Lessons Learned from a Summer Coaching Youth Sports

This year I was asked to coach 5th and 6th grade summer softball. It was a great learning experience and I gain a lot from this summer.

• Have a parent meeting and set clear guidelines and expectations. 
• Don't be afraid to ask for help during practice. Parents can hit, catch or toss so that more kids can be participating at one time. 
• Don't assume anything. 
• Be clear and kind. 
• Ask your players to explain their thinking. 
• Ask questions. 
• Listen 
• Spend 1:1 time talking with each player. 
• Spend 1:1 time on player development. 
• Some kids will go home and be told everything they did wrong, some kids will go home and be told everything was great. Know which kid is which and be intentional with your words to each. 
• Be organized. 
• Be early. 
• Set the tone. 
• Set clear routines and expectations. 
• Practice and model everything you want them to do. 
• Say more positives than negatives. 
• Players often do not see their progress the same as you.

This Moment

My daughter is almost fourteen months old and she goes through each day as though she is on a mission. A mission to get into everything and go everywhere that she can. You leave a door open and she will find it. You leave a cabinet unlocked and she will empty the cabinet for you.

Fourteen months is a wonderful time of life. Along with all of the  new skills she is learning we get to deal with molars.  Teething is not something we were ever warned about as new parents. Molars, in my limited experience,  are not fun! Now, I know every child is different and mine does not match some of the horror stories I have head, but this is still not always a great time. There have been many sleepless nights, cranky afternoons, bites (I'm still amazed she can bite thru jeans) and early mornings.

Tonight I was laying in bed trying to get my daughter to fall back asleep. She has her head on my shoulder and her arm wrapped around me. It was incredibly adorable  and peaceful and a calm washed over me. It made me realize how awesome this moment is. This moment, for me, makes it all worth it. The cranky behavior,  being awake for hours in the middle of the night and even the biting. It's all worth it for this moment. These moments are one of the best parts of being a mom and they bring me such joy.

What moments make you feel like this with your students or your job in general? What moments make it worth it? What makes it worth dealing with their cranky behavior, their rude comments and mean behavior? What makes it worth all of the hard work, time and energy?

I can't answer it for you and every teacher  will have a slightly different answer. For me, the moments when my students are grooving as a group and creating wonderful music, that makes it worth it. It may not happen often but it makes my skin tingle and my heart happy.  Seeing my kids grow and thrive makes it worth it.

Kids will be kids. They are learning and growing each day and sometimes they will mess up. These mess ups may make life more challenging, but without these times I don't think we would fully appreciate  the great times?

What makes it worth it?  Being a teacher or a parent is hard. Many times are challenging, but many times are wonderful too.

A New Year of Blogging

As I have written about before, I blog for me.  Now, I will admit I do check the site traffic and I greatly appreciate when people take the time to read my blog.  The original purpose of this blog was to share my thoughts and lesson ideas.  I have a paper journal and I have found writing helps me process what is going on around me.  

One reason I like blogging is that others may read it.  This forces me to reflect and write in a manner that will not get me fired or embarrass my family.  This process is vital for me.  Sometimes a situation can be overwhelmingly negative and writing in a public space allows me to work thru these thoughts and emotions in a more positive way.  I know at times I publish too quickly and I apologize for any typos or mistakes.

During the 2015-2016 school year I want to focus more on sharing resources and lesson plans.  I will also being sharing my random thoughts, but I want this blog to evolve to be more than just my thoughts.

I have no way of knowing how many people actually read this blog and at the end of the day it does not really matter.  My goal is to create lessons that are worth sharing.  That is the bottom line because that will help my students.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I enjoy the extended conversations that occur in the comments.  Blessings on a wonderful new school year!  Lets make this one the best one yet.

World Wall 2015

These vocabulary words are based on the Quaver Music Curriculum

Kindergarten

• Beat
• Steady Beat
• Sing
• Talk
• Shout
• Whisper
• Rhythm Syllables
• High
• Low
• Up
• Down
• Waltz
• Beats of 2
• Beats of 3
• Beats of 4
• Stepping Song
• Instrument Families
• Woodwind
• Brass
• Flue
• Trumpet
• Percussion
• Drum
• String
• Violin
• Loud
• Soft
• Tempo
• Fast
• Slow
• Long
• Short
• Found Sound
• Singing Voice
• Performance

First Grade

• Beat
• Measure
• Steady Beat
• Strong Beat
• Weak Beat
• Meter
• Waltz
• Ostinato
• Rhythm
• Bar Line
• Pitch
• Low
• High
• Mi
• Sol
• Sing
• Short
• Talk
• Lungs
• Breathing
• Whisper
• Solo
• Vocal Chords
• Lines
• Spaces
• La
• Treble Clef
• Mallet
• Staff
• Song
• Melody
• Melodic Direction
• Notes
• Rests
• Duration
• Length
• Tempo
• Presto
• Moderato
• Largo
• Dynamics
• Forte
• Piano
• Cresendo
• Decresendo
• String
• Percussion
• Pitched
• Non Pitched
• AB Form
• ABA Form
• Chorus
• Verse
• Repeat Sign
• Performance

Second Grade

• Beat
• Steady Beat
• Strong Beat
• Weak Beat
• Medly
• Meter
• Waltz
• Conducting
• Conductor
• Improvisation
• Ostinato
• Rhythm
• Partner Songs
• Staff
• Home Tone
• Diaphrahm
• Pentatonic Scale
• Phrase
• Melodic Direction
• Step
• Skip
• Repeated Notes
• Compower
• Ornaments
• Baroque Period
• Duration
• Quarter Note
• Quarter Rest
• Whole Rest
• Whole Note
• Half Rest
• Half Note
• Dynamics
• Forte
• Piano
• Fortisimmo
• Pianisimmo
• Cresendo
• Decresendo
• Embouchure
• Lyrics
• Melody
• Composition
• Verse
• Chorus
• AB Form
• ABA Form
• ABACA Form
• Repeat
• Performance

Third Grade

• Ostinato
• Meter Sign
• Rhythm
• Round/Canon
• Range
• Musical Alphabet
• Soprano
• Alto
• Tenor
• Bass
• Pentatonic Scale
• Improvisation
• Interval
• Lines
• Spaces
• String Quartet
• Classical Period
• 16th Notes
• Whole Note
• Whole Rest
• Crescendo
• Decrescendo
• Mezzo Forte
• Mezzo Piano
• FFF
• Recorder
• Woodwind
• Note A
• Note B
• Blues
• 1st/2nd Ending
• Treble Clef
• Measure
• Metronome
• Acc.
• Rit.
• Largo
• Moderato
• Molto
• Presto
• Chords
• Harmony
• Major
• Minor
• ABA Form
• Rondo Form
• Verse
• Chorus

Summer of Reading 2015

My goal for the past two summers is to read a book a day.  

Summer of 2015 Reading List

1. Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess
2. Drive by Daniel Pink
3. 50 Things You Can Do with Google Classroom by Alice Keeler
4. Teaching: Teaching Techniques (eBook)
5. The Fireproof Teacher by John Spencer
6. Life Lessons from Living with Luke (eBook)
7. Mr. Miarcle by Debbie Macomber
8. The Student Teaching Experience (eBook)
9. 51 Ways to Love Your Enemies (eBook)
10. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
11. Second Time to Die by Tess Gerristen
12. Once Upon a Summer by Janette Oke
13. Blogging (eBook)
14. Live to See Tomorrow by Iris Johanson
15. Your Personal Life Coach (eBook)
16. Control Your Class (eBook)
17. Passion Matters by Angela Maiers
18. Subconscious Mind Power (eBook)
19. Your Next Breath by Iris Johanson
20. Mental Health Principals (eBook)
21. Procrastination (eBook)
22. The Carpenter by Jon Gordon
23. Accelerated Learning (eBook)
24. Personal by Lee Child
25. Players First by John Caliparai
26. Success (eBook)
27. Perfect Mindset (eBook)
28. Gospel of John (eBook)
29. Achieve Anything (eBook)
30. ADHD (eBook)
31. The Matheny Manifesto by Mike Matheny
32. Last One Home by Debbie Macomber
33. Womens Murder Club #14 by James Patterson
34. Code of Conduct by Brad Thor
35. Learning by Choice by A.J Juliani
36. The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon
37. 10 Miracles by Jeff Sanders (eBook)
38. The 5 am Miracle by Jeff Sanders (eBook)
39. Move Your Bus by Ron Clark 

Why I Deactivated My Class Dojo Account

I want to begin by saying I am not passing any judgement on people who use Class Dojo.  I believe there are many great ways to implement the program.  This was a decision for me based on what I think is best for me and my students.

Last week my husband asked if I would walk to the bank after summer reading program to pick up our checks.  On my way there, I stopped and talked to a former student of mine who was riding his bike around town.  I asked him about his summer and he told me about being pumped for football, planning how he was going to get to practice and which friends were in his class this year.  I realized after talking to this boy for a few minutes that I did not recognize his voice and I could not remember the last time I had a 1:1 conversation with him.  I know I had conversations about behavior and paying attention, but I don't remember just talking with this boy.

At the beginning of this week I was finishing up a run around town when I came across another former student playing in front of her house.  I asked her about her summer and she told me about what she has been up to and how she is excited because she got the teacher she wanted again this year.  Just like a week ago, I realized I did not recognize her voice.  She is a very quiet student and I don't remember really talking to her.

These interactions made me sad and sick to my stomach.  I teach music, so I see all students in the school every week.  With students constantly entering and leaving my room, it is easy to miss the small opportunities to talk and interact with my students.  This also helped in my reflection about being intentional.  I have to be intentional about my interactions with my new staff and students.  These two interactions and my reflection afterwards led me to deactivating my Class Dojo account.

I am at a bigger school this year and my number one goal is to take advantage of every opportunity I can to interact with my students.  I loved many of the capabilities of Class Dojo, but I always struggled with using it consistently and I felt like it got in the way of interactions between my students and myself.  Now, this could be because of me the user and have little to do with the program.  I am not sure, but I do no that for me personally, it was not working so it was time to come up with a new system.  As much as I love technology, sometimes a paper grade book, post-it notes and face to face communications work the best.

Intentionality

My greatest lesson this summer has been learning about being intentional.  Every May I think of great things that I want to accomplish during summer break and when I think back on these lists in August, I realize that most are left undone.  It is easy to make lists of things we want to do, but without intentional planning and thought, these activities are often never accomplished.

My husband and I are trying to teach our daughter baby sign language.  We started with the sign for more please when she was six months old.  She picked up on more quickly, but just started signing please.  The tricky thing with sing language (learning any new skill) is that we have to use it often.  When we are talking to our daughter we need to sign the words we want her to use.  Doing it once or twice will not help her learn it.  At the beginning we were good about signing 'more please' when we talked to her, but soon we stopped signing 'please' which is why it took her longer to learn it.  Once we started being intentional about signing please and practicing it with her, she started signing it to us.  This was a great reminder for me that we need to be very intentional with exposing her to the signs we want her to use. 

I believe I will be very disappointed when I look back at my life if I do not live everyday with conventionality.  Things will be left undone and I will not accomplish all of my goals.

One of the greatest tools for me to ensure that I am intentional is writing.  First, I write a list of things I want to accomplish.  Second, I may journal ideas and my thoughts about each activity (This depends on the activity.  I do not do this for every day to do list items.) The last step is to come up with a plan: how am I going to accomplish this goal, when am I going to accomplish it and what other information or resources do I need to accomplish it.

Life moves quickly and without being intentional about our days, time will fly by even quicker.  Having a list of goals or dreams is not enough, having an intentional plan is vital.

Thank you for reading!

What Being Up Until 3am Taught Me About Being Needed

Last night my daughter woke up at 11:30 screaming.  Despite my husband's best efforts he could not get her to calm down.  It was not until I laid down with her that she sucked her thumb and relaxed.  The fussing was limited, but teething and a stomach ache made it impossible for her to fall asleep.  Eventually after a bit of running around, lots of cuddles and a snack, she finally fell asleep around three in the morning.  I love my sleep, but these moments of cuddles and jabbering melt my heart.

When is the last time you felt needed (for a positive reason)?  When is the last time you showed appreciation to someone you rely on?

We are all needed. Someone, somewhere needs someone (us) to guide, support, help, love and care for them.  Our students, family, friends and coworkers all need this from someone and there is no reason we can't be the one.  Now, I know we are all busy and we don't always have time, but little actions can go very far to improve the course of someone's day.

I am not suggesting you go hug or cuddle with your coworkers, but there are many ways we can help support each other (that won't creep others out or get you fired).  Listening and being present are two great ways to help those around you.  Sometimes we don't even have to help solve the issue.  Sometimes they need someone to listen.  I can't take away my daughters stomach ache or her pain from teething, but I can cuddle and be there for her as she deals with the situation.  I may not take the pain away, but sometimes I can make I can make it better by being there.

Someone needs you.  It may not feel like a big role, but it is important.  Be present, be loving, be helpful and be kind.  It may feel like a small action, but it may change someone's world you and you may never know which small action had the greatest impact.