Awesome First Days of School

 

I had a great summer, but I love my job too. It is always fun to get back into a routine and see my students, their new haircuts, their new tennis shoes, and the several inches of height they gained over the break.

In keeping with tradition from the past few years, here is my annual beginning-of-the-school-year blog post.

Welcome to the Awesome First Days of School!

The Way To My Heart
I booted up my laptop the first day of school and found a new folder on the desktop entitled, "Happy First Day of School!" I was trying to remember if I had created some weird presentation for my students when I clicked on it and found a Jack White album inside. Forget flowers! My husband, Dan, knows the way to my heart is music.

Funny Little Kindergartners
The first week of school is hilarious because none of the kindergartners can open the bathroom door next to the music room. It is so heavy, especially for those little ones!

That age group also has a difficult time with my name. I get called everything from, "Mrs. Pooban" to "Mrs. Doogie" to "Mrs. Duncan." Usually, "Mrs. Duggans" is about all I can hope for from the kindergartners.

I also have kindergartners who think I live in my music room. One little boy was amazed that I was in the gym one evening for a school event. As I was getting ready to leave, he asked, "Are you going back to music?"

"I'm going to my home," I told him.

He looked horrified.

"I live in a house, not at school, just like you."

He continued to look at me as though he thought my house must be located somewhere in outer space.

After music class one afternoon, the kindergartners were holding sit spots, getting ready to line up at the door. I accidentally brushed past one boy who had been diligently holding his spot in his hand.

A voice that sounded like an old stoned hippie rang out behind me, “You made me drop my dot, MAN!”

Music Teacher From The Black Lagoon
Every year, I read a book called The Music Teacher from the Black Lagoon to my second graders. It is about a boy who is scared to death of his new music teacher, and he describes several humorous scenarios he has overheard only to find out (Spoiler Alert!) she is not so bad after all.

As soon as we read the part about Miss LaNote singing opera in your ear, one of my students started imitating what he interpreted to be opera, a melody full of nonsense words, until I turned the page.

When it mentioned kids having to perform a concert in front of the WHOLE school (supposedly a scary thing for the character in the book), one of my students whispered, “Awesome!”

I guess my students are pretty sure of themselves in their music class.

What I Did Last Summer
I like to tell my students about my summer break (so they know I'm not from the Black Lagoon). I showed the kids this picture (see below) from my trip through Yellowstone, and one fourth grader asked, "Where’s his smile?"

"Mr. Duggan thinks this is smiling," I told the kid.

My students also loved my mountain biking bear story.

My Kids' Favorites
After I told the kids about myself, we played a getting-to-know-you game where they answered questions about their favorite things.

I heard one girl tell her partner that Vanilla Ice was her favorite singer ("me and my mom's favorite," were her exact words), and she started to disco.

Another fifth grader said his favorite subject in school was music. (I almost cried.)

And a third grader said, "I hate school."

And I said, "But you love music!"

And he grinned and admitted, "Yeah."

Choir Is Going To Be Crazy
One of my sixth graders glanced around the room during her music time and said, "We're going to have lots of people in choir from this class!"

How about from every class?

I have ninety-two kids signed up this year.

I am having stress dreams about choir.

Interesting Music Lingo
One of my sixth graders called a "sharp sign" a "hashtag." Hilarious. Like no one's ever heard that before, buddy.

But this next one really was funny and said in all innocence.

I was trying to help my second graders recall the term "the music staff," and one girl shouted out, "the music steak!"

Here, kids. Maybe you should watch this . . .

For more school funnies, see "Awesome First Days: Part 2"


For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.