If you ask them about their life outside of your class, they will understand that you are taking a vested interest in them so they will return that gesture and take a vested interest in you.

Have fun. If your energy level is high, the students' will be as well. Reversely, if your levels are low, theirs will be too.


During our fire drill today, I went up and down the line with my 5th period choir class and found out something about every single one of my students. One boy in that class is unique because he doesn't speak a word in English. In class, we've been working on a song in Zulu (from South Africa) which puts everyone on the same playing field because none of them speak that language anyway. Along with the Zulu, we will translate it into English and Spanish. Yesterday I sang the song for them in Spanish and they were VERY impressed.

At that school, the last minute of class I give my students two questions that they can ask me about anything in the world as long as it is school appropriate. Instead of a question, one of the students yesterday commented that my spanish was very good "for being a white person." I just laughed at that and joked around with them for a minute.

With the student that doesn't speak English, during the fire drill today when I got down the line to him, I started asking him questions in Spanish. At first, he looked at me in shock and then had a big smile on his face as he answered me.

Life is going great and I'm already over halfway through my first week. I can't wait to see what else this year is going to be bringing!!

Day One

Today was my first day of work so, being the planner I am, I got everything together last night. I laid out my clothes, made my lunch, and made sure to set my alarm for 6:30am so I could leave by 7:30am and not be too rushed. When I rolled over this morning at 7:27am, I realized the one thing I didn't check was whether or not my clock was set to the correct am or pm setting.

I sprang out of bed, dressed, grabbed my lunch, and headed out the door without showering. I couldn't believe the stress I had set upon myself already on day one, and called my mom in a panicked mess. Luckily, she answered and I was able to calm down before walking into the room (three minutes early!).

The training today was from 8:00-4:30 and covered classroom management. I met a girl named Bethany from Michigan and we went to lunch together (hooray Chipotle!) and bonded over choir teaching and moving to Colorado.

After the whole day today, I don't feel as scared about what is happening two weeks from now, and I think everything is going to be ok. After school, after showering, I hooked up my internet and the tivo and made dinner for Tom and I when he stopped by after teaching lessons today. Now it's time to get ready for bed and gear up for day two. Tomorrow I get keys to my schools and the adventure continues!

The Power of Senses

There are five different ways people are able to learn and understand, based on the power of their senses. The most common is visual, followed by (in order) auditory, kinesthetic, gustatory, and olfactory. As a teacher, I need to be able to recognize the differences of each of these types of people in my students, but as humans in general I think it’s just as important.

Think about something as simple as trying to let someone know you love him or her. Saying those three words aloud is a great way to get it across if it is an auditory learner you are working with, but how would that work for the other four types? Barry and I were discussing this idea in my exit-interview-philosophy-talk as well, brainstorming ways to convey this one concept through the different types.

Visual: Show your love and affections through flowers or other gifts that are personal and show the thought and care put into them.
Auditory: Those three words. Simple enough, one would think.
Kinesthetic: These people need to be held, hugged, and kissed so they can understand the sentiments through physical touch.
Gustatory: This goes along with the statement that, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Barry was talking about how growing up, his mom always made fried chicken and he relates that with love. He told me that whenever someone makes fried chicken now, that connection is made and he feels similar sentiments.
Olfactory: Understanding the feelings through your sense of smell. You might recognize the scent of someone’s skin or perfume and relate that.

These are five completely different ways of conveying one sentiment. Think about how many ideas or concepts an individual tries to get across during a day, not to mention an hour, minute, or even second!

As an educator, my job is going to be similar to a gardener. I will till the soil until the seeds grow, but understand the intricate details to gardening. I won’t be able to plant all the seeds at once, because not all seeds take the same amount of time to grow and I can’t overcrowd the garden because then nothing will grow. After the seeds are planted, even if I can’t see progress, I will continue to care for and water the garden because eventually, the sprouts will start popping out of the ground. I will get dirty as I throw fertilizer out and do whatever I can to help my garden grow, but at the same time, I will understand that seasons are real and not everything grows at once. Understanding the differences will be the best assistance for me throughout the cultivation.

I start school tomorrow, and I think I am ready to take on this new adventure in my life. Every feeling you can imagine has consumed me, but in the end I need to just remember this is for the kids, not for me. I’m sure this school year is going to be successful and exciting, but for now I will be taking it just one day at a time.

Pheromones

Have you ever wondered about why ants usually march in a single-file line? When an ant walks somewhere, if you look closely you can see their tail ends continually touching down to the ground in periodic, structured motions. As they do this, they emit a pheromone, which causes a chemical reaction within the colony. The chemical that they lay down sends of a different signal, similar to a prairie dog bark, signifying danger, food, pleasure, etc. One ant travels off into the great unknown, laying down those pheromones and before you know it the rest of the colony is following along because they know what the signal means. It’s almost like a default—they follow without knowing what’s out there, but also without questioning what is or even searching for their own territory. They blindly trust a chemical to dictate where they will be traveling.

Think about the whole canvas of earth ants have to travel on. It seems large to humans, but imagine being their size and how much more immense it is for them! Maybe that’s how it is with us—we are walking around on a huge canvas, but there’s something or someone (depending on what you think) even bigger that watches us from a different vantage point. I think a big difference between ants and us however is that we don’t follow each other by default though I do think humans have many other defaults, particularly emotional defaults.

It seems as though we program ourselves to react to certain situations in specific ways. When we receive a bouquet of flowers, we’re happy. When we burn our tongue on a hot drink, we’re upset. When we get cut off in traffic, we’re infuriated. Barry and I were talking about this during my exit interview (which was much more of a philosophy discussion, which is often the case whenever the two of us get together to talk), and he started talking about how he cut someone off on the way to work that morning. The other driver surprised him by smiling and waving rather than honking the horn or giving the finger that is the predictable response.

That got us thinking about what Barry calls the “CYE” or “Choose Your Emotion” theory. Imagine a giant layer of buttons above you with different emotions labeled on them. Rather than acting blindly like the ant following a chemical trail, when something happens to you, you can take the time and look up, choose your reaction, and hit the button.

I related the default emotions to a default font on a word document. Just because the documents are set up with Times New Roman, size 12 fonts doesn’t mean they can’t be changed. Think about all the possibilities just within the font type, not to mention size, italics, bold, underline, etc. A default is simply a preselected option adopted when the user or programmer specifies no alternative. Luckily, we are given the choice to choose and use that alternative option. We just need to be able to take the time to look up and select, instead of reacting by default.