Learning names has been a big challenge lately. There's a lot of new people I'm interacting with in various environments. So for my high school classes, I concocted a game that will force me to learn my students' names.
Once every day, if everyone in the whole class raises their hand, I have to stop what I'm doing and go through the names of one of the rows or sections of the choir. If I get someone's first or last name wrong, or mispronounce it, I have to give them a piece of candy. This means I have been going around all day with a bunch of Werther's Originals in my pocket. I am giving away less and less candy as time passes, but I still have visions of the town dentist storming into my classroom, yelling, "What are you doing to my patients?" At least I'll be able to respond, "But they're sugar-free Werther's!" (They are. It was the only kind I could find in the grocery store, and then it occurred to me that this was a good thing.)
In other news, I biked to the high school for the first time yesterday. It felt good to be a bike commuter again, and it's only a 25-minute ride, meaning it's one of the fastest ways to get to work. Of course, I forgot that it was Friday, and Friday is the day I collect my students' music theory packets to take home and grade...meaning I had a stack of paper about 2/3 of a foot high that I had to figure out how to fit into my bike bag. Speaking of which, I should probably go do some grading.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Students playing tricks
So, today the Concert Choir (my meets-every-day, teaching-them-the-basics choir) played a joke on me.
A girl that I didn't know came into class, and a couple of the students told me she was a French exchange student and was going to sit in on class. The beginning of class tends to be total pandemonium, so I was like, "Fine, whatever, can someone make sure we have a chair?" And then I didn't think about it. So 20 minutes into class, she raises her hand and says, "Je mange?" And I said, "Um, you didn't have lunch yet? Who's she partnered with? Who's her host?" And someone raised their hand, but said they hadn't eaten lunch together, and the French exchange students just basically did whatever they wanted and went wherever they wanted. Which seemed strange, but I said, "Well, OK, this is second lunch, so I suppose you'd better go. Bye." And she left.
I proceeded to try and get on with rehearsal, but the whole class (it's 42 kids) was cracking up, and it was little pockets all over the class, not localized, and I was starting to wonder what I'd missed, and so I said, "OK, guys, what's so funny?" And it turned out that she wasn't an exchange student at all, but just someone's friend who wanted to sit in on chorus before she went to lunch. They told me she was an exchange student as a joke, and didn't expect me to believe it. One girl said, "Don't tell me you actually believed that awful French accent!" I have a feeling they are not going to let me live this down. I did tell them the story of two friends (twins) who swapped places in their college classes on April 1st and fooled their professors.
When I told my boss, the full-time choral director at the high school, she said, "Oh, they're playing tricks on you? That means they're starting to like you!" I'm not sure this makes an entirely huge amount of sense from where I'm sitting but I can hope!
A girl that I didn't know came into class, and a couple of the students told me she was a French exchange student and was going to sit in on class. The beginning of class tends to be total pandemonium, so I was like, "Fine, whatever, can someone make sure we have a chair?" And then I didn't think about it. So 20 minutes into class, she raises her hand and says, "Je mange?" And I said, "Um, you didn't have lunch yet? Who's she partnered with? Who's her host?" And someone raised their hand, but said they hadn't eaten lunch together, and the French exchange students just basically did whatever they wanted and went wherever they wanted. Which seemed strange, but I said, "Well, OK, this is second lunch, so I suppose you'd better go. Bye." And she left.
I proceeded to try and get on with rehearsal, but the whole class (it's 42 kids) was cracking up, and it was little pockets all over the class, not localized, and I was starting to wonder what I'd missed, and so I said, "OK, guys, what's so funny?" And it turned out that she wasn't an exchange student at all, but just someone's friend who wanted to sit in on chorus before she went to lunch. They told me she was an exchange student as a joke, and didn't expect me to believe it. One girl said, "Don't tell me you actually believed that awful French accent!" I have a feeling they are not going to let me live this down. I did tell them the story of two friends (twins) who swapped places in their college classes on April 1st and fooled their professors.
When I told my boss, the full-time choral director at the high school, she said, "Oh, they're playing tricks on you? That means they're starting to like you!" I'm not sure this makes an entirely huge amount of sense from where I'm sitting but I can hope!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
the law of blog procrastinating
It's been over a month since my last post. One problem with not updating regularly is that the more time goes by, the more I have to blog about. I have been putting off updating for weeks, partly by saying to myself, "Well, but if I update, I can't possibly not talk about this, or that, or the other thing" but the longer I wait, the longer the list of "this, that, and the other thing" gets. So I will try to re-enter into blogging in moderation, and not feel compelled to talk about everything all at once.
I have two part-time jobs now, one at Winchester High School as a part-time chorus teacher, and the other at the Boston Cecilia as their operations manager. Last week was the first week that I juggled both, and it was very busy! I'm also doing a good deal of singing. I'm most excited about Cappella Clausura and Schola Cantorum. (I could not find a webpage for the Schola Cantorum, but information about the group's director, Fred Jodry, is here.)
Schola Cantorum is a group I feel very lucky to be singing with. For those of you who heard the Westminster Kantorei, the group is very similar to that one, in size and repertoire and performance level. I highly, highly recommend coming to all concerts, and the first set is this weekend! Because I had committed to a recording gig for another choir before joining the group, I will not be at the first concert on Friday (ouch) but here is the information for all three concerts this weekend.
Friday, October 20
Saturday, October 21
Sunday, October 22
I have two part-time jobs now, one at Winchester High School as a part-time chorus teacher, and the other at the Boston Cecilia as their operations manager. Last week was the first week that I juggled both, and it was very busy! I'm also doing a good deal of singing. I'm most excited about Cappella Clausura and Schola Cantorum. (I could not find a webpage for the Schola Cantorum, but information about the group's director, Fred Jodry, is here.)
Schola Cantorum is a group I feel very lucky to be singing with. For those of you who heard the Westminster Kantorei, the group is very similar to that one, in size and repertoire and performance level. I highly, highly recommend coming to all concerts, and the first set is this weekend! Because I had committed to a recording gig for another choir before joining the group, I will not be at the first concert on Friday (ouch) but here is the information for all three concerts this weekend.
Friday, October 20
8:00 pm
Schola Cantorum (Jodry, dir):
Schütz Cantiones Sacrae, Schein,
Buxtehude, ancestors of JS Bach.
St Peter's Church,
320 Boston Post Rd, Weston MA.
401-274-5073 $20/15/8
Saturday, October 21
8:00 pm
Schola Cantorum (Jodry, dir):
Schütz Cantiones Sacrae, Schein,
Buxtehude, ancrestors of JS Bach.
St Paul's Church, Pawtucket RI.
401-274-5073 $20/15/8
Sunday, October 22
3:00 pm
Schola Cantorum (Jodry, dir):
Schütz Cantiones Sacrae, Schein,
Buxtehude, ancestors of JS Bach.
Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Church,
15 Newbury St, Boston.
401-274-5073 $20/15/8
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