Day 91: Listening

Daily Blog Challenge Day 91/365

Lately, I have spent many hours feeling like a complete jerk.  Is there every a time when it is acceptable to get frustrated with a student?  I realize that sentence probably makes me sound like a horrible teacher and person, so please let me explain...

I get tired of saying the same thing to the same students on a daily basis.  This goes for my classroom and on the basketball court.  At what point do we begin to think that the student is consciously making a bad decision.  I try to give them the benefit of the doubt as many times as possible, but after a while it is exhausting.

This is a dilemma I have been having both in the classroom and as a coach.  I don't expect miracles and I realize that what I see as simple is not always the same as what my students/players see as simple. I try my best to keep things simple.  The fact that many of my students fix their behaviors when I am watching leads me to believe that they know better, but are simply choosing not to do the "right" thing.

Do you ever feel like you are being mean?  How do you deal with this?  Thank you for reading.

Day 90: Can I Teach...

Daily Blog Challenge Day 90/365

Can I Teach...

1.  Students to listen?
2.  Students to act in ways that are different than home?
3.  Students to be respectful?
4.  Students to be brave?
5.  Students to be the best they can be?
6.  Students that they can do more than they ever think they can?
7.  Students that there is more to life than our small town or video games?
8.  Students that focusing on the details is important?
9.  Students to worry about themselves?
10.  Students to try new things?

Sometimes teaching seems like an uphill battle.  These are some of the questions I struggle with.  What questions do you struggle with as a teacher?  Thank you for reading.

Day 89: Getting Better

Daily Blog Challenge Day 89/365

One of the life skills I am trying to teach my students (mainly 3rd-6th graders) is that you can always get better.  I often see students and people in general give less effort because they are not as good as someone else.  I may never be as good at basketball as Michael Jordan (or fill in the blank with your favorite professional athlete), but I can still get better.

We need to remember to compare our self to our self, we are on our own journey.  My fourth graders are working on a challenging recorder piece for our Christmas Concert and for many it is frustrating.  My goal is to make them realize they can be better than they were yesterday, even if they are not the best.

No matter what we can always grow.  Reading, practicing, writing and conversations are all ways to learn and continue to improve.

What ways do you challenge yourself to improve?  I would love to hear your ideas.  Thank you for reading.

Day 88: Slacker

Daily Blog Challenge Day 88/365

I was in shock when I realized my Christmas program is only two weeks away. I feel like a slacker this year, I don't feel like we focused as much on our concert this year as I did last year.

My struggle, is giving up so much class time for one concert. Yes, I think it is important and it is the only full concert my students participate in each year (we also perform at Halloween, Veteran's Day and Grandparent's Day.

How do you balance concert prep time while still using class time to teach other musical concepts?

I would love you hear your ideas. Thank you for reading.

Day 87: Learning New Technology (Technology Tuesday)

Daily Blog Challenge Day 87/365

Technology Tuesday

I realize it is a ways away yet, but one of my favorite things about Christmas Break is having extra time to experiment with new ideas for my classroom. Last year, I spent time during break learning about class dojo and class badges. I am excited to learn and experiment with new programs again this year. I asked my PLN on Twitter and so far the number one suggestion has been Socrative.

Here are my technology goals for this Christmas Break...
1. Socrative
2. Doceri
3. Scratch
4. Hopscotch
5. Augmented Reality (beginner recorders, word wall and tutorials).
6. Tutorial videos
7. Blogging in the music classroom
8. Class Badges
9. Class Dojo (need a better way to use it)

Do you have any technology goals for this Christmas break? Which programs or app souls you recommend? Thank you for reading.

Day 86: Music K-8 (Material Monday)

Daily Blog Challenge Day 86

Material Monday

One of my new favorite websites for music resources is Music K-8.  My old school had a subscription, so I used many songs/pieces from these magazines.  The website allows you to purchase individual magazines.  My favorite thing about this website are the free resources.  I have found many ideas from the free section and my Christmas Program includes two songs from the Free Songs.

Do you use Music K-8?  Which music websites are your favorite?

Day 85: I Hate the C Word

Daily Blog Challenge Day 85/365

My Elementary Christmas Program is on Tuesday and we had our first dress rehearsal on Friday. Afterwards many teachers mentioned how "cute" the little kids were.  Now I get it, little kids are cute and on Tuesday night they will be all dressed up, but cute is not a curriculum standard.

I (understand why people say it), but I dislike when people use the C word to describe my student's performance. We work so hard in music and being cute is not on our agenda.

So please, do not tell me (or any other music teacher) how cute our kids were. ;) Thank you for reading.

Day 84: 3 AM Musings

Daily Blog Challenge Day 84/365

I could not sleep tonight, so I have been awake since 3 AM.  I tried falling asleep for an hour and then finally gave up around 4 and started reading and getting stuff done around my house.  The lack of sleep probably played into it, but here are my random thoughts for the morning.

1.  Why do I do what I do?
2.  Is it possible to recondition students so they respond in other ways then a raised voice?
3.  Are my relationships with my students as positive as they are in my mind?
4.  Have I told all of my students something positive about themselves?
5.  Do my students know that I enjoy having them in class?
6.  How often do I tell my students I am proud of them or that I enjoy listening/watching them play?
7.  What can I do to help my students get it?
8.  Why don't students like choir?
9.  What can I do to make choir better?

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Thank you for reading.

Day 83: Failure

Daily Blog Challenge Day 83/365

What do you do when you fail?

I know we would all be depressed if we only focused on results, but in life winning or loosing has serious consequences (jobs, money, family). I am a big believer in the growth mindset and I believe it is vital that we teach our children how to react to success and failure.  I hate the word failure because it seems so final. A mistake is not failure, a mistake is learning how to do something a different way.

Failure is always a learning experience and it is only negative if we let it. We should learn something from every experience in life, regardless of the result. 

My young basketball players drive me crazy because they believe that a good shot is a made basket and a bad shot is one this miss. This mindset is completely focused on the result, not the preparation or actions.

The Growth Mindset is a difficult concept for many adults to grasp and I have students who have difficulties with it too.

As a music teacher and coach, my students are exposed to failure on a daily basis.  How do you help your students learn from mistakes?  Thank you for reading.

Day 82: Handing Out Music

Daily Blog Challenge Day 82/365

My third grade students have been struggling this year with staying focused during class, so I have been trying to find ways to help them. One thing I have had success with is giving my students music.   I have not done a very good job of handing out music, I teach mostly by rote or with group lyric sheets on the board.

Benefits of Handing Out Music
1. Helps students stay focused.
2. Exposes students to reading sheet music.
3. Helps students learn how to read a musical road map.

Do you hand out music to elementary students? I would love to hear how you handle this. Thank you for reading.

Day 81: Twitter Exile

Daily Blog Challenge Day 81/365

Lately, I find myself not spending a lot of time on Twitter (this also includes reading blogs and listening to Podcasts).  I can't explain all of it, but a lot of it just comes from being exhausted.  I think these times happen and sometimes it is ok to take a step away from something for a while.  I enjoy Twitter for many reasons: it is a great learning tool and I have created many relationships with fellow educators through this platform.

Have you taken a technology exile before?  What did you learn from this experience?

I find myself without the energy or motivation to interact through Twitter as much as I used to and although I miss the interactions, I think the time away has been good for self reflection.  This is the first time I have really toned down my use of technology, after being someone that used it often.  The positive side of this self induced exile has been my focus on face to face conversations and relationships.

Sometimes you have to take a step away in order to fully embrace the positives of a tool or activity.  Thank you for reading.

Day 80: Melody Street (Technology Tuesday)

Daily Blog Challenge Day 80/365

Technology Tuesday

Last year I discovered Melody Street and I used it with my primary classes (kindergarten-2nd grades).  This year I decided to have all my classes watch the book.  It is a great review/introduction to instrument families, while also including the music and the reading of a story.  My students love Melody Street.

While searching for Chapter Three of the story, I discovered that they have a website.  I have not spent a lot of time exploring it yet, but it looks very interesting.  There is also a YouTube page with more videos and information.

I would love to hear about how you use Melody Street in your classroom.  Thank you for reading.

Day 79: Bean Bags (Material Monday)

Daily Blog Challenge Day 79/365

Material Monday

Last year I started using bean bags to help reinforce the concepts of quarter notes and quarter rests (ta's).  To start, I create the rhythms and the students chant/clap them back as a group.  Once they seem like they have an understanding of what I want them to do, I give each group (seating groups) four bean bags so they can create their own rhythms.

Last year, I started this activity towards the end of kindergarten.  This year, I have already started it with my first graders and they will be composing their own rhythms soon.

I would love to hear how you include rhythm composition into your primary lessons.  Thank you for reading.

Day 78: My Journey to Becoming a Teacher

Daily Blog Challenge Day 78/365

In sixth grade I wrote in my "About Me" project that I would never become a teacher unless I completely lost my mind. Well apparently when I went to college, I lost my mind because I decided to become a teacher.

I have been blessed to have many great teachers throughout my time as a student.  All of my teachers have had an impact on me; some positive, some negative and some neutral.  On one hand I never wanted other students to experience some of what I did as a student/athlete and on the other hand, I wanted to give back and try to influence my students like some of my teachers did.  It is an amazing challenge, but our children deserve it.

Even at the end of frustrating days, I still feel a passion (although sometimes burning softly) for teaching. At the end of the day, teaching is what I feel called to do. This belief is what carries me through the good days and the bad days.

I would love to hear what made you decide to go into teaching. Thank you for reading.

Day 77: Sadness

Daily Blog Challenge Day 77/365

My husband (who is also a teacher) and I often discuss our frustrations with "this generation" of students. Tonight on our way home from the grocery store we had a similar conversation. We were discussing how our current students lack many of the like skills that we feel we had at their age. Our discussion centered around our frustration, but my frustration soon turned to sadness.

1. It makes me sad that students don't see adults as people to respect and learn from.
2. It is sad to me that many students get caught by their mistakes instead of seeing the world as full of opportunity.
3. It makes me sad that instead of working harder, many students put the blame on the teacher/coach.
4. It makes me sad that students don't see a purpose behind rules and details.
5. It makes me sad that listening skills seem to be lacking.

I become frustrated with my students at times, but realize now that I feel sadness for them.  They are missing many of the life skills I feel have guided and shaped my life. I need to focus on teaching (even after what feels like a thousand times) because my students deserve it.

Thank you for reading.

Day 76: Excuses for Being Happy

Daily Blog Challenge Day 76/365

There is something about hot water that leads to great ideas for me. I know I am not the only one, but some of my best ideas happen while I am in the shower. I don't know of this is one of my best ideas, but I think it is definitely food for thought. 

Monday mornings in the "winter" seem so difficult. All I want to do is sleep. With the Christmas season upon us, it is easy to get bogged down in all the craziness: concerts, tournaments, school responsibilities and the list goes on and on. Instead of focusing on all the possible stress points. What about focusing on all the possible joys?  I know I have many blessings and things to be joyful about. 

To take this idea a bit farther, what if we taught our students to do this and to focus on the skills they can do instead of only focusing on not being as good as someone else?  I believe both of these ideas are great life skills.

Thank you for reading.

Day 75: Feedback

Daily Blog Challenge 75/365

Recently, one of my basketball players expressed his frustrations with me. In summary, I have ruined basketball for him, all I do is yell and he never gets to play during the A game. 

Now I realize all feedback needs to be taken in context, but at first I was upset at the idea that I have ruined the wonderful game of basketball for a young person. It also was disturbing to me that he thinks I always yell at him because I don't think of myself (and don't want to be) that type of coach. 

I came to the conclusion that I could respond in three ways.  

1. Blow it off and forget about it. 

2. Take it personally. 

3. A combination of the two.

I take things personally anyways, so I was trying hard not to let this ruin the season.  In my opinion, when we are given negative feedback it is best to try to understand what the other person is trying to say and learn from the experience.  No one likes to be told they are wrong, but at the same time, we are not perfect, so it is impossible to not make mistakes.  My goal is to learn from my previous mistakes so I don't make them again.

What I learned from this experience...

1.  It is easy to focus on the negatives, I need to spend more energy focused on the positives.

2.  I need to do a better job of balancing positive and negative feedback.

How do you react when you are given negative feedback?  Thank you for reading.

Day 74: Concert Notes

Daily Blog Challenge Day 74/365

One of the teachers I worked with at my first school always included notes of what music concepts the students worked on in order to perform the concert.  I really liked the idea because it helps the students, parents, school and community realize that there is more to music than looking cute and singing.  I am still working on the concert program for this school year, but this is what I have come up with so far.  I don't list everything we have worked on, but I include the main focuses of each class.

~Christmas Program~

Kindergarten

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Must Be Santa

First Grade

Rock n’Roll Snowman

I Can’t Spell Hippopotamus

Second Grade

Joyous Hanukkah

Hot Chocolate

Third Grade

Winter Wonderland

December Nights, December Lights

Fourth Grade

Winter Fantasy

222T4 the Holidays

~Program Notes~

This program is a culmination of the concepts and skills we have been working on during music class.  Each day we work on singing, playing instruments, reading music, and music history. This program is an opportunity for the students to showcase what they have been learning in music class and to practice their skills as a performer and an audience  member.  Each grade has also been working on specific concepts/skills that have been put on display tonight.

Kindergarten: Singing as a group, pattern songs and action songs.

First Grade: Singing as a group and form.

Second Grade: Singing as a group, playing instruments while singing, 3/4 time signature and singing vs. talking voice

Third Grade:  Singing as a group, singing in 2-part, playing choir chimes, reading music and melody/harmony.

Fourth Grade: Singing as a group, partner songs, harmony and playing recorder.

I would love to hear what information you include in your programs.  Thank you for reading.

Day 73: Technology As A Tool

Daily Blog Challenge Day 73/365

Technology Tuesday

One thing that drives me crazy about technology is that I see/hear about many schools purchasing more technology, but it seems as though they more concerned about having it than how they use it.  How we as educators use technology in our classrooms should be far more important than which technologies we have and how much we have in our classroom.

How do you ensure that you are using technology for the right reasons?

Technology can be a great tool to engage our students and we are fortunate to have many options available to us (many programs and apps are even free).

I realize after this semester that I need to do a better job of using technology to have my students create content.  Many of my students have iPads or computers at home and I am looking into ways of expanding our lessons with the technology my students already have (it would not be required).

Programs/Apps To Learn More About (To Use In Elementary Music)

1. Class Badges

2. Kidblog

3. ABRSM Theory and Aural Skills Apps

4. Augmented Reality

5. Rhythm Training 

6. Young Persons Guide To The Orchestra

7. Blog Chorus

What apps or programs would you recommend? Thank you for reading.

Day 72: Veteran's Day Music (Material Monday)

Daily Blog Challenge Day 72/365

Material Monday

My Elementary School puts on a Veteran's Day Program every year. This is one of my favorite traditions of my current school. K-2 sings one song together and the 3rd/4th graders lead the Star Spangled Banner. Last year K-2 sang "My Country Tis of Thee" and this year they sang "Grand Old Flag."

The Physical Education teacher I work with found a ribbon routine (on K-12 PE) to the song "God Bless the USA." We co-taught this dance to the fourth graders. It was a learning experience for me and it makes me want to do more ribbon dance activities in my classroom. It was a great way to reinforce form, steady beat and other music concepts.

What activities do you use to teach about Veteran's Day? Thank you for reading.

Day 71: You Matter

Daily Blog Challenge Day 71/365

Yesterday I received a friend request from one of my Alaska students. Tonight, I received a Facebook message from this same student. 

I know there are some that are horrified that I am friends with students. To be clear, I do not accept friendship requests from any current students or parents and my privacy settings are strict, so only friends can see pictures and status updates. After I moved back to Illinois, I did become Facebook friends with former students or parents from Alaska who sent a request. I did this so I could stay in touch with this community that was my family for two years. 

This also reminds me to think about what I might want to write or post, it makes me double check and make sure everything is appropriate for those who might see my Facebook.

Today was a rough day (blog post to come), but I could not help but smile after I saw this message. A boy I taught almost two years ago took the time to write to me. This reaffirms to me how important our role as teacher can be. We never know when we are making an impact, but we need to make sure it is a positive one. We influence those in our classroom, even if we never see the impact.

Always remember, You Matter! Thank you for reading. 

Day 70: Teach Me

 Daily Blog Challenge Day 70/365

As a music teach I often get caught up in teaching music skills and I find myself frustrated when I have to teach "other" things. Lately I find myself harping on my students for not walking quietly or I a line down the hall, for constantly talking and other behaviors that I wish I did not have to deal with.

I consider myself a logical person, so I have to think that people do not like getting in trouble. I know that as a student and an adult I hate when I am told I am doing something wrong. Now, I know there are a million reasons why students may act the way they do, but I know for myself I often skip the easiest explanation. Yes, it may be to get attention or many other reasons, but what if it is because they don't truly know how to do something the right way? A frustration I am experiencing with many of my students is that they only act the right way when they feel like it (in my opinion). Which could be correct, but what if they don't know how they are supposed to act and it does not click for them until their teacher or parent is showing signs of frustration?

My job is to teach and although I wish I could focus on just music, I believe I would be doing my students a disservice. Instead of giving up on them I need to reaffirm my beliefs and work smarter at teaching them how to behave correctly. 

Always remember You Matter! Thank you for reading. 

Day 69: It's Not About You

 Daily Blog Challenge Day 69/365

I recently read a blog post entitled "Marriage isn't for You."  It is a great post and I believe many of the ideas can be translated to teaching. 

In the end, teaching is not about me. It's about my kids. I may help the and lead them, but in the end it's about what they are doing. Yes, this is a reflection (in a small way) on me, but it is always about the kids. I want to do great things in my classroom so my students can experience great things. 

One of my biggest struggles as a specialist teacher is getting used to having a new class every forty minutes. Some days it is hard to not "punish" one class for the behavior of the previous. This is not something I am proud of. 

Imagine the power if we taught so our kids could experience greatness? In times of frustration it is vital to remember that it is not about me. It's about my kids and my attitude and behaviors will have an impact on them. My goal is that I have a positive impact on all of my students (even if I never see the results).  I am on a mission to treat my students with love and kindness. Students who get to me, I want to treat them with even more kindness. 

Always remember You Matter! Thank you for reading. 

Day 68: Your Passion

Daily Blog Challenge Day 68/365

After a short hiatus, I have started listening to the EduAllStars again and one of the last questions they all always ask their guests is what they are most passionate about in the field of education.

After listening to seventeen podcasts I finally stopped and took the time to think about what I am passionate about in education.  I brainstormed many things:  creating relationships with my students, coaching, technology, music education, social media in education and music/technology integration.

I soon realized that everything that interests me leads back to the first thing in my list: relationships.  We live in a world where many people do not always feel cared for or loved and I have come to the conclusion that students/people cannot be exposed to too much love (or caring.)  It is easy for the standards, curriculum, competition and all the extras of education to get in the way, but at the end of the day, for me the most important thing is having solid, positive relationships with my students.  When students are having a rough day in my class, one of my first questions is "You know I care about you right?"  I rarely have a students tell me no and my goal is that it happens less and less often the longer I am at my current school.

What are you most passionate about?  Thank you for reading

Day 67: The Crazy Cycle

Daily Blog Challenge Day 67/365

The Pastor at my church in Alaska gave me the book "Love and Respect" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs as a wedding present.  Although it is about marriage, the greatest lesson I learned from reading this book was the concept of the Crazy Cycle.

As an elementary teacher I hear about the Crazy Cycle on a weekly basis.  The common answer to why did you  _____, is because s/he did it first.  You treated me poorly, so I will treat you poorly too.  This cycle goes on and one until one of the people stops it.  I see the crazy cycle with my students, but I also see it with coworkers (past and present.)  Stopping this cycle is a crucial skill for our students to learn.


How do you try to stop this cycle from occurring in your classroom or school?  Thank you for reading.

Day 66: Remind 101 (Technology Tuesday)

Daily Blog Challenge Day 66/365

Technology Tuesday

One of my favorite apps is Remind 101.  I use it as a coach and it makes communicating with parents super easy!  If I had a band/choir that performed more, I can see this app being a wonderful tool to send out reminders to students/parents.

This summer I coached 7th/8th Grade Softball.  We rarely had practice, so I relied on texting to remind parents of games.  My phone only allows me to group text ten people, so I was forced to send out two texts every time.  Also, group texts use date instead of regular text messages, so I was always reaching my data limit on my phone.

This year when Boy's Basketball started, I setup a Boy's Basketball Group on Remind 101 (have the app on my phone and my iPad) and I included  the number for parents to join on all handouts for the first two weeks of practice.  My favorite thing about this app is that I can have up to 100 people in one group and it sends the message to all people in the group.  This way mom, dad and grandma/grandpa can sign up for the reminders and I don't have to send multiple messages.

I have heard of teachers who use this app to send out pictures from field trips.  There are endless ways to use this app.

How do you use Remind 101 in your classroom or while coaching?  Thank you for reading.

Day 65: Christmas Concert (Material Monday)

Daily Blog Challenge Day 65/365

Material Monday

My Elementary School performs a Christmas Program every year.  This year I am trying something new and doing just a Concert instead of a Program with speaking parts.  I am going to include a musical during 4th grade at the end of the year, so they can still have a speaking experience.  Alternating between a Program and a Concert adds variety to this event and it allows me more freedom when choosing music.  I try to balance Christmas, Winter and other songs.  Many of the songs came from past John Jacobson's Magazines that my school has in files and our curriculum books.

Music Selection for 2013

Kindergarten

1.  Must be Santa

2.

1st Grade

1.  This little Light of Mine

2.  I Can’t Spell Hippopotamus

2nd Grade

1.  Joyous Hanukkah (Booms)

2.  Hot Chocolate

3rd Grade

1.  Winter Wonderland (Chimes)

2.  December Nights/ December Lights (has 2 parts)

4th Grade

1. 222T4 the Holidays (Recorder) *Music K-8

2.  Winter Fantasy (Orff)

Day 64: The Real Problem...

Daily Blog Challenge Day 64/365

During a recent Satchat (#satchat) the topic was homework and if schools should get rid of it all together. The issue of homework is a touchy subject for many educators and this chat brought together many different view points. You can find my opinion on homework here (will be posting soon). 

During this chat, I was reminded that there is another factor at the root of almost all education issues. This issue (in my opinion) is why education reform is failing. The issue no one wants to discuss is Child Poverty. For being a civilized country, the United States has a very high rate of Child Poverty. 

Until we fix this issue, other reforms will only be a band-aid on our problems. How can I expect my students to learn if they are hungry, scared, homeless or one of the other countless challenges many children face? Children need to have their basic needs met before they can mentally focus on school. 

I realize this is a huge challenge and I cannot offer a magic bullet to fix everything, but I think we need to be more honest about the problem. Testing, new curriculum or more schooling are not going to fix this issue. Students level of support at home and their access to technology and information greatly impact their ability to learn. Parents have the ability to both give their child great advantages and put them at a disadvantage compared to their peers. 

Reform will not work (in my opinion) until we children are safe and healthy.  Schools can do a lot to help level the playing field, but we cannot truly control the home environment.

Day 63: Thirty Days of Thankfulness

Daily Blog Challenge Day 63/365

I keep seeing posts on Facebook and Twitter about taking time in November to be thankful. Even in the midst of frustration, I realize that I am a truly blessed person for a multitude of reasons. My hope is to remind myself of these reasons over the course of the next month. I think it will be a great way to lead into the Christmas season. 

30 Days of Thankfulness
11/1:  My husband Fred- He is understanding with me when I spend extra hours at school, he supports and encourages me. He has to deal with all my issues and I am blessed to have his support and friendship.

11/2:  My Faith- My faith keeps me grounded and focused on true importance. It is a point of balance and support in my life. 

11/3:  Creation- The fall colors are in full bloom in Illinois and today I was reminded about the beauty of the world we live in.  We all live busy lives, but we cannot forget to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.

11/4:  The ability to teach- I have been blessed throughout my time as a student to have wonderful teachers who encouraged me to be my best.  Having these people in my corner led me to successes and enabled me to achieve more than I thought possible.

11/5:  The ability to coach- I believe that music and athletics have the ability to teach and instill life lessons, which are vital for later success.

11/6:  My family- I am blessed to be surrounded by a loving family.

11/7:  My friends-  I may not see them often, but I know they always have my back and we are always there for each other.

11/8:  Alaska-  The opportunity to live in Alaska for two years still impacts my daily life and it is an experience I will not soon forget.

11/9:  Athletics-  Sports have always been a way for me to release stress.  They help me stay in shape and keep mentally focused.

11/10:  Music-  Music has enabled me to express my creativity and has taught me numerous life skills.

11/11:  Reading-  The ability to read is truly a magical thing.

11/12:  Job-  I am able to play my bills and find fulfillment in what I get to do for hours every workday.

11/13:  Instruments-  I love the ability to loose my frustrations when I focusing on playing an instrument.

11/14:  Clean water- It is easy to forget how fortunate I am to live in a country with easy access to clean drinking water.

11/15:  My PLN (both from Twitter and in person)-They help me stay motivated, listen to my frustrations and help me stay focused in the classroom.

11/16:  Working in a district that does not block websites (unless they are clearly not for school).

11/17:   Being around Children-  They have a curiosity and excitement that we often loose as we grow up.

11/18:  Electricity- We lost power today during school for a few minutes.  It is easy to forget how much electricity influences our lives.

Day 62: Time to Leave?

Daily Blog Challenge Day 62/365

I want to begin by saying I have no intention of leaving my current position, but a recent conversation forced me to reflect on the idea.

You don't have to stay at a certain school or in a certain position...

Fourteen words I was not expecting to hear, but they have given me a new sense of clarity.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working in my current position and there is nothing "wrong" with it, but through this conversation I realized that choosing employers is a bit like choosing a college.  Not every college fits every student and not every student fits every college.  Different students want/need different things and each college is set to meet certain needs/desires.  This does not make one school better or worse than others.

Music positions (along with many others) are at a premium.  At the end of the day, pickers cannot be choosers and having a job pays my bills, keeps a roof over my head and food on my table.  As a young teacher I was less concerned about the job than I was about having A job.  As I am in the profession longer, I realize that this may be the time to switch my mindset to just being happy I have a job (I am grateful and blessed to be where I am) and focusing more on finding a job that is a great fit for me (not saying my current position is not, but this new mindset opens the door for new conversations).  Just like finding the "right" college, every school does not fit the needs/wants of every teacher and the opposite is true too. 

I don't believe there is anything "wrong" with my current district or position, but this idea has opened up a new mindset and it has helped me reflect on my level of happiness and whether or not I am a good fit for the district/the district is a good fit for me.  I have not come a conclusion yet, but it has been a great time for reflection.

Are you in a position because of location/grade level/subject level or another situation? Are you at a position that you are truly happy with?  What variables lead to happiness with your position?