9 birthday parties a day?? possible???

Well I heard this quote this past week from another music teacher that said teaching music is like "throwing 9 birthday parties a day for 5 days straight."

I laughed so hard and then stopped at thought for a bit.

The beginning of the year when I got home after observing all day it was great. I had little to do and had lots of energy.

Now that I am teaching all 9 classes I really understand that quote. There is a big difference between a regular classroom teacher and a specials teacher (esp. music)- you are "on" every minute of class. A regular classroom teacher has many different breaks during the day with recess, reading time, individual work time, etc. and direct instruction is not constant (on the other hand, regular classroom teachers have a TON of paperwork and outside work in order to make those breaks possible.) but as a music teacher the second the students enter the room they stare at you and wait for a creative, fun, energetic, non stop great time.

I wonder why I am so exhausted by the end of the day now that I am teaching all day long- I am going non stop for 45 minutes and then have a 5 minute break (but the regular classroom teachers are usually late so my 5 minute break turns into 2- and then the next class comes in with the same expectant eyes.

I sit at home on a saturday afternoon enjoying a big break :) church, bridal shower and bachelorette party all part of tomorrow's day, so I'll take this break now!

Big Star

I am so proud of Cory. I met cory about a year ago when his dad said "he is pretty shy about singing but has a great voice." Ha jeremiah and I never knew what would come out of that little body! I now have the privilege of having Cory in my voice studio and I am so excited to take his God given talent and work with him. He has also been selected to sing for many other sports games (D-backs, Coyotes, and hopefully Suns). He is a remarkable boy with a lot to offer other than his voice and I am excited to see where his voice and God's plan will take him! :) check him out on YouTube by clicking the video below!!

Teaching is my passion!!

I am having such a blast this semester!! I know I keep saying it but it's so true. Sometimes I end my day so drained from discipline and rude children but something always reminds me that this is what I love.

This week has been a weird week- I am teaching half of the classes and next week I will have 6 out of the 8 classes and then in 2 weeks I will have all 8-9! :) It's tiring. Yesterday the 4th and 5th graders were so awful and the k and 1st's were just a delight. Today on the other hand.. haha. the kinder's were just not good. It was partially my fault b/c I should have planned like 8 songs but I thought learning 3 songs and dance moves would fill 25 minutes- nope... i look up at the clock at the end of my lesson and I still have 10 minutes left- Oops! I survived but they just got worse.

Well I had had enough of my rude 4th grade class- like honestly they were just a mean group yesterday- well I decided that I wasn't going to take that anymore! (you don't wanna mess with mean Mrs. Hann haha). So right before 4th grade entered my room- I put up a powerpoint slide that said the 3 directions they MUST do when they enter the room (they know but I wanted to reallllyyy make it easy for them to follow the rules). So I let everyone in except the 5 students that were the worst yesterday. I told them that I was very disappointed at their attitude yesterday and that I have given respect and it was not returned. They all immediately sank into themselves. They walked in and in the blink of an eye they were great students!! I was shocked!

We had a blast after that!! We got through the whole lesson (recorders- woohoo) and we laughed and had a great time! Man I was so encouraged. No matter the awful or amazing students- the teacher can change the dynamic of the classroom and that is the biggest thing I have learned so far these 7 weeks!

God is good and He has been with me every step of the way!! :)

TAG!!

Open up the 6th picture folder on your computer.
Post the 6th picture in the folder and tell the story of it.
Then tag 6 of your friends.




This is a picture of the night Jeremiah proposed. He sent me on a scavenger hunt ALL over maricopa- this was one of the stops in downtown phoenix where my clue led me to Robby and Kelly (our great frends who actually moved to Buckeye as well!- don't see them as much as I'd like though). Jeremiah is the biggest romantic and I love it!

I will never forget that day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Jesus loves you!

Inducted into adulthood

Well my family, entire family of over 50 people, gets together every month without fail. We do birthdays and do it at a different house each month. Well after some debate and hard negotiating I convinced them that now that I am first grandchild of SEVERAL to get married that I can be considered an adult. Adult means you sit with the adults, you exchange gifts with the adults (not $7 gifts from another kid haha- literally the max is $7 for a kid) and you get to host dinners.

So this month was mine and it was adults only (we do one adult only get together a year and we decided to do it at my house since it's smaller)... well Jeremiah and I cleaned all day long (well all week long) and I cooked all day and all yesterday to make a 4 course meal. My dad and mom came over early and my dad helped relandscape our front yard a bit (took our our ugly cactus things! and put in some flowers.. yay)
well it went great! I think people assume that if you are young, married and have a place that the place has to look like a dorm room or something. I just love how we did our house (With the help of my mom and Penny!-thanks!!)... it's sophisticated and modern and my family was a bit shocked I think at how nice it looked.It made me feel very good about the work we have done to this house and the time spent making it fit us and be warm and inviting.

Next is the backyard but... hah we'll see. Now jeremiah has set up for church at 9 at night which leaves me to clean up and do some more laundry :)