5-Day Weeks Are Back, Baby!

Last week was rewarding but exhausting. 

 

Or I assume it was exhausting. I went to bed at 8:00 every night, barely lucid by the time I got home from work, so my memory is a bit vague.

 

In my school district, we are back five days a week with major distancing, masking, and sanitizing restrictions. 

 

And last week, I discovered I was ready!

 

Don't get me wrong. I am still concerned about keeping my students safe and not bringing anything home to my unvaccinated husband. (I am fully vaccinated albeit still cautious.) 

 

However, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing those kiddos in their full-size classes again.

 

In the days leading up to our return, I was nervous. I have directed music programs in front of hundreds of parents and community members, performed for one-thousand-seat audiences at the Morrison Center, hundreds at the Civic Center, and nothing has given me nearly as much anxiety as trying to figure out how this unknown entity of going back full-time was going to work.

 

All of the extra sanitizing of instruments and the mental fatigue from thinking through seating arrangements and who needs what materials every class period and how to clean those materials and how to place students in their cohorts in my already limited space of a music room was exhausting. 

But my principal said, "Do the best you can, and then let it go." 

She was right (and wise). I took a few deep breaths and enjoyed my time with the kids who, by the way, were just as excited to get back as I was. 

In fact, the upper grade students, who in non-COVID times are too cool for school, were the ones who provided the best material this past week.

 

"Can I say something off-topic?" one of my fifth grade girls asked at the beginning of class. (I was getting ready to explain syncopation, which seemed super important at the time.) "You have a good sense of style. Every time I come in here, you are wearing the cutest clothes." 

"You can go off-topic any time you want," I told her. 

Last year, a junior high student told me I dressed like a librarian. I took that as a compliment too.

The first graders must have agreed. 

 

"You look beautiful today," they all said as they entered the room. 

Man, elementary school is the best!

 

A few classes later, I was showing a recording of myself singing the school song. 

 

SIDE NOTE: We're supposed to limit the amount of live singing we do right now because . . . science. This is why I was showing a pre-recorded version of my singing. I realize a lot of districts aren't enforcing this right now judging from the amount of videos I was sent around Christmas time of young kids, standing in close proximity, singing at the top of their lungs [insert facepalm and eye roll here]. 

 

Anyway, after watching the video, one of my sixth graders asked, "Were you younger then?"

 

The recording was from a few weeks ago. Apparently, I've aged quickly this year.

 

 

Last week, the weather was gorgeous. To give my neighboring classrooms a noise break, I took the fifth and sixth graders outside for a drumming lesson.

 

As I was walking one of my classes around the corner, an excited fourth grader followed me on his way to recess.

 

"Can I do this when I am in fifth grade?" he asked.

"You can probably do this while you are in fourth grade in a couple of weeks," I replied.

The first class was a bit rocky, mostly because I hadn't worked out the kinks, but it ended up being a big hit the rest of the week.

"We sound better outside," a sixth grade boy remarked on Friday.

 

This week, we are heading into St. Patrick's Day, and that means lots of fun Irish music and movement. 

 

It won't be the same since many of our Irish circle and folk dances require holding hands, but I think I still have some fun activities planned. 

 

In years past, I have taught the lower grades a party dance called "Thread the Needle," but I couldn't figure out how to do a socially distanced, non-touching version of it.

 

The sixth graders asked if they could do "Thread the Needle" this year. (Again, I don't teach this dance to sixth graders because they are usually too cool. But I'm noticing there is a sense of nostalgia right now.) 

 

When I told them we probably wouldn't be able to do that one, they asked, "Can't we wear gloves?"

 

  

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