The road to UIL
WELL, I did it. I made it to Spring Break!! I will hold for applause.
Done? GREAT!!
January and February came and went and now I am on break for a full week (well, now it's like a few days) of freedom. I am so happy about the time that I have off to catch up and hang out with family and friends, but it's always good to recap. Well, for me it is. So, here goes nothing.
The road and small detour (TMEA) to UIL.
JANUARY:
How was January, you ask? STRESSFUL. Why? Well, because you know- the new year started and I was being told things like, "You need to figure out the rest of this year. You know, you kinda need to prepare two groups of small humans for this contest in March, nothing big. Just make sure they know how to sight read music in these keys and you have to make sure they learn three pieces of music- all of contrasting styles, and they have to be performed from memory, beautifully, but you know. Just like, do it. Soon. Or now. Now is good."
So, I don't know, maybe that's a lot to hear for someone like me, a first year teacher. And no, I'm not whining and I'm not pulling the 'first year teacher' card ALTHOUGH, I still have time to do so. I knew what I signed up for when I decided I wanted to be a choir teacher. It's just a lot to do. A lot to take in. Realizing that you're the one your kids are looking to, you're the one who gets to choose the repertoire, which is cool, but what happens if you choose something too hard or way too easy? How do you even begin to prepare your students for something they have never experienced- that YOU have never experienced. I was looking for a handbook or someone to tell me, "These are the pieces you should do, these are the tools and exercises you should use, here are some lesson plans. Have fun." But that didn't happen. Oh no. Fortunately, I have great colleagues, whom I am blessed to call friends, help me out. We had a UIL planning party. That's right, people. We got together, drank coffee, sat around, talked, suggested, listened to, sang through pieces and we helped each other choose pieces for UIL. It was nice to get an idea of exactly what everyone was thinking and the types of pieces I should be looking at for my ensembles. I no longer felt like I was alone in all of the planning and I wasn't going into the second half of the school year blind.
So, in January when students returned after a great, restful Winter break, we jumped right in. My girls and guys picked up our pieces quickly. I held sectionals once a week for each section, which helped a lot. Sadly, not everyone took the whole "show up to sectionals" thing seriously. Some days, I found myself at the school before or after hours alone. Lovely. We sight read almost every day. To be honest, I found myself putting it off because I was so terrified of messing up. It didn't really help that I was having nightmares about everything going wrong in the sight reading room. Take it from me, someone with absolutely no experience, you need to sight read everyday. Not just for you, but for your kiddos. Then, we trekked right on into February.
FEBRUARY:
Doesn't it seem like February came and went? It is the shortest month and also the most terrifying. At least, it was for me. In the midst of Pre-UIL and UIL, TMEA was smack dab in the middle. Which was a huge blessing! By the time TMEA rolled around, my students had all of their pieces learned. Not memorized, but learned, which was the goal I had set for them. Had we rehearsed with our pianist? No. BUT we were halfway there.
TMEA
SO MANY GREAT THINGS HAPPENED. I apologize for yelling, but TMEA was the best this year. It all seemed unreal. To be considered a colleague amongst some of the greatest people I have ever met is just overwhelming and the entire week felt like that, but in the best way possible. I saw all of my teachers from middle school all the way up to my college professors. The people who helped shape me, my middle school/high school life, my college life, and my career now were all around me, telling me how proud they were of me and I could do nothing but grin. I came back form TMEA feeling incredibly blessed and I am reminded each day of how amazing my life has been and still is. TMEA allowed me to take a much needed break from the chaos that is the first year of teaching. First year of running a program. First year of preparing groups for UIL. I heard so many testimonies about how hard it was, about how it will get easier, better. I heard people express the exact same feelings that I had been feeling. It was nice to know that I wasn't alone. And I never will be. That community- the massive community- at TMEA proved that.
Post- TMEA
Also known as 'Yea, maybe you had almost a full week off, but now it's time to stop pretending like you don't have things to do". I found it extremely hard to be motivated to do anything for work. All I wanted was to sleep and mentally prepare to be bombarded by my students on Monday, but we had Pre-UIL in a week and there was work to do. Thankfully, we worked with our pianist, who was awesome, and everything was great. Until I had to prepare eligibility lists and I realized that I was losing students. Thankfully, my students pulled it together to give a great Pre-UIL concert. It was short and sweet and afterwards, my students and I had a chance to reflect on their performance. We knew what needed to be fixed and we were ready to work on it.
MARCH
I had no idea a month could terrify me so much, but March surely did. We had our Pre-UIL concert about two weeks before UIL, which meant UIL was two weeks away. TWO. So, on top of polishing songs for UIL and sight reading, I was making sure all of my ducks were in a row. Which meant triple checking eligibility lists, making sure our schedule was correct, paper work was done, we had our bus driver in place, itineraries, music, entries for the contest- it was absolutely insane, but it all got done. I had so much help from parents, colleagues, friends, even my students felt the need to relieve me of stress. Even if it meant numbering measures while I ran around getting permission slips and paperwork turned in. So, a few days before UIL, I had parents and colleagues moving mountains, helping me with dresses and our master plan for the day of the contest.
UIL
The night before UIL, I remember praying for a sense of calm and patience. I talked with my students about the expectations set and our goal for the contest the day before and that morning, I felt so at ease. Oddly at ease. Does that make sense? I don't know. All I know is that I felt good about whatever was supposed to happen that day. It also helped that I had amazing colleagues and mentors reminding me to enjoy it. So, I was ready to go, bright and early and out the door at 6:15 with coffee in hand (Thanks, Raul!!) on my way to school for my first UIL Concert and SR Contest. My men were scheduled to sing at 8am (someone had a funny sense of humor planning that one. First year teacher, first to perform. FUN!), which meant they all had to be at the school by 6:45am and they were. I had all of my men checked in by 6:45am and by 7:00am, we were taking off. I was anxious. In the warm up room, I had the chance to just sit and talk with my men about what was going to happen. I wanted them to know I was proud of them and that they could do well in this contest. It was great to have that chance to talk with them. I think that helped me more than it helped them. So, 8:00am came and my men were walking on stage. One of them looked at me and told me, "We'll make you proud, Ms. Reed." All I could think was, "GREAT. Now I'm fighting back tears." On stage, my men sounded great! In the sight reading room, we got down to business. Was it weird to have people watching/judging me lead sight reading? Yes. It was nerve-racking, but it went well. My men stepped it up and got the job done. It could have been better, but considering how we lost about half of the bass section and 3 weeks before, I didn't think I could even take them to contest, put their entire performance into perspective. They did a great job and they didn't let me down. I was proud. I still am.
My ladies sang at 10:20am, so after my men sang and sight read, it was back on the bus and right back to school to pick up the ladies and drop my men off. When we made it back to the school, my ladies were dressed and ready to go. Parents were working hard along with my mentor to get them out of the door and on the bus. We arrived at the school, had a few minutes to collect ourselves, and it was off for round two. In the warm up room, it was a little more hectic this time. I had to make sure they were ready, that they were standing in the correct places and everything, and then it came time to sing through our pieces. After they finished their last piece, I started crying. It was all so surreal. These ladies had been working extremely hard for me, sometimes complaining, but never doubting my abilities as their teacher. They sounded beautiful and I felt completely overwhelmed thinking, "How is this my choir? How is this even real?" And that's when I knew that I could care less about the scores. I remember having the necessary debate in college about Process vs. Product and I remember arguing the only thing that mattered was the process. I knew that from my experience as a student in my middle school and high school choirs, but I knew even more as a director that day. My ladies sang beautifully onstage and they were stunning in the sight reading room. I am extremely proud of their hard work!
Post-UIL
Looking back, it feels like it happened months ago. It was last week. It's amazing and a little insane to think how hard we work preparing music and building skills only to show a snapshot of what our students can do for 40 minutes. My students received excellent ratings and my ladies received straight ones in the sight reading room. I am so pleased with how everything turned out. I know what my students are capable of and I know that I can handle almost anything. I am forever grateful for the hard work of my students, my family, friends, colleagues, parents, mentors and anyone else who had a speck of faith in me. I know that UIL isn't the end-all of a program, but as a first year teacher, it was a daunting hurdle to jump, but I did it and I'm so much happier for it!
Thanks for reading,
Ms. Reed
Done? GREAT!!
January and February came and went and now I am on break for a full week (well, now it's like a few days) of freedom. I am so happy about the time that I have off to catch up and hang out with family and friends, but it's always good to recap. Well, for me it is. So, here goes nothing.
The road and small detour (TMEA) to UIL.
JANUARY:
How was January, you ask? STRESSFUL. Why? Well, because you know- the new year started and I was being told things like, "You need to figure out the rest of this year. You know, you kinda need to prepare two groups of small humans for this contest in March, nothing big. Just make sure they know how to sight read music in these keys and you have to make sure they learn three pieces of music- all of contrasting styles, and they have to be performed from memory, beautifully, but you know. Just like, do it. Soon. Or now. Now is good."
So, I don't know, maybe that's a lot to hear for someone like me, a first year teacher. And no, I'm not whining and I'm not pulling the 'first year teacher' card ALTHOUGH, I still have time to do so. I knew what I signed up for when I decided I wanted to be a choir teacher. It's just a lot to do. A lot to take in. Realizing that you're the one your kids are looking to, you're the one who gets to choose the repertoire, which is cool, but what happens if you choose something too hard or way too easy? How do you even begin to prepare your students for something they have never experienced- that YOU have never experienced. I was looking for a handbook or someone to tell me, "These are the pieces you should do, these are the tools and exercises you should use, here are some lesson plans. Have fun." But that didn't happen. Oh no. Fortunately, I have great colleagues, whom I am blessed to call friends, help me out. We had a UIL planning party. That's right, people. We got together, drank coffee, sat around, talked, suggested, listened to, sang through pieces and we helped each other choose pieces for UIL. It was nice to get an idea of exactly what everyone was thinking and the types of pieces I should be looking at for my ensembles. I no longer felt like I was alone in all of the planning and I wasn't going into the second half of the school year blind.
So, in January when students returned after a great, restful Winter break, we jumped right in. My girls and guys picked up our pieces quickly. I held sectionals once a week for each section, which helped a lot. Sadly, not everyone took the whole "show up to sectionals" thing seriously. Some days, I found myself at the school before or after hours alone. Lovely. We sight read almost every day. To be honest, I found myself putting it off because I was so terrified of messing up. It didn't really help that I was having nightmares about everything going wrong in the sight reading room. Take it from me, someone with absolutely no experience, you need to sight read everyday. Not just for you, but for your kiddos. Then, we trekked right on into February.
FEBRUARY:
Doesn't it seem like February came and went? It is the shortest month and also the most terrifying. At least, it was for me. In the midst of Pre-UIL and UIL, TMEA was smack dab in the middle. Which was a huge blessing! By the time TMEA rolled around, my students had all of their pieces learned. Not memorized, but learned, which was the goal I had set for them. Had we rehearsed with our pianist? No. BUT we were halfway there.
TMEA
SO MANY GREAT THINGS HAPPENED. I apologize for yelling, but TMEA was the best this year. It all seemed unreal. To be considered a colleague amongst some of the greatest people I have ever met is just overwhelming and the entire week felt like that, but in the best way possible. I saw all of my teachers from middle school all the way up to my college professors. The people who helped shape me, my middle school/high school life, my college life, and my career now were all around me, telling me how proud they were of me and I could do nothing but grin. I came back form TMEA feeling incredibly blessed and I am reminded each day of how amazing my life has been and still is. TMEA allowed me to take a much needed break from the chaos that is the first year of teaching. First year of running a program. First year of preparing groups for UIL. I heard so many testimonies about how hard it was, about how it will get easier, better. I heard people express the exact same feelings that I had been feeling. It was nice to know that I wasn't alone. And I never will be. That community- the massive community- at TMEA proved that.
Post- TMEA
Also known as 'Yea, maybe you had almost a full week off, but now it's time to stop pretending like you don't have things to do". I found it extremely hard to be motivated to do anything for work. All I wanted was to sleep and mentally prepare to be bombarded by my students on Monday, but we had Pre-UIL in a week and there was work to do. Thankfully, we worked with our pianist, who was awesome, and everything was great. Until I had to prepare eligibility lists and I realized that I was losing students. Thankfully, my students pulled it together to give a great Pre-UIL concert. It was short and sweet and afterwards, my students and I had a chance to reflect on their performance. We knew what needed to be fixed and we were ready to work on it.
MARCH
I had no idea a month could terrify me so much, but March surely did. We had our Pre-UIL concert about two weeks before UIL, which meant UIL was two weeks away. TWO. So, on top of polishing songs for UIL and sight reading, I was making sure all of my ducks were in a row. Which meant triple checking eligibility lists, making sure our schedule was correct, paper work was done, we had our bus driver in place, itineraries, music, entries for the contest- it was absolutely insane, but it all got done. I had so much help from parents, colleagues, friends, even my students felt the need to relieve me of stress. Even if it meant numbering measures while I ran around getting permission slips and paperwork turned in. So, a few days before UIL, I had parents and colleagues moving mountains, helping me with dresses and our master plan for the day of the contest.
UIL
The night before UIL, I remember praying for a sense of calm and patience. I talked with my students about the expectations set and our goal for the contest the day before and that morning, I felt so at ease. Oddly at ease. Does that make sense? I don't know. All I know is that I felt good about whatever was supposed to happen that day. It also helped that I had amazing colleagues and mentors reminding me to enjoy it. So, I was ready to go, bright and early and out the door at 6:15 with coffee in hand (Thanks, Raul!!) on my way to school for my first UIL Concert and SR Contest. My men were scheduled to sing at 8am (someone had a funny sense of humor planning that one. First year teacher, first to perform. FUN!), which meant they all had to be at the school by 6:45am and they were. I had all of my men checked in by 6:45am and by 7:00am, we were taking off. I was anxious. In the warm up room, I had the chance to just sit and talk with my men about what was going to happen. I wanted them to know I was proud of them and that they could do well in this contest. It was great to have that chance to talk with them. I think that helped me more than it helped them. So, 8:00am came and my men were walking on stage. One of them looked at me and told me, "We'll make you proud, Ms. Reed." All I could think was, "GREAT. Now I'm fighting back tears." On stage, my men sounded great! In the sight reading room, we got down to business. Was it weird to have people watching/judging me lead sight reading? Yes. It was nerve-racking, but it went well. My men stepped it up and got the job done. It could have been better, but considering how we lost about half of the bass section and 3 weeks before, I didn't think I could even take them to contest, put their entire performance into perspective. They did a great job and they didn't let me down. I was proud. I still am.
My ladies sang at 10:20am, so after my men sang and sight read, it was back on the bus and right back to school to pick up the ladies and drop my men off. When we made it back to the school, my ladies were dressed and ready to go. Parents were working hard along with my mentor to get them out of the door and on the bus. We arrived at the school, had a few minutes to collect ourselves, and it was off for round two. In the warm up room, it was a little more hectic this time. I had to make sure they were ready, that they were standing in the correct places and everything, and then it came time to sing through our pieces. After they finished their last piece, I started crying. It was all so surreal. These ladies had been working extremely hard for me, sometimes complaining, but never doubting my abilities as their teacher. They sounded beautiful and I felt completely overwhelmed thinking, "How is this my choir? How is this even real?" And that's when I knew that I could care less about the scores. I remember having the necessary debate in college about Process vs. Product and I remember arguing the only thing that mattered was the process. I knew that from my experience as a student in my middle school and high school choirs, but I knew even more as a director that day. My ladies sang beautifully onstage and they were stunning in the sight reading room. I am extremely proud of their hard work!
Post-UIL
Looking back, it feels like it happened months ago. It was last week. It's amazing and a little insane to think how hard we work preparing music and building skills only to show a snapshot of what our students can do for 40 minutes. My students received excellent ratings and my ladies received straight ones in the sight reading room. I am so pleased with how everything turned out. I know what my students are capable of and I know that I can handle almost anything. I am forever grateful for the hard work of my students, my family, friends, colleagues, parents, mentors and anyone else who had a speck of faith in me. I know that UIL isn't the end-all of a program, but as a first year teacher, it was a daunting hurdle to jump, but I did it and I'm so much happier for it!
Thanks for reading,
Ms. Reed