In honor of Halloween, one of the 3rd grade classes will be singing Purple People Eater. Their classroom teacher asked me if I would make a recording for them to sing along with and I decided to do a Soulja Boy remix.
If you haven't heard Crank That yet, first listen to this excerpt:
Next, listen to my Purple People Eater remix:
So far, teaching music in an urban elementary school is just plain difficult. I have over 300 new names to learn and I know maybe 30-40 so far. The group I know best is my lunch crew. I have lunch duty every day and I am assigned to specific group of 2nd graders. They are cute but difficult to work with nonetheless. They only get a half an hour to eat and lunch and have recess every day. I think they need lot more time to expel some energy! Many of them only eat a small amount of the food they are given. Our school is big on their new health policy, which means they can't have candy, soda, potato chips, etc. No one is making sure they actually get some nutrients into their bodies, though!
I have two classes for each grade, from kindergarten up to grade 6. I also teach a combined pre-K class, which includes special needs students. My easiest classes are probably kindergarten and 1st grade, although I always find that I run out of stuff to do with my kindergarteners! From 2nd grade up, they become a real handful. There is always a lot of anger in the air and it's difficult not to get angry myself. We do a call and response clapping drill, which is supposed to get their attention. I give smelly stickers to those who freeze when they're supposed to. They freeze pretty well, but it never lasts long. All of my classes, from 2nd to 6th, are on a point system where they are working toward an incentive they chose as a class. A pizza party is the most popular one. Thankfully, the nurse gave me the OK on bringing in pizza.
It seems that just about every child in the whole school knows the Soulja Boy dance. Hopefully, I will be able to develop lessons that are more immediately relevant to their world as I go along. I want to broaden their horizons, but I also want to meet them "where they're at" and help them to explore the music that surrounds them daily.
Chorus is going fairly well so far. I have about 60 participants and they are divided into three groups. My most difficult rehearsal so far was the first one with boys only (they're group 3). We're learning 6 songs for our Winter concert.
I guess that's all for now...
I had my first day of orientation for my new teaching job today. So far so good. I especially liked one of the quotes they shared with us:
“Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in the boat and drink beer all day.”
As of today I am officially certified to do alternate route teaching! We also found out that the school I'm going to be working for is willing to start me at a higher salary because of the credits I earned toward a Master's at Fuller. I met with the superintendent of schools today and now I just have to wait for approval from the Board of Education.
It looks like I may have a job for the Fall! A real live teaching job! I am being recommended for the position by the principal of the school and the music supervisor for the district. Now I just have to be interviewed by the superintendent of schools. The position is K-6 general music plus a 4th-6th grade chorus.
...one to go. Composing and Arranging World Music for the Classroom was not all I hoped it would be, but I did learn some things and was exposed to some good resources. One of the highlights for a lot of people in the class was that we built our own guitar-like instrument and a xylophone. I'm not really too much into building things so it didn't excite me that much. In the end, however, I have to admit that it was kind of fun.
I have a week off now followed by Choral Conducting the following week.
...two to go. I spent the last week driving down to Villanova, which is near Philadelphia, for a graduate-level class. It's about a 2 hour drive each way. The class was called Understanding Rhythm Through West African Culture. We learned to play drums, sing, and dance to several different styles of music from Ghana. We also learned how to teach complex rhythms by simplifying them and then gradually increasing the complexity. It was a lot of fun, including the dancing. I wasn't very good at that part, but I think it's something students of all ages could get into.
Next week: Composing and Arranging World Music for the Classroom
On Wednesday night I got a call from the music supervisor in the school district I just finished working for. One of their elementary music teachers will be unable to attend her final rehearsals and performances for two different schools. He wanted to know if I could step in! Thankfully, the teacher I'm subbing for lined up a good accompanist for the job.
I had one rehearsal yesterday and I will have two in each school next week. The concerts are Wednesday and Thursday. The kids responded well to me yesterday, which made me feel better about the prospect of working with that age in the coming year.
I have signed up for 3 graduate classes through Villanova for this Summer. I'll be commuting down to Philadelphia 5 days a week, from June 18 to July 13, for all-day classes. Here's what I'm taking:
I'm really hoping the state is able to process my certification quickly once I finish my classes!
I found out yesterday that I am 9 credits short in terms of being certified to teach in New Jersey. The requirements state that I must have completed "30 credits in a coherent sequence in the subject field. A coherent sequence requires that at least 12 credits are completed at the advanced level of study (junior, senior or graduate level)."
I have 40 credits in music, but apparently only 3 of them are being considered "advanced level." Needless to say, I am upset about this!
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