Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Teaching music can be frustrating

While I mostly enjoy teaching orchestra, there are those days....!?!? I teach orchestra at the elementary and middle school levels. Most of my frustration comes from teaching in the elementary schools. Orchestra class for them is held 2 days a week for 30 minutes! In this time I am supposed teach 11/12 year olds the fundamental of playing an instrument, reading music, composers, musical terms, rhythm reading, etc. IF all of my students attended every rehearsal AND brought their instrument/book all the time then this would be almost manageable. Unfortunately, my attendance is awful!! Students come to orchestra when they feel like it (despite my unfailing efforts) so I am forced to teach and reteach the same materials over and over and over and over.....AHHHH!!!

If I had it my way things would be different...its too bad that music is no longer a priorty at the elementary level. Students should not be forced to choose between recess and playing an instruement.

Oh well...

Thursday, April 24, 2008


I am soooooo tired! Friday will not come soon enough...

Saturday, April 19, 2008

out is sickness, in with the crazies!!

I am happy to say that the sickness is officially out of my house! WAHOO!! With that being said, I think that eli is making up for lost "crazy time" He is giggly, wiggly, and crazy ALL THE TIME.... I love it!

Tonight we went to a spring social at church. Eli, in his sneaky ways, walked up to the food table and snagged a toquito. Once the food was in his posession he waltzed around the room, food in hand, and danced with it, talked to it, etc--as if to say...."nothing can stop me now...I can reach anything in this room...ITS ALL MINE!!" Very cute!

On a separate note, I found out this afternoon that my grandmother has to move from her apartment into a nursing home due to some medical problems. While normally this is not something to be too worried about, I think that my grandmother is lonely--and this breaks my heart. She has family around her (in utah) but with the loss of my grandfather she spends quite a bit of time by herself. And now that she is having to move away from her home--I am afraid that she will feel sad...
I wish that I were closer, so that I could drop by occassionally to keep her company. I feel helpless here--a phone call can only do so much. Maybe I will put together a package with goodies, pictures, crossword puzzels, etc.............I will definately keep her in my prayers...