I've been teaching music online, in the age of COVID, for a few weeks now. Usually, I start the school year with a first-days-of-school post, but this has been an unprecedented time. I have created brand new materials, received an online curriculum, all the while trying to stay up-to-date with the latest (and extremely mercurial) District and Music Department protocols and regulations.
So . . . this is why I have not updated my blog in a while, and I'm not promising that I will be diligent about it in the coming weeks.
Also—side note—I will probably say "no" if you ask me to do things right now. #boundaries
Of course, the kids are just as entertaining virtually as they are in person. I thought I would take a break from all the craziness and anxiety of past few weeks and focus on the lighter side of my career.
If you had been a fly on the wall in my classroom, here are some of the things you may have heard.
This was a fun one for me. A little musical called Hamilton premiered on Disney+ this summer, and many of my sixth graders fell in love with it. And I mean in love. They rival me for musical theater nerd status.
During our first week of online learning, I sang a song with my littles about what we do to get ready for school. After I was done with my version, the kids generated ideas about what they ate for breakfast, how they got dressed and brushed their teeth, and I incorporated them into the song.
One kindergartner said, "I go potty before school."
I should have seen that one coming.
During second grade music, one little girl sat on camera, raising her hand, through my entire lesson.
When I finally got to a break in the activity and called on her, she asked, "So . . . can we show our animals now?"
She was patient. I'll give her that.
Later that week, we danced with our animals, hamsters, dogs, guinea pigs, and cats, and the kids' stuffed animals (we call them "stuffies" nowadays) sang to me.
In one of my first grade classes, I noticed several students popping in. It seemed like a larger group than usual.
All of a sudden, one of my students exclaimed in distress, "Mrs. Duggan, these kids are not in our class!"
I don't know. I just entertain whoever shows up.
One of my kindergartners calls me, "Mrs. Dugits," which has to be one of the cutest variations of my name I've ever heard.
Another student said a video from our online curriculum looked like a "low budget infomercial," not like Mrs. Duggan's typical quality music at all, I guess.
One boy said, "I wear a mask around my little sister because she hugs her friends all the time. I tell her, geesh, social distance!"
One of my goofier sixth graders started class with, "I have a chicken joke for you. What did the hen say to the rooster?"
"Please don't let him say anything about a cock . . ." I thought.
"Don't get cocky!"
I laughed, and the kid, emboldened, added, "I have another one, but it's kind of a boy joke."
"Yeah, let's not tell that one," I said.
In my head: "And there's the cock joke."
Things are hard for specialists right now. Students in our district are back in the buildings next week, and specialists will come into contact with all of them. As career musicians, science is telling us that the most rewarding part of our profession is not safe at this time, and there is a sort of mourning that accompanies that reality.
So when my husband, Dan, went grocery shopping this week, he picked up a special cider for me.
Okay, Snoop Dogg.
For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.
