This is sad to me

"I think the following social experiment (by The Washington Post) will surprise many. Tell me what will happen if you add this up:

One of the world's best violinists

+ 

An beautiful and difficult piece of music 

+ 

a $3.5 million violin 

+ 

a free performance in a train station.

What do you think would happen if he played for 43 minutes with his violin case open for donations?

• If you answered he would make money, you are somewhat correct. He made $32.17 ($20 from the one woman who recognized him).   But, his concert three days before the experiment sold out Boston's Symphony Hall where the cheap seats were $100.
• If you answered people would stop and listen, you are somewhat correct. Out of over 1,000 people that passed, only 7 stopped for a short time. There was never even a small crowd that formed.    But 2 weeks later his concert was standing-room only in a nearby city."     

(Written by Marcel at Aggie Catholics)


Read more about the violinist, Joshua Bell, & this social experiment: Here


What do you think about this experiment and the (in my opinion) disheartening results?

1st year teacher no more!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I am not a first year teacher anymore. School is out and I am now a second year teacher!!! Yes!!!!!


This has been an extremely difficult year for me both personally and professionally. I LOVE my job, and I LOVE my students, but I am definitely in need of a break. This year has been full of ups and downs, busy-ness, stress, illness, fun, loneliness, tears, and smiles. In fact, I'm sick again! (ahhh!!) however a few months of rest should get me back to normal.



I think one of the biggest things this year is that Your job does NOT equal your life. This was a hard one for me. Like I said before, i really love my students, and I want to give them the best of me. I want them to know above all else that they are loved and cherished, and I want them to have a quality experience of music that leaves them hungry to learn more. That being said, you have to let yourself "go home" at the end of the day and leave the kids behind. So many days I spend at home, even when relaxing or watching tv, but was consumed with thoughts of my students. I think this is what led to so much of my health stuff! I never gave myself a break, even when i thought i was.



Much of this last semester ( and the reason I stopped updating the blog --too many thoughts and not enough time) for me was spend directing a musical, "The Secret Garden." This was by far the most challenging thing I have ever had to do. There were many 12 hour days, and LOTS of paperwork (anyone who knows me knows that i do NOT do well with paperwork). Luckily, I had some help and it all turned out well in the end. I am so proud of my little actors! They had fun and did a fantastic job!

My 5th graders also recorded a blues cd. If I can figure out how, I'll post some of their work.

It was very hard for me this year to say goodbye to our 8th grade class. I think it terms of my teaching career, this will always be one of my most special classes. To me, they were as close to a "homeroom" class as I will ever get. We got on each other's nerves, and they were loud and obnoxious sometimes, but by the end, it just worked. They are good kids, and I'll miss them!


I'm already thinking about next year. To be honest, sticking to the curriculum I designed this year was pretty much not a priority. I am positive that my students learned much more about music than they have in the past, but it definitely didn't go the way that I planned. Sequence just didn't really happen.... Kids really need SO MUCH prior experience and knowledge before they can start notation! I'm looking forward to going back, through my curriculum ideas and mapping it out differently so that it is sequenced well.

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy summer!!

School is out!

I am no longer a first year teacher! However, I plan to continue blogging here for sure.  The others? I don't know. I hope so too. ;)

And so... summer has arrived.  Now begins the best part of being a teacher. haha!  Summer vacation is a time to reflect, relax, finally see family and friends, and, of course, prepare to do this teaching thing all over again in 2 months!

I am looking forward to having the time to sit down and thoroughly prepare for next year.  But the question that haunts me whenever I think about this is "where do I begin?"  There is so much I'm going to need to get ready now that I will be teaching two new classes and three times as many kids in 5/6 band.  I have to prepare to teach some 120 5/6th grade band students, 20-30 jr. high choir students, and 50-60 high school choir students.  Oh yeah, and I have to pick and plan a musical.  *gulp*   (I'm really looking forward to all of this though - seriously!)

I think I'm going to start preparing for next year by reading through "First Days of School" by Harry Wong again (and then making a TON of lists.)  It covers so much and will help me focus in on what needs to be done right away.  Also, I think it will be a good way for me to reflect on how I did this past year in terms of discipline, classroom management, organization, motivation/inspiration, etc.

All in all though... it was a very fun and successful first year.  I hope I had a good impact on my students.  This year had its difficult moments for sure, but I feel very blessed to have experienced my first year in such a wonderful district and with such wonderful students and colleagues. (I'm talking about YOU, first year teachers!)

Congratulations on finishing up your first year of teaching!!

Something to consider

Something to consider. I like how he calls music a foreign language and said "the kids just interpreted it for you."

End of the year & hardest things

Well, I think it's pretty evident from our lack of blog posts that the end of the year is BUSY for music teachers.  Final spring concerts, musicals, grades, turning in registration forms for fall events, planning next year's calendar, preparing for or actually doing beginning band recruitment, organizing rosters and lesson schedules for the summer and fall, picking music for marching band, cleaning out your room/desk, and all of the little administrative things all teachers have to do at the end of the year etc...the list goes on!   And it gets hectic!

It's all fun though, in my opinion, because the things you have to do to prepare for next year, well, that's exciting because you're thinking about your new year - your second year of teaching!  It sounds promising!    And the things you're doing to wrap up this year....while it's hectic, it's all coming to a close and it becomes quite a relief when you look at the calendar and you see that you have some free time during school because private lessons have ended for the year.  Or when you see "band party" on the calendar.  That doesn't sound too stressful!

For me, our district-wide concert is over and I only have one individual school concert left (tomorrow) and then I'm done.  4 regular days left of school and 7 "work" days (including our annual 6th grade band trip).  I love how things wrap up around here.  Summer is just around the corner!

I wanted to write about one more thing while it's on my mind.  I think that one of the hardest things I've dealt with this year is recruitment.  Numbers.  I think there is a lot of pressure for a first year teacher to have at least the same number of kids in band or choir as the year before, if not more!  It's almost a way to judge your success.  If you have less students in band than they did last year, then you failed somehow.  At least, it's easy to fall into that mindset.  While I know that is not necessarily true - numbers fluctuate every year - it is the hardest thing to deal with when you have kids coming up to you saying "I don't think I'm gonna do _____(band/choir/anything) anymore." 

I haven't had too many come up to me during the year, but today I just had a BUNCH of 6th graders that are moving into jr. high tell me that they changed their minds and are not going to be in jr. high chorus anymore next year.  It was a big hit; they are some of my best musicians and I had counted on them to be there next year for my first year of teaching jr. high chorus.  And so I had a really hard time figuring out how to react to them when they kept coming up to tell me they changed their minds about chorus. 

(Side note: the main reason they changed their minds, I think, is because yesterday they were allowed to sign up for classes and saw all of the other electives.  With this being their first opportunity to choose classes, they were excited and wanted to choose as many different and new ones as possible.  I understand why they would want to!  But still, it's hard to hear that they didn't want to be in my class.)

You know, it's just very hard not to take it personally.  Also, professionally, how are you supposed to have an excellent ensemble when you only have like 10 kids?  Numbers don't necessarily guarantee musical greatness, but they do help a lot, I think.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on losing kids in your program.  I have no advice on how to deal with it other than to realize it's probably not a personal thing - kids have all sorts of silly or sometimes good reasons for not joining band or chorus.  I wish I could say I've won the battle, but it's only beginning for me.  I have to figure out how I am going to turn my future high school chorus with 52 girls and 4 boys into something more balanced.  Recruitment suggestions welcome!

Happy end of the year, everyone. :)

Articulation Ideas

Sorry it's been such a while since we've had an update, folks!  I wanted to share some ideas I have been trying out with my 5th graders to help them understand various types of articulation.

I got the idea from a teacher's inservice we just had a few weeks ago.  A speaker was presenting on student motivation and on increasing teacher effectiveness.  Well, I always go into those inservices aware that most of it might not apply to teaching music, but I try to take everything they say and see if it can relate to teaching band.  Fortunately, this time, it actually worked!

The speaker would say words relating to his presentation and use motions to go along with those words. Then he had us repeat the words and motions back to him to help us remember and understand the words. I thought this might work great for teaching music vocabulary.

So one day I decided to try it with articulations with my 5th grade bands.  We started off with just a few basic ones at first: accent, slur, and staccato.   For accent, I said "ACCENT" (with an emphasis) and used a punching motion to get them to realize it gets more "umph," more emphasis.  They say it and repeat it back to me.   Then I said "staccato!" very short and made a quick flipping of the wrist motion (as I would in conducting staccato).  Then they said it and repeated the motion back as well.  For slur, I simply said "slluuuuuur" and made a rainbow type motion to demonstrate what a slur looks like in the music and to demonstrate how smooth and connected a slur makes the music sound.    Then they repeated it back.  After I would name and motion each articulation, I would tell them the definition as well.  "Staccato!  Short and detached."    "ACCENT!  With EMPHASIS!"    "Slurrrrr.  Tongue only the first note and not the rest.  Smooth."

After a week or so, we ran into some new articulations in one of our concert songs, "Imperium" by Michael Sweeney (great piece for beginning band).   We ran into tenuto and marcato.  I simply went with my own instinct and decide to show tenuto by putting my hands close together and then moving them outward and away from each other as if lengthening something.  This hopefully gives them the impression of filling up or lengthening something a little bit to get them to realize tenuto means giving the note full value.  For marcato, I simply made the gesture of what it looks like on paper.  An upside down peace sign.  (They really like this one).   We give the "upside down peace sign" or marcato gesture very quickly and with emphasis so they realize it's another type of accent.

They LOVED it!  They really like to respond and repeat what I say and do. After a number of days of repeating the name and gesture, I would just do the motion and ask them "what's this?" and they would immediately respond with the correct word and sometimes the definition, too.

(I should also add, however, that I model for them the SOUND of the articulation as well when I am first introducing a new type of articulation.  This is an important part of teaching them how to play it.  It's not all about recognition of the articulation symbol or the definition - they need to be able to hear how it should sound and do it on their own instruments as well.)

Here are some great benefits of teaching articulation this way:

• Kinesthetic learners can benefit from the gestures and hands on activity.
• Students are saying the articulation aloud so they learn how to speak in Italian musical terms
• The gestures relate to my conducting gestures so when I am conducting a song and they watch me make a certain "articulation gesture," they instantly recognize which one it is and hopefully respond correctly on their instruments with that articulation.
• Saying & repeating the gestures and names is easy enough that every kid can feel successful in the activity.
• It takes only seconds to teach an articulation without a long definition.  It takes only seconds to reinforce each day.
• The kids think it's fun!
• Some of the gestures model what the symbol looks like on paper too (slur, marcato, tenuto) so maybe they can recognize the meaning of the symbol on paper more quickly.

I have seen a lot of success in this so far.  I will be interested to see if they have become aware enough of all of the articulation symbols and their meanings to start applying them without my reminders.  But even if they're not quite aware of it all yet or able to do it without me- it is so easy to reinforce an articulation by stopping the band and silently making the gesture.  They get it and they play it that way and we move on.   

Let me know if you've found any success with this method or with your own ways of teaching articulation!

I get paid to this! and other musings

I almost am NOT a first year teacher. This is really exciting. Previously I've talked about how I felt like school days in general and teaching in particular were starting to slow down, and it really has all gotten better. Yes, the challenges are still enormous and usually come from out of the blue, but I really love what I do. As usual I'm going to tackle some of these different challenges and the attempted solutions in a near-Faulknerian stream of consciousness scattergun style.

Ok, so some kids just aren't into band. I understand that. I naively thought that I would be enthusiastic and excited and good enough that I would never have a problem with kids quitting. Wrong! So stinkin' wrong. You'll recall that I had a few stubborn 8th graders quit in the beginning of the year because my too eager, too tough, too soon grading policies and their complete reluctance and/or laziness to put forth any sort of effort.

That's all over, and we've moved into a new, more insidious version of quitting. I had the coolest 5th grader in school quit trombone back in November. He was the first kid to stick with it for a while and then decide it wasn't for him, and I felt like someone broke up with me. It's really hard not to take it personally! Just today I had a 5th grader who switched from trumpet to baritone (he couldn't play a stinkin' D on trumpet, so we moved him down and he did a lot better) quit after ditching the concert. I called home to check and see what happened at the concert, and after his parents talked with him, they returned his instrument the next morning. He and his mom said that he likes band and likes me, but that he just didn't want to do it anymore.

I would pay big bucks to get inside those 5th grade minds to see exactly what they are thinking. Are they bored? Terrified of performance? Lazy? It feels just plum impossible to actually get out a genuine, sincere answer from a 5th-8th grader, though. The baritone player just said "I don't want to do it anymore." The cool kid trombone player told me "I don't really like it." What's the real reason? Can I ever found that out so I can preemptively address those issues so that those students can enjoy and flourish in band? Do you have any experiences with this, or any success stories?

Probably the one that was most out of the blue happened just a few days ago. I have a 7th grader trumpet player who plays sports, has filled out his practice report every week, and although he dropped a few chairs at our last playing test, won an audition to play a solo in a number at our last concert. Yesterday he told me that he wasn't going to be in band next year. When I asked about why, he said he just didn't like it, and never really liked it. He's all but gone.

I know that this is all part of the game, but I want to have effective answers for these problems. I know that some kids can be bored if they aren't 100% engaged 100% of the time, so I make a point to have kids doing SOMETHING at all times, even if it's listening for mistakes in other students. I'm also usually off the wall energetic and often a little goofy at times to keep their attention and have an enjoyable atmosphere. I also try to find the balance between tough love, high expectations and a little bit of fun-time silliness.

Part of the reason that quitting is so anxiety-written right now is that I am picking up a program that is teetering near the edge of rock bottom. Every kid counts, even if they can't play. It counts for my administration's perception of the health of the program. It also count's for the student's perception of band. When kids quit, other kids talk about it, and I fear it just might get them thinking that "hey this is something I can just quit when I don't feel like working anymore." How do you reverse that mindset to get to the point where kids are clamoring to get into band? Where quitting is atypical? Can I build that with time? Am I laying the proper foundation to get to that point?

So that was a little dark. There are lots of awesome points too, and despite anxiety about some kids quitting, things are really on the up and up. We just had a concert where all groups performed quite well. The Jazz Band is playing several gigs in the upcoming months, and the band in general is sounding.......decent!

I got a very public shoutout from my principal today at a staff meeting as she read a gushing letter from an anonymous band parent's e-mail. The parent was lauding the students' performance at the concert and commending me for my enthusiasm, hard work, etc. That was really uplifting and encouraging.

In the meantime, I am looking ahead towards finishing up the year strong, making sure my 5th grade clarinets are feeling confident over the break, helping 5th grade brass players get down the Eb scale, and in general laying down the groundwork for success next year.

Sorry that this post ambled about and sidetracked - any comments and feedback, especially about quitting and retention, would be appreciated. If you haven't had it yet, enjoy your spring break, and keep motoring on toward summer!

...And Down the Stretch They Come!

Wow. I'm sitting here at the beginning of the 4th quarter of my first year. Reflection is due. It'll come after our concert coming up on this Thursday, I promise! It's been way too long since I've updated.

"The Bartman" and Other Cornerstones of the Wind Band Repertoire

Now that I have settled into second semester and concert band season is in full swing, I feel like I am pushing just ever so slightly beyond survival mode as a first year teacher. After the initial shock, I am starting to figure out some changes and initiatives I want to pursue in my position. I have a new procedure for distributing music and handouts, I held a "Maintenance Monday" and "Equipment Check," and my fifth graders have started to work with their high school band buddies (that's a separate post entirely, I'm really excited about this!). The biggest project I have right now though is organizing the music library.

I worked in the band library in college, and I learned a ton. Unfortunately, I also gained an understanding of how music ought to be kept and organized. As such, I am cursed with a feeling of moral culpability for my current band library, which is a shambles. I am reminded of my zany library boss, LL, and what she might say if she saw my band room.

Imaginary LL: Emma, you can rebuild it! Better, stronger than before!

Emma: But it will take freakin' forever, and I have other stuff to do! Plus, nobody's gonna care except me. Can't the next guy just do it?

Imaginary LL: You can't leave it like this, the horror!!! Do the job, do the job!

Emma: Well, it would make it easier to select and purchase literature...

Imaginary LL: That's the spirit... ::LL cackle::

So it begins, the process of organizing my library. Of course, the first step is convincing myself that this is a worthy use of my time. Let me first explain the problems. There is no computerized inventory of the library, so I have no quick way of knowing what we have. All of the music for the high school, middle school, and beginning bands are all stored together alphabetically(ish), which is fine until you run out of space in the "A" drawer. My literature selection this year has consisted of me wading through file cabinets and praying that I come out with something remotely A. appropriate and B. halfway decent sounding. I remember being elated when I discovered the cache of Christmas music the day after marching band season ended (otherwise I would've been hosed). This is a problem.

So, I devised a catalogue. I set up a system of call numbers to be grouped separately: B=Beginning, JH=Junior High, H=High School, C=Christmas, and P=Patriotic. I decided to separate out these latter categories because the Veteran's Day Program and Christmas Program are big events in the community and I wanted those pieces together for easy browsing. I am using Excel (with a list/sort feature) for the catalogue. I know that there are a lot of fancy database programs out there, but the previous director had started putting some pieces on the computer, and I didn't want to totally start over. My spreadsheet has all the usual suspects, check out the sample here.

The sick thing is, I actually enjoy the orderliness and busywork of this project at times. It can get overwhelming, but it's funny too! It's like looking at old photo albums. I loving seeing what the bands used to play at my school as far back as the 60s and 70s. For example, I have unearthed over 20 Swearingen titles, no exaggeration. The range of music includes orchestral transcriptions, standard school band fare, Sousa marches, a variety of Curnow pieces, the theme from "Cheers," "Ebony and Ivory for Concert Band," and my personal favorite, "The Bartman." Yup, as in the Simpsons circa 1990. Arranged... for... band.

Has anyone else organized a library before? What pitfalls did you encounter? Most importantly, is it worth it?? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. And of course, for your listening pleasure... check out the video below!

Bart Simpson - Do The Bartman by ernsthemingway

The Future of Education...and it's only my first year.

Snow Day Number 2... I think I have some catching up to do to you southern Illinois folk. Even though there is barely snow on the ground, I think they canceled school because of the freezing rain? Even then I am not sure of the reason, regardless, I will use this time to do another post.

A lot has happened since my last post. For those of you that are not aware of what is happening in Wisconsin, I would like to first offer a bit of a summary before I offer my thoughts:

This year, Wisconsin has elected a Republican Governor, and the most recent election has created a massive Republican majority in the State Senate. This being said, a lot of the teachers in my district and state were fearful of what might happen once they heard the results of the election. Fast forward to Friday February 11th. The new Governor submits his plan for the Budget fix (Wisconsin is supposedly in a little debt) which he hopes to be voted on by the following Thursday. This document was 144 pages long, and given that length, was not allowed a sufficient amount of time for reviewal before voting. Within the budget fix bill, the Governor called for many cuts in spending including having teachers and state employees pay more into their retirement and health care funds. Furthermore, if this was not enough, the Governor wants to strip all state employees of their collective bargaining rights. (collective bargaining is what allows teachers and unions to "bargain" with their employers and allows teachers to have input on the education of their students. It deals with such things as work day hours, teacher pay, amount of sick days, amount of prep time, amount of personal days, amount of school days, etc).

Well as you could imagine, this did not sit well with many people. In essence, the Governor's Budget fix bill could lead to a busting of all Unions. There was immediate protest to the bill in Madison on the first day of 10,000 teachers and sate employees. On the second day, the number tripled. By the third day the Numbers tripled again, and the Senate Democrats, fearing they did not have enough time to review the bill and that the Governor was trying to Push this bill through without discussion or amendments, fled the state in hopes to postpone a vote.

On the fourth day of rallies in madison, the numbers were up to 130,000 people. Madison area schools have been closed (including today) for four days due to teacher's calling in sick in support of the rallies. Many more schools across the state closed for similar reasons. By last Friday, this was getting national attention.

And then this happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPuqW3BaZRc . The Wisconsin Assembly met Friday to discuss and vote on amendments to the bill that will then be brought in front of the Senate for final votes. The Assembly was scheduled to start at 5:00pm, but the Republican members decided to start early (with quorum) in an effort to vote on the bill without discussing two crucial amendments that the Democratic minority had on the table. They succeeded, just when the Democrats stormed into the room screaming in protest. (honestly something out of a movie).

So here is where we are at: The Assembly Democrats forced them to repeal the vote due to its immorality and going against the rules, and have adjourned until Tuesday when they will vote again on amendments to the budget fix bill, which will then be brought in front of the Senate.

ALL THE WHILE, I have been thrust in to the middle of this craziness. My fellow first year teachers are very frightened by this situation, especially when they see veteran teachers (who we thought could never be phased) shaken up by what might happen. Furthermore, we are all expected to put all of this aside and continue teaching.

No matter how good of a preparation we had, this is yet another thing that you can not train for during college. At the end of last week, I called one of my college professors for some advice, and, in his infinite wisdom, calmed me down with these words: "The only thing you can do in times like this is worry about what is most important; your students... There is nothing you can do to prevent what is about to happen, but what you can do is be the best teacher you can be."

I have a concert coming up Thursday, Solo and Ensemble in two weeks, and a music boosters fundraiser Tuesday. Seems like a lot to worry about on top of all of this political messiness, but if all that matters is my students, then that is all that matters. I trust my professor because he has never led me astray. I just hope that the future of education, and the future of my students is not in jeopardy with the storm that is about to sweep across this nation.

7 Quick Takes Friday!!

~1~

Don't Smile 'Til...Spring Break??

The jr high has been AWFUL this week for all their teacher. I guess we've all gotten a little slack...combine that with the fact that the 8th graders think they rule the world, and there were major problems this week. Why can't kids just get along with each other? The Middle School department has really decided to crack down on behavior (which is a really good thing!) and now we're all on the same page. (which is also good!) But, this week we've been forced to go back to a very strict management style for awhile. Once we whip these kids into shape and they can handle it I'm already looking forward to being able to relax a little bit.

~2~

The Secret Garden!

We started rehearsals for the spring musical this week! HOLY COW it's a lot of work. Putting on a show is so much more than just the rehearsals. I already knew that, but It's still extremely overwhelming! We've had two rehearsals - a read through and a music rehearsal where we went over 3 songs. I've got some REALLY hard workers in the cast! Our rehearsals have gone very well - one of the songs is almost memorized and ready to perform (i'm telling you, i've got some special kids!). All the other organizational stuff is leaving me with a perpetual headache though! The paperwork to send home! The costumes! The set! The lights! The Schedule!! Any readers ever put on a musical before? What do I need to know??

~3~

Good Teaching Moments

This week I played the song "The Background" by a rapper named Lacrae for my 5th-8th grade Listening Log. It's a deep song that uses the metaphor of being a background singer. For one of my questions, I asked the kids to uncover the metaphor and tell me what the song was actually about. NO ONE GOT IT. They are so used to listening on the surface level! Eventually, they all got it, but we spent waaay too much time on it because I didn't want to just give them the answer. It was neat to see the lightbulbs go off in their heads when they did. We had some good discussion. Later the kids came up to me and told me "I listened to that song all night last night!" or "A bunch of kids had that Listening Log song as their facebook status yesterday!" Those are the simple moments when I know I have them in the palm of my head. They are learning and they don't even know it!

~4~

A Good Quote

"Ms. (Mary)... you're so... YOU!"
Me: "And how exactly is that??"
"You're really deep and you try to get us to think deep, too!"

(in my head: well...duh! that's my job!)

*By the way, When I sat down to write this, I had a couple more quotes to put here, but my brain is full, and I forgot them.*

~5~

Being Mary

This weekend, I'm going to just be Mary, and I'm really excited! I got a gift card to target for my birthday, and I am going on a shopping spree. :) I'm also going to do grown-up things like clean out my car and laundry. (Exciting stuff, huh?) I'm also going to do something just for fun.. I don't know what yet. Maybe I will play the wii... or write a song.. or play a game. I don't know, but it's gonna be epic.

~6~

Tony Chestnut

I did a silly song with my Prek-2nd grade today (and my 6th grade is begging me to do it with them... I told them I didn't think they would like it, but they insist, so I'll let you know how it goes). The kids loved it! It's called Tony Chestnut, and it's an active song with names that are parts of the body for example, the name tony chestnut is Toe/Knee Chest/Head. It has a lot of fun actions and goes really fast. If you teach little ones, I highly recommend it!

~7~

Welcome To Choir!

I decided to do an all choral unit with my 6th-8th graders. They haven't really had any experience with singing in a choir, so I figured it was about time. We are doing a wide variety of songs from Glee to the Samba to Michael Jackson. Most of the kids are doing well, but there are some who want to make my life miserable because they don't like to sing. I need to find a way to motivate them! Getting middle school kids to sing is very difficult, but I'm trying to make it as fun as possible! I have found so far that I am not the best teacher when it comes to rehearsing. I think that's why I went away from band and towards general music.. I'm finding it really difficult to come up with interesting ways to learn the parts! I'll let you know how it goes.

Great New Resource

Leading Notes is a brand new music education online magazine that is organized and run by friend of the blog Nick Jaworski. There are many great contributors for the magazine's maiden voyage, so check it out!

Web Site Up and Running, Trip, Ensembles, etc

I have finally created my teacher website through the utility that our school has... I have no HTML or other web building skills whatsoever, so its pretty convenient for me. If you know who I am, go to my Facebook page and find it on there. Its very much still in progress but I would appreciate any feedback and ideas. I hope to make it a resource that students and parents eventually use a lot, for everything to downloading schedules and permission forms, to looking up repair tips, to discovering a great new artist or piece of music (idealistic, I know!)

Our band and orchestra are taking a big spring break trip to a warm location, and that has been a big organizational journey. I believe we are over the hump though, and I am really looking forward to it. I think it will be a great opportunity for bonding with the students. Hopefully, if all goes well (cross your fingers) it will also be a good sign to parents and administrators. They have done a trip like this every other year for many years, so I'm sure it will look good that the tradition is continuing without a hiccup (I hope!). But yeah, it has been a logistical saga that is not over yet...

IMEA and Midwest were a total blast. It was great to catch up with everyone, and of course heard some really great groups, information, new music, etc. It was especially insightful this time to have a program of my own to actually relate to. It made it a completely different experience. The conferences really inspired me, and they also made me feel very insecure! Watching the stellar groups perform, and comparing them to my own, really just made my head swim. The students on those stages all seemed completely dedicated to the entire process. What I deal with each day seems so different from what I saw at these performances. I was struck with all kinds of thoughts of what I could be doing better as a teacher. I know that many of those wonderful qualities are products of time, comfort, repetition, and consistency. I hope it comes eventually. I hope I do everything I can to further that along. This right here is a topic for an entirely different, lengthy post.

With that said, I am enjoying making music with my students most of the time. We are playing a good mix of music now in all the classes, and they seem to be enjoying most of it. Small ensemble contest is coming up, and I am having much more stringent requirements than they are used to having in the past. (I'm making everyone in the band classes participate in a small ensemble, something which hasn't been done before.) Some of the groups are really taking off and enjoying the process, others are really struggling. Having them playing in duets, trios and quartets really illuminates the strengths and weaknesses of each student. It is obvious that several of them have never been challenged like this before. So, although the process is sometimes frustrating, and I have to deal with some complaining and do more rote teaching then I'd like, I am still very glad to be putting them through it. I was worried that the small ensemble repertoire I had selected would turn out terribly; that it would be too hard, or they would hate it, etc. Honestly, I'd say about 80% of it has worked out great. I have only had to make a few adjustments. So that's exciting. I hope to see the benefits of the small ensemble experience pay off in band rehearsals down the line.

The other night at pep band we had some down time while we were waiting for the Varsity basketball game to start. While most of the students were just relaxing and talking, one of the trios in my freshman band immediately cracked out their ensemble piece and began working on it. That about made my weekend.

I recently submitted a proposal for rotating sectional classes, in which students would be pulled out of other classes each week to work in like-instrument sectionals. I would love that so much. I would probably give up my left arm for those. I also just finished a proposal for a $14,000 grant; for upgraded instrument storage (the lockable Wenger cabinets, we don't have any individually locking storage), and a few new instruments. So, wish me luck.

The Curse of the First Year Teacher

If there was one piece of advice about teaching that I shouldn't have ignored but did, it would sound something like this... (not that it would have helped...except for mentally)

"You're a first year teacher? Get ready to be sick. ALL THE TIME."


I am seemingly ALWAYS SICK. In theory, this is not that big of a problem. That's why teachers have sick days, right? WRONG. You see, I am stubborn. There are only two ways that I would consider myself too sick to go to school, and well, lets not get into those. The problem with this is that I can still feel terrible, but am just too stubborn to call in. It's too much work! Gotta make sure the sub plans are ready. Where's the class lists? Does the sub know where everything is? What about everything ELSE I have to do?

If you will notice the time stamp at the bottom of this post, it will read 10:45 PM or so. Exactly 45 minutes past when I am always asleep. Probably more like a hour and a half past when I am usually asleep. You see, after getting over the worst cold/form of the flu/mystery illness I have had in years, I am sick again. and I can't sleep. So between sips of 7up, I am writing to you all, hoping that my stomach settles enough that i can sleep. Not likely anytime soon.

What is the moral of this story, you ask? Good question. I am tired, I am cranky, and I want to get well. I guess you could say the moral is "Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize! However, I must say, I do a pretty good job of that and I'm still sick.

Okay, that's about all i've got. I hope you all are sleeping well!

moving forward with music

In case we forgot to mention, a colleague and friend of ours, Nick Jaworski, has a great blog he has put together for music educators. His blog, moving forward with music, focuses on creating a 21st century music classroom that can excite and interest students in a new way. He has lesson plans and more just waiting for you - so go check it out!

7 Quick Takes Friday!!

---1----

It's Friday Already?

These week we had (count 'em!) 4(!!!!!) snow days. FOUR. After a practically record setting snowfall, the city pretty much shut down. There were, of course, many positives to this situation, including some much much much needed free time and rest and having my mom snowed in with me. However, I got sick on Monday night and spent the entirety of my snow days in bed feeling miserable. Now that's it's friday, I'm starting to feel better.

---2---
Yeah Musical Theater!

My jr high kids just finished doing a month long unit on musical theater. They studied two different musical in class - we focused on the elements of musical theater, staging, lighting, acting, etc. To finish it off, we did a group project. It's one of my better ideas, if I do say so myself! I hope to post some video here soon. In groups of 4, each group was assigned a scene from a musical. They had to act out the scene and write a group paper (each person in the group was responsible for one page of the paper), then do a presentation on their report. The kids really got into it! Some groups went above and beyond in creating props and costumes! To top it off, next week we are going to watch the professional version of each scene.

---3----
Kids Cheat.

As I just mentioned, my kids just finished some awesome musical theater projects. However, a RIDICULOUS number of them straight-up copied from Wikipedia. Those kids should be happy that I've had 4 snow days to cool down. How crazy is that?? I can't believe they thought it would be okay to copy and paste.

---4----

Oh my Goodness, IMEA!

IMEA was amazing. I got a ton of great ideas, but also felt a little dispair in my heart. My school is so lacking in resources - especially with instruments! I have all these great ideas for lessons that I can't do yet! I went to two great sessions on world music - one was kinda of an overview, and the other went in depth into Indian music. I want so badly to have World Music be a MAJOR part of my curriculum! It's so interesting for the kids (and me) and helps them learn concepts in a meaningful, hands on way.

---5---
The Woes of Private Schools

This week I was all excited to set up an account on donorschoose.org. It's a fabulous website for teachers that allows you to post what you need funding for (INSTRUMENTS!!) and people can donate to your project. I was all settled in and ready to get set up when the sentence "donorschoose does not support private schools" popped up on my computer. I understand that many private schools get a lot of funding, but many don't! Many private schools receive even LESS funding that public schools. So now I'm back to square one. I applied for a grant through fender... and I guess I'll just have to keep searching...

---6---
Feeling the Blues

It's great to have good friends. I am doing a harmonica unit with 3rd grade and 5th grade. It's a GREAT unit. The kids are so so so excited (i hear harmonica playing coming from the hallways and classrooms after school!) I've tied it together with a short unit on the blues, and it's been going well. THe hardest thing has been teaching an instrument to a whole classroom of kids. I mean, in a band class, it's a little different. This is a general music classroom, and most of these kids have never had any experience with playing an instrument. It's hard to find a balance between letting them play the instrument and practice versus me talking and only letting one or two kids play at a time. I've shared this unit with fellow blogger Sara, and she had some really kind and inspiring words to say about how I was doing! She was able to pull a lot of meaning out of the way I was teaching the unit and show me that what I have been considering "free time" is ACTUALLY well structured independent learning. Thanks, Sara! I'm excited to go back and keep teaching those songs!


---7---

THE. SPRING. MUSICAL.

Never have three words filled my heart with such excitement and dread. This year we are doing "The Secret Garden." I'm pretty pumped, but at the same time, it's a LOT of work and a LOT of planning. I'm not so good at the organizational stuff, so hopefully I'll be able to find a right-hand-man to help me out. Auditions are next week, and soon after that we are going to be knee deep in rehearsals. I have never ever been in charge of a musical before. I have no idea how to schedule rehearsals so that everything will get done and learned. I'm terrified. I just have to trust in my knowledge of and my experience in musical theater and do my best. As long as I keep calm and rational, everything will be fine. It's really going to be a fun experience, and the kids are really excited.


Well, that's what's new with me! Thanks for reading!

Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Let me start by saying this is my first time posting on this blog, so I have no idea if this will work.

That being said, as my title suggests, I am a long time follower of this blog, but like I said, this is my first time blogging on it. Over the past couple of months, I have been trying to come up with something profound to talk about or share about my program, learning, or teaching so far, but nothing has struck my as significant enough to share. Despite this obstacle, I have been determined to share something for discussion. Thus, when I found out yesterday afternoon that we were going to have our first snow day of the year today, the first thing that went on my "to do" list was "BLOG ON DSTL".

I suppose, the most important piece of information to start with in this post is a little about myself as a first year teacher, and a little about my program. Currently, I am working at Riverview Middle School in Plymouth, Wisconsin, and I am just beginning my 6th month as a Music Educator/Band Director. I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th grade band and have 1 jazz band that meets before school. There are about 250 kids in my program and every grade has their own band class. In addition to the band class, I teach individual lessons to every 6th grader, as well as the brass students in 7th and 8th grade; there is another teacher that comes in to cover all of the other 7th and 8th grade woodwind students (without her, there is no way I could deal with all of the students by myself). All of my students feed into the High School in the district which has a very strong fine arts program. As I am his major source of students, there is a good amount of pressure from the High School to not only have the numbers he needs, but to also have the instrumentation he needs for his program.

This leads me to my first topic: Students Dropping Band. In the state of Wisconsin, students are only required to take 1 trimester of band/chorus during middle school. Therefore, at my middle school students are given two (three really) opportunities a year to drop band. The first opportunity comes at the beginning/end of the year when they sign up for classes; students can chose whether or not they want to take band the following year. The second (and third) opportunity comes at the end of each trimester, when they can drop the class if they "do not like it."

At the end of the first trimester this year, even though I was reassured that nothing was out of the ordinary and that students drop every year, it felt like there was a significant amount of students that dropped band at every grade. After this, I had a meeting with the principal to try and change the policy of the school in order to limit the number of students dropping. To my surprise she started the conversation by saying, I do not think that students should be allowed to drop after second trimester. She said, after first trimester, students are making a commitment to the program and should not be given any more opportunity to drop until the end of the year. This was great news, and I especially appreciate knowing that the principal is a big supporter of the music program and our efforts as educators.

But dropping band is the result of a much larger problem at hand. After 5 months of teaching, I strongly feel like I have a great relationship with all of my 6th graders (primarily because I am the only teacher they know), and my 8th graders (who I feel see me as a "cool guy"). It is my 7th graders that I am most concerned about. Everyday feels like a challenge when I begin class. It is a constant battle to engage them, and keep them excited about playing, rehearsing, and working at getting better. The first thing I have going against me is that 7th grade band meets during the first hour of the day. Lethargic is not a strong enough adjective to describe their level of energy. I do have to admit there are about 10 students that always come in ready to work, but that is only an eighth of the band.

The other thing I have going against me, and I think this is the major player here, is that I am not their previous band director. This is not to say that they had an amazing bond with the previous band director, but I feel they are at a stage in their life where they are making significant emotional attachments to teachers and friends. Therefore, my philosophy of hard work, dedication, and excellence are foreign to them. To put things in perspective though, the choir director (my mentor) has been there for about 4 years (she has been teaching for 30+ years) has seen the same emotions and actions in her choir students. Therefore, I feel a little better knowing that it is not all "me" that is causing this reaction in the students.

Still, I have been trying to deal with this motivation issue for months. It has even become something that I am using in my Professional Development Plan as a new teacher; in a nutshell How do you motivate students to work hard for you? Because we only meet every other day, I constantly stress the importance of working (or homeworking) outside of school by practicing and coming prepared for class. Even though it does feel at times this motivation falls on deaf ears, it does feel necessary to keep repeating.

One of the major things I have changed is the way I have been giving feedback. During the first half of this year, there was a lot of negative feedback on my part for two reasons 1) I hardly see the students so I felt I needed to point out all of the problems so they were aware of them, and 2) the students were not doing the work outside of class to progress and I felt I needed to remind them of this fact. My goal is to give them more positive feedback from now on and see where that takes me, but I fear that this will not be enough because even when I give positive feedback, they hardly receive it with excitement or appreciation.

All of this leads me to my big goal for the end of the year: Motivating the 7th graders to stick with band and to work hard. I have come up with some more ideas such as extrinsic motivation (the karate belt method), but my goal is that students will switch from being extrinsically motivated to work to intrinsically motivated. While I never want to give up on these students, it often times feels very difficult to motivate someone who does not care or want to be motivated.

Well, with all of that negative aside. There is far more positive aspects of this job such as technology in my classroom, an amazing batch of 6th graders, and a very supportive music community which I will share in my next post. I think an hour an a half of blogging is enough for now. Until then, I look forward to anyone sharing their creative ideas on inspiring students to work.

Seven Quick Takes

-1-

IMEA conference was a blast! It was so much fun to go as a real live educator this year. When I looked at music, I thought of my students. When I listened to the clinics, I thought of my students. And when I went to work today, I was excited to try some of the things I'd learned and do better for my students. The only hard thing about going to IMEA (as Emma mentioned too) is that it's hard to apply a lot of the things to my own program and classes right away. But it is better to attend the conference and get those ideas than not to attend and get stuck in a teaching rut (which is what I was already starting to feel a little bit this semester already).

-2-

Last week I had the greatest teaching moment I've ever had. I was teaching a guitar lesson after school to a 4th grade girl. She's quite mature for her age and she's very outgoing and talkative. Well, we got to learning some Em and Am chords and we started joking around, telling sad stories with the minor chords changing back and forth in the background. Then in the end, we finished the song with a lovely EMaj chord and a happy ending. She LOVED it! But that wasn't even the best part. We moved on after that, just practicing some other basic chords like G, C, and D, but she was still hung up on the basic song we made earlier with the minor chords. So as I continued to play the G, C, and D chords, she stopped playing with me and started singing a new song with the chords I was playing. And I added a line, then she added another line, then we went back and repeated the chorus....and before we knew it, we had an even better song written than the one before! She couldn't stop talking about how cool that was! She said "We should write a song every time we have a lesson!" She was IN AWE. She was EXCITED about MUSIC. She wanted to record it and burn a CD and sell it and perform at places! She walked out of the building saying "I had the best day ever! Thank you, Miss (Sara)!" It was like...straight out of a movie or something.

Not only was it fun to be writing a silly song with student, but I could see it "click" in her. She got it. She got what music was all about! It expressed her story, it expressed her emotions, it was FUN. It was so cool to see that happen.

-3-

Next week I'm going to try new lesson groups with the 5th and 6th graders. At this point in the year, I have a good idea of the abilities and talents of each student, and I can see that just grouping them by instrument for their lessons is holding some of the advanced players back. And then some of the struggling students aren't getting the attention they need. So I grouped each class into 3 different groups - Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner. I decided every "beginner" (even if they're in 6th grade) will get his/her own private lesson so we can really focus on their needs. The Intermediate groups are not going to be moving slowly but not super fast either. I tried to still group these "intermediate" kids by instrument, timbre or tessitura. And then the Advanced group will obviously be a quick-paced group. I'm excited to see how far those kids can really go when they're all put together for lessons.

-4-

I'm starting a harmonica/blues unit in 5th/6th grade music on Thursday (which also happens to be my 2nd evaluation day for the year). I'm a bit nervous about it because, honestly, I don't really know how to play harmonica very well yet, haha. But thanks to fellow-blogger Mary, I think this will be a fun unit for the kids. I ordered each student a harmonica from westmusic.com.

-5-

I've been thinking about attending the Conn-Selmer Institute this June. Anyone out there have any thoughts about this?

-6-

Today is snow (ice) day #7 for me and I plan to finish working on the harmonica unit, do some laundry (ugh), and find the rest of the music we're going to play at the Spring Concert. I'm going to use this new book and CD of recordings I just got to aid in my decision-making. At IMEA I bought "Teaching Music Through Performance in Beginning Band" and I'm very excited about it! The high school series is supposed to be great and very popular, so I'm hoping the beginning band version will be as helpful.

-7-

Have I mentioned that my district is consolidating next year? Yes, it's true. No one knows what they will be teaching or where exactly. But I have already been dreaming up plans for 5th/6th grade band and possibly middle school & high school choir. More specifically, I want TECHNOLOGY! I want AT LEAST a projector in my room that I can hook up to SmartMusic. It would be so helpful for beginning band since SmartMusic has Accent on Achievement in the library. I'm not sure how to go about asking for a projector or for SmartMusic, so I'll try to post about it later.

Building a Program

I just came back from the All-State Music Educators' Conference. After hearing phenomenal performing groups and attending some insightful clinics, I definitely feel ready to "go at it" with fresh motivation. Of course, I haven't been back to school yet. I am definitely concerned that I will go back tomorrow and feel mired down by the challenges of my program. So many of the improvements that need to occur are long-range processes that involve a great deal of planning, purchasing, or just time. I want to do good, but there are so many different projects that I could pursue. I'm struggling with focusing my efforts. Building a program takes a lot of time and patience, and I want to sustain that positive energy I gained from attending the conference.

I think that maybe I need to find some small "instant gratification" projects first to ride my "professional development high." Here are a few "mini-projects" I have thought of that will show immediate results:

1. Order some necessary music/supplies

Conquering a paperwork obstacle is always a good feeling. I know I will feel better when I have a few warm-ups/chorales in the library and get my repertoire squared away.

2. Finish moving into my office

I still don't have any photos or personal books/resources at school. I still need to build up some "emergency supplies" too, like a first-aid kit, emergency money, a ready supply of necessary school forms, spare makeup, etc. With everything else going on and working in two buildings at the start of the year, I just haven't had a chance to make my workplace comfortable.

3. Arrange another pep band tune

This is something I can do quickly and easily, and it's fun! Plus, it's great to see the kids get excited about new tunes. It keeps pep band fresh even though the season is almost over.

Is anyone else having a similar post-conference reaction? Is anyone embarking on a new project/new teaching approach as a result of something you saw or heard at the conference? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Bright Spots

It's been a while since I've posted, and last time I did, I promised that I would blog about some of the positive things that I've experienced so you know that it's not all doom and gloom at Don't Smile. (It's after Christmas, are we allowed to smile now?) So here's some positive reflections over the past few months of teaching music.

I would be lying if I told you I had a special bond with my 8th graders. I am their 3rd band director in their 4 years of band, and my predecessor and I do things very differently, and they have not felt shy about letting me know that. I've gotten the rolled eye, stink eye, and evil eye from a handful of different 8th grade girls, and I had pretty much resigned myself to fighting with these students all year long. Then, all of a sudden, there's less sighing, less eye rolling, and a generally more respectful and healthy teacher-student relationship. This is most evident in the fact that they are willing to play for me. They put forth effort in rehearsals, rather than being forced to play with a sigh. I think I earned this respect by holding them to high musical standards, showing them that I actually do know what I'm talking about, and most of all, that I care about them as people.

Back in October and November, I was struggling with motivating my 5th grade beginners to work hard and become independent and self-sufficient musician. Then I got an e-mail from a friend from college detailing a system he was using called Band Karate (I owe him bigtime!). You put benchmarks at certain songs in your method book, and once students can play up to that song, they have earned a new "belt." I'm using Essential Elements 2000, and I have white belt at 19, orange belt at 35, blue belt at 51, etc. I almost always have them play along with the CD so they can hear when they stray from a steady pulse. Once students get a song checked off and they earn a new belt, I give them a piece of colored yarn that they tie onto their case handle.

So far it has worked out really well for many students. I allow them to check off songs before school, after school, and during recess. On any given day, I have about half a dozen 5th graders in my band room trying to check off songs to get ahead in the book and get the next belt. This system is creating a lot of excitement amongst 5th graders, as they love displaying their achievements on their cases with their belts. They are also choosing to skip recess to come in and play music because it's fun for them - that's awesome. Beyond that, I think this is a really educationally sound system, because students are taking learning into their own hands. They are policing themselves on correct notes, rhythms, and good tone. There are still a few slackers in that class, but I think they will turn a corner here sometime this semester.

Ever heard an interview with a second or third year quarterback in the NFL? They'll sometimes talk about how the game is slowing down for them, which allows them to evaluate defensive schemes and maker better decisions on the field. That is starting to happen for me in the classroom. Back in October, I felt like class was happening to me routinely. Behavior was insane, some kids didn't know what end of the horn to blow into, and I was genuinely lost. Victories were few and far between. But now, even though the band isn't necessarily smokin', and even if we don't accomplish a whole lot in a rehearsal, the process is slowing down for me. I can make better in-flight decisions (thanks, Dr. M!) and I have a better command of the behavior of the classroom. It has been a long and arduous fight, but I have finally won their respect. I've had to be really tough, but I think it has paid off. They respect me and know that they can't walk all over me. Sure, things could still be better in terms of behavior and preparedness, but we are miles and miles ahead of how we were in the fall.

As I've discussed before, the jazz band has a pretty weird instrumentation. It gets weirder when you realize that at least 4 of the members were never really asked to read music before this year. I have an 8th grade guitar player who is pretty much the coolest kid in school. Very bright and outgoing. Couldn't read a lick back in September. I'm not sure how he got around in jazz band before, but I have worked hard with him (and the rest of the group) to make sure that they can figure out rhythms for themselves. He is really tough on himself and is frustrated when he's wrong, but he has honestly gone from zero reading ability to the best rhythm reader in the class. When other students are struggling to read certain figures, he can model it for them and then explain the counting system exactly. It's been an awesome turnaround.

So there are some bright spots. There's still an incredibly long way to go, but I think we are headed in the right direction. Kids are starting to have more fun, I am starting to feel more confident, and things are slowly starting to work.

Warm Fuzzy

Like many of my "Don't Smile" colleagues, I have a snow day today. This is my second snow day in a row and my fourth snow day this school year. Apparently they just hand them out like candy in our part of the country! Unfortunately, my beginning band's first concert was scheduled for yesterday (Tuesday the 11th). We postponed to today, the 12th, and now I have had to "post-postpone" to the 19th! This time of year is really tough for scheduling because junior high volleyball, high school basketball, and other community events are competing for space in the gym. The schools try to avoid Wednesday nights because the local church has youth group activities on Wednesday. The situation is not ideal, and I know some students may not be able to make the concert.

I just received a very kind email from a band parent, however, that made me feel much better. Somebody out there "gets it." Just when I was feeling like I am totally alone with this program, I got sent a warm fuzzy that will keep me in a good mood for this whole snow day (names removed):

Thank you for the updates, Ms. [Emma]. We are really looking forward to hearing the kids play their instruments. Thanks for all the work you have put into teaching them the basics. We will be sure to have [our daughter] at the concert but our hope is that the schools try to stay away from scheduling things on Wednesday evenings as this is a night for church activities. We realize that this was not your first pick either and that sometimes you have to go with the flow. Thanks again for all you do to share music.

[Awesome Band Parent]

This is a great family, and their daughter is coming along very well on clarinet. Somehow it always seems that just when I am beginning to despair about certain aspects of the job, I am reminded of why I do what I do. There are people on my side who will give me the benefit of the doubt. I hope that everyone has a great snow day!

Connecting

Overall, I feel like I have a pretty good rapport with students. I have some inside jokes, and I can get their attention. I am starting to get through. The other day, however, I noticed something. With my beginning band students, most of the highest achievers are female. So are most of the students who stay after school to practice (save one little boy who plays tuba, love that kid). I have three male students dropping high school band for second semester (and no female students). I don't consider myself to be extremely "girly," but it seems like I am not connecting to male students as well as female students. Granted, as a young female teacher, (and in light of recent news stories), I am careful about being too close to students and maintaining boundaries. I suppose, like many other things, it is a question of balance.

So why is this happening? The only thing I can think of is that it has something to do with how I come off to students. I joke that my teacher personality is "Band Director Barbie." I believe in positive reinforcement, and saving negative energy for serious offenses. Being a positive role model for young girls and women is something that I'm really interested in... but what about all those male students? It's like some sort of reverse gender-stereotyping. Anyway, does anyone have similar experiences connecting to students? Suggestions? I'd love to hear about your experiences!