Teaching Career Sought; Artistic Endeavour Found

It has come to my attention that a significant number of my colleagues are anxious to start their career.   My colleagues and I have just recently finished teaching for four months in a school in Saskatchewan, completing our internship as a part of the Arts Education program.  I’ve heard in the past that the last semester of university is a drag for post-interns.  I’ve heard this from returning students like myself, as well as actual teachers.  This is mainly due to the notion that once one has a taste of the job, they only want to go back and start doing it for a living.  These people seemingly “check out” of their last semester before it has even begun.  Although I can understand where these people are coming from, I find it somewhat peculiar that I don’t share this perspective or notion.  I am a 27-year old student, finishing my degree in arts education, and have very little desire to start my career straight away.  None of my colleagues are my age, save the few that have been accepted into the program as after-degree students, aptly named BEAD students (Bachelor of Education After Degree).  So why are a good majority of my colleagues so anxious to start their lives in the teaching world, when I feel like I am exactly where I’m supposed to be?

We have spent countless hours within our program reflecting on who we have become as individuals, and as pre-service teachers.  Reflection is necessary in our program because, at times, it helps us to develop awareness for thoughts, ideologies, and beliefs that may have gone unnoticed through the thick of our practical work.  Reflecting takes us back to where we were, and what we were thinking in the moment, but might not have realized.  Sometimes the process can be quite useful, as introspection is a powerful tool in discovering the true nature of ourselves.  Other times, one discovers nothing other than what they were already aware of, and the process becomes no more than journaling.

Through reflection, we have all been expected to be developing our “philosophy of teaching” over the years.  I believe this is a truly wonderful idea, for all of us to have a clear and distinct ideology for what is expected of ourselves, the objectives, and the workings of the profession.  However, I have always had an issue with the whole idea of creating a philosophy of teaching as a student.  Simply put, how can I have a philosophy of something that I’ve spent no more than a few months practicing?

On October 22, 2011, I wrote a blog post entitled Inspiring Individualism.  Within that blog post, I wrote the following:

“Help yourself so you know how to help your students.  I would love to construct an “educational philosophy” about my beliefs and ideals towards teaching, but in all honesty, I’d like to just construct a plain old philosophy about my beliefs and ideals towards life first.   SO, what I’m essentially getting at is, if one is void of inspiration, motivation, and all the like-terms, how does one expect to motivate others to learn, let alone learn about oneself, and truly inspire individualism?”¹

During this time, I was around the halfway point of my internship at a high school in Regina, SK.  I was teaching three to four classes a day all as a part of acquiring my bachelors degree.  There’s something about not getting paid a dime for a job you’re thinking of starting a career in.  Not only do you not get paid for a minute of it, you’re charged tuition for a full-time semester.  Needless to say, you find out if the profession is meant for you rather quickly.  I enjoyed my internship as a completely unique experience in my life, and reaffirmed that I belong in a high school educational setting.  I built some incredible professional relationships with other teachers and administrators, and founded bonds with multiple students.  Yet, at the end of the day I struggled in feeling ready to be paid for this kind of work.

Certain days of my internship would approach with a seeming lack of preparation, despite my neatly typed lesson plans that were, in themselves, part of a succinct unit plan.  Perhaps this was simply because I walked into nearly every lesson without prior knowledge or experience of running it.  I am personally now believing that it could be much more than nerves.  This goes back to my own quote I mentioned previously.

I have ideas towards my philosophy of education, but I have firmly believed that it should always be in adaptation.  On that note, my philosophy has largely been left unfinished.  I never thought that it made sense for me to complete such an ideology before I finished my program, let alone before putting my first couple years of teaching under my belt.  In 2008, I stated in an assignment that:

“A relationship between teaching and learning should be pure.  This means that integrity and authenticity should always be considered when building the relationship between a teacher and a student.  It is also in my belief that in order to grow and prosper as teacher, one must become a life-long learner.  Without the continuation of gaining knowledge, interest or desire in one’s career may very well diminish.”

This assignment asked us as students to construct our philosophy of education.  Among the other things that I had written back then, this is the only paragraph that I feel has stood the test of time.  The rest may as well be adapted, changed, or removed.  However, I felt this paragraph was important to mention specifically because of one thing: life-long learning.  This is a concept we learned early in our studies of education, and I believe it is also among the most important.  It is also a determining factor in why I feel I am not ready to pursue a career just yet.

It comes down to what I’ve been trained to teach, and my own experience in it all.  Music is my major, along with drama being my minor, and I am passionate about both, especially the former.  Music has been a staple in my life as long as I can remember, but perhaps not in the most traditional sense.  I listened to Loverboy, Billy Idol, and Twisted Sister on my Fisher Price record player at the age of 4. I collected CDs from an early age and am now sitting at the 400 mark. I was a band student for no more than a couple years before quitting to pick up the guitar.  I have continually played guitar for the last thirteen years, and have written and performed my own material in a number of bands, ranging from rock and pop-punk to post-hardcore.  It has lead my musical tastes and knowledge to be fairly broad.

However, I am now at an age where I have the capacity to build that knowledge and use it in a constructive process, in a professional and/or creative manner.  When my program finishes, there is every opportunity for myself to explore the potentials in the skills and knowledge I possess, artistically, educationally, and experientially.  I am convinced that, as a future educator, this is one of the most beneficial undertakings I could partake in.  As I mentioned earlier, there is that seeming lack of preparation that I had felt, and I believe it stems from the desire to further myself as an artistic being, as well as the desire to become the educator I have always thought was achievable.

I am interested in bringing a new foundation for music programs in high schools.  One that no longer concentrates on teaching students aspects of music that are not beneficial to them.  While I am aware that there is a major overhaul of the Saskatchewan curriculums currently in progress, perhaps re-writing the curriculum for Music or “Arts Education” is not the answer.  According to the Saskatchewan Curriculum website, the most up-to-date curriculum for a high school general music class can be found under “Arts Education 10, 20, 30” and was put into practice in September of 1996; over fifteen years ago.  To put this date into perspective, it was five years prior to the 1^st generation iPod being released to the public.²  Saskatchewan’s music curriculums are running on ideas that precede one of the most revolutionary audio inventions of our time.

Not to mention that, in our day and age, the music industry has become an increasingly complex market to navigate; one that is drastically different than that of which we saw in 1996.  This is due to a new generation of music distribution techniques, some of which are legal, others not so much, which has the music industry’s profits plummeting at significant rates.³

Perhaps the answer to an outdated curriculum lies in a new approach to music altogether.  I spent most of my university career waiting for that one class to be able to teach or show me where to find the resources I was looking for; the tools I needed so I could teach students exactly what I thought would be beneficial to them.  Funny enough, a class that pointed me in the right direction was classified as being through the Faculty of Fine Arts, and as a media studies class.  The subjects mentioned above are a glimpse of what I believe should be considered for a new generation of general music students.  How do I flesh out these ideas and turn them into projects and activities that are practical?  How can I create a new pathway for students in a subject that is deeply rooted in its early history and traditional methods?  These are some questions that I have asked myself.  Thus, this is why I believe it is important that I spend time to identify, research, develop, and fine tune the knowledge I need to thrive in my endeavours.  I also believe the same amount of effort is necessary for me artistically, as practicing something I teach should be of equal importance.  As a future educator, this is what I perceive life-long learning as, and how it should be approached by all educators.

Sources

http://jjpelletier.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/inspiring-individualism/

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2001/10/23Apple-Presents-iPod.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/technology/24music.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Full Circle.

Today is my second last day of internship. Tomorrow will be exactly as you remember your last day of school before Christmas holidays. Teachers putting on movies and letting students play games in class. I honestly thought I’d be more excited than this.

Last week, I was excited. I was jumping out of my seat with anticipation. I’d go home with butterflies in my stomach knowing the end was near, and this whole process would have a big checkmark next to it. This week, it feels bittersweet.

There have been a lot of experiences I’ve been a part of here that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’ve enjoyed them so much that I have decided to remain a part of some even after I leave. I mentioned in the past that I’d be co-coaching the improv team, and I’ll be doing that well into February. If our team wins, I’ll be coaching until April.

What happens now? Well, Christmas, and then back to uni. I’m registered in a number of classes that I’m fairly excited to take part in. One being “Psychology of Music.” I imagine this will be quite relevant to what I want to teach. I’ve found through word of mouth that most people aren’t particularly interested in going back to university after internship has finished. I can understand this, in that when you’ve had a taste of what your potential career consists of, you just want to be done with university. I think I’m partially excited to go back to school because I feel there is so much more I can still learn there. It makes me wonder if I’ll go back to get another degree (most likely in the arts), or upgrade to a masters of sorts. I know that is not in the cards right now, but perhaps somewhere down the line it will be.

You know that feeling you get when something is finished, and you’ve succeeded and now you can move on to the next thing in your life, whatever that may be? This usually happens to me at the end of every semester. It’s not happening right now. Maybe it’s too soon, maybe it’ll hit me this weekend when I’m ACTUALLY done. My conscience knows the importance of this ending, but for some reason I’m just not feeling it.

Yesterday I had this strange experience while I was teaching my grade 9 drama class. I was speaking to them regarding something and I suddenly became… (thoughtful pause) self-aware? I don’t know. I just became extremely conscious of what I was partaking in. Kinda like how I was the first day of school. After a couple weeks of teaching, it started to become second nature and I would just do it. It would just happen (with the help of a lesson plan every now and again). Yesterday, while I was teaching, my thoughts in my mind were precisely this: “Holy s***! These kids are listening to me! I am walking around this class guiding 20-some teeny-boppers through this class!” I’m glad I accidentally took the time to realize that before I finished. Thinking back on it, it felt like taking one last look at your bare house, stripped of everything that made it what it was, right before you move out of it forever.

I have some friends who were also going through their internship this semester. A few of them have expressed that they will become waterfalls on their last day. I think I’m going to do the exact opposite. I’m just going to laugh my a** off the entire time. Saying things like: “Can you believe THAT was your semester?” and “If they let us get away with this, what can’t we pull off!?” I mean this in the best way, of course. It’s not like we played 7-up and duck duck goose the entire time (although we did play this game called duck, duck, gutenberg which is basically the same game, except a full-contact version of it).

I want to mention in this post specifically that I am very thankful to those who took the time to read this blog. It definitely made it worthwhile knowing there were at least a few people tuning in to what I was doing. Some people expressed ideas that it would be extremely funny to be a fly-on-the-wall in my class. Hopefully this granted that wish somewhat. Also, I’d like to thank those who have supported me through this endeavour. I can’t begin to name all of you, but you definitely know who you are. I know it sounds cliché but I couldn’t have made it through this without the constant encouragement I’ve received from you all. I am forever grateful and have a new-found respect for everyone involved, on top of the respect I already have for you.

Well, this is it, I suppose. It’s been surreal. I’ll continue to post, however, my posts may not be as significant or worthwhile as some that I’ve done in recent memory.  Thanks again for stopping by!

Everything happens for a reason.

In an odd coincidence, I was asked a question regarding my reasoning for being a teacher twice on Tuesday.  I had a job interview (not for a teaching position) and one of the only questions I was asked was “so why did you decide to become a teacher?”  Later on that night, I was catching up with an old friend, and we started talking about my internship.  The same question popped up!  I found it rather peculiar that I answered the question twice.  The reason for me deciding to pursue a path in education has never changed.

I taught guitar lessons to students from ages 5-45 for about two years when I was living in Sherwood Park, AB.  This job came to me through a man who had started his own contracting company that dealt with music lessons.  He would get the calls from parents or potential students who were interested in lessons, and from there, he’d send out a selection of those people to me (as I was not the only contract teacher that he had).  In my first year, I had twenty students.  Most of the students that I taught had little to no experience.  At the time, I had thought teaching guitar was fairly easy and fun.  The job paid well, but was not full time as lessons were once a week for half an hour.  To fill in my extra hours, I picked up a job at Superstore.

Working at Superstore was an absolute joke.  The pay was terrible, the vast majority of the management were complete tools, and the work was mindless and excruciating.  I had three or four friends who worked in the same department that kept me on the edge of sanity, as I was clearly about to jump off it most of the time.  My shifts lasted around the 5-6 hour mark and they crawled by me at a snail’s pace.  It was misery.  To say the least, the last thing I wanted to do when I got home from such a shift was work another job.

Regardless, I didn’t have a choice.  I’d come home, and prepare for the 4-5 lessons I had to teach usually an hour after I got off work at Superstore.  I’d either get in my car or set up chairs and amps in my room, as certain lessons were taught out of the students’ homes, and some were taught in my room!  Pretty cozy work environment.  I started to realize that the environment I worked in played a significant role in the overall enjoyment of my job.  I also discovered that communicating with people was another aspect of working that I enjoyed, so long as that communication was constructive and/or positive.

My guitar teaching calendar ran on the same calendar as the kids’ school calendars.  Therefor I started up in September and finished mid-June.  During the finishing months of my lessons, I started to realize something profound: my students were learning. In the course of the year, I was literally witnessing the progress they had made as guitar players.  Some were playing along to their favourite green day songs on CD, while before, they couldn’t remember how to finger specific chords.  Some of the students had learned simplified versions of solos of AC/DC, and could play along in accompaniment, where before they had troubles picking the right strings.  I had specific students who could have been considered at the top of the class, had I taught all 20 at once.  They were playing songs with the skill level of a third or fourth year player.

In realizing that my students were learning, another light bulb illuminated!  Was I responsible for this progress?  Well no, not entirely.  Did I have a hand in it?  Absolutely.  I provided the students with the tools necessary to succeed, along with the encouragement that was due to them.  On top of that, I loved every single minute of it, even the minutes with the students that never practiced.  Thus, the energy I was bringing to the table became contagious.  My students loved it all the same as I did.  It became starkly clear that I had tapped into something I had never experienced before.  Kind of like the first time you’re conscious of the love you have for something or someone.  What I had tapped into was the notion that the reward of seeing my students succeed in their goals, and having a part in it, was more rewarding than getting paid to do it.  No matter how worn down I was by my mundane job at Superstore, I never had a bad day teaching guitar.  Never.

As I spoke with my friend on Tuesday, he said something to me that concerned him.  He wanted to know that I wasn’t one of those teachers that got into it because I felt it was the only thing I could get through in university.  I needed clarity.  What did he mean by this?  That education was among the simplest of programs in university?  No, he meant that he wanted to make sure I had my reasons lined up for why I chose education, as opposed to choosing by default because I wasn’t interested in anything else there.  I assured him this was not the case.  Not once did I choose to be in education simply because the other academic paths did not appeal to me.  Not only that, when I came to all those realizations of what teaching meant to me back in 2005-2006, I wondered why my own education couldn’t have been as exciting as this had proven to be.  I had so many teachers whose influence on me was more negative than positive.  Not one teacher that I had made me stand up and say: “What you do is incredible!  I want to do what you do for a living!”  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I had more teachers than I could count who made me want to say: “You blow at this, and I could do it much better than you.”  Now I’m not trying to boast, but I believe that if anyone cared enough to change something they saw being done wrong, they would.  It only makes sense that I should do this.  The fact that I love it and that I feel it’s a personal duty to the world around me act as motivators for one another, in that if I lose faith in one, the other picks up the slack.

In the end, I know why I’m here.  I’ve had doubts and second thoughts, but I believe that’s a part of the learning process in reaffirming that I’m on the right path.  This internship has been one of those reaffirmations.

Tying up loose ends.

Today I started my fourth last week of internship.  This is significant because I have cleared up my 3 week block, and have also finished working behind the scenes of The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood.  The play’s reception was pretty fantastic, all in all.  Enough to make my coop teacher shed a few tears as she gave the “go get ‘em” speech on the final performance night.  I believe we actually sold out the theatre on Friday as well.  Pretty crazy stuff.  A number of teachers have stopped me in the hall to say what a wonderful performance it was and such.  I’m not letting it get to my head too much as my contribution to the play was somewhat minor compared to others.  However, I was there for 2-3 hours solid almost every day of the week for two and a half months, so I guess that counts for something.  The kids even thanked me personally in front of the Friday night crowd with a card with a galaxy cinemas “night out” certificate, a couple chocolate bars, and a jumbo box of Vector cereal (there’s an inside joke to that one).  I was quite flattered, it was so thoughtful of everyone to do something like that.  Anyway, now I have all this time opening up.  What am I to do with it?

Grading.  Grading grading grading.

Seriously, it’s not that bad.  It’s actually quite humourous when a bottle of wine is in accompaniment.  I learned a valuable trick while I was in class though the last couple years: never assign anything you will not want to grade.  If it’s going to be boring as all hell to read or evaluate, don’t bother handing it out.  So that’s saved me a little.  I still have a fair amount of grading to do, but my grading involves reviewing improvised scenes between awkward grade nines.  Hilarious.

Speaking of, I did finally end up having a certain student who had previously requested a zero actually get up in front of the class and improvise.  SUCCESS!  Not to mention the fact that she performed spectacularly.  Blew me out of the water, really.  Now she’s off to visual art for six weeks.  Best of luck!

For all those interested, I’ve had a little bit of down time and wrote a review on a music site for an album called Still by Dionaea.  You can check out the review by clicking here.

Late penalties.

So I might have gotten carried away with my last post.  I still more or less concur with everything I wrote.  However, I think while I was writing, I somehow thought that I was already done my internship.  Today proved that is NOT the case.

I’ve had this running issue with students.  There is a significant problem with them handing assignments in at the school.  Moreover, the school has a “school-wide” policy regarding late assignments stating that kids lose 20% for being late 1 day, another 10% for the second day, and a final 10% on the third.  So if a student hands in an assignment 3 days late, they’re instantly losing 40%.  Which will almost instantly fail any assignment that isn’t near perfection.  After 3 days, students get a 0.

I have one student who is purposely skipping class so she doesn’t have to perform a final project for the improv unit we’ve been doing.  This is quite literally the equivalent of skipping class so one doesn’t have to write a final unit exam.  I can understand the notion of stage fright, because some of us are not as keen on public speaking as others. This particular student has already had me call her parents and talk to student services in an attempt to avoid the task of public speaking. To me, it seems like the all the effort she’s expending towards avoidance is far greater than the 90 seconds of effort that would be required to finish the assignment. If her energy could somehow be re-directed towards breaking through her fears, what progress she’d make!  It’s beyond frustrating when a student straight up asks me: “Can you just give me a zero?”

She’s not the only one I’ve seen skip class because of something that isn’t finished.  The worst part of it is the amount of class time that I give to students to complete these assignments.  It is extremely rare that I assign anything without giving the kids at least some class time, if not close to the entire week to work on it.  So when I have half the work not come in on the due date, I’m literally at a loss for what I can do.  My co-op says I shouldn’t take it personally, and I don’t.  However, I really don’t feel like I’m doing my job when I have students just pissing away the time I’m giving them, and on top of that, not getting the assignments in on time.

Apparently, this is all part of the territory.  This is something that I have to learn to deal with, either by confronting it or rolling with it.

Quality time soon to return.

I have to say that this whole experience has passed me by just as quickly as I thought it would.  Weeks start and before I know it, I’m making plans for the weekend.  Mondays haven’t felt like Mondays in some time.

I have been working on a dramatic play with my coop teacher and about 40-some students.  It’s called The Somewhat true tale of Robin Hood.  I’ve mentioned it at the beginning of the semester I’m sure, and now we’re entering the week of performances.  On Monday and Tuesday, sister schools in the community will bring some of their kids to come see the play.  Wednesday through Friday sees the evening performances of the play.  I have invited numerous friends to come see the satirical version of the old folk tale.  My family will also be coming to the city for the first time in months to come check out the final product.  My significant other and her family & relatives have expressed interest in coming as well.

I just had to step back this week and observe the amount of support I have coming from every direction.  I have spent so much time thinking about the lives that I’ve uncontrollably been impacting, and really haven’t taken the time to see who I am impacted by.  It’s a great feeling to know that I have so many support systems on this journey.

Internship is really like that “make or break” process where you finally figure out whether or not you can live up to the task of being an educator.  I’ve gotten to the point in my internship now where I’d have to go out of my way not to make it.  I know there’s still a significant amount of time before graduation occurs and I get my bachelor’s degree, teaching certificate, etc., but what I’m trying to say is there is now light at the end of the tunnel.  Everything is looking pretty damn good from here.

Once Robin Hood is finished, I will no longer have the 10 to 12 hour days I’ve been having at the school.  I’ve also reached the end of my 3-week-block, and I will start dropping the classes I’ve picked up, beginning tomorrow.  ELA is the first to go, and with that, media studies 20.  Once I’ve cleared both classes, I can get to the massive pile of papers + assignments on my desk that need to be graded.  Once that’s done, well, I think I’ll more or less be done.

I have to say I am really excited for the end, but not because I want everything to finish.  I’ve made some great relationships with the students and fellow interns & teachers.  I’ve learned some incredible lessons regarding teaching that I don’t think I would have ever clued into if not for the help of my coop and the kids.  Those lessons I can get into later.  Regardless, I’m excited for things to end because it means new beginnings.  I get to start co-coaching the improv team in a matter of weeks.  I get to go back to uni, lined up with possibly one of the best semesters yet.  There are great things on the horizon.  Most of all, I can’t wait to spend quality time with those that I have not been able to over the course of the last few months.

On Friday, I had a First Nations Storyteller come to my drama 9 class.  I could not have felt more proud of my class and I have come to realize how that feels.  To be proud of a group of kids.  Proud of a classroom community.  After Hazel was finished, she kindly mentioned (more than once) that my grade 9 class was the most well behaved class she has ever had the pleasure of speaking in front of.  Now I don’t know if she says that to all the classes she speaks to, but it sure made me feel good.  Regardless, she was right in some way.  My grade 9 class listened as attentively as they would have listened to me, or one of their fellow peers.  I can guide a class!  I can do it!  Wow.  That realization was almost as surreal as how the first day of internship had been.

Students have also been bugging me about something rather hilarious.  I told a couple of them a few days ago that they could no longer speak about the video game Skyrim in front of me, because I have been too busy to get the game, let alone play it.  Not to mention too broke to buy it.  Now I have half the student body that knows me specifically going out of their way to talk about Skyrim in front of me.  Absolute torture.

When silence signals something good.

I am currently sitting in my desk, watching my ELA 20 class work on an assignment for our novel study.  The students have been given the task of writing a letter to themselves as parents, providing insight as to how they should raise their own kids.  I didn’t tell them to work quietly, but they all are, for the most part.  Does this mean they actually don’t mind the activity I’ve given them?  Or perhaps they are even enjoying themselves?

(In)consistency.

I have come to the halfway point of my internship and am overcoming challenges I was not even aware I’d face.  The surreal feeling I had when I first came into the school has drifted, and now it actually starts to feel l belong there.  That is, until, you really start to wonder if what you’ve been doing is actually making a difference.  Funny enough these doubts come to me during the busiest part of my internship.  I’m thinking that it could not be a more inconvenient time, but at the same time, perhaps that’s the way it’s supposed to work out.  I’m stressing on a daily basis for what I will be teaching the very next day, that I start to lose sight of the big picture.

By big picture I don’t mean the final outcome or product that my students learn at the end of the unit, or the final exam they need to write when everything’s said and done.  I mean big picture in a sense that there’s more to teaching than just standing up in front of a classroom and spewing out some shit I typed out on a word processor mere hours ago.

I’ve found myself doubting my purpose simply because I have begun teaching those lessons I don’t really care to teach.  The ones where I feel like I’m just pushing stuff in and out of kids’ ears to fill a curriculum guideline and/or protocol.  I’ve expended so much energy on the formal aspects of teaching these past few weeks that I’ve lost sight of my somewhat creative nature.  For the first time I saw reasons for why educator-burnout occurs.  It was frightening.  I felt this bleak sensation of jadedness.

I’ve spent the last two days picking myself up again, albeit slowly.  I’ve been taking small steps in my class and have been trying to push on sending out my true intentions and expectations of students.  I think this is a smart step because it will get me back on track with the kind of person I want to be, not only as an educator but as a human being.  I want to be able to show my personality however I feel I may have shown a little too much within the recent weeks.  And in showing too much I feel like I was behaving like someone that I am not.

Someone once told me as a piece of advice that I need to display consistency in my character.  I’ve been thinking about it for some time now and I feel like I’m closer to understanding why that is important.

Short, busy week.

Today is parent/teacher interview day!

I’ve successfully made it through my first week of full-time interning alive, but not without spending a number of hours outside of class prepping for what lies ahead.  This weekend will be more of the same.  But for now, I get to concentrate on speaking with a number of parents today about their children.  I’m not too sure what to expect as my parents never actually went to parent/teacher interviews.  I have spent most of the morning enjoying a quiet, empty classroom, listening to Radiohead and Thursday, and catching up on entering marks into the computer, hopefully it’ll be enough to keep my nerves calm once the parents come in around 2:00.  What I find particularly interesting is the fact that the meetings are no longer than 7 minutes.  Not that I have a plethora of things to say regarding everyone’s kid, but 7 minutes honestly seems like barely enough time to get the ball rolling should it come to that, in regards to conversation.

There is one parent I’m rather interested to meet.  Interested and slightly apprehensive, I should say.  The parent of a student, Z, who I gave a final failing grade in the class I taught him in.  I mean, I do have all my backing in order, all my peas in a pod in terms of why I gave Z the failing mark.  But one never knows how a parent could react, I guess.  Only time will tell.  Other than Z, every student whose parents’ signed up for teacher interviews are more or less at the top end of the class.  Peculiar, and might I say discouraging, how the students who actually need their parents involved in their education are the ones that don’t show up.

In other unrelated teaching news, we hosted another improv show at the school last night and packed the house.  The students from the improv group actually asked me to open the show with an original tune.  So I had my first official show in front of an all-ages crowd.  The real highlight though, as one can imagine, is the amount of talent that is shown during the two hours that this group of 12-14 students improvise their way out of just about anything.  I left with a sore face from laughing and a perma-grin.  This part of the internship is really what it has been all about.  I told one of the students who acts as somewhat of a leader to the rest of the group that “Every time I see you guys perform, I get the impression that there’s something greater in the works.”  These kids are truly inspiring.  I know I have said it before but I honestly feel refreshed, imaginative and in the mood to be worthwhile and helpful.  This sort of thing really acts as my fuel to keep me going through this whole internship process.

But more so, it calls to me to participate in whatever way I can, because I know that I love watching the act, so why would I not want to be a part of it?  I decided to volunteer my time as a co-coach to the improv team here at the school.  This will go well out of my internship and into my remaining university semester, but I couldn’t care less.  I honestly believe some of these students have a life waiting for them doing what they’re doing now.  It’s like watching someone’s life unfolding right before your eyes.

The Inevitable Approaches.

As my three-week-block is a mere week away, I’ve had some dilemmas to sort out in preparation for it. One of those dilemmas was what class I would pick up as my fourth and final class, so I would be essentially working as a full time teacher. As some may know, I am a music major in the arts ed. program, however I have not been teaching any sort of music class as of yet. Unfortunate, but I’ve been given wonderful opportunities with my co-op to get involved with equally exciting and engaging programs. Recently, I took it upon myself to join in on the festivities of coaching the “Improv team.” Would probably not have occurred if I wasn’t teaching drama. Everything works out in the end, I suppose.

But back to the point, I was hoping to get my hands a little dirty in the music program here at school. With the conflicts in scheduling with the fine arts in general at the school, however, I would have to drop teaching drama in order to start teaching a general music class. At this point, things are hectic enough that the whole scenario is pretty much a make-work project, in that I’d essentially be picking up TWO classes because I’d have to drop drama, pick up music, and then pick up something else because I had ridded myself of the drama class.

I know, it’s complicated. Call me if you want to hear me vent about it.

So instead of grabbing a music class, I have decided to teach media studies.  This should be fairly interesting, I thought to myself. It’s a class of grade 11′s who are currently studying the effects of advertising on our culture.  I will be bringing the education straight to them on music in our culture, as well as its contribution to social networking and the effects its had on the music business in general.  I’m rather stoked, now that I’m typing about it.

Regardless, as I said, the inevitable approaches. I have exactly a week before my 3 week block starts and stuff gets real. This is the moment of my university career that I’ve been dreading and/or dreaming of for the last four years.