Running Away

I’m in that awful place where it feels like the to-do lists, the expectations, the ultimate desire to have a great year, is all just so overwhelming that I can’t focus on any one area. I’ve got that deer-the-headlights look; aura.

I’m really good at doing the little things: editing an old syllabus, making copies, making changes to the room setup, cleaning out my desk. But the big things? Like actually coming up with lessons plans for the first few weeks? I’ve got a big fat incomplete in that realm. When I try to get started, the task is just so daunting that I do other things, or nothing things, to stay away from such intimidating territory.

I have 5 preps. (not including Glee and A Capella…) I have 30 kids in Advanced Choir for the first time (whoo!) but they’re at varying levels of dedication, experience, and natural ability. Some of them were in Advanced last year and excelled in the competition, and some of them were in only one semester of Beginning Choir, or even only an after school group. You see, I wanted to bulk up my #1 performance group, and I still think that was a good idea, but it’s a lot to juggle.

I have boys choir for the first time. I am so pleased to have 16 boys signed up… but now how will I keep them? The first two weeks have to be amazing. I have an “intermediate choir” of all beginners, but they’re older beginners so I wanted to keep them together – and have the framework of beginning, intermediate, boys and advanced finally set.

I still have Music Appreciation to keep interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I love Music Appreciation. But it adds a lot to even have to wear that one slightly different hat.

I have six students in beginning choir, thanks to required PE in 6th grade, required Science elective for Honors kids, and everyday (90 minute!) English and Math for many of the incoming 6th graders. I expected to have less students, but only 6?! I really don’t see how that was possible, with everything I did last year to recruit. It is very discouraging.

So right now I’m hoping that if I just go to sleep, I’ll feel more inclined to plan tomorrow… which means saving printing documents and final decorating for the weekend.

The pressure is on, and morale is down.

Classroom Expectations, Guidelines for Success, Ready to Learn

No matter what you call it, for any teacher, these lists outline the behavior we want our students to exhibit in our class. College Ellie would have said, “They’ll just learn these behaviors through redirection, consequences, and praise when behaving appropriately.” Year 1-2 Ellie would have said, “We need to have the expectations posted so they can be easily referred to, and so the students have all of the information in front of them and can’t say, ‘But that’s not fair!!”

Year 3 Ellie is stuck somewhere in the middle.

These were my Classroom Expectations last year.

1. Keep your eyes on the director.
2. Stay in your seat, unless you have permission to walk around the room.
3. Raise your hand when you need help or permission.
4. Follow directions the first time they are given.
5. Absolutely no gum, food/drink or cell phone use in this classroom.

Right now it just sounds like a whole lot of obvious, or things they could just learn from my consistent reinforcement, praise, consequences, etc.

These were my Guidelines for Success (I’m still a little confused as to why I was advised to have both of these…)

1. Be on time with all materials, ready to learn.
2. Respect yourself, your classmates, and Ms. Parks.
3. Participate fully.

I like that these are all-encompassing, but they’re not too specific. We still would have to go through and define what the materials are, what respect looks like, and how one participates fully.

Yesterday, we had a workshop on what it means to be Ready to Learn. This is what our Fine Arts Department came up with.

1. Be on time
2. Bring all materials
3. Participate

So, it’s very similar to the Guidelines for Success. I certainly like the title better – the outcome, the motivation, is more specific. The actual list is still very broad though, and each item would need defining (which is totally fine.)

This is my favorite list. Choir Kids…

1. Listen
2. Sing
3. Are a Team
4. Share
5. Play

So, which list is the magical recipe for my classroom’s success?!?

Okay – somehow, I think it might have just come to me!

We are Ready to Learn When We…

• are on time.
• have all of our materials.
• participate fully.

This list is taught by walking through procedures, and informal quizzing during the first few weeks of school.

Choir Kids…

1. Listen
2. Sing
3. Are a Team
4. Share
5. Play

This can be taught through initial defining as a group, team building activities, and references throughout the year. The most beautiful thing about this list, is that it can be used as our assessment guide for how class went, and even how performances went! I’m excited! These will be my only two “rules-oriented” posters in the classroom!

Unless any of you would advise otherwise…?

Whatever Wednesday

Please view this New York Times article: The High Cost of Low Teacher’s Salaries

How bad will things have to get in order for real reform to take place? Teachers are over-worked, underpaid, incredibly under-appreciated, and many times, unhappy. Young teachers enter the field hopeful the rewards from their students will be enough, only to find out we’re always running on empty, and there simply isn’t enough time or resources to meet our students’ needs.

I remember being told in college that I would work really long hours and the pay would always be too low. We were warned that we should really love teaching, because only our passion for it would make it worthwhile.

The rewards are huge, but this isn’t a volunteer work. Teaching is a career, not service in the peace corps or the military. We deserve more money than just enough to make ends meet. I literally input everything I spend every month into a spreadsheet just to make sure I break even – even though I’m always trying to save what I can. Only a credit card could make this NYC/Montreal trip possible.

Imagine a novice teacher, thrown into an urban school, told to teach five classes a day, with up to 40 students each. At the year’s end, if test scores haven’t risen enough, he or she is called a bad teacher. For college graduates who have other options, this kind of pressure, for such low pay, doesn’t make much sense. So every year 20 percent of teachers in urban districts quit. Nationwide, 46 percent of teachers quit before their fifth year. The turnover costs the United States $7.34 billion yearly. The effect within schools — especially those in urban communities where turnover is highest — is devastating.

If we care about our children’s future, our country’s future, we have to invest more in the education system as a whole, not just raise our expectations. And that means, among so many other things, providing teachers with appropriate training, and an attractive salary.

The article cites Finland, Singapore, and South Korea as model examples in quality education. As a music educator, I know of another great example. I spent 10 months studying the music education system in Hungary, which is reputed as being outstanding. However, the truth is, that is a fact of the past. The “Golden Age” for music education was in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, when Hungary was a socialist country. The key element to the success, was that Zoltan Kodaly and his colleagues, the ones developing the methodology and writing the curriculum/textbooks, were selecting the most talented musicians at the most prestigious university, and recruiting them into the teacher training program. However, I can’t say the pay was much of an incentive, due to the fact that it was a socialist country at the time.

So, they took the best and brightest and equipped them with the best training, and consequently, Hungary became known world-wide as the leading country in music education. As many as 70% of Hungarian citizens were at one time musically literate. Today, hundreds of other countries have adapted the “Kodaly Method” (which should really be called the Hungarian Method, but that’s another topic for another day…) to fit their own cultural background and needs.

So what went wrong? Among other things, in the 90s when Hungary went through their “system change,” and became a democracy again, competition ensued: between schools, professions, businesses, everything. Competition is fine, but since teaching stayed low-paying, while other professions became higher-paying, the teaching profession lost it’s appeal, and consequently, became less attractive for the best and the brightest university graduates.

There are still people who will keep teaching and doing their best under the worst conditions, with less than adequate training and pay. But this is simply not fair, and it does everyone working in education, and all of the students who receive the education, a huge disservice.

It’s way past time for a change, but how will we find our way out?

Time Progress

Just an update on how I’ve decided (thanks to several teacher friends and followers of this blog) to minimize my time at school.

• I will keep all three after-school groups, but I will see them on alternating Wednesdays. This means that one week I will have the two-hour long Glee rehearsal, and the next week I will have 6th grade choir and A Capella, each for an hour long. This means on a “normal” week, I will only have to stay late one day! Whoo!
• I decided to minimize my role with the musical as well. I will help the theatre teachers pick the cast, but then I will only stay for two one hour rehearsals each week, until the final weeks of preparation, when I’ll stay long enough to hear each act.

I feel really good about this. Of course it’s going to take more planning to ensure that the rehearsals are very efficient, but I definitely think it’s worth it.

Now, back to Montreal… 🙂

Whatever Sunday

VACATION!

I love traveling with my husband. The only thing that could possibly be better, is maybe traveling alone. But that’s only good if I’m really in the mood to be completely on my own.

We never over-plan. In fact, we usually start planning when we’ve already reached our destination. And our plans are never too fixed – we’re very flexible. Of course we always have a few “must-sees,” but beyond that, anything could happen.

The best is when we just build in time to just walk around a particular neighborhood or district. I feel like this is the best way to get to know a city – just by wandering somewhat aimlessly, taking everything in, noticing what I think is interesting, and not what some guidebook tells me is interesting. Of course there’s always a chance that this will turn for the worst, like when we ended up in The Tenderloin just after dusk in San Francisco…

Here are some of my favorite moments from our New York City trip:

View from The High Line

The High Line

View from Roosevelt Island

View from Roosevelt Island

New Museum of Contemporary Art

The Hungarian Pastry Shop

9/11 Memorial

Brooklyn Bridge

NYC was a bit of a whirlwind because we only had two full days in the city. Now, we’re in Montreal visiting friends and taking it easy. We’ll be here for a week, so we can definitely take our time exploring. But then, I have two nights before I go back to work. So, I’m enjoying this free time while I can!

New Ideas – Setting Goals (4)

I feel kind of selfish because all I’ve been working on for the last few days (or longer?) is figuring out my personal routine and goals for the school year. But, I think that putting in this time will really help me take care of myself and be more efficient during the school year. Let’s hope!

I did, however, set aside some goals for Advanced Choir. Advanced Choir is going to be interesting this year because I have about 10 returning 8th graders who are really experienced, and have been with me anywhere from 1-2 years, combined with some students who have only been with me for a semester. This is because I wanted to put all of the really dedicated students in one class together, so that we could really have a positive impact on our school community, and give really energizing performances. This is also setting the standard for the true size of a typical choir – about 30 students. I’ve never had that before – well, except for when I combined two beginning classes and an after school choir for concerts. 🙂

So, here are my goals (so far) for Advanced Choir for the first six weeks:

• Build community: Big Sis/Little Sis Activities, and/or 1st year/2nd year Activities
• Improve new girls’ sight-reading abilities and solfeging fluency: working on these skills with the “new” students while the “experienced” students do music theory work. (Something that will be new for them!)
• Successful school performance(s): performing at Pep Rallies, PTA meeting(s), and Homecoming
• Successful field trip(s): All-day retreat with HS Choirs (whoo!), and group trip to the Homecoming game
• Improve ability to sing as a group, confidently: We will learn so many fun, musical songs during the first six weeks and grow very comfortable making music together.

Now for my new scheduling idea:

I think I’ve found a way to make all of my routine rehearsals land on one day! (Thanks, Melanie!) Right now I’m feeling pretty good about alternating the 2-hour Glee Rehearsals with the 1-hour 6th Grade Rehearsal followed by the 1-hour A Capella rehearsal. This means my only 10-hour day would be Wednesdays. (When there isn’t a special event, of course.)

The downside? WAY less rehearsal time… but maybe less is more? What I mean is, theoretically, I will have more time to plan and more time to make the rehearsals super efficient. Something to think about. Also, the week following Glee Auditions, I would have a week of rehearsals everyday, to give everybody a jump start.

I am worried that the schedule could be confusing for the kids and their families. However, here are some ideas I have on how to eliminate the confusion:

• All rehearsals on the google calendar on our website, of course.
• A physical calendar WITH a list of important dates as well.
• A sign that I put up on the bulletin board each Monday. It’ll say “Glee Week” or “6th Grade/A Capella Week” respectively.

Thoughts? Thanks for reading!

Whatever Wednesday – Feeling Better – Setting Goals (3)

Today has definitely been emotional – but let’s start with the “whatever” part!

My husband, our roommates, and I had a blast last weekend! We hosted a get-together at our house – a “Night at the Oscars” themed Premier Party. Let me explain:

My husband is a videographer, and he recently made a music video. We decided to use this as an excuse to have a party, and get all of our friends to dress up. It was so fun. The musician wasn’t able to come, but everyone else involved in the process was there. It was an awesome way to celebrate finishing the project., and we had a great turnout! Living with roomies is the best. Last year, David and I were so isolated on our own. Here’s a picture of us all together.

The next day, we did something pretty ridiculous. I couldn’t even begin to explain how the game evolved, but we basically decided that it would be interesting to literally spend a day in each other’s shoes… so we all drew a name (from a shoe of course), and determined whose shoes we would wear the next day. The result was Shoeswho, and it was way more fun than it should have been. 🙂

In some ways it ended up being more meaningful than expected. For example, I had to wear the largest shoes, which meant that whenever I went out in public (and YES, I went out in public!) it was really obvious that I was wearing someone else’s shoes. Because of this, people gave me weird looks, and I felt really uncomfortable. It just so happens that I was wearing my husband’s shoes, and he’s from another country. I feel like I had a similar experience to how he feels most, if not all, of the time – just slightly out of place.

Also, David and I made this easy, healthy and delicious meal together. Another great one from Scrumptious Pumpkin!

Onward to Feeling Better…

I really am feeling better. Here are some changes I’ve made since earlier today:

• I will keep 6th Grade Choir and A Capella BUT I will have them both on Tuesdays. That means, Thursday afternoons are open to get work done after school and still leave by 4:00. Also, remember that A Capella is student-led, so perhaps I’ll even be able to leave right after rehearsal on Tuesdays.
• I will NOT have extra Glee rehearsals unless absolutely necessary. If I’m efficient, and I have the right dance help, one 2-hour rehearsal a week should be plenty.
• During really busy weeks, I’ve cancelled certain rehearsals, or moved one to another day, to make things easier for myself.
• I will help with the musical, but only until 4:00, and only on days that I don’t have my own after-school rehearsals. I will bring my stuff with me to rehearsal, and not return to my classroom afterward. This cuts that commitment down a lot.
• I have already built in personal days for October, December, April and May!

Thanks for staying patient with me as I work through all of this boring stuff. 🙂 I just know that if I’m not a happy person, I won’t be a happy, energetic, loving teacher – aka., the kind of teacher my students deserve.

Stuck – Setting Goals (2)

So, I’m literally fighting back tears here.

I don’t think there’s a way to do my job successfully and be balanced. And that really sucks. Because that means, that there is a really good chance I won’t be able to keep doing this for very long.

I’ve broken it all down, and the minimum number of hours I can work is 49 hours hours a week. MINIMUM.

I don’t see how I can let go of after-school 6th grade choir – 6th grade is so important for retention, and I’m losing a lot of them due to double blocked English and Math, year-long PE, and required honors courses. So, that means I have to stay an hour longer on Tuesdays.

I don’t see how I can let go of after-school Glee practice – it’s really growing in popularity, and is really good for recruitment purposes. So, that means I have to stay two hours longer on Wednesdays.

I don’t see how I can let go of after-school A Capella – it’s also really good for recruitment, plus the kids practically teach themselves. So, that means I have to stay one hour longer on Thursdays.

With a 7 AM start time, that amounts to 49 hours a week – WITHOUT factoring in:

• mandatory faculty meetings (at least once a month)
• mandatory choir director meetings (once a month)
• 5 choir concerts
• 7 field trips
• 6 days of district events/competitions
• 2 fundraiser events
• Approx 10 Community Building Events/School Performances
• Musical Rehearsals

Do I just care too much? I just don’t see how I can keep building a program if I don’t do these things. I don’t see the point in putting in half the effort if I get less than half of the results.

I feel fed-up and school hasn’t even started. I really can’t imagine what I can let go of, except for maybe the musical…

I welcome any and all advice.

Planning Plans – Setting Goals (1)

As I head into my last week before my husband and I go to NY and Montreal, (WHOOOO!) I think I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that the school year is not so far away. It’s time to start making some plans; setting some goals.

So these goals can probably be broken down into several categories:

• Personal Goals
• Family Goals
• Choral Progam Goals
• Advanced Choir Goals
• Intermediate Choir Goals
• Beginning Choir Goals
• Music Appreciation Goals

I don’t think I have it in me to try to tackle all of these today, even though I love planning and am kind of obsessed with goal setting. So, we’ll see how far I get.

Personal Goal(s)

As you all know – balance. What does that mean? What does that look like? I have to be so careful with this, because my “ideal” is probably just simply not attainable.

I think the most important change that will lead me to a more balanced life, is making time to do things for myself. On a small scale, it will happen daily, and on the larger, weekly. And on the largest, maybe I could do something more elaborate every other month or so.

So here are some examples of things I can do for myself on a daily basis (not ALL of course, just 1-2 per day):

• Eat something yummy and healthy
• Bike to/from work
• Do yoga in the morning or evening
• Meditate
• Take my dog on an extra long walk
• Watch a movie or a show with my husband
• Cook with my husband
• Blog

How am I going to make this happen? Well, the biggest change will be to actually be organized. I love to plan, and I love to come up with blueprints for organization, but I certainly have trouble following through with them. You see, what usually happens with me, is that I get so wrapped up in everything that I have to get done, that’s it’s really hard to zero in on the little things. I just get so overwhelmed by the big picture. Workflowy is a huge help for this, if any of you often find yourself in a similar predicament. I will make sure to make better use of this tool this year.

So in order to make sure that I stay organized, I am going to take time every Sunday to really think about and organize my week. This is when I can think about designated “me” time. Of course things happen, so I will also take time at the end of working hours each day (hopefully just ten minutes or less) to evaluate my plan, and make necessary changes. I did something great for the first few weeks of last semester: I wrote out my to-do list for the next day before leaving work each day. That way, it was like I was literally leaving my stresses on my desk. I will do this this school year.

I think these changes will help lead me to more “me” time on a daily and weekly basis, which will help me have a more balanced work/home lifestyle. What do you think? What tools work for you?

Concept of time… where did you go?

June was a blissful month of planned relaxation, catching up with friends, days in the sunshine, reading, laughing, letting go.

July has been lovely, but honestly, it’s started to turn pretty hazy (and lazy for that matter). Not only do I frequently wonder what day of the week it is, but even what time of day it is.

For some of you, this may not seem like a big deal. But I LOVE time. I’m kind of obsessed with it. This post by one of my favorite bloggers totally reminds me of the usual me: Bracketing My Time. Usually I’m bracketing my time about everything from chores, to errands, when I was in college, I bracketed my whole day from start to finish. You should see my lesson plans – I break everything down to five minute blocks for each class. (Don’t worry, I am not afraid to veer from my plan!)

So, maybe  now you can see how this is really, truly out of the norm for me. I’ve been telling myself since July 16, “Okay, you leave for Montreal in three weeks, and when you come back, you have two nights before Professional Development starts. Now is the time to start getting back into the ‘school’ mindset, and get some good planning in.” Unfortunately, I’ve spent only about a total of four hours doing anything close to that, and it was just planning out my school calendar. Although that is VERY important, this is also the kind of planning I love the most. (You know, being that I’m obsessed with time and all.)

I guess what I’m trying to say is, should I be freaking out here?

I’m not (yet), but I’m also saying to myself, Well now it’s already the weekend, maybe I should just wait until Monday…?