So Week 2 was definitely a little more intense than Week 1. I suppose intense isn't really the right word to describe it, more like realistic. Week 1 is purely about disclosures and laying down the foundation for which we shall build our fortress. Week 2 is when we begin to build, and build we did. In pretty much all of my classes we were able to work on real music, not just pep band, and start working towards our goals for this year.
Mr. Campbell, or Todd as I also may call him, had me do quite a bit this week, most of which is administrative/business/incredibly essential paperwork and planning. Things like setting up SmartMusic accounts for all his students, organizing grades, seating charts and locker assignments, and figuring out fees for his program. In addition to all of that, there was much planning in programming for his wind bands and figuring out how we want to teach Music Theory and Jazz Lab. I even got to grade homework and assign a quiz for Music Theory. And on that note I feel terrible because I assigned a rhythmic dictation that was far too difficult, so I had to curve the quiz results so that everybody didn't fail. This is bad because now I feel directly responsible for the success of my kids. Quite a rude awakening to teaching I suppose.
The key word in that last paragraph was "we." We are a team, and we definitely function like one. He is constantly asking for my advice about something, not because he doesn't know what to do but because he wants to see how my brain works, how I visualize things and he wants to help improve his program. He has told me many times that he doesn't really ever do anything the same way because he is constantly trying to find a way to do it better; he doesn't see an end to the slope, just more paths to go up. I do feel like I am a part of this program, and not just a student teacher or an observer, but more like an Assistant Director in that I am helping in a positive way to build this program. I take great pride in calling this program mine.
So, in addition to learning about the endless amount of planning, preparation and thought that goes into building a program and curriculum, I also learned some highly essential stuff this week that they don't really teach you in music school. This week I learned a good bit about instrument repair, stuff like restringing keys for French Horn, get valves and mouthpieces unstuck, and all other manners of repair.
I also spent a good deal of time with the drumline this week. Percussion is definitely my weakest area right now so I've been working harder to get comfortable with that.
I even got to put some new heads on our quads, and man, were those kids happy about that.
None of these photos are really indicative of it, but they were definitely dancing, and screaming, and cheering and I think maybe even enjoying themselves just a bit.
As I go into Week 3, I've been pondering on a lot of different things. Up until this point I've been the "cool" teacher. But as I've led the band this week I've discovered that they don't really respect me yet, they kind of just treat me as one of them, a student. This poses an obvious problem and I think it is time that I start being the discipline teacher, and start demanding their respect and good behavior. I guess it's time to be the bad guy.
On a more positive note, Homecoming is approaching and I've started seeing my kids ask each other to dances. It's quite adorable really. Reminds me of my times in High School asking my friends and beautiful women to dances.
Notice how "coming" is misspelled -_-
But I'm pretty sure she is going to say yes anyway, so congrats to Michael!
There is quite a bit more that happened this week but I think this post is too long anyway. See ya next week!
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