This Tuesday is the final budget meeting where residents can voice opinions relating to the budget. I have a couple of parents lined up to speak, so I am thankful for that. Because I am there three days a week, my hands are slightly tied as to how much I can do (talking with parents and spreading the word). My hope is that the few parents that I was able to talk with Thursday are spreading the word and making it known about the possible cuts to the music program. The Lord was gracious Thursday in the parent contact that I was able to make, so that was encouraging. So Tuesday is the night. Since I have parents going, I'm planning on going to the meeting as well, so it will be yet another late work day. I do pray that the Lord would give me grace and bring me through this season soon. It is wearing me out!
For an update with more depth, see my other blog: Musings of One Servant
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Budget
As I am sitting here writing, the board of education is having a meeting relating to next year's budget. Big cuts are being talked about, cuts that will directly effect classrooms, including my own. Unfortunately the cuts that are being proposed were not all well thought through, so it looks like waiting is the name of the game. Please be in prayer for this situation. Thanks!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Hooray for Friday!
I am so blessed not to have any commitments tonight. I have been able to do some cleaning, organize last year's lesson plans (from church) and get caught up on typing up this years plans. Our K-4th concert is towards the end of May and I only have 7 classes left, so concert planning has been also added to the list. While planning the concert at church is a lot of work (in many ways more work than planning my concerts for my string kids), it is relatively low stress because I program things we have been working on over the course of the year. The challenge is planning material that the parents haven't heard before. I have been teaching some of the 4th graders since they were in kindergarten!
Since the kindergarten and 1st grade will perform together for the concert, I started having them come together last week. It is nice because instead of teaching five classes each week, now I am only teaching four. The downside is that now 20 kids are trying to have a music class in a room that is too small for us. And yes, we do folk dancing--which to the passerby looks like controlled chaos. Today's challenge: multitasking. Two of the girls in the class are sisters. While they are a year apart they are so similar that it is easy to mistake them for twins. This proved to be a problem for me as I had a hard time remembering who was who while I was trying to teach them how to do-si-do, keep the chaos under control, and be some child's partner. It really is a riot. But thankfully each week gets a little better as they (slowly) learn to discipline/control their dancing. At least the small room keeps them confined as we are working on it!
Since the kindergarten and 1st grade will perform together for the concert, I started having them come together last week. It is nice because instead of teaching five classes each week, now I am only teaching four. The downside is that now 20 kids are trying to have a music class in a room that is too small for us. And yes, we do folk dancing--which to the passerby looks like controlled chaos. Today's challenge: multitasking. Two of the girls in the class are sisters. While they are a year apart they are so similar that it is easy to mistake them for twins. This proved to be a problem for me as I had a hard time remembering who was who while I was trying to teach them how to do-si-do, keep the chaos under control, and be some child's partner. It really is a riot. But thankfully each week gets a little better as they (slowly) learn to discipline/control their dancing. At least the small room keeps them confined as we are working on it!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Here we go
Today was the second week of 3rd grade orchestra, aka 45 kids trying to play together at 8:05 on Wednesday mornings. 
I was trying to finish tuning the last few kids when it was brought to my attention that there was a kid who was about to cry. Thankfully 5th grade helper #1 took the child out of the room and successfully avoided a complete meltdown. A few minutes later that child came back and we finally started playing. As the last note of the first song was dying, someone called out my name, bringing my attention over to the violin section where a child held an instrument that had literally exploded in his arms. This time, 5th grade helper #2 was called on to take the child down to the string and assist him in finding a different violin to play. So in the first 15 minutes of the rehearsal we had two near catastrophes. I can't tell you how thankful I was to have those 5th graders to help out. There is no way I could've left 45 kids alone in the school gym to deal with the things at hand.
As I was driving home and rethinking through this event, I couldn't help but laugh. Last week a teacher in the faculty room said to me that she doesn't know how I do what I do, listening to violins all day. I told her that I could never do what she does--be a classroom teacher, I would go crazy. I would take broken instruments and crying kids over a classroom job any day.
(If you're interested in what how the violin exploded--the tailgut on the bottom of the tailpiece broke. This part literally holds together the whole instrument (strings, bridge, tailpiece). See below for a diagram.)
I was trying to finish tuning the last few kids when it was brought to my attention that there was a kid who was about to cry. Thankfully 5th grade helper #1 took the child out of the room and successfully avoided a complete meltdown. A few minutes later that child came back and we finally started playing. As the last note of the first song was dying, someone called out my name, bringing my attention over to the violin section where a child held an instrument that had literally exploded in his arms. This time, 5th grade helper #2 was called on to take the child down to the string and assist him in finding a different violin to play. So in the first 15 minutes of the rehearsal we had two near catastrophes. I can't tell you how thankful I was to have those 5th graders to help out. There is no way I could've left 45 kids alone in the school gym to deal with the things at hand.As I was driving home and rethinking through this event, I couldn't help but laugh. Last week a teacher in the faculty room said to me that she doesn't know how I do what I do, listening to violins all day. I told her that I could never do what she does--be a classroom teacher, I would go crazy. I would take broken instruments and crying kids over a classroom job any day.
(If you're interested in what how the violin exploded--the tailgut on the bottom of the tailpiece broke. This part literally holds together the whole instrument (strings, bridge, tailpiece). See below for a diagram.)
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