Sparkling in the Sun

This just made me laugh:

"It is a blessing to have pretty people around me. I like people who are sparky, positive. Evil, dark people are repelled by me: 'Oooh no! Too much sunlight.'" -Geri Halliwell, former Spice Girl

It has been an absolutely gorgeous week in Juneau. The sun has been out almost every day, and it feels too warm for March (although I don’t mind too much!). I think all this sunlight has definitely lifted my spirits. Knowing that I made it through the toughness of the dark, rainy fall and winter makes me feel such relief and excitement for the next couple seasons here! I’m definitely looking forward to summer. :)

It was another great, busy week that just flew by. I am still loving living on my own and having a car. Being so close to school has been really nice as well! Speaking of school, teaching went really well last week! I am preparing my high school orchestra for their concert a week from Tuesday, where we will be playing four of our own pieces, in addition to three pieces as a combined orchestra (which Tyree will conduct). Sophia, Tyree, and I will all get a chance to be on stage, since Sophia will conduct her four pieces with her orchestra as well. Sophia and I are also in charge of choosing the repertoire for our orchestras for the Spring concert, and she and I are really into the theme of “journey” and are finding music that fits into that theme. :) We are really excited to read through the new music with our orchestras after the concert next week!

The Mendenhall Glacier, which is our quartet's namesake and the inspiration of the piece Tyree Pini
wrote for us and we will be performing at the Showcase next week. :)

JAMM classes have been really good as well. Our songwriting students are producing really neat compositions. Last week, Sophia and I introduced their final project, which is to either take the lyrics they have already written and create a soundscape accompaniment for it using an ostinato and two different sounds, or to write a melody for their instrument. The students were given the option of either writing on staff paper or drawing their own symbols between bar lines to express their ideas. It has been super neat! Sophia and I started video recording our students talking about and playing their songs last week, and we will be putting them on their online portfolios very soon! You should check out our songwriting page and definitely look at our students’ portfolios they made. It’s so cool to see them take pride in their portfolios as they make them their own.

The view from the East Glacier trail!

Sophia and I are also team-teaching kindergarten violin classes twice a week, which both terrifies and excites me. I, of course, love working with kindergartners. I mean, nothing really beats a little kinder hug around my waist or a cute violin performance. However, I still don’t feel confident in my violin instruction skills, and there is a whole awesome system Lorrie has got down for these violin classes that I am trying to perfect. We have rituals and sayings (like “violin on shoulder” or “slide down the fingerboard”) that are always sung by the teacher and then repeated by the students- I have finally gotten those down! The classroom management isn’t as daunting, knowing that I have Sophia as well as the kindergarten teacher in the room (and often Lorrie!). I have definitely noticed how much a classroom teacher’s level of involvement in these violin classes affects the overall success of the group. When the teacher is in the room, there is a consistency of instruction style, and that teacher knows their students the best. It is such an incredible and necessary partnership to have the classroom teacher and the music teacher working together to provide excellent instruction to the class. This aspect is one of the many things that I think makes JAMM a leading El Sistema program. As Sophia and I, and Lindsay and I, co-teach these JAMM and kinder classes, I value more and more these collaborations.

I continue to teach Spanish and feel successful at it most of the time! It is still a little intimidating to get up and teach a content area I am not the complete master of (although I have noticed a dramatic improvement in my speaking skills and vocabulary knowledge- yay for learning with the students!!), and to teach it to groups of students who are not always super into it. But most of the time, I am up for the challenge of keeping them engaged. I am really excited to see how well my implementation of the teams has stuck- my unit ended 3 weeks ago, and my students still sit with the same teams I assigned them to! Even though they are sitting away from their friends, the students did not even question where they sat when this new unit of reading through a short novel began. That’s pretty cool. :)

Me and Heidi in front of the Mendenhall Glacier!

The week ended quickly, and before I knew it, it was Sunday. I spent Friday night and Saturday socializing with new and old friends. The quartet and I went to a super fun game night with new friends on Friday night. It was great to just be silly young people and mess around with Snapchat (now I see why it is so addicting for my students…) and laugh uncontrollably while playing charades. And oreos and cheezits are the best dinner (am I right, twinny?!)!!!! I spent Saturday outside, playing music, and dancing- it was perfect! Heidi and I went for an unplanned run on a trail along the Mendenhall Glacier, and that was just breathtaking- well, literally, but also figuratively! I then went to cello ensemble rehearsal for our epic cello ensemble concert on April 30th and had a blast playing super fun Piazzolla pieces, among others. I then did something I thought I would never do...I went contradancing downtown!! Juneau has a monthly event where an awesome band gets together and plays music for hours as everyone is guided through different contradances by an instructor. I had an absolute blast spending time with new friends and Sophia (because she was playing in the band this time!!). I got home late but pushed myself to get up early and do work this morning before going to church with a Glacier Valley co-worker and then spending time with the quartet tonight (we are going to have a lesson planning, research data collection, rehearsal, dinner, and movie party!). I really don’t know what I would do without these three other girls I love so dearly. And the more people I meet, the more excited I am about the idea of staying in Juneau and investing in this community. It is a truly incredible place. And I’m totally going contradancing again!!

Our Symphony Showcase performance is next week, and I am super excited for that! I’m particularly excited to premiere the new quartet Tyree wrote for us. It really captures the essence of Alaska native music and the glacier. :) My DePaul friend, Jana, is also coming next Saturday, and I am so excited to see her again and show her around Juneau until I leave for Spring Break (two more weeks of classes, then I am off to Anchorage for a job fair and Unalakleet for my rural practicum!!!)!

Anyways, I am going to take a second to casually stare out the window at the majesty of a mountain standing behind my neighborhood. No big deal!

The mountain outside my window. :)