Oy, Oof, and other descriptors.

Tomorrow one of my music professors is coming in to observe me, either late morning or early afternoon. Have I gotten a confirmation? Nope. Whatever, I'm prepared for either situation. I've been dreading this for over a week now. But I think I've come to terms with the fact that he cannot fail me, so it is ultimately all going to be fine. Even if I crash and burn, it is going to be fine.

Today was a better day...somewhat. Lizzy helped me whip first hour into shape, which was really helpful because it probably would have killed me. I think tomorrow will continue to be even better on that front.

We used the white boards today to draw rhythm symbols and write out the counts to a few rhythms. This batch of kids really catches on quickly, and I think it'll be a good unit. As long as I can get all of them participating, that is. So that's my personal goal: to nail them for participation.

Tomorrow I'm planning on a really thorough wrap-up of the rhythm unit, before moving on to melody and the singing voice on Thursday.

I got to sit in the practice room once again today during the seventh grade choirs so I could spread out my stuff and map out my ideas for sixth grade and sixth hour. It was nice to get some respite and get some work done, but I could overhear how intense and kind of scary the rehearsals went. Here's hoping they shape up when my professor is here tomorrow.

Fifth hour I ended up turning pages for Mary Bennett on Festival Sanctus because let's be real: that piano part is killer. Talk about your painful rehearsals. The back row was the only row that really knew and sang their music, proven by the row-by-row singing test Lizzy had the class go through. Oof.

Sixth hour had to deal with the consequences of being so overwhelmingly disrespectful to me yesterday, so that was lovely. Lizzy lit into them. Hoo boy.

The last ten minutes of class, they finally perked up and we were able to have some fun with Month of Maying. Tomorrow we're hoping to start with that energy at the beginning and not just end with it.

I poured all of myself into that rehearsal. It wiped me out so much that I almost fell asleep on the drive home, and immediately passed out for an hour once I got home. Oy.

That seems to be the word that best sums up the day. Oy.