Day 5

Pretty much a standard day, not a whole lot to blog about. But, I will want to know a year from now what I was doing on September 21, 2006 (maybe...)

Day 5 is mostly a lesson day for me. All lessons, a self-contained class, and a 6th grade class. All of my lessons went well. Despite yesterday's crappy rehearsal, the kids still seem enthused and all, and some are ACTUALLY practicing. I also had a rehearsal with my advanced band during lunch, and that went very well. I've got a good group of kids, who I seem to have a good rapport with. Last year, I had 4 boys in my advanced band that made my life a living hell, and several 8th grade girls with a generally poor and whiny attitude. I have a small group now, but they are all good kids who seem to want to be there. Let's hope that sticks. I am looking forward to auditioning some more kids into the group. I have several 6th and 5th graders who are ready. I am going to audition at the end of October. This is an experiment for me, but I think it will work. The only thing that concerns me is handling when a student doesn't make it. But I am going to offer a re-audition in January--hoping to motivate some practice and improvement.

The 6th grade class I had was good. I pretty much succumbed to the fact that I would spend the entire period explaining this 'music family tree' project I have. My mind must work differently than everyone else's. I experience this same issue with adults, as well as my students. When I explain/describe something on paper, it seems like a perfectly good explanation to me, but others find it overly complex. I think I try to include too much information, in order to eliminate confusion. This always seems to backfire on me, and cause more confusion!

The rest of the day was uneventful. BBQ chicken on the grill. I also took Max for a walk and got down the fall decorations (I thought fall started today, but apparently it doesn't start till 9/23). Meggie put up the decorations. When I get a chance, I will post some pictures. I spent the rest of the night catching up on reading the forums I follow. The Finale Form (to learn new things about the program), the Pool Help forum (to offer assistance where I can), and the Band Director's form (where I learn that all band directors have the same problems I have, or worse, and how to deal with them). I also did some StumbleUpon for a while, and now, I am heading to bed.





One more comment... TOMORROW'S FRIDAY!!!!