Keep on keeping on

Well, we're chugging along here. Nothing much to report. Yesterday was a piece of work, though. We had a 1:00 dismissal due to teacher inservice. Now, normally I don't mind inservices, especially the ones where we get to stay in our rooms and get work done. But the schedule totally throws the kids off. Everything is crunched for time, teachers are grumpy, and it's just not a happy environment to be in. As I was walking the 5th grade back to their classrooms, I got my ass chewed by one of the fifth grade teachers for not sending the kids back in a straight line. She apologized today, but it still made me a little upset. This group of fifth graders is a real piece of work. I have two kids that still don't have instruments. One isn't even supposed to be in band, per his mom's instructions, and the other submitted a rental form, but hasn't heard anything from the rental company yet. So, they keep asking ME what's going on, and I keep giving them the same anwers. Apparently they just don't listen really well.

High school band is coming together well. We had a "come to Jesus" day last week, in which I basically reamed them for putting on the worst performance I'd ever heard in my life the week before. Seriously, I have never been so humiliated as an instructor. Things are getting better. They're starting to take it a little more seriously, and they're giving me more of a chance, which makes me feel good. Hopefully in two years, our numbers will really start to climb. :-)