Is it December 23 yet?

Let's break this week down...

Friday: Sick. So sick.

Saturday: Sick, but not as sick as Friday. Lesson plans done. Didn't leave the apartment.

Sunday: Sick, but on the upswing. Bulletin board decorations done... enough... Free wine and meal with the Catholics, got a music teacher's business card. And a reminder that Sudafed and wine are probs not the best combination...

Monday: Sick (seeing a pattern?) but I almost forgot whilst plowing through the day. Kids still squirrely from Halloween candy.

Tuesday needs its own space.

Professional development day... which should have been ease breeze compared to a teaching day but definitely was one of the more stressful days I've had this year... The content of the PD (educators love acronyms) was not specifically relevant to me, of course, but the experience was perhaps the most relevant I could ask for at this point in the year. PS 43 is preparing for a Quality Review by the Dept of Ed, so we discussed all day the current state of the school, its students, and what we could for both. It's disheartening to hear stories of endless and varied attempts to get parents involved and then only one shows up to end-of-the-year conferences. I found myself frantically designing plans in my head to use my program to support the goals of the school. Latin-themed concerts? Music room open house? Student-written invitations to concerts? When I have a lot of ideas but no immediate way to test them out or even bring them to fruition, the stress and tension tend to build up. I need to remember that this is my VERY FIRST YEAR TEACHING and I can't expect myself--now or ever--to save the world or school. Since Tuesday I've been able to take a step back and focus on a few little initiatives I can start next semester... It'll be a process and inevitably an evolution, and I'm grateful to have had the PD to kickstart the journey.

On a more readily positive note, I was able to connect with teachers on a personal level, observe teacher-teacher and teacher-administrator dynamics, learn something about my school and its student population (HUGELY helpful!), listen to staff assess the school and curriculum against a number of standards... Though I stayed until sunset to finish my bulletin boards, having multiple teachers tell me it was pleasantly surprising to see me at the PD makes it all worth it. Basically I feel much more a part of the community now and much better equipped to center my instruction--in technique and content--around the needs of my students next semester.

Also on Tuesday, I learned that my grades were allegedly due on Monday. Like, the day before Tuesday. So that made for a long evening of computing and printing, especially after that sunset departure. But I got them done, and most teachers didn't even know music was supposed to be on the report cards. So they saw it as a bonus. Win-win. Win.

Oh right, and sick. But tea was provided throughout the day.

Wednesday: Less sick... Had a VERY successful teaching day accompanied by a super positive observation session by my mentor. Kids learn music fast. Great news bears. The Yankees won the World Series, an occurrence I came to discover upon waking up at midnight to a stream of cheers, car horns, lasers (no kidding), and that grating Jay-Z/Alicia Keys song out my window. I get it, Inwood, you like baseball.

Thursday: A little more sick... Not as successful of a teaching day when you have lost 95% use of your voice by the third class. Which happens to be a self-contained behavior disorder class with half of the 10 students experiencing very bad mood days resulting in multiple physical fights. Verbal ones too. They recently learned the vocabulary word "veto" and were taking advantage of it. Ah, the empowerment of education... Then I left my stress at school and spent the evening with Meghan eating Wendy's and watching shows live on something called a television, thus reliving the good ol' days... Except in the good ol' days, a chicken sandwich combo did NOT cost $7.17. Ripoff.

Friday: Sickish, mostly because I have no voice. Laying low, cleaning, lesson planning, concert prep (I just realized I gave my only Hanukkah song of the concert to the only grade in the school with a Jewish teacher. At least I think he's Jewish. Go, Wiki, go!), and babysitting for Sally--more appropriately, her daughter Isabella--later tonight. And grocery shopping. And obtaining a copy of Beauty and the Beast from Midtown. What am I doing writing this blog...

Love, Hugs, and Honey Lemon Tea!
Kate =)