A Year In Review

A School Year In Review

Tuesday, June 11th. Instruments have been inventoried, laptops checked in, floors are being cleaned and re-waxed, and you can see the top of my desk finally. 2018-2019 school year is officially in the books.

New school this year. My time at Burg was fantastic, but it was time to move to the next thing. Potentially a forever job. Started with a bang, or a break, if you will. My teaching partner broke his ankle mid summer, forcing me to step into a teaching role with students I didn’t know, a system I didn’t know and expectations I didn’t know. It was a whirlwind. I don’t really remember much from August to October, just that it was excitingly insane. I always felt three steps behind, and people just assumed I knew what was supposed to take place, when in reality I knew nothing. I was always in a state of mild confused panic. I’d never truly taught with anyone, let alone someone who (bless his soul) was broken and on some serious pain meds. The true test of me working with someone will be this August - October, when (knock on wood) no one is injured or drugged.

I hit a stride in mid October when I finally got a hold of “my band”. Concert Band started and Jazz 2 started. I finally felt like I could teach; make the ensemble my own. I’ve never worked so hard in my life. The ability levels in my concert band went from instrument holder to “at grade level” with more holders than grade level musicians. Everything was work, lots of work.

All of this was just on one side of the parking lot. On the other side was Middle School. The 8th Grade Band. A rough start might be an understatement. These kids had 3 different band directors in their 3 years in middle school. They didn’t care about anything or anyone, and had even planned (as a group) to make my life miserable my first year. Even to this day, I struggle with how to start 8th graders. They want desperately to be treated like young adults, but can’t handle it. They hate being coddled, but aren’t mature enough to handle being treated like a high schooler. I lived one rehearsal at a time with that group. Just make it to the end of the class. Did they learn one new thing that rehearsal? One thing. My teaching partner at the middle school was about to have a baby, so in all of the crazy, I was about to completely take over a middle school program, with kids I didn’t know, a rebellious 8th grade, and a 7th grade class that defies all labels. I drank a lot first semester. I cried some, yelled some, and was beyond my limits on many days.

Among all of this, was a wonderful student teacher. She was awesome and is awesome, and is probably one of the reasons I survived this school year. She worked hard, never complained and will be a dear friend for the rest of my teaching career.

I tried some different things this year. Student led warm-ups, student directed rehearsal plans, and lots of drills and sight reading. We spent 20 minutes every rehearsal on basics, the rest on performance literature. We worked hard. Very hard. We had good performances and we had some great performances.

It’s definitely time to put this school year to a close. I learned a lot, and my students learned a lot. They improved tremendously. Those that chose not to, chose a different class for next year. AND THAT’S OKAY! It’s so nice to be in a job that I don’t have to beg people to stay in band. The numbers are good. And the kids that are continuing in the program want to be there. I am glad to be done. I am glad to have experienced this insane year. I'm glad I work with the people I work with. I look forward to seeing what’s to come.

Steph Williamson