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Nothing official here; just come chill! |
Welcome! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Welcome to my little Den! Here you'll find all sorts of things- mostly blog challenges, but mixed in, you'll notice: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I feel like this song embodies my feelings about the music job. I mean, I love teaching the curriculum, it's just.... the admin stuff is so frustrating. I consulted my aunt, who's a lawyer, about the renewal contract. Long story short, I dug up the original contract, and it said we'd talk about renewal one month before the current contract ends. January is obviously not one month, unless she mistook my starting date to be in February, which it pretty obviously wasn't, if I went in for my mid-year review. And her knowing that.... well, that'd be a bit of a contradiction to say "oh I thought we started in February," if January was the mid-year review. ![]() Anyways, so my aunt asked a bunch of questions, and then concluded that if I felt strongly enough, I could probably build a case on duress, because of the (power) relationship between employer and employee, combined with the fact that I was there to discuss my past performance and future stability of the job. Granted, I really wasn't planning to renew the contract in the first place, and the $1 pay raise (from 14 to 15/hour) really doesn't make the extra work worth it. ![]() ![]() For March, I might introduce the concept of the keyboard's notes corresponding to the solfege as well- put colored stickers on the keyboard that correspond to the xylophone, and go from there. We also have solfege hand bells that I occasionally bring out, but the kids get too excited with them and start touching the inside bell part, so I have to take them back. As a quote from Taylor Swift, "This is why we can't have nice things..." because they break them! ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I absolutely love this song, as I also love Delta Goodrem. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() And now, I'm on a Delta Goodrem binge on Pandora, so my next couple songs may also end up being Delta Goodrem. You've been warned. ![]() I like this song because it's a departure from her sadder stuff she was writing back when this came out. It's also a single, and, I'm pretty sure, not attached to any album of hers. I love that it's different- and the melody of it is also super catchy. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I have a mild obsession/fascination with The Voice live performances, especially when it comes to the judges' live performances. They're. so. good! And then, the CGI in this one is epic, too. ![]() ![]() ![]() Honestly, this song doesn't actually relate to my life much right now, I'd say... this is a very anticipatory song, and there isn't much in my life that's anticipatory right now. ![]() This performance was from 2019, 9 months ago, according to Youtube- and it also had Guy Sebastian- another artist whose voice I also really like. The previous year had Joe Jonas, whom I wasn't completely loving. ![]() ![]() Which reminds me of an incident after lunch today when the kids were going back to their classroom- a bunch of boys were discussing baseball, when another boy turns around and goes, "I don't play baseball. I play T-ball," in a somewhat derisive way.... guess he doesn't actually know which one is better. ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I recently found out Pandora has the albums from The Next Step, so I added them all. Which was probably a mistake, because I don't actually remember a bunch of the songs. ![]() This one, though, was pretty epic, and I'd say is one of the few dances that every time I hear the song, I can still kind of remember how the dance goes in my mind. It's also hands-down my favorite dance of the whole series, and I get chills when I watch it. ![]() ![]() Going back to the song, it somewhat makes me want to get back into dance. I've taken up ice skating recently, and I love it- it's much cheaper than ballroom, which I'm not doing anymore (oh, yes, I used to do ballroom lessons, for like, 2 months? ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] You should know the chances of me doing a playlist, sans Hi-5, is pretty slim. ![]() ![]() And yes, I actually haven't really been listening to much Hi-5 recently, mostly because I haven't been in much of a mood for it. Plus, I don't have it on my Pandora- they only have Hi-5 as a radio choice, in which there's other, low-quality children's songs that tend to make people's ears bleed. ![]() ![]() ![]() I mean, they even have "Frosty the Snowman," "Jingle Bells," and "Rudolph", so what more do I really need in terms of Christmas carols? ![]() I chose this song because I used it for Freeze Dance with the new school I did a trial for on Wednesday, and they absolutely loved it! The teachers were grooving with the song, too. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] We're going to Australia soonish, like, the end of March, and I haven't been for about a year, now. Literally, the last time I went was Spring Break of last year, and the end of March is Spring Break of this year... I've chosen this song because I feel like I've changed since last year's Spring Break. I'm nervous about going back and seeing everyone again because it's been so long, and I also actually have hair this time, which Mom says there's a chance that I may have to shave it off if Grandfather deems it necessary. And, call me vain or whatever, but I really hope things won't come to that. I feel like I've finally kind of found some places I "belong" here away from uni- like barre, and the store, kinda. Thing is, both places have only known me with hair, and I'm a bit anxious about what would happen if I go in and all my hair is gone. The barre studio's clientele is a very rich one, and with money, typically comes a narrower world-view and a certain snootiness of people if they think you don't belong or you're strange. I already dislike big classes for that reason- it's intimidating to me, firstly, and secondly, there's the ladies who've been going for years and years, and yes, they're grown women, but there's still cliques, trust me. ![]() There's also a lady who sometimes attends the morning classes, whose daughter was in Sis's year, and she thinks the girl and Sis were good friends, but honestly, I've barely heard of the girl. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Anyways, yeah, so I'm very apprehensive about my hair's future- to where I've been considering getting a bob cut, but there was someone I saw get a bob cut a few months ago, and it didn't look good on them, so I'm also kinda on the fence about that too. ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Story of my life with online group projects. ![]() ![]() ![]() I predict that with my own work, it'll be much easier to turn in than if I did it as a group, since I kinda know what I'm looking to do, so I may just end up doing that. ![]() ![]() I think it should be fun to illustrate, too. ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I think this perfectly describes my relationship with the music job. The boss thinks she "owns" my Wednesdays, because Wednesday is my "day with the company," which means she can send me anywhere. Like, Beverly Hills, which, thankfully, hasn't happened yet. But she's trying to add a new school to my schedule and I'm iffy about it. Mostly because of timing, though it's also better than Beverly Hills, where I'd have to drive about an hour or hour-and-half to teach a half-hour class, then drive who-knows-where-to, to my next class, probably. ![]() As I said in my last entry, though, the new local school trial went extremely well. That behavior management song went well, because I added movements to it so they recognize what they're singing- eyes watching (point to their eyes), ears listening (cup their ears), voice quiet (both pointer fingers go "shh" to their mouth), body still (hug themselves). It goes to the tune of Frere Jacque, so it's a familiar melody, just different words, which I like, because it makes it easier for them to learn (in my experience). The goodbye song is also to the tune of "Row your boat," and it's interesting because the school also changed the lyrics of the end, from "life is but a dream," to "life is full of dreams," which probably gives you an idea of what kind of environment they're cultivating. I honestly went in, hoping and trying to not like the school, so I wouldn't have to teach there, and now I actually want to teach there with them, and I want to start the classes with them ASAP. ![]() ![]() You can kinda see that I actually enjoy teaching... it's the lack of communication and lack of planning on the boss's part that really gets me. I mentioned the February 10 email for February 17th incident- after I told her 2 weeks' notice. And when I went on Wednesday, the school said they weren't expecting me. Well, they completely forgot I was coming in, because, (surprise, surprise) the boss didn't follow up with them that I would be going in. ![]() ![]() Mom also made the astute observation today that this lady (the boss) seems very involved in her church (definitely true) and a little disorganized (also very true), and the combination of that leaves her in a position to not be the greatest communicator. I was making small talk with the boss once during the summer and inquired about what her other job was (since she mentioned having one) and she said she helped develop curriculum for the school at her church. Which probably does explain the multitude of Bible-related and Bible books in general, in her living room bookshelves. ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I'm planning on going to the Lady Antebellum concert in May this year. Maddie and Tae are opening for Lady A, and I've heard of some of their songs before, so I figured I'd familiarize myself with more of their songs- then Mom made a comment today that made me think of this song. ![]() She'd said "I can't believe it's been a year since you've seen your grandfather (in person)". I told her, "I guess that's what happens when you get a summer job." *shrug* She corrected me and said, "that's what happens when you grow up." That's how I ended up at this song. After that comment, my mind immediately went to, "that's the downside of growing up...." We had another disagreement last night (no surprise there) about how my priorities are all messed up and not ordered correctly. And honestly, yeah, maybe they're a little out of order, but it's also because I'm trying to make my own way through this program, which is really messing me up. It makes me wish I could work my way to a credential, because I feel like these classes are teaching you how to teach, but the specific fieldwork requirements for you to practice are so specific that it makes it hard. Plus, the assessments are weird. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Anyways, Mom thinks my priorities are ordered so school is somewhere among the bottom- she's not completely wrong, but it's hard for me to prioritize something when it's not tangible. I mean, barre, and all my jobs, require me to be in a physical space at a specific time. School does not, which makes it hard for me to put effort into it- especially when I have large assignments only worth 6 points. She doesn't think barre and Yard Duty should be prioritized so high, but when I'm not Yard Duty, I'm in the classroom, observing and helping out. Then, barre keeps me sane and fit. ![]() ![]() I think being in a normal classroom, combined with the teaching experience I'm getting from the music job feed off each other, in terms of setting classroom expectations and norms, and becoming more effective. I went to a new school (local) on Wednesday for the music job for a trial class, and it was a HUGE class of 3-5 year olds- 20 of them. Compared to my current one of 7-8 kids, that's almost triple. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I completely digress- maybe I'll find a song to use to rave about this new school later. ![]() ![]() My Chinese class dilemma: This class is an additional (optional) class towards my credential that would allow me to teach in a bilingual classroom. Apparently, it also applies to ELL/ESL. BUT if I go ahead with the bilingual authorization (BILA), I'd have to student teach in a bilingual classroom, which is not something that my district has. And the district I'm working in now is the one I grew up attending, so I'd like to stay here if I could... Which would mean I technically don't need BILA, unless that allows me to teach in middle and high school foreign language classes as well, in which case I would probably deem it worth it, but I also can't find a fieldwork location for it yet. When I went to get my withdrawal form signed on Wednesday, the department chair was saying the class was most likely not going to be offered again for a long time, due to low enrollment. The school typically doesn't open a class without 15 people enrolled. There were 8, including me. She also mentioned, though, that I could do fieldwork in a Chinese School. Given the situation in my last entry, I wouldn't be going back to the Chinese School I taught in and asking the principal if I could go observe there, but I do know someone with a connection to another Chinese School, which also provides K-8 education after school, so I asked her if she'd be willing to introduce me/if they'd be okay for me to go observe classes. She emailed the director, and the director hasn't replied yet, so we'll see what they say I guess. ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I'm 100% sure I've shared this one before, but I did really like the show when I watched it, and this song came back up on my Pandora playlist the other day and I went "oh yeah, that's actually kinda me right now." I've been really quiet on the blog/social front here for about a month or so. I'm pretty sure I mentioned I was trying to process some news and changes in circumstances that I personally didn't quite have time to respond to. Long story short, I'm no longer teaching Chinese School, and it wasn't by choice. One of the co-principals from last year retired, and he was the one who liked me. Yes, the other co-principal didn't like me. ![]() ![]() ![]() So I did, after driving down to the mall, because I still had to work that afternoon. He didn't pick up the first time, so I went and got in line for ice cream. Then he called back. He started out with "there's no easy way to tell you this..." in Chinese. And then English. And I figured, "I'm probably losing my job." And I was right. ![]() ![]() Mom was in barre with me, so after class, I'd already told her and another lady I've become pretty friendly with, about the principal's call, so after getting off the phone with the principal, I called Mom and broke the news to her. And then I had to go into work, smile, be friendly, and act like everything was great. The lead for that afternoon had asked if I had anything to clear- I mentioned the principal's call, and he was just like "oh, okay. Umm *back to business*" ![]() Mom also made me clean out my Chinese school trolley about a week after the news- we'd had another disagreement and she was like, "now that you don't need it anymore, can I have it back? ![]() ![]() Anyways, so Mom saw her friend the other day, who is on the board of the Chinese School. Apparently this friend doesn't actually know what happened- just that my name was gone and there was a new name in my place. *Shrug* Which is interesting, considering Mr. Principal mentioned that the board had helped make the decision. ![]() ![]() ![]() |