Before I jumped into this first teaching post of the year I must highlight some up and coming events.
A) Spice Girls Concert January 22
B) Trip to Paris in February 14-17
C) Trip to Rome March 28-31
What a kick ass start to 2008 eh??? I'm pretty stoked. After the Christmas hump - I know I can make it to summer holidays :D
All right so a couple buzz words (or sayings) have rung through my head ever since I left University and recently they've totally started making sense. So much of Uni was hear say or just something to 'memorize' but these little gems have finally been internalized and make a hell of a lot of sense in the practical world.
First off - a great professor said - It must be physical before it can be musical. This could seriously be the thesis for music instruction because it leads so easily into everything I teach. It especially links abstract ideas to concrete practice and helps kids develop musical sense.THAAAAANKS Dave!
Second - I remember learning organization skills throughout formal education and from extracurricular involvements but recently it totally occurred to me how crucial it is to be organized to be an effective teacher. As I dragged my ass all last year I became more exhausted in a vicious circle that left me feeling pretty crappy about my job. Three simple words "do it now" have turned things around. Organization is contagious and after my Units and assessment tasks are planned out ahead of time - day to day teaching can leave me feeling energized. Each lesson can be put into context and I can see where I'm going each week, month and term. Also I no longer have piles of things to do later around my desk - a major stress relief compared to 2007. Little tasks can pile up and turn into demotivating big tasks when left to fester: trust me!!
Finally - I'm not sure why this stuck in my head but Dr.King once told a group of us that 3rd year teaching is one of the best years of our Careers because you've survived the bumps and bruises of starting off - and you're still naive enough to think you've found the perfect balance to teaching. After that, apparently, we're suppose to humble to the notion that there's so much more we can do with our teaching practices that the confidence buzz wares off going into the 4th and 5th year. I can see my self feeling really confident in the next year because I can start to recycle my Unit lessons and cut down on the Macro planning - I mean every year things will need to be tweaked and each class/student brings a whole new challenge but I do look forward to having things in place and not spend my term breaks writing the next Unit plan.
I guess University's about making a blue print to fall back on when you're stuck in the real world. I do feel well rounded when I approach teaching dilemmas - sometimes I'm not in the right mind frame to resolve conflict but a comforting discussion with a colleague gets me back on track. I just wonder if I’ll be eating my own words about "Never going back for my masters...."
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3 comments:
Yaaaaaaay Paris trip!!! ;)
Good insight on everything else, too. :P
You know what? I friggen miss you.
Umm...so whatcha doing in August? Will you be here or there?
Love,
Jaymi
Its funny what each of us remember from our years at UVIC. I would NEVER have remembered that "physical over musical" one.. nor do I still really "get" that.. care to elaborate? ;) but the third year teaching thing I'd totally forgotten about.. I've heard that also (perhaps I was there when Dr. King was discussing it). I can see how that would be true. Every year that is a "new" year (for me for example, new contracts and new classes).. is as you said.. major unit prep for each and every course. Past a point.. you stop making up sheets and already have a general idea of lessons you want to teach during the year.. even in a performance based program. Thanks for your reflection.. it was good for me to read!
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