2 down

and 2 to go!  My first two performing groups sang last night and were fantastic!!  I wrote recently that teaching music is often about more than the music.  Last night it was totally about the singing and the music!  2 more tonight and then I'll be done with performances for school until this spring.

On another happy note, I sang my last performance for the season Sunday night.  Yay!!!  It really did go very well and my mom came with me which is always fun.  She hadn't seen this season's program and I love having her in the audience. 

I'm already in rehearsals for this spring's concerts with one group and I'm sure SWE won't be far behind.  We were already talking about our two upcoming performances at Sunday's concert.  We're doing one "regular" concert and an opera night fundraiser.  I'm kind of excited about those and now it's time to start thinking about an aria or two...

The Final Countdown

There are only 5 more teaching days in the calendar year!  This would be even more exciting except that this is one of the most challenging weeks in the school year for the music teachers.  So many of us are fitting in evening concerts, in school performances and sing-alongs, etc.  I'm lucky that my evening concert isn't until January but I know that getting my classes to focus on it is almost impossible.  They are so hyped up and excited about all the parties and presents (and let's face it, so are the adults) that memorizing a song is low on their priority list.  I am attempting to combat this in the most basic of ways.  Bribery!

I have tempted my classes, starting last week, that if they could have 4 of their 5 songs concert ready by Wednesday we would have a movie day for their last class of the week with me.  I only see my students every other day at most and some even less so this is a big challenge for them.  It's also a challenge to me.  My ears go bonkers at this time.  I hear mistakes I've never heard before and turn into the nitpick queen.  I have to make sure I'm praising as much as I'm critiquing (sp?) their singing.  It's hard!  We all need to stay motivated and positive and not get bogged down in details.  Middle school chorus is a learning experience, not just a performance class....right?