just some ramblings
Having classes full of freshmen is a wonderful thing when you need to get a lot of something done. I was facing the prospect of folding three hundred some-odd programs this weekend in my apartment when inspiration struck. What was a daunting couple hours of tedious folding and likely paper cuts became a five minute diversion that my students enjoyed a disproportionate amount. At the end of the day, my room was a disaster - this has been that kind of week - and for some reason my floor never gets vacuumed over the weekend. Dismayed at all the little tiny chads and bits of paper and hair ties and pencil stubs and goodness knows what else littering my floor, I again though, ooh, I have freshmen. In less than a minute my floor was spotless. Well, almost spotless, they are just freshmen. But still. Free labor is fun!
I also noticed something interesting in my classes today. We had our first combined rehearsals with both sections yesterday, so I asked for some reflection on that today. I have two classes of 10th grade and two of 9th grade. One class in each grade is generally higher achieving than the other. What interested me today was that in both grades, the higher achieving class had more negative comments when asked about yesterdays rehearsal. And they were specific negatives, like "so-and-so sang this part of that song wrong." The classes that are collectively less high achieving were, on the other hand, very positive. There were still criticisms, but they were constructive and generalized. I wonder why this is?
My first concert as a real, grown-up teacher is this coming Monday. I'm not really nervous, because I think they'll do well, but it's still "looming" over me. Maybe because it's been the end-all of my goals and I'm just now realizing that I have to keep teaching for two more weeks after it's over, and I have to keep their attention when the funnest part of class has been removed! Eek. Summer, come quickly! (In the sense of freedom, not the triple digit death weather.)
I also noticed something interesting in my classes today. We had our first combined rehearsals with both sections yesterday, so I asked for some reflection on that today. I have two classes of 10th grade and two of 9th grade. One class in each grade is generally higher achieving than the other. What interested me today was that in both grades, the higher achieving class had more negative comments when asked about yesterdays rehearsal. And they were specific negatives, like "so-and-so sang this part of that song wrong." The classes that are collectively less high achieving were, on the other hand, very positive. There were still criticisms, but they were constructive and generalized. I wonder why this is?
My first concert as a real, grown-up teacher is this coming Monday. I'm not really nervous, because I think they'll do well, but it's still "looming" over me. Maybe because it's been the end-all of my goals and I'm just now realizing that I have to keep teaching for two more weeks after it's over, and I have to keep their attention when the funnest part of class has been removed! Eek. Summer, come quickly! (In the sense of freedom, not the triple digit death weather.)
Comments
Post a Comment