Rocking and Rolling

My apologies for taking so long to update my blog. I get side-tracked pretty easily and time has been zooming by. I can’t believe it’s already November. I’ve booked my tickets back for home so I’ll be around the Spokane and Seattle areas for two weeks. It will be great to be home back to the Northwest: I’ve missed the snow, the cold, and the topographic relief.

October proved to be a very long month: no breaks, no time off, just work work work. But work has been very rewarding. The 6^th graders have been given recorders, and surprisingly only about five have been misplaced so far. The difference in my kids is amazing in that I’ve given them something to apply their musical knowledge with and they see the immediate and practical application of what they are learning. “Ahh, this is why I need to know a quarter note!” Those kinds of moments are great, and so far it’s been rubbing off pretty well. My students are currently at a 74% mastery of the objectives I’ve taught them. The biggest problems I am having are with the application of the basic knowledge, ie., looking at a set rhythm and playing it with proper technique on their recorders.

My choirs are still my greatest challenge. I had one student try out for all region this year and four students try out at the Middle School, but I’m happy all of my students got the experience. They also saw the skills needed to be successful at the next tryout. It was pretty cool. I also got to drive the school bus, which I always enjoy.

The way that Southeast All Region worked is that students audition by singing a selected piece with accompaniment on a c.d. It really is a pretty big challenge if you don’t have music theory skills. I had a great volunteer in one of my 6^th graders who ran my c.d. player for a total of 5 hours: probably the most boring job in existence. I remember vividly driving the bus that morning with two of my students already in the bus and I pulled up to her home, a trailer sitting in what looked like a pool of mud. The siding was faded, and between the doorway and the road was a pathway fashioned out of forklift palates, keeping her above the mud. It was a stark reminder of the poverty and living conditions some of my students face.

I have been meeting with a few community members to try and get a dialogue going about the state of our public schools in Lake Village. We’ve decided to hold a series of “conversations” with parents, teachers, and community leaders to figure out where exactly our feelings and agreements or disagreements lie in regards to the school: some parents have problems with our discipline, for example. Other parents feel like the learning environment isn’t safe. Some teachers feel like parents don’t do enough to stay involved in their children’s lives, while some parents say that it is the teacher’s job to take care of it at school. Lots of varying opinions, and rather than shoot for reconciling them, the first step is to simply hold these conversations. I’ll let you know how it goes once we have our first.

Thanksgiving is coming up and Uncle Tom and Aunt Nancy are coming down to do some sight-seeing and eat some turkey. I’m looking forward to seeing them and am excited that November is going to be a relatively short month. Between now and Christmas I also have to get the Winter Arts Festival in motion (already had our first meeting) and the Christmas song selection set for the concert.

Also, I’ve joined a band called “Stifler’s Mama” with a couple of friends. We played our first gig this past Saturday to a pretty positive response, but we’re working on a more popular set list with some blues and classic rock songs. It’s been a lot of fun.

I’ll keep you all posted, and I look forward to seeing my Washington friends in December.

Cheers,

-Nate

“Once I let go a long time ago, but the memory makes it not long ago. I wonder if you’re thinking of me, or am I just a sweet fantasy?”-Nathan Fitzpatrick