Tag Archives: Teaching

Deep Thoughts, Performing

It’s September, but where is the fall weather?

I’m taking a break from writing about our trip to just writing about my life right now. I’m sure you’re disappointed 😉

September is shaping up to be BUSY. I got asked to play a wide variety of concerts: several on the violin, one on the baroque violin, one on the viola! So there’s a fair amount of “I really should practice” going on, some actual practicing, and then setting up rehearsals, adjusting some students, that sort of thing. I added a chamber music coaching to my responsibilities at Wash U, and I added it on Wednesday evenings, which means that suddenly I am a night person rather than a morning person. I left the music school at 10 pm the other night and was somehow surprised by how busy it was! I also had to teach a makeup last night until 9:30 pm…and I wasn’t even that tired! My alarm didn’t go off until 8 am this morning and it was glorious.

Seriously, after teaching for 4 years in a job (which wouldn’t even have started up yet, but still) which required a 5:30 am wakeup on 4 days a week, not doing that is still a real treat. I will miss aspects of the job, but NOT the morning wakeup. I can freely add things to my evenings and nights without worrying about getting an appropriate amount of sleep, and it’s really relaxing.

The cats can never get enough of Louie. Me, they tolerate. Him, they absolutely love. For Muriel, I suspect it is partly because he does NOT play the violin, and she detests the violin. For Miles, well, they are special soul mates and that’s just how it is.

Monday we biked from St Charles to Machens on the Katy Trail, about 13 miles each way. It was probably the last long bike ride I will manage before our biking/canoing trip in mid-October, but we will get some shorter ones in. I don’t have any more days off until after that, but I do have some days with less things on them.

Sometimes I wonder if we are doing things wrong…other friends without children seem to have a lot more free time! I think often people think that if you don’t have kids that means you will have a lot of free time, and it definitely depends on what you do for your job. If you have jobs like us, which take up so much time (especially seasonally) you still end up being quite busy! I have thought maybe I should do a whole post on not having children, and perhaps I will someday soon. I wouldn’t say that my life looks exactly how I thought it would when I was a child, but whose does? I am not regretful about it in any way, and I love having so many worthwhile (to me at least) things that I do.

Sometimes I day dream what it would be like to have a “regular” 8-5 job, but I know if I did I would just fill my evenings and weekends with music activities. There’s no way for me to not be a musician! On the rare nights that I am done early, like 5 pm, which happened here and there over the summer, it was funny, because we didn’t even know what to do with ourselves! And then sometimes we would just go to bed really early, which was pretty nice anyway, because so much of the summer felt like I was just catching up on sleep and trying to get back into a more normal sleep routine…but it wasn’t like I suddenly had all these hours free, they just went away anyway. I’m sure some people have more interesting hobbies that take up their evening hours (my friend April does aerial silks and plays the flute in addition to biking, hiking, etc) but certainly many people just watch more tv.

Anyway! Louie and I have Saturday evening off together and we may go out to see some live music Saturday night, and we also need to watch The Whale for our movie group. We also have a bike ride planned, in addition to our work: for me a few rescheduled lessons, a concert tonight, a wedding tomorrow, and a church service Sunday morning and rehearsal in the evening. This is September!

Random thoughts

Frog or Toad?

I played an outdoor concert last night with the Gateway Festival Orchestra and afterwards I saw this little fellow.

I was thinking he was a frog, but Louie said he was a toad (or she, I don’t know how to tell) and I suppose I forgot about toads as an option. The toad stood very still as I walked by and took his picture.

The week went by quickly with teaching, practicing, and well, relaxing. Summer has been really refreshing for me. I’ve had plenty of work so I don’t worry, but between traveling and having more free time than normal, it’s been really wonderful. On the one hand, I wouldn’t be mad if life continued like this, but on the other hand, my monthly take home is a little lower than I want all year long. I do enjoy some of my other jobs (especially teaching at Wash U, I’ve had such wonderful students there!) but man, it is nice sometimes just teaching from home and playing some orchestra concerts and chamber music with friends.

There’s more chamber music this week, and opera as well. It’s perhaps my lightest teaching week all summer, so I have some “early” evenings (7:15 is early, I guess) and plenty of time during the day to do what needs to be done. This does not entail gardening this year: 1) too hot to do yardwork, at least for me. 2) I never did get the vegetable garden in last year.

I think what I need to do is in the fall I need to really put the garden bed away, do a lot of yard work once things die off and then make a real plan in the spring. I miss having fresh veggies, but then again, we may end up traveling a lot next summer too. Either way, we never did our fall “yard clean up” last year and we are paying the price this year with some overgrown stuff happening. (Alternately, we need to just pay somebody to come do that, plus take care of a few trees which are too big probably.)

Miles out on the catio.
Muriel pretending to nap.
Avocado toast and soup.
Brown cheese on waffles with a side of scrambled eggs.

We haven’t been doing too much cooking, but I’ve got a Purple Carrot box coming this week. I think it’ll get us out of the rut, maybe. I want to do more meal planning and make fabulous meals, but then I remember there are only 2 of us…it’s much easier to just roast some broccoli and make a frozen veggie burger, or open a can of beans.

Book wise: I haven’t mentioned much lately, so here’s what I’ve been reading:

The Inspector Brunetti Series by Donna Leon (I’ve read about 15 of these)

Glass Houses by Louise Penny, Inspector Gamache series (loved this series for the most part)

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling: I like this series, even though I am upset by Rowling’s anti-trans stance. I checked it out from the library so I feel like it didn’t really help her out, but I am conflicted.

Maid by Stephanie Land. I’d watched the tv show and the book was more detailed and really made me think about how lucky I am and how we can treat workers better.

The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri. Great read, about an Iranian women and her and her family’s experience immigrating as well as other refugees as well. Reading too many books like this can be overwhelming, but it makes you consider your privilege, what you could lose, and how other people are connected to you.

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate. Good read , recommend.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. Also enjoyed this one, recommend. (I don’t have to write a book report, use google 🙂 )

Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Quick read, predictable but delightful.

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza. Very good, recommend.

Ruth Galloway Mystery Series by Elly Griffiths. I’m 4 books in and really enjoying it.

TV: Barry–we finished Season 3 recently. Not as good as Seasons 1 and 2, but still enjoyable.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: currently watching. It’s entertaining but starting to feel a little bit cliche, like the characters are developed beyond being actual people and are now just the most ridiculous parts of their personalities. Or it’s always been like that but I’m just in a darker place now?

Anatomy of a Scandal: I wanted to like this, and I did for parts, but overall eh, not recommend.

Oh, and we watched the new Borgen show, I forget the name, while traveling. Loved Borgen, loved the newest season taking place in Greenland as well as Denmark.

We could probably use some television recommendations, as it feels like Netflix isn’t hitting the mark anyway and the other apps are super annoying to browse. Right now we have Netflix, Apple, Amazon and HBO (too many probably!)

Oh, and we went to see Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky with Union Avenue Opera. I thought it was well done, but I didn’t love it. The first act was slow and I wish there could have been a bigger orchestra for some of the music. It was nice to see though, I’m always glad to see new things and I was unfamiliar with the opera.

I guess that’s it for now! I have some practicing to do. Oh, and stay tuned, I am still planning to recap our trip to Austin and tell you what we did there, but I just haven’t yet.

Random thoughts

midwest weather

Weather here is crazy. Warm, cold, ice, snow, warm, cold, etc. We had all the seasons from Wednesday to Friday of last week, according to one of my college students. I argued that we didn’t see summer (if we had there wouldn’t still be ice around). In any case, the weather keeps us on our toes, doesn’t it? Today is supposed to be warm by afternoon, but then snow is in the forecast again for later in the week.

We’ve had some fun activities this weekend–dinner at Louie’s mom’s on Friday night (a takeout beer dinner from the Whittemore House) and then we went to Jazz at the Bistro last night with our friends Ben and Roz. We had pizza with them beforehand, and then hung out again afterwards since the second Jazz show was sold out and we couldn’t stay. The show was great: Christian McBride on bass, Benny Green on piano, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. I would have watched it again if it wasn’t sold out (if there are tickets available for the second show you can trade in for new seats, no additional charge.) Tonight we are going to see a play at the Rep called Stick Fly: they sent a code for discount tickets which were a really good deal and I didn’t want to pass it up. It’s nice getting out and about again.

I have tomorrow morning off from my school job due to President’s Day, but this week we have a big concert on Wednesday. The school is going “masks recommended” starting Tuesday rather than “masks required” so it’s a little stressful. No, there is no vaccine mandate for any employees or students or anyone. They do have protocols in place to put masks back in if the number of COVID cases gets above a certain percentage at any one school, but seeing as we teach students from 5 different schools at a 6th school, it doesn’t really make that much sense to me. The COVID cases are only known because of self-reporting, as well, so I suspect they are underreported. Oh well! We are told there are resources to help with our anxiety and that N95/KN95 masks protect the wearer…

You might ask, how do I feel comfortable going to shows and such but not being at work with unmasked people. The shows ask for vaccine proof or a negative test, and people are required to wear masks. The jazz shows do serve food and drink, but I can choose to keep my mask on, and they require masks and testing, which means that people have had to make extra effort to be there and aren’t likely to show up fully symptomatic, as they might be for school. Also, if I’m going to catch COVID, as I’ve said, I want it to be from something fun. We should be safe at our jobs, at our schools, etc.

I canned some pickled beets with beets from the CSA. I had to get a new canner to go with our induction stove, and the awesome thing is that it’s a steam canner, so it uses way less water.

The steam canner at work.

I’m doing a practice contest with my students starting on March 1. I’ve been working out the details all week, and I got it sent out (well, scheduled to send for tomorrow). I am hopeful it will encourage more practicing and be fun. In a nutshell, the students track their practicing until the end of the semester, and the top three practicers win automatic prizes. In addition, each student gets a “raffle ticket” for each 15 minutes they practice, and then I’ll do a drawing and pick three more winners. I don’t have the prizes yet but am planning on $10 gift certificates to a variety of places, some ice cream places, maybe target, that sort of thing. I think it will be really interesting to see how it goes and to see how much some students practice. It’s a good incentive as we head into contest/recital season. I’ve got several students doing Solo and Ensemble, and 12 students doing the NFMC Festival, and then probably a bunch playing on the recital at the end of April.

I’ve also been trying to get ahead on my summer planning, and setting up stuff for the summer/fall. This month doesn’t seem as busy as March/April look to be so I wanted to use my time to make plans for the future. I’m working out how I want the summer to look and how to streamline my teaching schedule so I’m teaching less time when I’m teaching less students. I think it’ll be the best summer yet as far as those things go.

How is your February going? Did you witness the ridiculous women’s figure skating final night of crying?

Teaching

Not so bad after all

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Today was my first day back teaching this year.  I had been dreading it because I really like my vacations.

Well, it wasn’t so bad after all.

I managed to impart a little bit of wisdom, a little bit of guidance, and had a lot of patience.  Of those three, patience is the most important for teaching children to play the violin.  In fact, patience is the most important for teaching anybody anything!

My students were generally in good spirits and happy to be back to school and violin.  Most hadn’t practiced, but that’s okay.  I even had a few Christmas presents waiting for me, since the last couple teaching days at school had been canceled due to ice, so it made the day seem a bit more festive.  All in all, a great start to the “working week.”

I was also able to spend about 30 minutes planning for the semester of orchestra.  I think I’ve selected a few pieces that will be fun but challenging.  A couple I know will be very challenging, but the fall pieces weren’t challenging enough for a couple of students, so I want to push them.  We’ve got a variety of levels (and work ethics) in the group, as would be expected, so it’s a constant challenge on my part to keep everybody engaged and involved without boring half the group while the other half has no idea what’s going on.  Typical classroom teaching, I imagine?  Honestly I would need magic to actually accomplish this but I keep trying.

Okay, time for a bit of randomness.

#1. New blog/writing project:  The Daily Post at WordPress.com.  I’m not going to promise to post everyday, but I plan to use this to give me inspiration when I need or want it.  I enjoyed the challenge of reverb10 and this looks similar.

#2.  I wore my new purple shoes working out tonight!  I’ve been shy about wearing them to the gym so far…(tomorrow I think) but I wore them doing Jillian’s 30 Day Shred tonight and loved them.

DSCI0012

#3.  New Year’s Eve Pictures:

1.  My interpretation of “blue steel” from “Zoolander”, 2.  with my friend Jennedy, 3.  with Chris and my friend Dave

bluesteelnye2nye

That’s it for now!  I might be back later tonight or tomorrow am to share “what makes me smile.”  Though, you can see in these pictures—my friends, a shiny dress, and having my picture taken!

HBBC (last week!): January 1: 10 mile run: 10 points, 7 f/v: 1 point, total: 11 points, January 2: 20 minutes stretch/20 minutes weights: 2 points, January 3:  30 minute workout video: 2 points, 7 f/v: 1 point, total: 3 points.  January 4: 4 mile run: 4 points, workout with Mike: 4 points, 7 f/v: 1 point, total: 8 points.

Teaching

Giving in

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Monday I had a double class at Child of God due to scheduling concerns. In fact, it will be that way every Monday–I’ll have a class of 1st through 4th graders. I probably could have come up with something better to do, but since I was sick over the weekend (and into the week, argghh!) I went the lazy route. I told the kids they had to play Twinkle and French Folk Song for me and if they succeeded they would get a pencil. The class was full of cacophony of the kids frantically practicing! However, I was able to accomplish two goals: hearing each child alone for assessment purposes and making sure each child knew Twinkle and French Folk Song. So it worked pretty well, though I felt guilty and cheap 😉

And here I am going into Wednesday without a super clear idea of what to do in tomorrow’s classes…really I want to play a bunch, play as many pieces together as we can and also work on posture (NO droopy violins, stand up straight.) Hmmm…I suppose that’s as clear of an idea as I need…let’s see how it goes! Perhaps I’ll play piano tomorrow instead of violin to give the kids variety and hold their attention longer.

Teaching

The great rewards debate

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It seems that the question of rewarding children can be a good debate. I finally finished the Alfie Kohn book, “Punished by Rewards” and brought up some of the points tonight at a friend’s house. Most of my friends (many are teachers) swear by stickers and the like for their students (younger). I loved stickers as a child as well!

It seems that it boils down to external motivation versus internal motivation, and how the child needs to move towards being internally motivated in order to learn and grow.

Of course, I am not really internally motivating to practice the violin…though I love the violin, I am still externally motivated to practice. I don’t practice for fun or love of playing, I practice FOR things like a gig, an audition, a recital, or because I am afraid of sounding bad in front of people. I suppose if I’m not internally motivated now to play, I never will be. Then again, I do practice quite a bit…maybe it’s just that I was always shown that practicing was a means to an end? Or perhaps I just don’t love the violin as much as I love other things?

The author used the example of the “Book It” program as a bad program for getting children to read. This was a program from Pizza Hut where children got free pizzas for reading books. I loved reading books as a child, and also loved pizza–this program combined the two! Mr. Kohn suggested that the program didn’t make children want to read, and at most would make children eat too much pizza. I do recall that I always read plenty of books, regardless of the pizza, and hated when I was required to write a summary or something like that. I am definitely internally motivated to read–I read for fun, I read when I am bored, I read to entertain myself, I get lost in books and the time flies by. I don’t need a reason to read, and would probably list it as one of my favorite activities. Then again, I was brought up seeing my parents read all the time and learned from a young age how great reading could be. The pizza was just a bonus!

In any case, the book was thought-provoking, and evidently quite controversial. I will have to try out some of the ideas with my upcoming classes.

Random thought: I am writing a book report of sorts for fun here, and I’m not getting pizza for it (in fact, my trainer would definitely 🙁 upon the idea of pizza). I’m just doing it because I like to blog. Hmmmmm…also no one made me read the book…I read it because it was recommended by a teacher I respect and wanted to learn more about it.

(I guess it boils down to this: no one can motivate you to do something, you have to choose to do it. I think that is true.)