My Experiences So Far

The past two months have been the craziest and most fun time of my life. I was hired in the first week of September and taught my first class on September 12, 2011, a month into the school year. I inherited lots of stuff from the teacher before me who had been at the school over twenty years. Some of the students had a very hard time adapting to a new way of doing things, especially the older ones. But here we are a almost two months later and most of the students are settling into my way of doing things.

One of my first big tasks was the clean up/out, rearrange and organize all of the things that had been left for me. I am very lucky to be in a school that has so many materials but didn't realize this until I hosted a music room cleaning day. About ten volunteers from the high school band spent the day helping me clean and organize everything that had been left for us. The high school band program also donated some shelves for which I am very grateful.

On my first day at my new school there was a letter in my mailbox from the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra about a concert specifically for elementary school students and information about grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission to cover travel expenses. I immediately began pursuing this grant and last week was able to take my fourth and fifth grade students to see the show. Everything went over very well, and the KSO payed beautifully!

Now that my first big project (the field trip) is behind me, it is time for me to start focusing on the next big thing on my list. In December, my first and second graders will be performing The Nutcracker Suite by Sally Albrecht. This is such a cute little musical that puts words to Tchaikovsky's original music. It is only twenty minutes long and My biggest challenge yet has been coming up with the choreography and costume idea. If you have any suggestions send them my way!

I am very lucky to be in a school where everyone seems to support the music program and I really appreciate all of the help and input I have received so far. These are just of few of the my experiences in my first few months as a teacher. As the year progresses, I will continue to share my experiences with you and hope to hear from you about things that are happening in your classroom.

CF