Santa Ynez: The First Three Weeks, including Back to School Night

 

The past three weeks have been a whirlwind. Being a first year teacher, people have a lot of grace toward me, but it is like drinking a glass of water from a fire hose with all the information that I need to know and all the things I need to do.

It has been a good three weeks. I've only made a few follies, but overall it has been a positive experience. The most difficult part about teaching at this school is that I need to come up with three separate lessons per grade per week. That amounts to about 3 times 9 grades, so 27 different lessons. That is, if I don't do the same lesson for some of the grades. I have combined the TK and Kindergarten lessons, and I have combined First through Third Grade as well.

Another thing is I'm learning that I need to be more of a disciplinarian, especially toward the higher grades, which is not easy for me being so easy going. And coming up with lessons, or using lessons tailored toward the higher grades can be challenging.

It is cool getting to know such an intimate campus of students. Since there is only one grade per grade, you get to know the students pretty well. And each class has it's own personality. It has been a pleasure getting to be able to do this.

My Ukulele/Guitar/Songwriting class has gone well with some minor issues. I only have 6 incredible students this trimester, and they are each doing their best to learn the uke. There are days where I wish I could teach them even better.

In the first week of school, I was invited to attend Back to School Night. Overall, it was a good experience, except that for 6th and the middle school, I didn't really know what to tell the parents as I popped in. The reception from the younger grades was warm; from the older grades I needed more to help them be impressed by me.

Overall, it has been a good experience, and I can't wait for more weeks here at Santa Ynez Elementary.

Some lessons that I have taught by name are:

Apple Tree

Learning the Treble and Bass Clef

Playing Apple Tree on the Xylophones

Peruvian Folk Music Lesson

Bee, Bee, Bumblebee

4 Different type of Frog songs lesson: Coqui, Kaeru, Frog in the Meadow, Mm-ah

Snow man note matching

Engine Engine No. 9

Tikka Tikka Kaboom

Condor Pasa on the Xylophone

Doggie Doggie Where's my Bone

Mortimer