Friday, September 28, 2018

Singing, Self-Care, and Sick Days

With late September comes changing weather, and with changing weather comes lots of germs! I'm unfortunately sick already, and took today off so I could rest and get better. I taught a solid 8 hour day yesterday, and my voice was pretty much gone by the time I left. I debated trying to tough it out, but quickly realized that wasn't a smart choice.

I always feel guilty taking sick days, but they're necessary. I am genuinely sick, sneezing and aching and exhausted. But self-care is necessary. I need my singing (and speaking) voice not just for today, but for another 170-ish days of the school year. Toughing it out usually just makes me sicker once I get to this point, and the school year is a long game. I wrote a sub plan and put in my absence. My students will see me next week, and we'll manage to learn what we need to and catch up from a week away from regular music class.

Self-care is important, necessary, and sometimes requires teachers to be out of the classroom for the sake of their physical or mental health. Sickness happens to everyone, and there's no reason for teachers to feel guilty about taking sick days they've earned.

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Resource Share: ClassTag

I really, truly like ClassTag and they didn't pay me to write this. I may receive an incentive if you sign up using my links in this post, however I'd recommend ClassTag with or without their affiliate program! 

As a music teacher who runs ensembles before and after school, I have to communicate with a lot of families. Emails can be really cumbersome with large groups (especially with privacy concerns) and phone calls take too long. When I have information to share with families of my students, I use ClassTag. ClassTag lets teachers communicate with families, with group and private messaging features. It also lets you schedule events and coordinate volunteers, appointments, and to-dos. Basically, it's everything you could need to get families the information they need to engage with school. It saves me countless hours and keeps parents fully informed about what's going on at school.

Setting up ClassTag is super easy. It starts with a 2 minute sign-up process, and then you're ready to make a class. I have 6 classes set up, one for each ensemble section I teach. ClassTag allows you to add co-teachers to a class, which is great for many circumstances in which 2 teachers work with the same students. It's possible to import family email addresses into ClassTag simply by copy-pasting from a spreadsheet, which is super convenient. You can also print sign-up codes for each student, or input the information manually. Once they're signed up, parents can add their phone number if they prefer SMS alerts, or can get the app for their smartphone and receive messages there.

Using ClassTag is even easier than setting it up! There are plenty of options to make ClassTag as customized as you want it, but sending an announcement requires just a few clicks and typing out your message. There's a handy preview screen before sending, which I think is a great feature. I use announcements to communicate class cancellations, reminders, home practice assignments, and any other information that I want families to know. Links and attachments can be used in announcements to help direct parents to other information.

The private message system within ClassTag is also a nice tool. Parents can ask you a question without having to search for your email or phone extension, and you can answer when it's convenient. There's a demo class that lets you test all of these cool features out without sending it out to an actual class, which I really like.

I highly recommend ClassTag for parent communication, and I believe the system is especially well-suited to music teachers. Please consider using my link to sign up if I've convinced you, or ask any questions that might help you decide if ClassTag is the right family engagement tool for you.

Another September

I'm three weeks into the school year, and time has flown by. With assemblies, instrument rental night, meetings, and coordination between schools, it seems like I've spent more time at work than not. But things are good, I finally feel like the coming week will be more about teaching than managing logistics.

For me, September is always a complicated month. I love the start of the new school year, a chance to start fresh and improve. It's always refreshing to see students' friendly faces again after a couple months away. But it's also a time of change, and I've never been super excited for change. I'm working with a bunch of new colleagues this year - they're great, but it's different than last year - and some district systems are new. I started taking a new grad class (which seems good so far and can't possibly be worse than the last one) so that's another transition.

But every September ends (cue the Green Day song...) and a new normal starts. I'm more relaxed with my students this year, and they seem more relaxed with me. This is my third year at my current school, so I think part of it is comfortable familiarity. Planning lessons has gotten way faster for me, and I've accepted that I'll always spend a little bit of time grappling with spreadsheets. I'm really grateful to be in a place where for the most part I can focus on teaching my students. I have a budget that gets me what I really need, and supportive supervisors. I don't have to give standardized tests or teach in a substandard space not suitable for human occupancy.  Things are good, even when they aren't great.

And so as another September comes to an end, I'm settling in. It's going to be a great year!

A Look at DESE's Cited Sources: Results of a Critical Look at the Initial Reopening Guidance References

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