Thoughts about this new(ish) school year

Whoops, haven't blogged in quite some time! And since How I Met Your Mother is waiting for me on the DVR, this probably won't be too long.

So hope everyone's school year is going well. Mine is going all right. Today, the second rotation of arts classes started. Our students rotate between four different arts offerings, and each lasts about eight weeks. I always have mixed feelings about new groups coming in.  On one hand, it's nice to have a fresh start, but then it means starting all over again! By the time the fourth rotation comes around, I have to admit I'm usually a little tired of the routine. But I don't want to complain. At my former position, I taught the same group of middle school kids for the entire school year, and that is really, really long, especially for that age group. It's nice to let them try a little of everything throughout the year.

I've started taking guitar lessons. My 7th graders take guitar for their music curriculum. While I've been able to get by all right, I always felt that my skills were lacking and that my students could benefit if I just knew more about the instrument. It's been really fun, and is totally going to help me this second time around. I'm looking forward to focusing a lot on chords with them, which is something I haven't done. We've done mostly melody with a few chords mixed in. However, my hubby and guitar teacher have a point when they remind me that most guitarists end up playing rhythm guitar, not being soloists! So I'm looking forward to getting these kids to rock out a bit more, with of course a little Ode To Joy and such mixed in.

I've become a little more invested in my teaching lately, and it seems to be helping both my actual lessons and my mental health. You see, I think I got a little burned out from my previous position. I really threw myself into that job, spending countless hours and energy building up a program that was taken away from me after only 5 years. So when I started my current job, I told myself I wasn't going to do that again. I would do what I had to do but not go crazy with extra things.  And I definitely followed my own advice, and now feel like it's time to step it up a little bit, because really, my job is the most important part of my life right now. Yes I have my hubby and my kitty and friends and outside commitments, but let's face it, we spend most of our time at our jobs. And I don't think I'm the kind of person that can clock out every day as soon as I'm allowed and still feel like I'm doing everything I can.

Hopefully part of that will be maintaining this blog! Maybe I'll start putting up some lesson plans and stuff...not that I want people to steal my ideas...but every now and then I come up with something kinda cool, and I'm sure people would benefit! In fact I'm hatching the idea for the first "informational" blog now...