February's Noteworthy's

In my February post, I began by saying how January was blah blah blah busy yet I was still unable to motivate myself to write something up and post it.  Now that February has come and gone, I have failed again to write about my teaching life.  I'm the worst.  I am going to try to sum up the whole of February in this sitting because once I stop, who knows when I’ll write again? I must try not to become too long-winded yet still recall the important events that happened.  I’m referring to these as the Noteworthy’s.  

- A teary ISSMA Solo and Ensemble

- Famous Americans Day

- Angry Parent Conference, an annoyed outline
- A Reflection on Valentine's Days past

- Snow Day woot!

- The Cancer Graduation

ISSMA Solo and Ensemble was held at our very own Ninth Grade Center building.  The facilities were great for it and everything went smoothly minus one saxophone judge who ran over an hour and a half behind, holding up every teacher who had a saxophone student playing a Group I solo.  Oh and also ISSMA shorted us about 200 Gold solo medals, so our poor parent volunteer had to tell students that they didn't get their medal today, they had to wait until next week when ISSMA would ship it to their school.  I can't imagine there were many happy parents at her table.  My kiddos all got gold’s, yay!  I cried during my honor's orchestra performance.  I just couldn't hold it in; they did exactly what I taught them to do and without me up there yelling directions at them!  It made me very proud.  Of course they all reacted appropriately awkward and cute toward my crying: kind of nudging each other and pointing and grinning sheepishly.  All the girls gave me hugs.  The boys lingered, shuffling their over-large feet, not knowing what to do.  A few made dumb jokes.  Their reactions just made me cry more!  I love those goobers!  And that is why I don't let myself cry in front of people: I can't make it stop.  I had to sit in the library and soak up several Panera napkins while I composed myself and soggy-ed my sandwich bread.  "You got me on the crescendo! " I said to them later.  Consequently their dynamics have rocked lately.  I think they are all secretly hoping they'll make me cry again.  I said not to count on it.  

"Famous American's Day" = the new name for President's Day.  What the what?  I decided on my day off I would boycott that decision and only reflect upon our Presidents, no other famous Americans.  Actually I read an US Weekly and got a pedicure, soooooo...

Angry Parent Conference was fine.  My general take-away: annoyance.  Here's the summary, as it is with most angry parents who request a conference: Student gets F.  Parent contacts Teacher with a condescending e-mail.  Teacher calmly explains why Student is getting F and explains what Student can do to raise grade.  Parent is not satisfied because Heaven forbid their baby is earning that F, and requests meeting with Teacher, Student, both Parents, and Counselor.  Meeting date gets pushed back further and further because of schedules of all 5 parties.  3 weeks later, Parent is 7 minutes late to meeting, Sudent has a C at this point, but every finally sits down at a conference table.  Angry Parent talks for 20 minutes.  Teacher listens and nods understandingly.  Student sulks in corner.  Teacher calmly explains again why Student has the grade she has and explains what she can do to bring it up.  Parent skeptically nods and "mm-hmm"'s while writing down information Teacher is giving (which is, coincidentally, the exact same information Teacher e-mailed Parent 3 weeks ago.)  Parent requests all sort of extra information via e-mail.  Parent requests daily updates on her daughter's progress.  Parent drops one last condescending comment about how teacher's class, "Is not like English or science or Calculus or anything..."  Teacher smiles and nods understandingly, comments on the potential of Student, shakes Parents' hands.  Counselor does nothing.  Everyone leaves.  Teacher rolls eyes.

Valentine's Day is way bigger in middle school than I remembered.  I had two different girls carry into AIM over sized stuffed animals.  There were a variety of roses and gift bags exchanged as well.  Everyone was giddy and giggly and annoying and just a little bit cute.  It made me remember my first Valentine's Day with my current husband.  We were in 7th grade and went to the dance together.  I wore a navy blue dress.  He bought me a generic wrist corsage from the drug store.  He brought his twin brother I brought my best friend, who his brother had a crush on but who decidedly did NOT have a reciprocating crush and in fact I think gave him a polite yet quick handshake at the end of the night.  She may or may not have also patted him on the head at some point during the dance- she was like 6 inches taller than him.  Poor guy... My husband and I's second Valentine's Day was when we were in 8th grade.  I don't know if there was a dance that year or not.  I bought him these awful black silk boxers with lips and hearts all over them and also a rotating light-up disco ball on a stand.  Don't ask me why.  Probably so we could make out with the lights off but still be able to  have a seizure, I don't know.  He wrote me the most beautiful love notes and poems.  I couldn't even read through them all the way without taking a break to giggle or blush.  I still have them in a shoe box somewhere.  I wonder if I could get through them even now...  Anyway, thinking back at my own middle school Valentine's Days made me a little more empathetic toward my little goobers' over-the-top reactions and emotions.  I roll my eyes and I want to just tell them to wait until their older, but then again, I didn't.   

We finally got a snow day, woo-hoo!  It was the most unnecessary snow day I’ve ever experienced, but I’ll take it.  And we have two days built into our year already, so we don’t have to make the day up!  Unfortunately I had already woken up, done my Bible study, taken the dog out, dressed, and done my hair and make-up before I realized I didn’t have school.  My husband actually caught it for me on the news, or else I would have hopped in the car and gone to school!  He took the morning off and we got pancakes.  It was fun.

Today reinforced my certainty that God guided me to the right place to teach.  (To be honest, today is technically the first weekend in March, but I’m logging it as a February memory for convenience.) Abby, a senior violinist in our high school orchestra, had her very own formal graduation today.  Me and the other orchestra ladies and three high school students played as a small ensemble for her prelude, postlude, processional, and recessional music.  I have to admit, I was a little more than begrudging to be there on a Saturday morning, but I’m glad I was able to appreciate firsthand just how special our community it.  Abby’s mom had been diagnosed with terminal cancer over a couple years ago.  I don’t know Abby very well and I don’t know her mom at all.  What I have heard is that Abby’s mom was one of the most involved orchestra moms we’ve ever had, even as she was fighting cancer.  Last week the doctors gave her a week, at the most, to live.  So the district pulled together to throw Abby a formal graduation so her mom could watch her turn her tassel.  The superintendent spoke, members of the school board were there to award her her diploma, her high school principal spoke, her middle school and elementary principals were there clicking pictures right and left, the counselors printed formal programs, several orchestra students showed up to watch and take pictures with her (I think more came to her reception later in the afternoon, but I wasn’t there so I don’t know) and there I sat in the back of the auditorium, just amazed at the generosity and sacrifices everyone made for one student.

Despite the depressing gray weather outside, February has been a month full of growth.  I’m growing as a teacher, my students are all growing as mini musicians, and we’re all growing closer together as a happy orchestra family.  Imagine what spring will bring…!