This was a week of teaching. A full week. Not just because it was five days, but because so much was in this week, the whole range of what it means to be a teacher, and what a day in the life a teacher feels like.
We had our band concert on Thursday night. It was the most produced concert I had ever planned. There lighting cues, a slideshow, transition music, and oh yeah, there were concert bands performing. It felt right. There were a lot of little things to take care and this whole first part of the week I was deliberately not doing other things to focus on the concert.
This is hard, because I have a lot going on in the next couple weeks that needs my attention, so I had stay focused. Often, I chose to answer a certain email, or do a certain task when I feel ready to do it, and then go full out. This week, I couldn’t do it, I had to just do concert prep first whether or not I felt “ready.”
As great, and as proud I felt about the concert, the rehearsals the day leading up to the concerts were challenging. The students were on the stage, some for the first time. This nervousness and the "getting comfortable on stage," process meant that some students were not on their best behavior. I don’t want my students to feel stress or panic, however at times it didn’t feel like they were taking these rehearsals as seriously as I was, and that was discouraging. They did pulled it together for the performance and showed that they cared and they understood with the work they did. I just they showed me this earlier.
The concert seemed to come up fast, and we were ready just on time. Then it happened, and it was done. On to the next thing. The next thing for me was a pioneer sing-along with my 3rd graders and a parent meeting. I’ve done this pioneer sing-along every year and while it’s not new for me, it is for the students every year. I do my best “Bruce Springsteen,” and get out the harmonica. It’s fun, and for a time it’s fun to play rock star and do that for my kids. One of the other teachers joined me on piano while I played guitar. It was a really great time to perform music together.
The parent meeting was a completely different role for me. I was acting as one of the DEI Co-Chairs discussing with two parents the DEI work we are doing at this school. These parents had important observations to share as I sat with the assistant principal, and the upper school head in this room with the parents, I felt a need to really up my game. In the same way that I don’t talk to my 3rd graders the same way I talk to my 8th graders, I needed to adjust how I discussed the work of the school to support the message of the administrators in the room, and communicate in a way that these parents understood. It was stimulating work, interesting, and important.
One of my favorite memories this week was about two hours before the concert. All of the music teachers who were supporting the concert had dinner together in our shared office. The feeling in the room was joyful, relaxed, and chill. I love just being quiet and watching my music teacher colleagues enjoy each other’s company. It’s a sign of something so right in the work I've been doing at this school for the past eight years.
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