Thanks for checking in again! This week has been the beginning of the end in my mind. Next week is my last week, so this week I couldn't help but begin to think about how fast this has gone by. Despite feeling sadness about the close of this placement, it was still an exciting week!
Monday we went on a field trip to the Florentine Opera Company's rehearsal space. My school has a community partnership with the Florentine, so not only did we get free tickets to their performance of Albert Herring on Friday, but we also got to spend time with the actors, costume designer, and makeup artist on Monday. Their rehearsal space is beautiful, tucked away in a vine-y brick building in the city. The actors performed selections from the opera, the director explained the opera and Benjamin Britten, and the chorus director did a musical analysis for us. The makeup artist did stage makeup on two students- one was made to look old, while the other got a faux mustache. It was a great time, and it got the kids really excited about the opera on Friday.
Tuesday I had another informational meeting after school, this time for a high school choir position. I got to tour the school with the principal, and again I was the only one to come to the meeting. I got to meet the assistant principals and some staff, and it seemed like they really liked me. I am still unsure as to whether I want to teach high school. My heart really lies with middle school, but I haven't seen many middle school positions available... We'll see where these leads go!
Thursday night was the IB Senior Recitals for 4 of our seniors. In the IB program, students are required to perform 25 minutes of music to be recorded and sent for scoring to other parts of the world. The recital was amazing, and the students performed well. By the end, I was crying like a baby. I was so proud of these students, and I've only known them for 8 weeks! I was so moved by their hard work and all they have overcome, I couldn't help but tear up.
Friday was a long, but great day (for the most part). I had a big project that was due in my Music Appreciation class where the students listened to an album, did a little analysis on each song, wrote a one page review of the album, and do a 5-7 minute presentation to the class about whether they liked/disliked the album. They have had at least 3 weeks to work on this project, 45 minutes of in-class work time each day... Friday it was due, and out of a class of 35 students, 18 turned in projects. I was stunned. I started grading, and out of the 10 that I graded, I had at least 5 cases of blatant plagiarism. I couldn't believe it! The project really wasn't difficult, especially for a junior or senior in high school, and to have them care so little about it made me mad! After talking with my cooperating teacher, I realized that they probably don't think I have any effect on their grade because I'm a student teacher, but he told me that he'd back me 100% if I failed them all. I told them at least 5 times that I wouldn't accept any late papers, and they'll have a rude awakening when they try to turn it in and I politely tell them absolutely not!!
Friday night was the opera. I stayed after school through to when the bus left at 6, and we took about 45 students. The opera was phenomenal. We had amazing seats, and the performers were great. It was really nice to have gotten to meet the actors before the performance, as it made them seem like someone we knew and were rooting for. I ended up seeing one of my former professors in the orchestra, which was a nice surprise. I didn't get home until around 11:30, but the long day was well worth it. It was so amazing to see 45 students who were genuinely interested in opera and speaking critically about the techniques and performances of the professionals.
This was truly a wonderful week, and I'm already sad that next week is my last. I know that I'll cry like a baby! It will be hard to leave, but I have to say, I'm excited to work with the little ones. Keep checking in with me, and I'll keep you in the loop! Thanks for the support!
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