Saturday, June 23, 2007

One-arm Fiddle Player

Check it out! This guy has one arm and plays by moving the violin up and down while the bow stays still.

School's Out!

Woohoo! Friday was the last day with kids; Monday is my last day. Once again, a bittersweet ending to the year. It is hard to say goodbye to the 5th graders I have worked with for 2 or 3 years, but at the same time I am looking forward to working with next year's 4th and 5th graders. It will be so good to have a change of pace and (hopefully) a break this summer. With teaching you go crazy for 10 months and then have two months to recover. Today was the first Saturday in a while where I could get caught up on normal people things like balancing my checkbook and cleaning my desk. Good times!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Jeans....

For the first time in 5 years of teaching I wore jeans to school. (I've worn them on Fridays to church, but never to my other school.) The event would not be noteworthy except for the fact that 3 people commented on how I great I looked in them! Who would've thought that something like that would be noticed?

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

End of the Year

Things are winding down...it is a bittersweet time, more so this year than others. I am done teaching at church for the year. The Lord really blessed our concert and my ministry there as a whole this year. While I am excited and looking forward to next year, I am ready for a break.

My two string concerts are over as well, and the Lord blessed them as well. Right now I am in the midst of report cards, inventory, and other misc. things. There is a chance that I could be teaching general music there next year. I'm not sure that I'm ready for it, I've thoroughly enjoy my break from it this year, and having my Monday's off have been wonderful. But I guess I have to trust the Lord to work that out.

The bad news is that they are cutting the 3rd grade string program (district wide) for next year--a sad event for everyone involved. Many of the current 2nd graders think that they are going to take a string instrument next year, but they will have a rude awakening when they get to CH next year.

This morning was our year end party for the 4th and 5th graders. As I was creating my awards to hand out, I was struck by how many of my kids have just been awesome this year in helping me set up and tear down for each rehearsal. I even had kids come in and help with the 3rd grade orchestra. Overall, my kids have been wonderful to work with this year. If I had to make a choice, I would much rather work with kids who have great attitudes than kids who can play well. A child's attitude and willingness to help out are more important to me than his or her ability to play an instrument well. If only I had learned this lesson when I was young!

Before I head off to shower and work on report cards, I have to say that it feels good to update and write on this blog. My life has been so hectic lately that I haven't been able to think about writing. The Bible says that He won't give us more than we can bear, so I must trust that He knows what He is doing in this regard. Have a good night!