The past month has been busy with preparation for the holidays and concerts. My concert season began with Winter Wonderland, which featured the 4th & 5th grade orchestra (which I don't teach), our school's cheerleading squad (which I also don't teach), and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade chorus (which I do teach)! The kids performed beautifully, and I was especially proud of my 3rd graders who make up the majority of the chorus. They worked really hard, as did the rest of the students. I was lucky to have my Aunt Mary visit and watch this concert. It was so lovely to be able to share moments of my daily life with a family member I don't see very often.
The next concert was the following week, and it featured Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. Basically, all the cutie-pies. They rehearsed beautifully all week. As they walked onto stage, I could tell some of them hadn't realized just how many people would be sitting in the audience. This made many of my little sweeties sing just a little too loud...or shout. But alas, they were adorable.
I'm pretty sure I may have been more nervous than they were, though. I got so anxious and twitchy that I made some silly mistakes on the piano. I hoped they would go unnoticed, but a first grader in the front row took care of that when he commented to the student behind him that I was making a lot of mistakes. He said this in THE MIDDLE OF THE SONG. Leave it to the little ones to point out flaws.
Since then, I've been preparing for my Christmas Sing-Alongs. I remember singing Christmas songs during winter assemblies as a young elementary student. It was absolutely my favorite thing to do at Christmas. When I began my teaching last year, I decided I wanted to have a holiday sing-along. Singing together builds a sense of community, and I consider Christmas music to be culturally important to America. I also think it is the perfect way to celebrate the last day of school before winter break.
The majority of my students celebrate Christmas and the rest celebrate nothing at all. I asked all of my classes if they celebrate Christmas, and I had no students who said they celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Since this was the case, I went for full-on Christmas music. The climate of my school is such that if there is something that gets the students excited, you use it to engage them in learning. I had full support of the administration, which I would recommend before trying something like this!
I don't know how to describe the way I felt watching an auditorium full of my students sing their hearts out. I told them the point was just to have fun and most of them took that to heart. I saw the coolest 5th graders sing. I saw students who seem absolutely disinterested in doing the right thing sing. I saw teachers sing. Most of all, I saw happy kids. There were some who chose not to sing, but there will always be people who just resist happiness.
My absolute favorite moment was during the 3rd-5th grade sing-along. (We have to split into two groups because we can't fit the whole school into the auditorium at once). After singing and yelling their hearts out, we began to sing "Jolly Old St. Nicholas". They were super pumped for this song, and I wasn't even sure that most of them knew it well. But they all sang and when they did, it was soft and beautiful. I nearly cried right there at the piano.
I guess my point is that I love my job. There are always low points, but the high points always seem to make up for them, somehow. I love giving hugs and hearing stories daily about the little things. I love being important to a bunch of little people. It gives me purpose and fills me with love.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Ms. R
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P.S. Here's a funny little story, just in case you were hoping for one:
While practicing "Silent Night", one of my first graders began crying quietly. I didn't say anything until the song was over and we had moved on to another activity. When I asked him to come tell me what was wrong (just in case he didn't want the whole class to hear), he hugged me. As his tears slowed, I asked again what was wrong, what had happened.
"Silent Night made me cry."
When he said that, I hugged him tighter and laughed. Music can be touching to young children too!
