Saturday, August 30, 2008

Work Ehtic

While it seemed to me that the work ethic in my band had dwindled this year, I'm seeing a small resurgence.

Last Thursday night we faced a few difficulties. Scheduling between buildings in our district had not been communicated very well. The short version is the schools scheduled my rehearsal, show camp for youth, 4/5 parent orientation, and a volleybal scrimmage all at once. The band and choir rooms were being used for orientation so I taught the band a little bit about being flexible.

We moved to the gym because it looked rain, luckly is cleared off for rehearsal so out to our practice field we went. I will admitt, lately I have been a little disenchanted. The group has been lacking it's drive and some students seemed more interested in finding loop holes then being honest.

Then it all changed. For two glorious hours we sat drill and played our show. We collected quite an audience of parents and 5th graders as we encouaged each other to push harder.

At the end of the night we had caught up and I was feeling like we were becoming a machine. Students said their goodbyes in sweat soaked t-shirts that night, most of them feeling proud of what they accomplished.

I spoke for a half an hour or so with a 5th grade parent about participation in band. It was nice that he had witnessed the kind of group his son could be a part of in a few short years. I had a form with a nice note from him attached the next day. His son will be playing baritone.

As I went home that night I felt a sense of accomplishment. I was proud of the students. It was a welcome return to that feeling. All the people who deal with me agreed as well. I'm a lot more pleasant to be around when I'm loving what I'm doing. It's nice to be working hard and seeing results.

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