Teeth Grinders Unite

One week down! I think that as long as I keep staying on top of things, I'll be ok. Oh, and buy a planner to write down when all of these crazy due dates are. How was I (the truest Virgo) unprepared like that? I feel like this week already has made me a better teacher and better person, and a more valuable resource to my students. My clarinet teacher is so nice, and I'm actually finding time to practice! I'm very excited that she studied with Hindemith, so now I'm two degrees of separation away from Hindemith. It's ok if you think I'm a dork. We are working on the Hindemith sonata so that I can better adjudicate All-State clarinet players in VT. My roommate and I have also been enjoying Chicago. We found a great Chinese restaurant, and last night found a Mexican restaurant for margaritas. This weekend, an art museum and classical music in Grant Park are in the works. We are also researching going to see the Book of Mormon and trying to get tickets to a taping of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! It's so neat to be surrounded by people who share the same career highs and lows as I do, and understand why I grip the baton so damn hard and grind my teeth at night. I actually thought that would be a neat grad project - so many of my colleagues wear night time mouth guards because we grind at night. Some sort of stress project or anger management project might be just what I need. Anyway. Thanks for reading!

Scare Tactics

I'm pretty sure today was organized to see who would run away and never come back. We had a full school breakfast where the staff and professors served students, then a full school meeting. All morning classes were shortened due to this, plus there was an extra orientation which carried over through lunch so NO LUNCH all day! I never received the solo for 'assessments' within the band, so I went in close to cold in my audition. Just call it an audition, not an assessment! Woodwind methods began with a pre-assessment on oboe fingerings, which I half made up and got mostly right. There was also a written pre-assessment, and no joke, I had this question: Explain why the oboe reed has two crows. My answer: To get to the other side. Then, I erased it and made a more educated guess. After spending $700 on a meal plan, $200 on books... I think it's safe to say that my bank account is tapped out and I'm officially scared to death of grad school. At least I didn't run for the hills of Vermont after the first day.

Back to the Future... or, CHICAGO!

Hey Friends and Family, I'll be updating from my blog that's been used once in the past two years so that my facebook friends don't unfriend me due to my many random posts about my summer away. Here's the scoop on the first day! Important things first: if I want to walk about a mile round trip each morning there is a Starbucks! I didn't pack some of the big things because they wouldn't fit in the one piece of luggage I used for 6 weeks worth of items, so once I found my room, I found a target. It was definitely tough buying a nice comforter and pillow, knowing I'll most likely trash them at the end of this. When I returned from Target, I met my suit-mate, and can not express my happiness at the fact that she has a CAR! Good-by, public transportation to get groceries! On the way back from Target, a nice man helped a lady with directions while on the el. In exchange for his kindness, she paid him in beer, which he proceeded to open and down while in a public space where we obviously shouldn't be drinking. Welcome to Chicago!

It was suggested to me that blogging would be a good way to sort out my thoughts on things lately. Now the blogger interface is different! I typed a ton and deleted it because I do not want to be seen as unprofessional. I think that teachers have the hardest job ever. You are on a stage all day entertaining students to stay mentally stay with you. Everybody thinks they can do your job better than you. Endless paperwork and equipment to keep track of and trips to organize make prep time vanish. My personal time is not that at all, this is not a job you leave behind when you walk out the door. Appreciation is not there. And frustration is.

New Music

Review of Andrew Bird's new album, and a little listen:
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/26/147047574/first-listen-andrew-bird-break-it-yourself?ps=cprs

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Shedding is healthy — not just for cats and dogs and other animals but also for us humans. Did you know that you shed thousands of particles of dead skin every hour? And just as our bodies need to shed, so do our psyches. I bring this up, Virgo, because you are in an unusually favorable phase to do a whole lot of psychic shedding. What should you shed exactly? How about some of these: old ideas that don’t serve you any more, habits that undermine your ability to pursue your dreams, compulsions that are at odds with your noble intentions, resentment against people who did you wrong a long, long time ago, and anything else you carry with you that keeps you from being fully alive and radiant. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, the price of freedom and aliveness is eternal shedding.

I can't help it, I LOVE these horoscopes. They always say something at the right time that makes me actually want to work on myself.

"This F chord is going to be big trouble". -8th Grader

Wonderful Birthday Horoscope

Avante-garde author Gertrude Stein was renowned for her enigmatic wordplay and cryptic intuitions, which brought great pleasure to her longtime companion Alice B. Toklas. “This has been a most wonderful evening,” Alice once remarked after an especially zesty night of socializing. “Gertrude has said things tonight it’ll take her 10 years to understand.” I expect that something similar could be said about you in the coming week, Virgo. It’s as if you’ll be glimpsing possibilities that won’t fully ripen for a while; as if you’ll be stumbling upon prophecies that will take months, maybe even years, to unveil their complete meaning. (Free Will Astrology)

The Three P's

Passion
Persistence
Patience

Now that the excitement of Vandercook has died down, I'm starting to think about how I'm going to be using all of this awesome new knowledge in my classroom. I'm also finishing up a Google Docs class, so my brain is exploding with good things to use.
I fear though that just like other professional developments... I'm going to go into 'survival' mode at school and get so caught up that it'll be difficult to be more thoughful and implement new things.