I can't believe i'm actually staying up looking at my E•L class lists for next semester, AND getting excited. New challenges ahead; graduating class! ( I know I'll look back at this post in exactly 2 weeks' time and kick myself but what the hell.) I suppose being in a so-called neighb*ourhood school does have its advantages- people tend to be more ready to recognize your abilities.
Banding students is a double-edged sword, especially when they do well and leave your band. Of course, if you take the best band, then good for you. But my lot seems to be that of the second band teacher who bids a heavy-hearted farewell to her best students because they get pushed up. A happy complaint, I know. I also know now I sound subtly boastful HAHA
When I first left uni, this profession was not even the remotest speck of dust beneath the stain under a carpet of a consideration. Indeed, even now I occasionally wonder why the hell I'm in this, with its stable-but-not-astronomical pay, bad working hours (I'm not touching that yahoo forum brouhaha with a ten-foot pole), not to mention the constant emotional and physical drain. What I DO know is that so far, at this exact point in my life, I feel that I go to work with a sense of purpose. Nothing fantastically noble like shaping the future blah blah but I can see why some people would prefer working here than some soulless school that does better academically but is, well, soulless.
Maybe being shoved here, kicking and screaming, was the best thing that happened to me as a teacher. For my personal growth. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want to move on when I feel that it's time to move on. I'm just very thankful for having a clear reason why I do my job, even if it sometimes gets so crazily stressful. And grateful that i belong to a highly professional, VERY supportive, and sometimes crazy department :)
When it's time to go, I'll leave with a bang. Heck, I demand a PARADE.
