WOW....what happened?? I will tell you...SO.MUCH. My last post was rather therapeutic! Well, at least to me it was. Last year was crazy emotional. I had such a great group of 8th and 7th graders and I just could not connect with my 6th graders. It still drives me crazy and it is now July. I will never know what happened and who knows that when/if I return will I be able to connect with them as 8th graders. Which leads me to....
NOW. Where the heck am I?! I am finishing my first six weeks as a doctoral student at Arizona State University!! Talk about a switch of pace, eh? No kidding! I finished school June 6th and flew down here June 8th and started class June 9th!! 12 credits later....I'm surviving! I haven't had much time to reflect on the past month until this week. I was rocking three classes a day until last week, so now I have a bit more free time.
Back to the school year. Telling my 7th graders that I was not going to be their 8th grade band teacher was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I had been thinking about it for months. I was SO nervous telling them-I was shaking. They were amazing....my kids were just awesome. I love them so much for being so mature!! After I told them (and I was crying), they started applauding for me....they are proud of me. "Mrs. Minette, this is an opportunity you can't pass up". WOW. Speechless. I was floored by their compassion and their understanding. I still tear up every time I think about it. Lots of hugs, lots of tears, lots of personal emails....this was one special group of kids. They are all special, but you know when you get that one class.....yeah, that was this class.
They have a great sub for this upcoming year. I was fortunate to be a part of the hiring committee and the candidates got to work with the kids. The kids asked amazing questions that were a reflection of what we do in class; "how are you going to challenge us to be better musicians"...their questions, not mine. I'm going to miss this kids a ton, but I feel really good about their sub and they (the kiddos) were VERY excited when they found out who their teacher will be for next year. But that still doesn't mean I am not going to miss being with them. They were demanding...they loved to be challenged, they thrived on being challenged. And it was probably the BEST percussion section I have ever had. And every.single. clarinet player was cranking out D's above the staff....they just wanted to do it. Nobody ever told them that it was hard. They just did it.
So here I am!! ASU. This blog (I'm really going to try to maintain it) is going to still be about education and learning, but possibly with a more academic twist. I'm not sure. I'm not sure that I am ready to be done teaching at the middle level yet, but I know I need to be here doing this. Like I told my kids, sometimes we don't have a direct path to our goal, so we take the scenic routes. I love scenic routes. They are the source of new adventures, so I am taking this adventure head on!!
Cheers!
