Thursday, 18 March 2021

Reflection

     I experienced a dream the other night which caused me to awake in the middle-of-the-night.  It was a teaching situation where I was having trouble with a discipline matter, with a student who was choosing to disrespect the classroom teaching dynamics of the lesson.  The situation escalated to the point where the student gestured me with the middle finger and walked away, all the while looking at me, testing my next move, as if to say: ‘What are you going to do about it”?

     This dream reminds me about my 30 plus years teaching high school age students.  I did have some situations throughout my career, that tested me and challenged me.  But, as I think about it, I consider myself very fortunate to not really have very many discipline problems.  There were some tense moments, even with parent conversations, or parent meetings.  I suppose one should remember that over a number of years in dealing with so many people, you are bound to have some challenging moments - right?

     But, as I compare myself to witnessing and hearing my colleagues share descriptions of stories in dealing with a number of students and parents, and even colleagues, I consider myself very fortunate.  Perhaps, most of the students I worked with selected the music course; they were not expected to take music.  Most of the students wanted to be there. This eliminated many potential problems.

     Certainly, I have experienced a lot of change in education.  In the early years of my career, teachers had a bit more flexibility and support.  Now-a-days, one must be accountable for everything.  The climate is different, and full of anxiety, pressure, and stress.  We lack trust and we doubt so much.  In the latter years of my career, teachers had to be careful about arranging a field trip or excursion; about word selection in class; and be ready to modify and adjust your approach to accommodate the needs of every individual.  There was more pressure on the teacher in the latter years of my career when compared to my early years teaching.  When I think about the uncertainty that exists now because of Covid - wow, I really do not miss teaching.  So much of the magic took place in the classroom environment.  Remote teaching experience cannot replace the energy that is created in the classroom.  I admire teachers today who have so much to deal with, especially during these uncertain times.

Friday, 12 March 2021

Music Alive Update

     One year ago today was Friday, March 13th, and we officially canceled Music Alive 2020, due to the Pandemic.  I attended a meeting held at Edel’s residence.  Michelle J. was also present.  We were to prepare boxes and more for Music Alive to begin.  On the morning of this day one year ago, I traveled to a few schools to pickup check payments.  In fact, the whole week involved a few trips daily to various school locations to get payments for registrations.

     The whole year was very challenging.  In the fall of 2019, so much effort was given to convince the school boards that we could deliver a festival in 2020.  You see, there was much unrest in the school system, with disruptions and discussions about a new agreement for teachers.  Trying to keep Music Alive running was very difficult.  I remember the committee meeting at Cosmo Music, an emergency meeting to review strips that we would take to keep the festival “alive”.  Our planning helped to move forward.  But then, when Covid appeared, well, we had no choice but to follow in the example of so many other organizations which were canceling, postponing, and basically shutting-down. 

     Over the summer, I dedicated time to Music Alive to renew our website and email; to gather some ideas about a possible future for Music Alive in Pandemic time.  In the fall, proposals were drafted and we obtained some support.  So, now, we are in the middle of a virtually delivery of sessions.  It was challenging, but I am proud to say that we managed to keep Music Alive as a relevant resource.  This particular educational package of modules will end officially May 7th.  There is some discussion that another package will be offered in the fall of 2021.  We shall see.

     (April 19, 2021) Currently working on arranging the payment of guest artists:  gathering of information, submitting payment totals for each guest artist, even though we have some sessions scheduled for late in May, well after our final date of May 7th.  We may need to arrange a second payment mailing in early June.

Wednesday, 3 March 2021

Another opportunity to present to schools (virtually)

 This is a return client!  So, I have another two performances scheduled this week.  I have designed a new medley routine, rather than perform the same routine.  I continue to try and reach-out to other schools to get more clients.  It would be nice to have one performance a week, but highly unlikely.  Oh well, we keep trying.