Living the Adventure

Filled with music; filled with joy.

The Mendenhall Quartet after the Juneau Symphony concert!

WARNING: This will be a rather short post because I had a very busy week with Juneau Symphony rehearsals almost every night, so I have a lot of work to get caught up on tonight!

But the busy week was worth it. I was reminded of how much I love playing in orchestra this week, as I spent 13 hours working on and performing Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Massanet’s Meditation with an amazing guest soloist, and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (New World Symphony). I love orchestra because each of the ensemble’s members work as a team to create a beautiful sound. I also love the rush of performing- you’re just so totally in the moment on that stage as the music is washing over you and the audience. The bright lights, the nervous smiles, the teamwork- it’s such a high! And I have been placed in the first stand, which has an added pressure but also a specialness because I can really hear each string part and am so close to the conductor, I can hear him breathe. I just love it! The two performances went so well! This was actually one of the few times I have ever played the same show two days in a row, and it was an odd feeling. I think I built it up so much for that first performance and really gave it my all, that by the time the second performance came around, I felt very tired and distracted. But again- being so in the moment for that first one and for many other performances is a true treat for me because most of the time, my mind is on at least three things at once. But not in orchestra. :) The Symphony members and the new conductor, Troy Quinn, have also been so kind and welcoming. It is an honor to be part of this community this year! I was just beaming after that concert last night, staring out at the packed performance hall.

Me and my awesome standpartner, Meghan!

The only hard thing about playing so much is my shoulder...it’s gotten significantly worse in the past week because of those 13 hours of hacking away. Let me tell you, playing in pain is not fun! I’m sure most musicians or anyone who has a job centered around physical labor can relate to that. It’s gotten to the point where my shoulder just hurts all the time and is difficult to move, and the pain has spread from the front of my shoulder to the top. The good news is, I scheduled an appointment with a bone and joint doctor who came highly recommended! The bad new is, he’s not available until mid-November….the good news, again, is that the Symphony is done until after New Year’s, so I am definitely avoiding playing and moving my arm as much as possible until my appointment. I’m not going to let myself worry about it right now. I’m just believing that it’ll be okay. :)

Besides the craziness of Symphony week, I continued teaching my high school Spanish classes, which are getting better and better, and worked with my JAMM bass players and second grade general music class at Glacier Valley. I have been having some difficulties with my JAMM bass class because one of my students is often disrespectful and uncooperative, and another has a very hard time keeping up and gets easily discouraged. When that’s basically half the class, it’s tough for me to stay positive and keep the class moving forward. I’m trying to push through and see what I can learn from it, though. And hey- I’m learning more about bass!!! Spanish class will be taken to the next level this week because my mentor teacher at Thunder Mountain, Tyree, is gone with his music students at a regional music event until Wednesday. So Monday and Wednesday Spanish classes will be all on me! EEK!!! But I have a plan- we are going to build an ofrenda (an altar) for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) as a way to wrap up that unit I’ve been teaching, and then I am going to share with them about my experiences in Peru and show them an awesome educational video about it. I really want these high schoolers to see the value in learning Spanish because it is so widely used and could be a crucial skill they may need. And I want them to understand how incredible it is to live and work in a different country and experience all aspects of its culture. I’ve been looking through all my Peruvian albums on Facebook in preparation for my presentation, and it makes me extremely happy that I was able to spend two summers there. It was full of so many beautiful places and people and experiences! Oh, how I miss it! But you know what? I’m probably going to say the same thing about Alaska someday. Because I know that even though I’m super busy and teaching isn’t always easy, this is a grand adventure that I will be super nostalgic about someday. And come on- it’s ALASKA! Sometimes I just say aloud to myself, “I live in ALASKA NOW. WHAT?!”. Yes, I think I’m pretty cool. I feel so thankful that I discovered my adventurous spirit and have been able to nourish that these past few years!!

I attended a Lutheran church down the street today because it gave me enough time to prepare for our concert this afternoon, and the sermon was focused on how when we have Jesus, we always have joy. Even in the hardest, most stressful times, we always have that joy that often manifests itself as peace and assurance. So no matter what is going on in life, Jesus’ love and beauty and care never fades, and we can feel at peace about that. And being in a beautiful place, growing as a person, making beautiful music, and helping children are more gracious gifts He has given me that I am trying very hard to not take for granted! I’m feeling very thankful and joyful indeed.

So I’d say that’s a good way to end the post and go into this week. :)

I took a walk and prayed on the pier of the Gastineau Channel,
which happens to be across the street from my house... :)

HAPPY ALASKA DAY!

Oh, beloved Alaska Day.

Fall in Juneau. :)

You can probably count on my blog posts sounding extra chipper any time Alaska bestows a beautiful three-day weekend upon me. It’s truly a miracle that I get a whole extra day to rest and work because I have had so much to do this weekend, I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep if I had to finish it in two days!

Last week was a nice, long week with some pretty big moments.
Some cute things first: I love rainy days because I get to see those adorable, tiny Xtratufs in my classroom. There was a violin class that had three little first graders in a row wearing their rubbery brown boots, and it just made me smile.
I also discovered that frowns can make you smile! We were teaching that first grade class how to play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on the violin this week, and when Lorrie noticed that the class was being squirmier than usual, she had them sit down as she read through a picture book of Mary Had a Little Lamb for them. Lorrie added little interludes throughout the story, during which Sophia and I would play the melody using different effects to depict what was happening in the plot. If the lamb was running, we played the melody with short, fast notes. If the lamb was cold, we did tremolo. My personal favorite, though, was when the lamb fell in the mud and was all alone and sad. Lorrie asked the first graders to pretend to be sad, and I joined in with my infamous frowny face. Those of you who know me well, know my frowny face. I should really get elected for some hall of fame because of it. But I am satisfied enough with getting the happy giggles of first graders, which I definitely received from a number of students once they saw my epic frown. Whether they were actually sad or pretending, I didn’t see any frowns after that!

So, classes were good this week. I taught a second grade all on my own for the second time, and it went pretty well! I understand what I could have done differently for the parts that didn’t go smoothly, which is exciting. At the beginning of my teaching experiences this year, all I could do was walk away from lessons feeling proud that I survived for those 45 minutes. I was never sure why the kids were reacting certain ways as I was teaching, though. After debriefing with Lorrie each time and learning more in my education classes, I now understand that scaffolding, good pacing, and credibility of my voice and body are significant ways to ensure a smoother lesson. I am getting a clearer understanding of what I can do differently each time. Yay for improvement!

I was able to visit Riverbend Elementary, one of the other schools in Juneau with the JAMM program, and work with their JAMM kids after school on Tuesday. I had a blast working with the librarian in the two classes she teaches. During this library class, kids go to certain music-learning websites that either help them with note-reading or introduce them to different musical instruments, and both of these platforms are engaging and educational. The kids in the first class were working on note-reading, so I walked around the computer lab to see if any of them needed help. I eventually came to a boy who was sitting at a computer away from everyone else and asked him if he needed any help. As I sat down to work with him, I could tell he was shy about the fact that he couldn’t read any of the notes he was supposed to be naming on his online activity. I worked with him for the rest of class and discovered halfway through that he is fluent in Spanish! So I asked him if I could practice with him and began talking to him and explaining everything in Spanish. With a little help from a treble clef cheat sheet, he was able to name a handful of notes in the timed game he was playing- it was so exciting to see him get it! I eventually took away the sheet to see if he could do it, and his knowledge of note names had increased significantly. It was awesome! I talked to the librarian, who is also a teacher friend I made from the Basic Arts Institute, and she told me that he has literacy issues and that I picked a great student to give special attention to. I have noticed for a few years now that in social situations, I tend to gravitate toward the people who are standing or sitting in the corner- I think mostly because I can be quiet and shy, too, so I understand that feeling. It’s neat to be able to go from doing that not just at parties and Bible studies, but also in the classroom!

On Thursday evening, I attended my second Juneau Symphony rehearsal and had a great time! I just love playing in orchestra, especially when we are playing repertoire like Dvorak’s New World Symphony. I have been having pain in the front of my right shoulder for a while now (actually, for the past 1.5 years, off and on…), but it’s gotten worse since being here. So it now hurts each time I play. I am kicking myself for not going to the doctor sooner, but I am thinking that if it gets worse, I might need to try to figure out another side of the Juneau healthcare system before I go home in December! If any of my Juneau friends are reading this, I’m totally open to suggestions for doctors!

A Wells Fargo representative also visited JAMM classes on Friday
to give JAMM a gracious donation of $2,500!

One part I love about playing with the Symphony is working with Troy Quinn, our new music director. He is completely supportive of our MAT program and has always been very welcoming and friendly. He is also very interested in the JAMM program and reaching out to the community, which he showed by coming to visit JAMM on Friday and working with the kids! He was able to witness the organized chaos of 3rd and 4th/5th grade orchestra classes. The quartet performed for the 4th/5th class, and then the class performed that same piece for Troy. He gave some comments to the class, and they worked through some things with him. It was a similar schedule for the 3rd grade class. I felt proud to show someone the magic that happens at Glacier Valley. I am really loving working with this JAMM program. As I continue teaching with JAMM, I have been thinking about my experiences teaching with the El Sistema-inspired programs in Chicago. Those programs will always be special to me, as they led me to fall in love with this music education philosophy, and they are very different from JAMM because they cater to a different culture and place. But there are some significant aspects of JAMM that I think make it a standout program: 1) JAMM occurs during the school day, in addition to being afterschool. Lorrie is the music teacher at Glacier Valley and is also the founder and director of JAMM. She sees these same kids during general music classes and knows all there is to know about the GV atmosphere. Instead of being a stranger who shows up to use a random school teacher’s classroom for a couple hours, she can use her own room and her colleagues’.
2) JAMM encourages the partnership of school teachers and artists in the community to bring quality music education to students. We have our two tech-savvy third grade teachers leading music technology classes for JAMM kids. This is where kids learn how to record themselves for JAMM online lessons and how to asses their peers using SmartMusic. We have a kindergartener teacher helping co-teach a class and handle the logistics (such as the significant task of collecting the afterschool attendance sheets from all 7 classes for the 130+ kids). We have teaching artists coming in from the community to teach ukulele, violin, cello, and bass. JAMM not only brings the students and their families together, but it also brings teachers and artists from around Juneau together, all in the name of providing a brighter future for these kids we love.

Having JAMM classes during the day (which is what our entire Friday is dedicated to- each grade has an assigned 45-minute period where they come together for JAMM orchestra) establishes continuity for the kids because they receive their music education in the same place with the same people, three days a week. It’s a good system, and it is sustainable and organized.

After the intense JAMM Friday’s are done, I hop on over to a teaching studio I am now using Friday evenings for my two private students. I have found one of these students through Meghan, my standpartner in the Symphony and co-teacher at GV, and the other through our quartet page! I knew social media was good for something. They are both 14 year-old high school freshman. I don’t have as much experience teaching older students, so this has been an interesting experience for me! I’m not worried about not being able to help them musically, but I’m realizing that I have to get out of “elementary school teacher mode” before they walk into my room. Let me tell you- teenagers are a lot different than fifth graders!! But I’m figuring it out. Last Friday, I assigned one of my students to choose her favorite pop song and figure out the tempo and time signature of it at home and bring it into her lesson this week. I did this because she had been having trouble maintaining a steady beat, and I was curious if it was because she couldn’t feel the beat or if she was distracted by the whole playing-this-abnormal-chunk-of-wood-thing. It turned out to be the latter! She was able to find the correct tempo and keep a steady beat, and we even danced and laughed to her music to celebrate her correct analysis of the tempo. My next step is to get her playing the beat on her cello. It felt like a shot in the dark to give her that assignment, but it seems to be working so far, so I’m excited about that! And I am really grateful to be making a little money this year through those lessons!

I have actually had my share of working with high schoolers this week because I taught two Spanish I classes three days last week! I am doing a short unit on Day of the Dead, and Tyree, my TMHS mentor teacher, has been helping me through the planning and execution of the lessons. The lessons went well, and I learned a lot. His main criticisms after seeing me work with the classes had to do with me adjusting my timing and language. Oh, right...they’re 5-8 years older than my GV students...haha! It’s sort of neat and confusing to work with both age groups at the same time. But how cool! Yay Spanish!!!!

Me, Tyree, and Sophia after the TMHS concert!

Oh, and I also conducted my first orchestra concert with the Thunder Mountain Orchestra on Tuesday night...I keep forgetting about these epic things I did last week! That was a great success! Tyree introduced me and Sophia to the audience, explaining the program we are doing and that we will be working with their kids this year, and a number of them came up to us afterward to congratulate us and welcome us to the community. So nice! It was an exciting night.

I think those are all the big things I can remember right now! I am beginning to plan a unit that I am required to teach in a month, and I have decided to do my unit with a fourth grade general music class at GV. We will be focusing on the connections between culture, music, and identity, all through the lens of jazz. I’m really excited about it! As soon as I figure out the details, I will lay them out on here. :)

I slept in for the first time in possibly months the past two days and have been getting a lot of work done, sprinkling in some time to relax as well. I took myself on a 2.5-hour walk today, revisiting my beloved flume trail (which was very slippery from the rain!), stopping by Sue’s to say hi, and making a very much needed grocery store run! After watching a movie with Rob and putting my new tiny grocery store pumpkin on my beautiful desk, I am ready to crank out some lesson plans tonight. But...I still have one more day!!!!

Little tiny pumpkins!

Buscando a Ruth

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...

...So, this is my view from the church parking lot.... :)

I am super jealous of the Thunder Mountain High School Spanish I classes because they got to watch Finding Nemo (Buscando a Nemo) a couple weeks ago while I was in a planning meeting. While I am happy I was part of that meeting because it helped solidify my role in the Spanish classroom for this year, I had a strong urge to watch Finding Nemo ever since. And after a long couple of weeks, I was able to finally watch Nemo and his dad on their adventures. I was admittedly falling asleep during part of it (even though it was only 8pm), but watching the characters let go of the scary things that could possibly lie ahead and say “yes” to adventure was a sweet reminder of what I am doing this year and how cool this all is! I have been forgetting about that the past couple of weeks, as work has piled on and things have become more stressful. But something so simple as watching a decade-old Pixar film (how has it already been 12 years?!) really brings a person back to reality.

So I have been trying to allow myself to slow down a little this week and enjoy this journey, especially as things get busier. I may have let things slow down a little too much, as I am writing my blog at midnight on Sunday night, in between finishing up lesson plans and homework for the week! But it was good for my soul, so it’s worth it! :)

Teaching second grade xylophone class!

My week was not like any other because Lorrie was at the El Sistema conference, and the quartet and I held down the fort at Glacier Valley! And everything I expected us to feel came true- we were excited to try running the music classes on our own (and I think it went very well!), but we were also excited to have Lorrie back. Subbing for just two days made me realize that Lorrie does so much each day to keep things running smoothly; I appreciate all she does a lot more now! But I led my first classes completely on my own this week- a second and third grade class- and even had our official observer from the university pop in for a surprise visit to watch me teach the third grade class- *Insert high-pitched, freak-out voice and twitching eye here*- “No, it’s totally fine that you’re here! It’s okay that Lorrie is gone, and we are doing this on our own for the first time! Sure- I’ll lead this class on my own instead of team-teaching it with Sophia like we originally planned!”. Haha! But it was actually really good for me. And he told us that it was not an official observation that would be sent back to the school, but that he came completely of his own accord on his own time to see how we were, observe us teach, and offer any helpful feedback. And after debriefing with him following my class, I was very happy he had been there! That growth mindset puts a smile on my face when wiser, more experienced teachers offer advice. I’m eager to learn it all!

Sophia and me at the Juneau Symphony rehearsal!

So while we were wading in the scary waters in the classroom this week, I was also able to do something very comfortable and fulfilling to me back on the beach, if you will- I attended the first Juneau Symphony rehearsal! So I am part of the Quartet-in-Residence for the Symphony, and they are paying part of our scholarship; this requires us to join them in rehearsals the week before each concert (being required to play in an orchestra? Count me in!). So while we weren’t required to be there, Sophia and I had been talking about how much we missed playing in orchestra (and let’s just be honest, playing in general…), and we decided to jump in and sight-read some New World Symphony and Shostakovich Festive Overture. And it was a BLAST! I loved it so much. We played under the Symphony’s new music director, Troy Quinn, who is a fabulous singer and conductor. He has such energy and is very nice and engaging. The repertoire was epically fun, and we enjoyed meeting some of the other musicians. We stood up and introduced ourselves as two of the members of their new quartet, and people were cheering and clapping for us- what a wonderful, warm welcome! The people seem so kind and humorous, which makes playing in the ensemble that much more enjoyable and inviting. Sophia and I are planning to go to as many rehearsals as we can!

Besides that, it was a pretty typical week. One of the highlights of my week involved another kinder- I fully believe God created 5 year-olds as a gift of joy and amusement for adults! I was helping with violin class, and all the kids were sitting “criss-cross applesauce”. I noticed a boy in the back who was squirming and talking, so I went over there to see what was going on and help him get back on task. Once I got close to him, I realized that he was pretending to be talking on the phone with his hand and was having a conversation about his day into it. After he said, “Hello”, I pretended to pick up my hand phone and communicate to him that it was time to focus on class, and when I said, “Goodbye”, I hoped desperately that he would go for it and hang up as I did. Didn’t work. But hey- it was worth a shot! Even though my plan wasn’t successful, it was just so stinking adorable!

This weekend sort of flew by, as it began with a 3-hour planning meeting Saturday morning and progressed with hours of work interwoven throughout both days. It was one of those weekends where I spent hours on my computer doing work, and I still feel like I didn’t do anything. But at this point, I just focus on one day at a time, so it’s all okay! I was also able to join Rob and Koren (my landlords) and their friends for Rob’s birthday dinner last night. It was so wonderful to have a delicious home-cooked meal with 7 people who were all born in the 50’s. Honestly, I’ve never been at an occasion that involved me sharing a meal and a conversation with so many people in that age range, and it was so neat! I really value the formation of relationships amongst the different generations. To hear them talk about their stories from the 80’s (a decade before I was born!) when they all met was so cool. They all also laughed over their awful memories as they tried to recall the actual details of how they first met each other. And once the conversation turned to boring, inapplicable topics such as their children, their retirement travel plans, and recipes, I peaced out and helped Rob clean up in the kitchen. They were eager to hear about my program and had wonderful things to say about JAMM and Lorrie and what her program has done for the community, though. They were also fascinated that I am an identical twin, so they asked lots of questions that most 20-somethings don’t think to ask, such as, “What was it like for you when you two split up? Was it hard to feel a sense of who you were?” and, “How is it for you both, now that she’s married and you’re living so far apart?”. It basically turned into me telling them all the awesome and hard parts of having someone you’re so unbelievably close with and are so similar to. I always appreciate telling people the good and hard things about being a twin because most people just exclaim, “Oh, that’s SO COOL! I wish I had a twin!” when they learn this fact about me. But man, by the end of that conversation, all I wanted was to be back in my dorm room at Interlochen (the arts boarding high school Rachel and I attended) with my twinny in our bunk beds. :)

I was also able to socialize with the quartet girls today, which was so nice! I have become really close to them and love all three of them. I’m so happy that we get along so well! We rehearsed at Lindsay’s beautiful house and then made homemade pasta, ate apple crisp, and watched a movie. It’s so strange to me that we didn’t know each other just three months ago. And now we are here, doing something no one else can completely relate to, and we have a bond that is very unique because of that! I love it. :)

I've made a new cat friend- it craws into our backyard every once in a while, and I totally freaked it out when I tapped on the glass to say hi!

So it was a great week full of beautiful, small reminders that I belong here and am having a truly life-changing experience this year. I am so thankful for the people God has put in my life here (and for the cat). I really feel cared for, loved, and surrounded by people I enjoy being with and from whom I can learn. This week will be another big one, as I teach my first Spanish class tomorrow (I am doing a short, week-and-a-half-long unit on Day of the Dead!) and conduct an arrangement of “Yesterday” with the TMHS orchestra on Tuesday night for their concert! I’m also putting together pictures for a new digital story I am creating about El Sistema for my Integrating Technology in the Classroom class and am brainstorming ideas for a unit I have to write and teach next semester. Woo hoo for learning and for scary, new things!

Here goes another wonderful week of learning about teaching, life, and myself!

We’re getting there.

One step at a time.

School parking lots in Juneau have some of the best views!

So you know how everyone in Juneau has been warning me about the Fall here? Well, I believe them and know that probably very soon, it will be gloomy and rainy all the time. But for the past few days, we have had beautiful sunshine accompanied by a crisp, Fall air and some very vibrant colors. I’m hoping that it will stay this way for a little while longer because I am loving it!

Unfortunately, a couple of those beautiful, warm days this week I spent inside because teachers had inservice on Thursday and Friday. While it was nice to have those days off from lesson planning and the stresses of school, inservice is one of those things that makes me heavily question if I want to be a teacher or not. I just simply do not like sitting in a chair from 7:30 to 3, looking at PowerPoints and listening to lectures about new curriculum standards and the hoops teachers must jump through. I think that as teachers, we can all agree that those aspects are necessary and helpful for bettering our educational system, but nothing beats being on your feet and working with your kids. So once Friday hit, I was extremely relieved to get outside and relax.

Except I didn’t. When I decided to do this program, I had a few expectations: I knew that I would have the time of my life. I also knew that I would get homesick and sometimes question what I was doing here. And knew that I would be incredibly busy all the time and often bogged down with work because I am getting my Master’s in a year and am student-teaching. And thank goodness for expectations because they make it a lot easier to accept reality when those things happen! But it’s all good- it’s part of the journey. :) So after a long day of inservice, I spent 7 hours doing homework on Friday night. But I did that so I would be able to take the entire day off on Saturday!

Gastineau Peak with Lindsay, Heidi, me, and Zeppelin!

Saturday was a glorious day and was so worth the wait. I hiked up Mt. Roberts with three friends, including two of my quartetmates, Lindsay and Heidi. The weather was beautiful, which made it perfect for hiking! And I had done this hike the very first weekend I was here, but instead of stopping after the two miles that got us from the base of the mountain to the tram where all the tourists go, we continued hiking to the first big peak, Gastineau Peak, which was another 1.5 miles from there. It was neat because the beginning of the hike is all in the forest, but the rest of it was completely out in the open, overlooking the Gastineau Channel and the mountains hugging it. I had brought numerous layers of clothing in case it got cold toward the top, but the sun was so bright and close that I ended up not needing most of them. It was glorious. It was also quite the workout! Each time we were going up a steep incline, I just kept thinking, “What am I doing?! They should just leave me here...This is awful!”. And once I had enough breath after those intense intervals, I would ask, “Are we almost there??!”, and Heidi would say, “We’re getting there!”. Quote of the day. But it kept me motivated and got me all the way to the top, where Heidi and I spread out a blanket and had a picnic as we looked out at the snow-capped, majestic mountains right in front of us. It was incredible! After the 9 miles of hiking, I was ready to take a shower and jump in bed once I got home, which is exactly what I did. I relaxed, had dinner with friends, and caught up on sleep.

I then woke up three hours before my alarm this morning, realizing how much I had to do before the week started, and freaked out. I desperately tried to get myself back to sleep and worry about it later, but once I get in that mode, there’s really no turning back. So I got up, made myself a cup of tea (ever since my sickness days, I have been obsessed with tea!), and went to work. Even though today might be stressful as I get to work again, I’m still really glad I took yesterday off, and I’m honestly proud of myself because that’s hard for me to do! And I still made it to church, so that was a nice break!

Working backwards, the beginning of the week went well, as JAMM started up and I got into the

A beautiful view of the Glacier Valley playground.

groove of being at Thunder Mountain. I taught my first JAMM bass classes on Monday and Wednesday and co-taught a Music Technology class, where the kids will learn how to use SmartMusic. It all went well! I have five fifth-grade bass students, and I am helping them go through Essential Elements to pass off on their SmartMusic quizzes. They have all been assigned specific quizzes that will help them earn “Karate belts”, so they go through each belt color and will then receive ribbons with the corresponding belt colors they earned. I like the Karate belt idea, and it gets the kids excited about practicing. With the bass class, I am learning how to work with a group that contains students at varying playing levels, so it’s been a good challenge. I began the first bass class by actually having them teach one of our non-music teachers how to hold the bow and the bass. It was a good exercise for them because they had to articulate what they know! We have also decided to call ourselves the “Pure Swag Basses”, so I am helping them make a giant star poster that has our group name and the five rules we came up with for our class: 1. Be respectful, 2. Be team members, 3. Be prepared, 4. Be focused, and 5. Be kind. They’re a good group!

This week will be a unique one because Lorrie will be gone, Monday-Thursday to attend the El Sistema Take a Stand Symposium in LA, so I will be substitute teaching on Monday and Tuesday and Sophia will be on Wednesday and Thursday! The other two girls will still be there on their regular days to help out, too. It’s exciting and terrifying that we will be on our own this week. We are eager to see how much we can do on our own, now that Lorrie has guided us so well, but I am sure that we will be very happy and relieved to have her back on Friday. :)

So here we go! The babies are flying from the nest!!!

If I could climb that mountain, I can do anything!

Guess who figured out the Juneau healthcare system this week?!

If only tea could fix all my problems.

Well, you may have guessed by the title that I did not, in fact, get better by Friday last week! My voice remained lost until Thursday, and it is still working its way to sounding back to normal. The thing that has really been bothering me, though, is my sore throat! It has not gone away! The pain lessened for a couple days and then just came back with a vengeance. I woke up Friday morning, feeling a giant lump in the back of my throat every time I swallowed and was convinced I had strep. So I decided that it was time to face the music by leaving the music at school halfway through the day to visit the lovely UAS health clinic. And I’m not being sarcastic here- it was actually lovely! The doctor was nice and helpful, and all the services were free (well, I guess if you don’t factor in the thousands of dollars I’m paying in tuition!). She apologized profusely for having to stick that unpleasant swab all the way in the back of my mouth, and I joked about how she must see a lot of disturbing-looking faces from these strep test experiences. She gave me some free over-the-counter medicine and some awesome throat lozenges as we waited for the strep test results, which made the visit feel at least a little worth it after I learned that I did not, in fact, have strep. Part of me was relieved, but I was mostly bummed! I could have had antibiotics prescribed, then and there, that would magically take away my symptoms, but instead she reassured me that it’s all “a viral thing” and I just needed to keep drinking tea and sleeping. Awesome. So I made my way back to school, taking the bus for the second time ever. I only got on two wrong buses before finding the correct bus stop. How did I survive in Chicago again?! After my unfortunate bus adventure, I waltzed into the music room just in time to give a presentation on a new music program Lorrie got a grant to use with the JAMM kids, called SmartMusic. Lorrie had been telling us about this awesome new program since the beginning of the program, and I finally got to see it in action a couple weeks ago when she showed it to some of her JAMM orchestra classes. SmartMusic makes practicing and assessment significantly more easy and fun, as it has thousands of pieces and several methods books available for students to pull up and play along to. Students can record themselves and hear an accompaniment part to everything, including the often-dull methods books exercises. Teachers can assign certain exercises to students, pull up submitted quizzes, and actually listen to the recording students did and see what mistakes were made. It’s fantastic, and I’m excited to use it as a tool to assess students’ playing levels! So Lorrie had told us early on in the program as well that two of our awesome GV third grade teachers are teaching an Ed. Tech course as part of the JAMM afterschool program on Mondays and Wednesdays. Neither of them are familiar with SmartMusic, but they will be showing the kids how to use it and helping them record themselves. So I took one of the four school-provided iPads we will be using this year home with me on Thursday night to become familiar with the program and make a teacher and student account in order to demonstrate to the third grade teachers how taking and submitting a quiz works, showing them what it looks like on both the teacher and student end. I was glad that my doctor appointment went so quickly so I was able to be back in time for the meeting, and Lorrie was so appreciative of me learning how to do it and showing the other teachers. She has deemed me the “tech guru” of the quartet, which I think is totally hilarious because I would have never thought of myself like that! But I guess I have developed certain basic (and I mean, basic!) skills that can be useful, and it feels super great to be able to contribute those to help the program. So while my throat still isn’t feeling better, all the good things that happened this week, like that meeting, make me feel better.

And it really was a good week! The kids were adorable, especially because I started to look at them more as humans again instead of walking lice/bacteria factories. And teaching went super well, which was so encouraging! Sophia and I team-taught some ukulele classes (did I know how to play ukulele before this year? NOPE!) that went great, and we felt so victorious after the last class of the week that we couldn’t help but cheer and high-five each other. It was a really nice moment! And a significant reason for why I came to the first part of school on Friday was because I was actually being officially observed for the second grade cello class I taught! The four of us have been assigned a wonderful man who has decades of experience teaching and a lot of experience mentoring new teachers who will come to our schools and observe us a couple times a month. So I felt very determined to push through and make sure I was there for that cello class so I didn’t miss that opportunity! And the class went great! He had some great feedback afterward, and I’m excited to learn a lot from him. I tell you, that’s a total growth mindset thought that is newly-developed in me. The “old me” would have been terrified of feedback, not wanting to admit any of my faults or areas that need growth, but now I am trying to really welcome those critiques because I know they will help me be a better teacher! It also helped me be receptive to his critical feedback when the first thing he said once all the kids left the room was, “That was so great. You have such talent as a teacher”. Yeah, that’s nice!!! So it was a great week full of good learning experiences and more cute encounters with kids. I’ve decided to keep record of some of the cutest anecdotes and one-liners I’ve been hearing, so here are a few.

First of all, to accompany my horrific-sounding voice at the beginning of last week, I also woke up with a completely bloodshot left eye that remained an eerie shade of red for two days. Beautiful. So I stuck to wearing glasses, partly to help my eye heal from whatever that was and prevent irritation, but also to try to hide that as much as possible so I didn’t scare the kids. So I go to help a little kindergartner during violin class for a few seconds on Monday, and she immediately asks me if I am new. And I say, “No, I’m not. I’m Miss Ruth!” And then she asks, “Then why are you wearing glasses and earrings?” I just found that so amusing, not necessarily because it’s super funny, but it reminded me of the developmental level at which five year-olds are. Their recognition of people is probably based on main characteristics like jewelry, hair color, basic face structure, etc., and wearing glasses and long, dangly earrings just threw this girl for a loop! It’s so crazy that I looked like a different person to her just because of those things. During those two glasses-wearing days, I also had a second grader ask me if I can see without them. What was funny about that was he was asking me loudly in the middle of class! And I just said, “No, I can’t!” and moved on! And the last funny one of the week was when I was walking from one violin row to another in the first grade class, and as I passed a young boy, he asked, “What’s in your nose?!”. I was not expecting that and was so surprised that I forgot how to answer that one and eventually just said, “It’s a nose stud,” and watched his face remain just as confused as it was when he originally asked his question. So I just walked away. HA!

JAMM is officially starting this week, and I wanted to give a brief overview of what this El Sistema-inspired program looks like, now that I have a better picture of it. Something I love is that Lorrie strives to form as many connections between the school/its teachers and the program as possible. So having teachers like the two third grade tech. teachers helping out is amazing, and that’s not a rare occurrence with JAMM. So, we have over 130 Glacier Valley kids signed up for JAMM, and these students will stay after school for four hours a week (two hours each on Monday and Wednesday) to receive group and private instruction in their instruments for an hour and take some sort of exploratory class during the second hour. The exploratory classes throughout the year will include ed. tech, ukulele, viola, chamber music, and improv. So kids are gaining experience with SmartMusic while learning more about their instruments and other ones during those after-school hours. And then Friday during school is JAMM day, so all the kids signed up for JAMM will come into class by grade level and have orchestra for 45 minutes. We have been breaking into different classrooms by instrument in order to catch the new players up and also because it’s quite hard to fit all the students into the music room! But eventually, all the students of that grade level will be together for orchestra, so they will gain ensemble experience as well. It is a great system, and I am excited to see how it all goes, starting tomorrow! And as far as my involvement with JAMM, I will be teaching bass group classes (have I played bass before...today? NOPE. Have I been googling a LOT about bass technique this weekend? YES.) and cello group classes and will possibly be helping with the ed. tech classes, as I am now familiar with SmartMusic, and might also be coaching chamber groups. These are great ways for me to help out, but I am also learning so many different instruments and skills in the process, which makes me doubly excited!

And one more development I wanted to share, now that it is official: I will also be learning how to teach high school Spanish this year! The low-down is this: there are four of us who all need student teaching experience in a music classroom but not enough hours to go around between the two music teachers who are our host teachers, Lorrie (who is at Glacier Valley Elementary) and Rebecca (who is at Riverbend Elementary). So Lorrie talked with our UAS advisor about it, and he told us that if we are interested, we can put some of those hours into a classroom of another subject and take a test once we are certified teachers to be “highly qualified” to teach that subject. And for those of you who know about my Peruvian adventures, I love Spanish, and I love Hispanic culture! And I greatly enjoyed teaching in Spanish, so why not teach Spanish too?! It gets me very excited. And it works out because we also learned that we need to have some experience at the secondary level (middle and high school), since we are being certified to teach music, K-12. So I have organized a schedule where I am teaching orchestra at Thunder Mountain High School (TMHS) three days a week and following the orchestra teacher, Tyree, into his Spanish classroom (oh looky there- someone who already teaches orchestra and Spanish!!), where I will be observing and eventually teaching his two Spanish I classes. So I actually got up in front of the 40-person TMHS orchestra last week, awful voice and all, and conducted 10 minutes of the rehearsal and then sat in the back of Tyree’s Spanish class right after to get a feel for it. And the rest of the week I spent at Glacier Valley! So I will be at TMHS and Glacier Valley every day, which will probably end up being very stressful as I travel around and teach at extremely different levels, but at the same time...I am learning sooooo much! I get to work on my conducting skills (as much as I hated learning conducting, I know I need to develop that skill!), while learning to work with high schoolers, teach a core subject, use music technology, and teach instruments I’m eager to learn, like violin, ukulele, xylophone, recorder, and bass! Wow, that’s actually a lot when I write it all out there. But when I don’t think about it too hard, I still feel really good about my schedule. And when I think about how knowledgeable I’ll be by the end of this year, I feel even better! So it’s all good! I might also throw some ESL classes at GV next semester into the mix so I’m getting a language-learning experience from the opposite end. How cool is that?!

Anyways, that ended up being way longer than I expected! I always sit down and think, “Okay, it’s already late, and I need to start off this week well and go to bed early. So I’ll just write a short post and try to sound as peppy as possible so nobody feels worried about me”. And then I just EXPLODE with actual, genuine peppiness over all that I’m doing here, which actually makes me sleep a lot better anyways. WIN-WIN! Or as my beloved twinny and I would say, “TWIN WIN”.