First 2 Weeks of School

The first two weeks of school flew by... I can't believe the third week is already well underway. After a long week of setting up and getting ready, the first day of school finally came. We got a lot done the week before school started getting everything ready, but I think we all felt like we could have used at least another week to unpack, organize, plan, and get situated.

Kristen and I on the first day of school

My classroom had to be added onto the 3rd floor and was not finished by the first day of school so we held off on having any specialty classes the first day. They finished my classroom late Monday, so we were able to move our stuff in on Tuesday. Then we decided to start the music, art, and PE classes on Thursday to give us a few extra days to move into our room, unpack, and get organized. I had been set up in the library the week before school started, getting as organized as possible which definitely made moving my stuff in easier... but it still took a while to move the large, heavy furniture up to the third floor of the building... especially when most of the people that could help were teaching. Tuesday ended up being move-in day for us and Wednesday was organize-and-rush-to-get-ready day. It was pretty chaotic and there are still a few things to finish in the room, but we transformed it and its actually a pretty great little room for the music and art classes.

this is my room before we put anything in it... the left corner you see is where my desk is now.

in my classroom... you can't see much but this is the only picture I have so far... I'll take more when we get the bulletin boards and blinds up.

The fact that I was only teaching a few days the first week was a relief since I felt so frazzled with the lack of a classroom and organization. I teach music to preschool through 6th grade as well as the High School Computer Applications class (Journalism and Yearbook basically). I am supposed to teach computers to the elementary grades as well but we're waiting a few weeks to start that. I also lead the music worship for the different chapels on Wednesdays... It sounds like a lot, but its not that bad.

my schedule right now... the "c" blocks are periods I have open to teach computer later. Right now they are just extra planning periods which has been very nice.

I have heard that the learning curve for first year teachers is very fast... and its so true. I have learned so much in these past few weeks. While I still feel like I'm just barely starting to scratch the tip of the iceberg of teacher knowledge and wisdom, the kids are learning and having fun, which tells me I'm doing something right.

I have to say that I think there should be a special place in Heaven for Kindergarten teachers... and I will not be privy to that place because... well... to be blunt... they totally freak me out. Right now, the younger grades are combined, Pre-k with Kindergarten, and 1st with 2nd. It makes for large class sizes and at that age, with each extra kid it gets exponentially crazier and harder to manage. I'm getting the hang of it, but the first day I taught the Pre-K and Kindergarten class I wanted to curl up into a ball in the corner and cry. I've had to pull out all the songs I have stored in the back of my brain from Sunday School, Awana, camps, and Faith Bible. It has confirmed what I had suspected but didn't know for sure... that if I decide to keep with this whole teacher profession, I really would rather do Jr. High and High school age... the little kids are fun and very cute but... yea, its just not was I was made to do.

Teaching here has also already been full of unknown cultural differences to discover every day... for example:

I am trying to start the students on solfège (a technique to teach music sight reading... it uses syllables and hand signs, which gets the whole body involved. It is basically music relativism because it teaches intervals, so once you learn the intervals between notes you are able to read music based on how each note relates to the next one. That is the very very very very shortened explanation of solfege, click on the link before this really long parenthesis if you want to read more about it) as early as possible because most of the kids here haven't had it and its a great way to teach sight reading skills... I was teaching them the hand signs and was wondering why every class giggled when I did "Fa." Finally, I asked the 5th and 6th graders about it because they laughed pretty hard. Apparently, the hand sign for "Fa" means "Go to hell" here. Oh the joys of teaching internationally.

I set up a magnetic staff with magnetic notes so they could also start doing compositions early on (in a fun, no-pressure way) and I told them that if they showed good class behavior we could have "test the teacher" at the end of each class. I let them move the notes around

and then I do the solfege. They love it and its a good exercise for me to keep my sight reading skills up... and they don't even realize they're also learning in the process. :) Of course the 5th and 6th graders liked putting many of the notes on "Fa."

I sternly told the class that they are only allowed to use the hand sign in class and when we are doing solfege... but I wouldn't be surprised if I get a few phone calls from concerned parents after hearing, "guess what the music teacher taught us today." Later that day, because I was concerned about this whole "Fa" thing, I asked a few of the Japanese staff members and they said that its just something the younger kids do... not something that is culturally well-known. I was relieved to hear that... Oh dear! Still, all I can do is laugh.

I ordered the Christmas Program music the week before school started and it came on Monday which was very exciting. It is going to be a cute, fun program... I just hope all the kids get involved and enjoy it. I remember a little too well my 5th/6th grade years, none of the boys (and some of the girls) wanted to do anything in the music classes... and I already see that trend. I'm hoping that something I do will get through to them and make it fun, but I know that the age makes it difficult. At least the Christmas program gives us something to work towards now, I'm excited to plan the program... I'm not so excited about the learning and demonstrating the choreography though... its hard to learn it through the written directions. I may end up making up some of my own thats a little simpler. We'll see...

Well, that basically sums up my first two weeks of school. I am enjoying teaching... even though it has been a little bit of an interesting start, it has been a wonderful experience already.

I know I said this post would be up (along with other ones) this past weekend... but... better late than never I guess. The other posts are coming soon!