Day 2 - Check!

As promised, here is my blog after two days of teaching Glee. I was a little nervous about teaching the class, as I'm not a vocalist and I've never really taught anything on my own (unsupervised, that is) before. As usual, my fears were unfounded, as day one was as smooth as it could've gone! I tried to be super structured, because it sets the tone for the class, and because I've always respected the teachers who had their stuff together on day one. The structure was to everyone's benefit, because everything ran smoothly. The girls are all super sweet, they catch onto dance moves quickly, and they can all match pitch. Hallelujah! We read through Sweet Caroline pretty quickly. In our warm ups a few times I've heard a super good tone, so they're definitely capable of singing really well together. Now, it's my job to encourage that sound as often as possible.

As smoothly as things ran, there were plenty of humbling, thought-provoking moments:
Kids are really intuitive. They can feel the beat well, know exactly when to come in (as long as you are clear enough and are fairly consistent), and don't need nearly as many instructions as I thought they would need. Less talking, more singing!

They are also really smart. They had awesome observations and if you let them, they kind of take the lead. My goal for the rest of the week is to step back more and put them in the driver's seat.

Always have extra materials on hand - a girl was added to my roster over the weekend, and I only noticed fifteen minutes before class. By luck, I had materials to make her a name tag. I would've felt awful had that not happened.

Be on time - I need to set an alarm for myself to make sure we get the girls to lunch on time everyday. I ended class early, but it takes them much longer to gather their belongings than it takes college students.

Check your mailbox everyday, dammit. The attendance was delivered to us yesterday and I assumed the same would happen today, even though I know that it is put in mailboxes from three years of being an aide. Derp, come on, Dana.

Today was mostly focused on analyzing dance routines from Glee. The girls are suuuuper bright and by the end of the day, were identifying the elements that make a routine effective or ineffective. Awesome!

I only had a short while to keep working on Sweet Caroline today. Even through I said that memorization was a bonus, not the goal, I think I tried to cram everything - diction, tone, and memorization into a short amount of time. In the future, I will choose just one or two goals, and keep the pace more relaxed. The girls were getting fidgety, and this was super nitty-gritty work. If it was tedious in college chorus, it was probably tedious for them. Next time, I'll let them take more of the lead - if they are eating it up, we keep going, but if it is not what they're into at that time,I can shift gears. I also like to keep things lighthearted and fun, and I think I may have been too hellbent on good diction, which is a buzz kill. Tomorrow will have more time, songs they have personally requested we sing, and more smiles and a slower pace from me. :)

I'm also starting to see how the timelines for each piece will take shape - I have a little better idea of what is realistic and what takes time. There are also some quick fixes to issues - for example, Sweet Caroline is a little on the high side, and while some girls can sing in their head range with ease, not all can. I think simply transposing down a few steps will fix that. I want to try some harmony tomorrow in Forget You. It might go really well, or it might not. If not, thankfully I have a backup plan. Either way, we will learn something. There are girls who are begging me to sing a solo, so I think I'll split up the verses and give them a chance to do some singing on their own.

While this class isn't too time consuming, there are lots of things I want to try, plan for, or arrange. I also just got a new bike (Yayyy!) and took it for a joy ride around Kailua yesterday. Needless to say, I was exhausted and ready for bed by 7pm last night! Lots going on with my grad party and sister's visit coming up. I don't quite feel overwhelmed, but definitely busy. No time for hanging out much. :(

Even though it's only been two days, I'm already getting a feel for what my first year of teaching will be like. It feels a lot like student teaching, where I'm hyper-aware of what I do and say, I know when something isn't as successful as it could've been, and I don't give myself credit for the things that did go really well. I'm trying to work on that balance, but it is really interested to be my own co-operating teacher. I reflect on every day, just like during student teaching, but now I have to identify my own strengths and weaknesses, and come up with solutions. I'm also trying to keep track of what I do to make sure that the curriculum is balanced.

I'm trying to do more of what I do well, and improve the areas where I am not in sync with the students' needs. Not gonna lie, it's pretty fun! Also, the piano experience is a perk. It's amazing how quickly your chops improve when you have to play warm-ups/chords/lines while watching the girls, listening to their sound, and evaluating. One girl told me I was really good at the piano, and I laughed, and almost told her about how much I had to practice to simply not make a fool of myself in secondary methods (and I still did). I decided to keep an air of mystery about my piano skills, or my good job faking them.

Now that I'm not nervous anymore and have a better idea of how the class will work, it's time to be more student-centered. More after week one is done! :)