Saturday, December 26, 2009

Quick update

The evening of my previous post, I was unable to go to sleep. Little did I know I'd caught the same stomach bug that Marla, Dad, and Kate had shared just a day or two before.

So, Christmas Eve, from about 4 AM until I went to bed that night, I got out of bed very little.

The bug actually passed in just a few hours, but it was so severe that it wasn't until about 24 hours after it was over that I began to get my strength back.

As a bonus - my mom and I were getting sick at about the same times (in different houses, I stay at the Morris' when we have big family gatherings in LC)and she and I both ended up quarantined at Marla's house on Christmas Day.

We did wind up feeling better and were able to rejoin the living for good visiting yesterday afternoon/evening and this morning, and thanks to Marla's kind nursing/waitress service, and a ton of Lysol used in both houses, Josh has still not had it, and so far (fingers crossed) none of our out of town relatives have caught it.

I'm leading singing in the morning and heading straight from church to Ft. Worth for some much overdue time with Jordan (did I mention that she's moving here in a few weeks? If we've been around each other recently I'm sure you've heard it multiple times)

I'm up at work right now. Just moments ago I finished all my 1/1/2010 deadlines. Who in their right mind would give a school teacher a New Years' deadline? Don't they know we're on break? Anyways, I plan to come back from Jordan's on the 1st, so I'm tying up all loose ends here until next year.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Santa brought a New Toy



Santa Clause brought me the new "Flip" video camera. It's really easy to use - and I'm figuring out how to save videos and share them.

The only thing worth videoing since last night has been Kate. Marla has been a bit under the weather. She's doing much better now, but still resting. I was happy to go over there today and play with Kate until she was pooped and I needed a shower (it's warm and sticky in Houston, but cold weather should be here by Christmas Day.)

Anyways, Marla shot this earlier while we were playing on the swing in the back yard. I did my best to entertain her while not tripping over their dog who was also in need of attention.



I love how just seconds after spotting Marla holding a camera, she says "CHEEESE". She's a well-trained kiddo who has her picture taken often. Played with the crop features on the Flipshare software, and it wasn't cropping. Will figure that out during my next playing session, but for now, I apologize that the video is not cut down to a more reasonable length.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Oh excuses, how I loath thee.
Giving the final exam in one of my Orchestra classes today. It's not a blow off final, but it's not that hard to understand.
You were given music several weeks ago.
You were given class time to work on it.
You were given help during class, and help was available to you before and after school for the last two weeks.
Some kids lost their music, but managed to borrow a copy from a neighbor so they could take it to the library and pay 10 cents to make a new copy. Those kids are problem solvers.

And yet, the day of the final exam, they come pouring in. Some kids don't even realize that their "excuses" are not even reasons, much less excuses. I divide them into three categories:

Actual reasons/excuses that still don't excuse you from having to take the final:
I lost my music.
My mom said I only have to take the finals in my real classes.
I thought it was a participation grade.
I was absent that day back in August when you handed out the calendars (which are
also available on the website, and posted all around the room.)
I didn't know we were taking a final.

Confessions
I lost my backpack.
I haven't even looked at this once.
This is gonna be really bad.

Problems that happen to everyone, not just you:
I've had homework for other classes this semester.
Sometimes my instrument goes out of tune.

And then there's the excuses that just make me go "HUH?"
I thought I could play something that I made up instead.

Ya know, if a kid walked in here totally unprepared, not ready in any way to play the final, but owned up to it, like, "Mr. Flippin, this isn't good. I got the music the day it was handed out, but never took it out of my backpack. I took my instrument home most days and had time to practice, but I was tired and I watched TV instead." I would be inclined to pass the kid just for owning up to their own decisions.

I have decided one thing though - I'm never assigning my favorite pieces again. One of the options I gave the cellos (every instrument had a "moderate" and a "difficult" piece to choose from) is the Prelude to the 1st Bach Suite for Cello. I love this piece deeply and want to share it with my students. But from now on, only the ones I choose. I will no longer put that music to the kind of mutilation and careless treatment it is receiving today.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Winding Down the Craziness

The past two weeks have come off very sucessfully, I am pleased to report. I will continue to be busy for about one more week, but without the pressure of the last two weeks.
Monday, our concert went well. We were very fortunate that another choir director from the district, along with a hired accompanist came in the day of the concert and conducted it. That way, once the school day was over and the stage was set, I was able to give the Orchestra my full attention.
The morning after the concert, on very little sleep, I took a small group of players over to the Administration building to play music during the pre-meeting breakfast of the Katy Area Economic Advisory. The kids enjoyed being out of class a few periods, and we just played simple arragements of familiar tunes. A low pressure gig for all involved, and great community exposure for our program!

Thursday, I spent the whole day as choir director. The choir parents put on a Faculty Appreciation Luncheon each year. The boosters buy turkeys and hams, and all the kids bring desserts and side dishes and put out the spread in a gym. All the teachers come down during their lunch periods to eat, and while eating they're serenaded by various choir students and soloists.
The choirs did alright considering it was a few days after their concert, they had no conductor (I was the piano slave all day long) and in a gym with people talking throughout, but the teachers loved being fed, and the food was great, a good time was had by all.

Last night I had the honor of having very distinguished company in my home. Tony Cason is the Orchestra Director at Pepperdine. He comes to Texas to recruit players a few times per year, and once a year comes through Houston to visit some of the larger programs in the Houston area.
The national trend of all expense budgets shrinking has made it to Pepperdine. In order to continue his efforts to find quality players for the school, but also save the school some money, he's stayed with various friends in the different cities he has visited.

Exhausted as I was, I worked some on Tuesday night, and then stayed up LATE Wednesday night cleaning. I hadn't had an ounce of time to clean in several weeks, so this would have been needed even if there was no specific occasion, but all the more reason since a Colonel from the U.S. Military was coming as my guest.

We ate at an amazing Barbecue place in Houston called Beaver's Barbecue I've only eaten there with Mr. Cason, because last year when he came he'd read about it as one of the "Top 10 Places to Eat in the U.S." and wanted to try it. It's every bit as good as I remember it being last year.

I really enjoyed visiting with Mr. Cason, and was flattered that he came to stay at my apartment. We visited late into the night so that I feel all caught up on the latest goings-on of the Pepperdine Orchestra/Choir/Theater. I've never regretted the decision to transfer to North Texas after my freshman year, but I also have never lost my love for Pepperdine, or the relationships that I have with the friends I met there.
What's even better, is that he is a very good advocate in every way a Pepperdine Orchestra Director would need to be. He's a good advocate to the school's administration on behalf of the Orchestra, and a good advocate to the world on behalf of Pepperdine. I'm glad he's there, and I'm glad that after five years he is still encouraged and pushing the program forward.

Next week are final exams here at Kaatty hI(gh) Skewl (I mispell it so that people who search for my school in search engines won't be lead to this blog.)Not much stress for me, but a lot of busy-work. Harder for the students for sure, I just have to stay on top of things so that when tests are taken, they can be graded and submitted quickly.

One week from today I fly to Little Rock with Aunt Jean. We'll be driving out to Searcy to visit Harding and attend Jordan's graduation!

Friday, December 04, 2009

The Power of Thought

Katy ISD closed all secondary school at 12:35 today. For what reason? SNOW! Can you believe that? Here in Katy, TX, school is snowed out.

We started getting flurries early this morning, but with the temperatures projected to drop further into the day, and the snow starting to stick, the district decided to get students home while the roads are still clear and not icy.

They made the announcement at about 9:30 this morning, and in all class periods after that, trying to teach anything was pretty much a wash. I can't say I was sincerely disappointed that we couldn't rehearse today. This has a rough week.

(Quick note: Thanksgiving was very restful and joyful, and I'm so glad. Had I not at least started the week rested and rejuvenated, I don't know that I would have lasted through it.)

Our choir director underwent quintuple bypass surgery on Friday (one week ago.) I have been tagged as the person to head up the effort to cover his classes while he's out, or until we can find a qualified substitute. So, I'm teaching 3 additional classes along with my own (by dropping my daily Junior High visits and giving up my conference period, it all fits in.)

The days have been long (about 60 hours at school so far this week) with too many tasks to keep up with, and too many choir parents all calling and wanting to know what's going on. I can't blame parents, in fact I applaud parents who hear that choir class has been turned up on it's head and call to ask questions, I just don't have the time of day to answer all of their individual questions. I can't say that on the phone, because these are good parents asking good questions, any time during the school day that I spend talking on the phone is time that I'm taking from a class that I'm teaching, or students who have come in for after school help. What's more, I have to go home to eat and sleep at some point.

We'd heard there might be a chance of school closing today since the weather forecast looked ugly. When I woke up this morning, I checked the news to see if school was closed before I did anything.

Since I knew I'd have to work most of tomorrow and Sunday anyways, I thought to myself this morning "hopefully I can sneak away early this afternoon to rest and relax tonight." By "early" I was thinking 4:00 or 5:00, I'm thrilled with 1:00 PM!

And not to fear, this will pass soon. Monday night is the Winter concert for both the Orchestra and the Choir. After the concert, the after school rehearsal schedule for both programs becomes much lighter. ALSO, thanks to the selfless generosity of some of our colleagues in the rest of the district, we'll have extra help next week. Two of the high school choirs in this district have two directors, and once their concerts are over, they're going to take turns coming over the Katy to help out between now and the end of the semester.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Idea for a Research Article

"Societies' Have Nots Need Not Be Education's Can Nots".

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Shucks!

I just made my housing reservation for the TMEA convention in February. I'm very pleased with myself. I found a roommate and everything - so I can stay in the Riverwalk area and not have to commute in and out from a Motel on the outside of town.

But I did learn a valuable lesson - book early and book through TMEA.

My friend Will and I will be roommates at Red Roof Inn - easy walk to and from convention center and area restaurants. We both agreed before we even started looking that we were fine with staying in a motel instead of a hotel if it would save us money and mean that we could be walking distance from all the action.

What we discovered, was that if you book a Hotel room through TMEA, the nighly rate is only slightly higher than what we're paying for our Motel room. And had we booked our motel through the TMEA site - the rate would have been lower still. By this point, everything is booked up.

Silly me for making my housing arrangments a mere 3 months early. Now I understand why people stay up until midnight the night before the convention hotel blocks open up.

Next year . . . .