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!