Teacher Voice

Yesterday's talk with sixth hour seemed to be exactly what they needed. Even though they were super chatty, they sang quite well and worked their butts off. So here's hoping the chattiness diminishes next week and they keep it up.

I taught third hour for the whole time today, and it was EXHAUSTING. Though that was mostly because the entire time I was talking, I was talking loudly and right on my cords. By the end of class I could hardly sing any of the phrases, and the girls noticed. They sort of gave a look like, "Whoa, something's wrong." I couldn't speak very audibly at all by the time fourth hour rolled around. I kicked myself for not properly projecting. Next week I need to figure out my teacher voice, which doesn't involve yammering loudly in my usual register, but actually supporting.

Overall it's been an okay week. The good outweighed the bad, I got up in front of the students a lot, and found that I'm actually having an effect on students' lives.

It might be a bit soon to say, but I think this is what I want to do. Guess we'll see how the rest of the semester pans out. And if I still have the courage to teach once I've sat through parent teacher conferences. There's a great quote I read from a principal who decided to leave the profession: "If I could be a principal at an orphanage, I would stay. But the parents are killing me."

Chatted with a grad student friend today about working with middle school boys' voices. I'm trying to tap as many resources as possible and mull over all the information. Hopefully I'll be talking with some other teacher friends soon...including my sister! I'm planning on talking with her about the same issues when I see her early next week.

Next week starts week 6, which is almost halfway through student teaching. Mildly terrifying. For now, it's good enough for me that it's Friday, I've made it through the week, and everything went fairly well. Time to have some frozen yogurt and watch 30 Rock.