A Final Farewell to MIOSM

So this week is the final week of a fun-filled month of music! Each day since Spring Break, I have had classes vote to figure out who our "Mystery Staff Member" is for the day. I posted an envelope outside of my door (so I don't have a continuous stream of interruptions -- I was thinking ahead on that one!), and I put a new "Mystery Person" and their clues in the boxes of each teacher. It has been so awesome! All of my students have music on the brain!

I also took pictures of a few classes holding "THANK YOU" signs, with the headphones from our Listening Center to make it interesting, and had the pictures developed with a border and text that says: Thank you for supporting music in our schools! I'll be sending those out to my principal, administrators, and state reps. with some really great writing (what I called our MIOSM Statements) from 4th and 5th graders. A few really tapped into their young souls and I LOVED IT!!!

I love my school and I'm so happy to be a part of something so creative. Life is good.

New Room Wonders

There is only one day in the work week that people look forward to. Only one day until that sweet smell of the weekend. Only one day to put everything that has happened in the school week past us, and those final few hours take everything out of us that we can possibly come up with.

Yes, my friends... IT IS FRIDAY.

If you could already sense the sarcasm, you are well above average, folks. I love my Fridays, but my day also FLIES by with little to no time to think, much less get anything extra accomplished. I teach four kinder classes in the morning at one school, speed to the next school avoiding cops as much as possible (which, on average, takes 20 minutes, only to actually have 3-5 extra minutes to unlock my classroom door, turn on the computer, and get ready for every class of the day since there are no minutes in between transitioning...). So I run through the breezeway doors at my second school, only to teach 4th graders (began recorders this week...enough said), and finally finish through with three more kinder classes, two 1st grade classes, a final extra class of K-2 mixed (don't get me started), and a short, yet well-deserved, lunch break.

Either way, my day was not quite as smooth as usual. I actually loved getting back into our classroom this morning. My first school (I know, back to the beginning) has been under construction since December, and I have been teaching in a portable, sharing with two other classes that meet once a week. Not a problem. (And compared to our other classroom... it's HUGE!)

Well, we get back to the newly carpeted, newly painted, newly organized "old" classroom that we started the year in for the first time. And the kids come in LOVING the new look, find their seats on our cute rug, and BOOM! It hits. Sweet little P looks flushed. Sweet little P is about to vomit. We hadn't started singing or dancing, but within 5 minutes of being in our room, the carpet is "christened." I had moved the trash can right beside him, but the poor guy just can't make it.

Luckily, a teacher that shares the room with me does paperwork in there on Fridays, and was able to run to the office to tell them to buzz a janitor. (Our newly renovated rooms with the marker boards and bulletin boards that are backwards, also has no intercom. Awesome.) We got him all taken care of, and one of my favorites, D, escorted him to the office to be taken home. (No call was necessary, by the way. Poor P was the principal's kid.)

Back in the Classroom: After Spring Break Day 1

I knew as soon as I set my alarm last night that I'd have to have some sort of caffeine fix to get through today. Boy, was I right! I stopped by my new favorite place - Starbucks! - and got what seems to be my new favorite drink - Carmel Mocha w/ no whip. Yum!

All kidding aside, I probably started drink actual hot coffee at the beginning of this month. I've always liked the "frozen stuff" but, since everyone that seems to work there is uber-happy all the time, I once asked what they thought I'd like! Sure enough, that was it! I'm thinking by next year, I'll be on my way to drinking it plain.

Anyway, I was on the better side of the group of us that came back to school. Pretty sure that by mid-afternoon, most kids were slowing down and ready to crash into a quick nap. I'm sure the only thing that was keeping them going was that they were finally able to see all of their friends again! I, on the other hand, have been full of energy and made it out just fine. (Ask me on Friday and I may be singing another story...)

My students all started their Music in Our Schools Month Statements. I created a page for each grade level to complete during this week, and I'll post them throughout the school. I'm pretty pumped about them. Kindergarten did some easy things with a picture, but my 4th and 5th graders have a challenge ahead of them. They have to write a short paragraph with the topic "What would the world be like without music?" I think they'll be just fine, but I did have a student ask me in class today if we could send the good ones to the President. ABSOLUTELY! I have no idea how I would get it there, but if there's one that amazing, I'll sure make it happen! You betcha!

Story of the Day: 1st graders' MIOSM Statement is "My favorite song is ______________." I had the usuals, Twinkle, Twinkle and a few songs that we've been singing in class, but there's always a couple that completely blow me out of the water. Surprisingly, Justin Beiber only showed up on 2-3 papers. :) Among the popular choices:

1. I Gotta Feelin'

2. I Would Catch a Grenade For Ya

3. (my personal favorite) Apple Bottom Jeans

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

ABC's of ME!

Age: 25 - but not for much longer!

Bed size: Queen

Chore you dislike: mowing the lawn... yuck.

Dogs: LOVE them! Wrigley & Pete are treated like my kiddos.

Essential start to your day: cinnamon raison toast, but carmel mochas are climbing up the list quickly...

Favorite Color: Purple at the moment - but I tend to wear mostly black or gray.

Gold or Silver: Silver

Height: 5'6"

Instruments you play(ed): I was a vocal major in college, but I also play the piano and I'm learning the guitar (slowly) and, hopefully, the organ very soon!

Job title: Elementary Music Teacher

Kids: The topic has come up once or twice... but only the puggies so far!

Love life summed up in one word: lucky :)

Married or Single: Married

Nicknames: Jech or Linny

Overnight hospital stays: nope

Pet Peeves: People who don't clean up after themselves and yes, that includes my student and husband! I am the teacher/wife, not the maid, friends.

Quote from a movie: how about any line from Friends??

Righty or Lefty: Righty

Siblings: a younger sister and brother

Time you wake up: 6:15... and then I hit the snooze button twice, so I actually get our of my warm, comfy bed around 6:35. :)

Underwear: Yes. I wear them.

Vegetables you don't like: hmm... sometime eggplant (unless it's deep fried, of course) and tomatoes (which are technically a fruit)

What makes you run late: traffic or a long line at Starbucks

X-rays you've had: Does the dentist count? That's about as close as it gets.

Yummy food you make: sausage wontons... oh my yum!

Z..

Puggy Pups!

Ladybug Teacher Files is having a Link Party for Pets!

So I absolutely had to show off my sweet pugs!

Meet Wrigley...

She's my sweet baby girl that loves to play, is as nosy as it gets, and loves to cuddle! She has been in our family since she was 8 weeks old and is about to turn 3 next month!

The man of the house... Pete.

He's my mama's boy. :) We actually adopted him just over a year ago, and this summer he will already turn 4! This big guy loves to lay right up next to you (or on top of you if you try to leave) and cannot get enough love! He protects the ladies of the house, and has a sweet, laid-back personality.

Toast to YOU!

GREAT NEWS COMING YOUR WAY...

I've been having a great week with my students! Centers are taking off on the right track, 2nd graders are becoming masters at reading rhythms, and Music in Our Schools Month projects and fun times are a blast!

Now, if only the adults could get on board, all would be well! I guess as a music teacher, I am expected (by some) to know everything that changes within the schedule. Not only my schedule and changes that I have to make for programs and rehearsals, but consistently be in-the-know about theirs as well. Don't get me wrong, I've got some really amazing, fabulous teachers I work with that continue to amaze me day after day. Actually, the majority of people I work with are fantastic, but there's always that one person each year (so far) that cannot figure out that the world does not revolve around them and their four walls.

I had to have a quick vent on here because there is about to be a woman voted off of the educational island. (She's been voted off of my island for about 4 months now, but I have final say on that island... hehe.)

We have continued to quietly bump heads for quite some time. I do have a personal issue in the fact that I believe that people should enjoy their jobs, work hard, and be respectful of other people. Call me crazy! Teachers that continue to make excuses for themselves and why deadlines aren't met, let their 4th and 5th graders run-over young, sweet kinders on their way back to class (sans the teacher because she has yet to figure out that making copies is done during your planning time and before/after school and NOT while your students are racing back to class), take 20 minute bathroom breaks while really talking to other teachers and letting another rock star watch her class for a "few minutes," and, finally, refuses to let me know that her music schedule needs to be changed to due practice testing (even though I have asked her the past two days if I need to switch it).

ANYWAY, their 8:30 music time comes and goes without so much as a note or call, but yet still has the nerve to email me over an hour later to ask what time her kids are coming to music today?? Are you kidding me?!! This is why I have been bugging you for two days!

Well, I finally get a chance to reply to the email about an hour later (in a professional way, but also a way that she'll get the point... being nice means she'll just do it again... tried that) stating that I have no plan time on Fridays, and that I am already doubling-up my other 3rd and 4th grade classes. (Those teachers had it together, which is why I heart them!) I don't think that it is in any students' interest to combine her older kids with kinders or firsties, which is who I teach the rest of the afternoon, nor is it polite to screw up another teacher's schedule with such short notice!

She replies back with no apology whatsoever and has the nerve to say "FIRST OF ALL, I didn't know about this change until yesterday, and of course, I forgot to tell you at the meeting." Uhh...yeah, you did! The rude manner makes me not want to work with her in the least, but I still feel so sorry for her students. I've got to act my butt off around her for her kiddos, but I believe they deserve better.

However, this made me laugh... About 11:00, she sends a student down to ask if I've gotten her first email. No joke. I had to tell the student to ask her teacher to check her email and that I'd replied over 30 minutes ago. (Does she have any sense at all??) Haha!

Well, I'm over it. I have some truly amazing friends, a wonderful family, a budding career that continues to get better, and a hubby who puts up with more venting sessions and stress than anyone should be asked to. He's a rock.

To all those teachers out there who are shining stars everyday. CHEERS!