Football

We marched last night. My color guard just learned their routine on Thursday and Friday, so I did the color guard routine with the girls...and failed miserably. I just blanked and couldn't remember the routine. Oh well. It's over, and the 10 fans in the stands probably didn't even notice. And the band played less than I had hoped. I'm chalking it up to lack of practice. It's been raining here for two days (we can actually see blue sky today) and we haven't been able to get outside. I guess you don't know what's going to happen unless you try it, but in some ways I feel like making them play that second song when they hadn't played it since Wednesday was a stupid move on my part. Well...it's done, and we learn from it and move on.

I'm trying to do some serious reevaluation of how I want to do the next two games. I'm considering scrapping the rest of the show that we haven't learned yet and doing some pep band charts instead. It's something they know a lot better and will probably do a lot better at. I think I'll definitely do that for the final show, and let the seniors pick the chart to do. It will give them something to look forward to and maybe make them feel a little better. I'm also trying to look ahead to next year. Do we even want to HAVE a marching band? Would my time be better served just doing a pep band for football and working on giving a concert in the fall instead? It would definitely be more educational. And the kids hate marching band. They LOVE pep band, and they're good at it...so maybe I should consider playing toward their strengths a little more. Lots to consider.

I felt pretty craptastic after last night. Like I'd let the kids down. I have to keep reminding myself that's it's just my first year. The kids are still trying to figure me out, and I'm still trying to figure them out.

My fifth graders, on the other hand, are FANTASTIC. They are getting through the book faster than I thought they would. They are polite, they listen, they want to work hard...I really hope we can keep this momentum up until they're in high school. Just a few more years, and then things will REALLY start taking off!