Enjoy your week of classes, i have the week off ;)

Another great week finished.  Elementary school on Monday and Wednesday went very well.  Mrs. Hoffman and I are getting along wonderfully.  I had my first experience with students in the morning so excited to see me.  What a great feeling to have, I honestly think that will never get old.  Lessons all went wonderfully and my pacing is getting a lot better.  I have started to warm up the elementary bands and my discipline techniques is working very well with them.

High School was quite a roller coaster.  Mr. DeSalvo had me run through “Visions of Flight” by Robert Sheldon on Tuesday and it went, well, badly.  My discipline was under par and I basically fell on my face, which he then told me was the point because I learned.  I’m glad this happened, it brought up the conversation of how to do it as a teacher, and more importantly right now, how to do it as a student teacher.  It’s difficult to demand respect when you can’t really do anything if they don’t follow.  Thursday I worked on introducing the piece again.  This time it went a million times better.  I noted in the score what truly needs work, and am looking forward rehearsing the piece.

Overall a great week, I'm now truly enjoying the student teaching experience.  As some of the other teachers in the high school have said, its great to have a teacher constantly looking over your shoulder because it allows you to become a better teacher.  After a certain amount of time, you stop getting observed and tend to loose your edge.  I am so glad my edge is being sharpened even more then it already is by such great teachers pointing out ways to make me even better at what I do now.  This is such a great way to undergo becoming a great teacher.