School Days

Here's my school schedule. Included is what I've been doing, big ideas, small ideas, and probably some bad ideas. Let's get started.

First, school here is from 9-3. For someone used to attending school from 7:35-3:10, I thought this was going to a breeze. Honestly, the hours are great. On of the best parts of being a teacher. There are 6 periods. Tuesday through Thursday are Block days so there are only 4 periods. It's kinda nice, but it makes you really plan. If I forget something, I might not be able to make it up for a few days. There is no prep during the day. I am expected to be at school at 8 and do school related activities till 9. I thought I was going to like that alot more than I am. I do get a lot done in that hour, but often I have no time to reset during the day for elementary or junior high. It's not a big deal, but it means more clean-up at the end of the day. I am expected to stay at school till about 3:30.

MONDAY
8-9: Prep!
Period 1: HS Music -
This class is 16 students strong and has the potential to be a very good band. They are just young and have suffered from having a billion music directors in their time. We spend quite a bit of time on fundamental stuff and learning the same musical language. Lots of scale work and chorales. I also have to teach choir in this class. I figured getting band up and running would take the most time so I started with that and hope to start getting choir going more and more. We are going to sing the SSB for the "Homecoming Volleyball Game" this week. Ought to be exciting. Due to the fact I lose 7 of my students to volleyball, pep band isn't a possibility yet. So, we started a drumline. It is mostly improv so far, but we have had a few rehearsals to have clean endings and beginnings and to learn to follow my cowbell conducting. It has gone extremely well. The students and crowd love it. We've been doing some fundraising by doing a 50/50 raffle at the volleyball games. We are hoping to start a morning cafe from 8-9 selling coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fruit, yogurt, and muffins. Ideally, it will just turn into a constant money-making machine. This year I am hoping for my students to have success at solo/ensemble and at large band festival. Also, I want to get to Anchorage to see the symphony and maybe to some other cool things in the area. I'm going to try to talk to some of the Freshmen about starting to plan a big trip when they are seniors. Like to Disneyland or something. Our first concert is Tuesday, October 26.

Period 2: HS Theater
This is the only class I am not highly qualified to teach, but it is also the one I am usually most excited to teach each day. For the first few weeks, we've been working on three very basic fundamentals of acting: Trust, Relaxation, and Exuberance. Getting these 9 students out of their comfort zones just a bit has been a blast. We are now working on analyzing Goals vs. Obstacles of characters as well as adding Others, Tactics, and Expectations. Once these basic principles are down, we will start with some basic scenes and proceed from there. My goal is to do a 1-Act Festival the first weekend in December (2 to 3 one-act plays with some monologues and/or improv games in between). Then we can try a larger production up to spring break and finish the year with acting in other medias (movies, tv, etc...) and improv. I'm so excited. I'm taking these kids to see Pride and Prejudice (the play!) in Wasilla this next Sunday. I'm not necessarily excited to see that particular production, but the kids are excited and Falon and Sabryna said they'd make Puppy Chow...so it should be good. Also, in two weeks we are performing Fire Safety skits we wrote for the elementary's in the district. The principal is helping chaperone so I hope things go well!

Period 3: JH Music
Another combined band/choir class. This one has taken a little longer to get the 15 kids all set to play band stuff. Also, there are a few kids brand-new to music so I have to catch them up. It's hard teaching so many skill levels in one class. On the one end, I have students making their first sounds and on the other I have students taking private lessons and performing in the community. It's rough. We're moving fast though. My plan is to cruise through their beginning band book as fast as we can until we reach something challenging for all and then give extra help to those it might be extra challenging for. We've started singing a few songs too, but they are kinda rambunctious. It'll all come together and now that I've started to collect practice charts I'm hoping to see (and hear) real improvements.

Early Afternoon: 5th Grade
These kids are on beginning band. We will do that for most of the year, but I also do want to sing with them since there are quite a few great songs out there most kids should know! I might have them write an opera later on. These kids are SUPER excited to be doing band. They take their instruments home, ask questions, listen when I talk, etc...It is great!

Later: 6th Grade
The issue with this class is that this year, one of the elementaries cut 6th grade and so all of the would-be 6th graders at Copper Center, now come up to Glennallen. Therefore, I again have students in their second year of playing instruments and some making their first sounds. Also, many of the families from Copper Center do not seem to be all that supportive of music and are slow/struggling to get their kids instruments. I wish I had enough to hand out to everyone, but I just don't. The class has a crew of boys that all try to out-do each other on the class-clown-o-meter. That or they all have ADD or ADHD or iCAN'TStandStilliosys. It sucks. Most of the boys just sit in the back and pretend to sing. I think for the concert I am going to have them sing a song. Just them. I'll let them pick it out and everything. We'll see how that goes. Since they can't seem to all get instruments, it's going to be a choral-heavy class. Which means those who choose to do music next year (when it is an elective) will be a year behind where they ought to be. Maybe I just need to make some phone calls home?

That's it for Monday! This schedule repeats on Fridays. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are spent 45 miles south of town at Kenny Lake. Wednesday afternoons are spent with K-4. I am still trying to solidify an elementary curriculum. 4th grade is going to do some musical science experiments and then get into some handbells and recorders. 3rd grade is going to try and work out a distance project with Emily Strazzinski. K-2 will just have fun I think. Learn a lot of basic songs and explore music.

Now on to Kenny Lake!

Tuesdays 1:00-1:40: 4th-6th Band
Talk about a spread in abilities. I have so many ideas of how to run this class next year. It will mainly involve spending a week in Kenny Lake doing music lessons for incoming 4th graders on their instrument so they know how to work it, how to practice, and can make some basic sounds before coming to school on Day 1. Also, I am going to find a place for the 6th graders to practice and play something on their own so they are not bored to tears with the review. Last Thursday, most students were able to play their first 5 notes on their horns. That was success for most of the students but I feel I have wasted a month of music for the 6th graders. I'll get it all figured out. I don't have to worry about choir here because a lady volunteers her time Wednesday afternoons to sing with them.

1:40-2:20: 7th-12th Band
This really isn't as big of an issue as it may seem. For the most part, I can put the junior high students on the lower parts and they are fine. The trickiest part about this is the fact that we have only one brass player, a baritone. Besides that there are 6 flutes, some clarinets, 2 saxes, an oboe, a bass, and I've got the violin player (that's right, a violin) playing the trumpet part. I'm hoping to find/have money to purchase some woodwind quintet or sextet stuff and then just adapt it for what we are doing. These students are absolutely awesome. They are so well-supported by their families and all seem to really love music. I love teaching there.

2:20-3:00: 7th-12th Band
This is almost the same class. I lose a flute and a sax player, but gain 4 boys and switch to choir. They are pretty good about picking up music quickly. I was inspired by a recent performance of the African Children's Choir in Kenny Lake to do an African-style theme for their concert. We'll start with some songs actually in African and show the progression of African music to America and gospel and soul and such. It has potential. I really do like teaching there. I wish I could do it more. Or feel closer to those students.

So, that's what I do each and every day. More on ambitions and stuff to come. Got "Homecoming" this week and I am chaperoning the dance Friday night...lucky me! Should be fun!

Let me know how you like your music team!

Summer Honorable Mentions Playlist

So normally, I try to divide up the tracks in the Honorable Mentions in some clever way, but I just couldn't think of something good this time. So, they are split up alphabetically to fit the most music on each CD.

Here's what I was listening to this summer:

Summer Honorable Mentions: A-K
1. Baths - Aminals
2. Los Campesinos! - A Heat Rash In The Shape Of The Show Me State
3. Elsinore - Chemicals
4. Airship - Algebra
5. Doppelganger - Breaks My Head
6. The Black Keys - Chop and Change
7. The Dead Weather - Die By The Drop
8. Bicycle Voice - Freshman
9. I Am Oak - On Trees And Birds And Fire
10. The Avery Set - Hello Georgia
11. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground - Country Home
12. Jukebox The Ghost - Empire
13. Cancel The Astronauts - I Love Somebody
14. Keane Ft. K'naan - Stop For A Minute
15. Herzog - Paul Blart And The Death Of Art
16. Jack Johnson - You And Your Heart
17. Goldfrapp - Alive
18. Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends
19. Cats On Fire - Something Happened
20. Bombay Bicycle Club - Ivy & Gold
21. Colonies - Morning
22. The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves

Zach's Notes
1. Read the name of this song again. The spelling IS correct
2. The best part of Missouri is it's nickname
6. One of the best albums of 2010...I'm calling it
9. Great beat plus banjo equals awesome - also...probably the best picture I could find of the weirdo...
14. Time for Keane to try to strike it big!
15. Great social commentary on the state of the silver screen these days
16. He's gone ELECTRIC
18. This is an LCD Soundsystem cover and I like this version better...sorry Nick...I just can't get into LCD...I'm trying!
20. Such good harmonies
22. Great and sprawling single!

Summer Honorable Mentions: L-Z
1. Tokyo Police Club - Gone
2. White Boyz Can't Funk - Sally
3. We Are Scientists - I Don't Bite
4. Stornoway - Watching Birds
5. Rickolus - Kid
6. Wilco - You Never Know
7. Maps & Atlases - Israeli Caves
8. Lissie - Pursuit of Happiness
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dull Life
10. Two Door Cinema Club - Costume Party
11. Ratatat - Bare Feast
12. Rah Rah - Arrows
13. Mystery Jets - Flash A Hungry Smile
14. Thao - Cool Yourself
15. Tennis - Marathon
16. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Say No To Love
17. The Temper Trap - Love Lost
18. Regina Spektor - No Surprises
19. The Morning Benders - Stitches (Yours Truly Session)
20. Nina Nastasia - Cry, Cry, Baby
21. J. Tillman - Three Sisters

Zach's Notes
2. But they sure can rock out
3. Love these guys
4. This song took a few listenings, but it definitely got stuck in my head
7. It's just so good!
8. A Kid Cudi cover...I would prefer to listen to either. She has such passion in her voice.
11. Electro-pop without vocals...it's kinda the place indie is headed...not sure if I'm ready for it
12. Very catchy
15. Their band name is an entire sport!
17. I'm really not sure why this song is on the HMs. I haven't been able to listen to another song all week. You should look this video up and then listen to all their other songs, especially Sweet Disposition. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Record-Setting

Hey Team!

Today, I set my record for most mailings in one time. It's a good thing the Glennallen Post Office isn't a busy place. 47 packages went out in the mail today. CDs went out to friends and family in 9 states and 2 foreign countries! What can I say? I'm good at what I do! I thought since I was starting fresh up here, I'd also give my loyal listeners a chance to start fresh as well. Many of you are receiving the 4-Disc Special: July, August, and the Summer Honorable Mentions. The Honorable Mentions are a seasonal 2-disc effort comprised of tracks that it broke my heart to cut from the regular month playlist.

If you believe yourself to be a possible recipient of a CD and have not gotten one in 2 weeks from today, please let me know and I will attempt to rectify this situation.

Anyway, here's how the game is played. I have made time and spent money and energy in an effort to keep up with you, the listener/reader, in a tangible and concrete way (i.e. not Facebook). If you do the same for me, I'll continue to keep this up and you will receive what I declare to be the best new music of each month. All I ask is for the occasional phone call, text, personal e-mail, postcard, reply on my blog, letter, CD, or really anything else that lets me know how you are doing. Also, if you "follow" me on this blog, I will mark you down as a life-time receiver of music. Now that's a great deal!

Communications can be sent to: P.O. Box 375 Glennallen, AK 99588

Unfortunately, I will not have the time, money, or energy to keep up with that frantic of a pace of CDs each month. So, I will have to be serious about only sending CDs to those who follow the rules. I love new music and I love sharing my music. I WANT to share music and life stories with you. Don't make me cut you out!

School has been going very well. I am settling into the job and believe to be setting some great goals for my students and myself. I get the most excited teaching theater, choir at Kenny Lake, and HS band at Glennallen. I promise I will post more life experiences shortly, but I would like to sleep soon and want to post the Honorable Mention playlists tonight yet. As I am in Day 1 of a 4-Day weekend, I ought to have time to update. I will make sure of it!

none forgotten

Just so you're not worried, I haven't forgotten about any of my readers or those thirsty for new music. It''s been a very busy time for me. I am taking a personal day to the Alaska State Fair tomorrow and will be finishing up CDs this weekend to be mailed Tuesday. I will also post school updates, the Summer Honorables playlists and hopefully posting some pictures. Happy Labor Day everyone! Put your whites away and bust out the grill!

August 2010 Playlist

Hey Team! Even with school taking up nearly all of my time and energy, I have managed to complete 3 mixes! August is rather mellow. For the Summer Honorable Mentions, I took the easy way out and divided the bands alphabetically. One turned out pretty upbeat and one is kinda down. Maybe this is a sign of the early fall to come (for me at least). I hope to have the CDs out in the next couple of days, but I have no idea what Alaska mail is like. Please let me know if and when you have gotten a CD.

Here's what I was listening to in August:

1. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Banned (By The Man)
2. Cults - Oh My God
3. Oh No! Yoko - 90s Kids (Teen Daze Remix)
4. unouomedude - Dream House
5. IDRchitecture - (Sign of the Fish)
6. Collapse Under The Empire - Grade Separation
7. The Dead Weather - The Difference Between Us
8. Make Me! - Matters
9. Sky Larkin - A.T.M.
10. Frontier Ruckus - Nerves of the Nightmind
11. The Farewell Circuit - I Am A Ghost
12. Night Driving In Small Towns - February
13. Bird Talk - Crazy Mad
14. Modern Skirts - Rebecca St. Claire
15. Admiral Fallow - Squealing Pigs
16. Balthazar - Blood Like Wine
17. Owen - Abandoned Bridges
18. Yu(c)k - Daughter
19. Ra Ra Riot - Keep it Quiet (Bear)
20. Nathan Edwin - January 2 (tanto)

Zach's Notes:
1. The critics say this band plays it safe and doesn't do anything exciting, but I still like their music quite a bit.
2. Oh My God, I love this song right now. Probably my favorite!
3. I always died of cholera...stupid cholera - you'll have to listen to the song to understand...
6. A rare non-lyricized song
7. It's taken me awhile to find one of these I truly liked, but I found one
8. A nice punk song
11. I wonder if it is Casper or a Scooby-Doo ghost
12. Again, I'm such a sucker for guys and girls singing in octaves
14. And kids singing...I'm a sucker for those too.
16. Probably the best song I've heard from the vampire thing that's going on right now...
17. Owen gets me everytime.
18. Weird name.
19. Weird parenthesis after the song.
20. See above...

School is going great and I will post an update on that tomorrow. I promise. I actually have a few things to go over so I am ready for tomorrow yet tonight! Keep checking the blog and your mailboxes!

Career

So my career as a teacher has officially begun. Farewell childhood! Welcome adultdom! Gah! When did this happen?!?!

Last Saturday was the first truly beautiful summer day in Alaska since I have been up here. Lucky for me, there was a fair in Kenny Lake (one of the towns I will be teaching in). My teacher neighbor, John, and his wife and kid, Nora and Melanie (respectively) came along with me to the fair. Nora and Melanie did little kid stuff (she is 14 months old) with other moms and new children while John and I scoured the fair for people of interest to introduce me to. I was able to shake plenty of hands and then immediately forget names, but I still think it was valuable. It got to be pretty hot at the fairgrounds and I was looking forward to finding a beer stand and sitting outside in beautiful Alaska listening to a mediocre rock cover band. However, there was no beer to be found. I settled for an indian taco and a soda. From the crafts stands, I bought some Fireweed jelly, which I've been told is delicious, and found some sweet "I Buy Alaska Grown" stickers. That night John and Nora invited me over for Caribou tacos (just a Mexican food day!). I was so nice to sit and be with nice people for a while. They have the sweetest German Shepherd and Melanie and I played keyboard.

Sunday was just as gorgeous so I biked out South of town to some nice overlooks and finally got some good pictures of the Wrangell Mountains. I biked down some amazing hills (and up eventually) and played in some really swift rivers. I love the availability of water here. It's definitely something I missed in Colorado.

On Monday, I forced my way into the school and started the process of getting ready for school. I literally just paced around my area opening all sorts of cupboards and cabinets trying to get a feel for all the STUFF I have and where the most efficient place to put all of this STUFF is. I settled on using 3 of my 4 practice rooms as actual practice rooms and one as an electronic storage so I could keep the expensive equipment under close eye and lock and key. The room itself is pretty large and has okay acoustics. It's in pretty good shape and even has a Promethean board in it. I guess it is like a SmartBoard.

I also got a grand tour of the auditorium. There are lots of opportunities for us to put on amazing productions and have lots of good learning lessons in there. The trick is for me to learn just a little more than the students know before school starts...

By the end of the day, I felt confident that if school started the next day, I would be able to teach in the environment I had set up. I have been slowly organizing my office and other storage areas between and after inservices.

My stuff also came Monday night. John, Chad (another teacher), and Solomone (a junior) came to help out. The trucker paid them all for their services. We basically just threw everything in the apartment. It was a disaster area in here. However, I was resolved to at least set up my bed so I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor again. Thus, that is what I did. And that's ALL I did.

Tuesday morning began New Teacher Orientation. There are 4 of us new to the district. Suzie teaches Special Education at the Glennallen HS. Barbara teaches K-1 at Kenny Lake. Denae teaches Kindergarten at Glennallen Elementary. And me. The morning was spent watching mandatory videos. The afternoon was spent meeting EVERYONE else in the district office: technology, business office, etc...The stat that stuck out to me the most was the fact that our district is the size of the state of Ohio. I am the ONLY music teacher.

That night I worked on getting a functional kitchen and living room. This place was starting to feel like home.

Yesterday was rough. The morning was spent listening to "State of the District" discussions from the superintendent and a pep-up speech of sorts from some lady from Virginia. In the afternoon, we broke into our different school sites. At the Glennallen meeting, we discussed how to utilize a common set of rules across the K-12 campus. We would obviously alter the language depending on age, but the basic set of rules would be the same. Our new principal is big on consistency in behavioral expectations.

Afterward I was completely drained of all energy. Also, I was stuck behind bureaucratic red-tape. I can't write my syllabus till I get a school calendar so I can plan dates and activities. I can't write my lesson plans till I get a class list. I can't work on organizing the auditorium until I get keys for it. It was just a bang-your-head-against-the-wall afternoon. On top of it, I was informed that every Friday, instead of teaching my junior high students music, I will have to teach them Physical Education. No kidding. I am also a gym teacher... It could be a nice release at the end of the week, but I am going to have a heck of a time preparing for my classes as it is. Ugh!

Somehow, I went back to school later that night and cleaned up the August playlist while organizing some more stuff. I am ready for Saturday! Oh, Saturday! I haven't told you about that yet. I have invited students signed up for music to come in on Saturday to help me organize/decorate/eat pizza/set goals/hang out. All the students I have talked to sound really excited. So, I decided where I want everything to go, found paints and tape and old magazines, and am ready to go!

Today's inservice was at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Headquarters. It was mostly spent touring the facilities and learning about how we can better incorporate Ahtna (the local tribe's) values and traditions into school. It got a little tedious at the end, but it was rather interesting. Also, the gave us $15 to spend at the visitor center store. So, I now own a sweet topographic map of the park, some stickers, a magnet, and a big bar of chocolate!

This evening I relaxed and had my first fantasy football draft while eating pizza and drinking beer. Ah! The good life! I've been cleaning up the apartment since. The TV and speakers work, my bedroom is clean (we'll see how long that lasts), and I have a box started of things I want to bring to school. I am feeling good, but tired. So, I'm going to head to bed. More updates and more pictures to come. Last day of inservice in the morning!

Hang It On The Wall

Hey Look! Pictures! Slowly, but surely, I have been posting some pictures from the past X amount of months. Yes, you will have to sign up for Snapfish to see them. No, it doesn't cost money. Yes, it is a pretty decent site if you like having hard copies of your photos. Please check them out if you are interested!