My students came ready to work. Coming back from winter break I wasn’t how my students would react to getting to it, but I was pleasantly surprised that overall all of my kids were excited to be in school and get going.
Part of this is because my band students have their band concert next week. Yes, it’s a little weird not having our winter concert right before winter break where many musical concerts typically occur. There’s a couple reasons why the band concert ended up after break. We have our elementary school winter concert before break and our choir concert before break. One more concert seemed like a lot for our community and for my department.
Moving it after winter break places the concert closer to the technical end of the semester and there’s not as much stuff going. One of the things that makes concerts right before winter break stressful isn’t the concert itself it’s all of the other stress that holidays bring about outside of school. Personally, as a teacher it’s nice to be working and planning for a concert without as much stuff going on in my personal life. No, I don’t think you should make educational decisions purely based on how they affect your personal life, but it’s a factor worth considering.
Another reason to have our band concert after the winter break is because one of my bands is the 6th grade band. This group is a beginning band and having a later concert allows us to have more time in the beginning of the year to create foundations for the group for growth and have less pressure to get a performance together quickly. With a group at this level a couple weeks does make a big difference.
Last year was the first year we had a band concert this time and it felt very different to me mostly because I was coming back from paternity leave. My paternity sub did a great job, but it was difficult for me to feel in complete control of what was going on and focus my energy and attention on the concert. Don’t get me wrong the concert went well, but this year I know it’s going to be even better. My preparation just feels different. My brain has the space to be more imaginative, more detailed and I’m feeling more excited than I did last year and I think my students are sensing this and responding well to my ideas.
One of the things that I’ve been thinking about is how concerts reflect my work as a teacher. The students’ work on stage is exactly that: the students’ work. However how the concert is organized, and set-up is a reflection of my own professionalism and creativity. There’s so many details to handle, and it can feel like almost too much to handle, but it’s important. It’s feel strangely satisfying to have the space to think about all of these little details because it’s a way that I can show that I care.
A lot of the students will not realize how much work goes into planning a concert, and a lot of the parents will not know either but I will. The pride of knowing that I did right by my school and my students is one of the most powerful motivators I have as a teacher.
Next week is going to be a thing. There’s a lot going on outside the concert prep that I need to find mental space for but I have to make the concert prep feel right for myself and my students. How we feel about how we prepare will create the feeling of how we prepare. The pride that comes starts with the pride we have, every step of the way.
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