Week 3...? Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe it is week 3 of student teaching already!  The time has literally flown by.  Let's play a bit of catch up.  While there is much to mention, I will try to condense it and focus on writing more often from here on out...!

Week 1: I moved into my house and spent most of it filing music into my computer.  I realized I have arguably too much choral music for a college student, but so it goes.  My house is extremely nice and my roommates are very cool guys.  Above are a couple of photos to illustrate this greatness.  The first is my first Orlando sunset that I saw as I drove into the city at the end of a 15 hour drive...  The second is shot of one of my neighbors...  No big deal.

Week 2: I started teaching this week.  I spent the first day mostly observing, getting a feel for how things work in this program, meeting all of the faculty and administrators, and starting to interact with the students.  Right away I recognized how fortunate I was to be working with such a great program.  The first period is All-School chorus which has already proven to be my most challenging course.  This is the group of students who are not 100% interested or invested in being in choir but need a fine art credit.  It has been exciting to come up with ways to get them excited about coming to choir first thing in the morning.  One example is that we will be starting Katy Perry's "Firework" tomorrow in rehearsal as it is something they requested.  We'll see how that goes.  Second period is Junior Varsity Chorus.  This ensemble is the next level up from all-school.  They are extremely motivated and strive to be better everyday, which I thought would take a lot of work to instill, but they bring that attitude themselves.  These kids clearly want to work hard so that they have a chance to be in Varsity chorus next year.  Which leads to third period, Varsity Chorus.  This is the first auditioned ensemble that is a phenomenal example of hard work, dedication, and musical prowess.  The first time I heard them sing, I was inspired.   Fourth period I teach a group piano class full of beginners.  They mostly work through repertoire using the Alfred book for piano, but recently I have started teaching them lessons on scales so they can sharpen up their technique.  Fifth period is my "planning" period, but typically I teach students voice lessons who want additional work vocally.  Sixth and Seventh period are more voice lesson classes in which I teach which ever students who are eager private voice in about 20 minute segments.  The last period, which is technically after the school day has ended, is Patriot Singers, the top ensemble of 40 singers that meets everyday.  This is the group that originally inspired me to come to Freedom High School.  This ensemble is breathtaking.  Getting to work with them is the highlight of my day every single day.  There you have a daily rundown.  Typically, I hang out after school to work with students who may want assistance, help with the spring musical "Legally Blonde," or to work on lesson plans and practice my voice music.

That has been my life for the last three weeks.  I won't drag this post on with tons of stories and details, but trust there are plenty to share.  My co-workers are awesome, my students are inspirational, my roommates are great guys, and this entire experience so far has been beyond anything I could have envisioned!  Here are some more pictures to give you a feel for the school and my new life! :)

The first is the front entrance of Freedom High School.  The second is the sunrise the other morning as I walked into school... I could get used to this.