Musings on the First Week of of the Fall Term

After a summer off from teaching, my colleagues and I are very glad to have the weekend. Over the summer, we forgot how hectic the pace is during the school year. Poor Maestro has to memorize a whole new schedule (it's too bad dogs can't read). I have to give him credit though. After one week, he catches on to who is supposed to come when. Since everyone is adjusting to their fall schedule, my main priorities this week were to reconnect with returning students, to get to know new students and assess who did their homework (and who needs extra review).

I gave all the kids some origami that I made over the summer. Their first homework assignment is to compose or improvise a short song about one or both of their origami. It will be a musical carnival of the animals, with songs about whales, seals, fish and various birds.

Next week is a whole other story. They'll be hit on the head with musical math to review rhythm, sight-reading (presented under the guise of trying out the pop and jazz books I recently bought), scales, chords and arpeggii to get their fingers back into shape. We'll also fine tune the songs I assigned them for homework.

Things are gearing up once again with ARMTA Calgary. One committee meeting down for the month, three more to go.

(c) 2007 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.