Here is it...My First Week as a Real Teacher!

Well, I wanted to post a day by day update for you all...but things got crazy busy. Imagine that, a first year teacher being busy...who'd a thunk it?

I'll try to sum up of my first 3 days with students. So much has happened, I'm sure I will leave things out and remember them later.

It starts Aug 19th, the day before students show up:
So students started on Wed. I had a TON of planning to do, so I didn't get to bed 'till around 11:30 - midnight. The College Inn sucks, but it is usually very quiet...on every night EXCEPT the one I need my sleep. The guy in the room next to me starts playing his "Contemporary Christian Gansta Rap" at about 11:45...LOUDLY!! He is not only listening to his rap, but he is joyously yelling his praises to God at the top of his lungs. BTW, the walls of the luxurious College Inn are paper thin, so yeah...I heard him. He finally goes to bed at around 1-ish and I fall right asleep. Do I get a good night's sleep after that? Of course not! My phone in the hotel room starts ringing at about 3:15 in the morning!!! Only one other person in the world knows what room I am staying in and that is the lady at the front desk (you know...the one who can't fix a deadbolt lock) and I was pretty sure this was not her, so I was confused why I was getting calls. Also, I have never heard a phone ring that loud before. Helen Keller could have heard that phone ring...and not only is she deaf, SHE IS DEAD!!!! I answer the phone and the voice mumbles, "is ??????? there?" I have no idea who he is looking for. He repeats himself, "is ?????? there?" I still cannot make out the name, but at this point I could at least comprehend the fact he was not asking for Bobb. I tell him he has the wrong number and hang up. I fall back asleep and what happens? THE PHONE RINGS AGAIN!!! It is the same guy asking if a different un-comprehend-able name was there. A you can guess..I am very happy at this point! I tell him no. He asks me who I am. I tell him I'm Bobb and he does not know me so stop calling. My alarm goes off at 6am and I get up to go to work. The school day went well. Students seemed to be too afraid of their new environment to act up the first day, so I had very few issues. My students seemed nice, but I could already tell I might have a few management issues with one of my bands. After school, I was exhausted. I got back to the hotel at about 6, and fell right asleep. I slept for 12 hours!!!!!

Day two:
...was pretty uneventful. I woke up around 6 and went to school. I am usually the first or second car in the lot every morning. It is nice that the days are still long enough up here so the sun is up! During the day, I handed instruments out to my ensembles. Not realizing how little time that actually takes, I was left with a lot of class with nothing planned! Not good!!!! Luckily, my first period are angels!! They recommended a fun name game. We played it, and life was good. Second period played the game as well...not as good. Much more "chit-chat." It was rough, but I never felt like I was unable get them back on track, so I chalked that up to another successful class. In Choir, we were already working on literature. It went fine. My last class went alright...not great, not horrible. The class is large and the name game got a little boring...but they dealt with it pretty well. I went home, planned, and went to bed.

Day three (today):
The day started well. I stopped at Micky D's for breakfast/coffee and got some things done before school in my office (that is so cool...I have an office!!!!) Friday's schedule is different, so I saw my Orchestra first. WOW was that a learning experience. We had instruments for the first time. Every student had something wrong...no book, broken string, instruments WAY out of tune, couldn't find a bow, etc. I also learned that 90% of my Orchestra has no idea how to tune their instrument....this is good to know. I also had violin players breaking strings because they accidentally grabbed a viola. They were trying to tune their E string, which on a viola is actually an A. The added tension of tuning the thicker string a fifth too high snapped them like dried out rubber bands. (ok...Mr Lockwood confession time...I also did this once today. With all of the craziness of everyone needing help right away, I made that very mistake and snapped a viola string...but at least I learned something from it) I spent 45 minutes of class going around the room tuning instruments. I have no problems helping students tune...I just need to find a more efficient method. I'll be making phone calls to my orchestra friends this weekend. We finally played one scale together, and class was done. I then had my first Band....same thing as orchestra. EVERYONE HAD SOMETHING WRONG!!!! I thought I could fix these issues since I am very comfortable in a band setting...but it was all problems like: no instrument, no reeds, broken ligature (the thing that holds a reed on)...etc. I couldn't fix the problems. We finally get things figured out and opened our warm-up books. We looked at the first exercise and I had at least two students yell out, "I do not know how to play any of these notes!"...this is also good to know. I had to hand feed notes and rhythms to a few students, which I actually have no problems doing if that is what is needed to get started...HOWEVER, during this time, I had a lot of students acting out because the rest of the class had nothing to do...which is not good for middle schoolers. There were more fun times when we practiced our fire drill. "Fire Drill" was misinterpreted as "I get to go outside and talk with my friends" time. This was the first moment I felt like I lost control...not a good feeling at all! However, class ended and I was still breathing, so I guess there is another small success to celebrate. I then had choir. Choir was wonderful! Today was a staff member's birthday so I took them down to the office to sing. It was so cute! After that, we went to the music room and I listened to some of the students sing one on one for voice placements. I was a little worried about this because I was in the practice room listening to individuals sing while everyone else was out in the classroom...but they were GREAT!! There is a window in the practice room, so I was able to keep half an eye on them as well. After choir, I had my second band. It was awesome!! They were helpful, understanding, and eager to learn! They asked some great questions and we made some music together! It was a wonderful end to a crazy day.

I am now writing this blog post from my NEW hotel!!!!!!! I checked out of The College Inn and I am now staying in the hotel section of the Wedgewood Resort. I move into the extended stay section tomorrow. It is beautiful here!!! I am very happy to be out of the College Inn...which SUCKED. Have you ever been woken up by a smell? I was this morning. I have no idea what it was, but I couldn't breath. It was AWFUL. Oh well. I am out of that place FOR-EV-ER!! (a little Sandlot reference for y'all)

This place is great! I have a kitchenette with a full sized fridge, a bathroom with a tub, two queen sized beds, a living room with couches and chairs, two TV's, and free internet. I like it =)

Alright, that about sums up my first couple of days. Things are tough, but I feel that it will get better - and it will get better soon. I am now at the stage where I have a basic idea of where my ensembles are and where they need to be. It is now my job as a teacher to get them to that next step.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I'll be posting more soon.

Rock on
~Mr. Lockwood