About a week before break begins (ours happens to be this Wednesday) the kids start to get the itch. They know break is coming, and their brains have entered shut down mode. They can no longer process information and learning anything new is definitely out of the question. They can't go more than 30 seconds without whispering excitedly to their friends and I waste more breath trying to pull them back than I do instructing. This will hopefully change as the years go by and I become a more forceful and terrifying figure (ha yeah okay 5'2" and I'm only getting shorter).
Anyway, I spent the weekend getting really amped about orchestra. I've been in a rut lately and just feeling completely at a loss when it comes to teaching. But last week I arranged a quartet for the end of our concert and it sounds so good that I was able to just fly out of that rut I was stuck in and get pumped about class. But then today happened.
Despite the fact that "Attention" is spelled incorrectly, it is unnervingly accurate. Why is it that we must have these two random days that we attend school just before break? At least make them in service or parent/teacher conference days. At least don't make me teach these children whose brains have been on break since 3:30 dismissal last Friday. My younger brother's district has parent teacher conferences the next two days. I logged on to Facebook this morning to see his status about how he was trying, but failing, to get in to the earlier seasons of 'Doctor Who.' He's 13, for the record. Another friend, who is in grad school, texted me at 11 and said, "I just rolled out of bed and you're in school. How does that make you feel?' Ugh. It makes me feel ugh.
Today drove me so insane that it was all I could do to keep myself at school to finish up plans for tomorrow once I was able to dismiss my last class. I have never wanted to swear as much as I did today when I had what felt like ten thousand students crowding me, asking about strings and the concert and "Why is my grade an 85 in this class?" (Thank you, scheduling gods, for picking today as mid interim report day). I almost threw my instrument out the window when a student said, "Yeah, I don't know if I can make the concert...." Um. What. It's the concert. It's next week. You have to make it.
Anyway. Despite all of this I did get to teach 6th grade general music the cup game and 7th grade orchestra did a lot of good work with one of their pieces. Even they recognized it and exclaimed, "We got a lot of good stuff done today!" Yes, children, you did! Ms. B is so proud of you.
Now, be functional tomorrow and she'll never yell at you again.
Miss B
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