The tykes have two more days left in school before a two week long mid-term break. Though I am not overly pleased about the hit that my finances will take in those two weeks- I am thrilled, thrilled that the tykes will be having a break. Because today? They were monsters.
Classes went alright- the nursery classes are getting quite good at singing along with the emotion cards and one of the three totally has this whole "high" and "low" thing down. One of the other nursery classes totally has the whole "pig pile Miss Casey as she is trying to leave" thing down too.
The reception classes were mostly willing to sit tight and wait for their turn when conducting with the emotion cards and man-oh-man did we rock out with our vocal warm-ups.
Even garden time was nice: I made the mistake of running onto the field with the thought that if I got out their quickly- then everyone else would follow and we wouldn't have any of this straggling business. I misunderestimated (yes, misunderestimated) the effect that this would have. Namely that I then had to spend the whole of garden time running around playing reverse tag with 45 children.
Reverse tag: where the tykes are yelling "catch me! catch me!" while attached, limpet like, to your leg. The goal, really, is then to detach yourself in order to run to the other side of the field where you then wait for the swarm of tykes to catch up again and repeat their taunts. The secondary goal is to avoid as many pot holes in the field as possible so that the swarm doesn't tumble to the ground and start crying.
So actually- the only real issue was music club. Keeping in mind that music club has *20* tykes. The tykes are from all of the different classes so they don't necessarily know each other very well and there are some pretty significant size/attention differences between the youngest of the nursery children and the eldest of the reception children. All in one room. Just before mid-term break. After a long day's slog through school.
My usual tricks for calming them down/focusing them failed miserably. We tried using the Lycra where we bounce some teddy bears up and down- they nearly ripped a leg off of the medium bear. We tried Simama Ka- but half the kids had never heard it before and couldn't be bothered. We tried bounce and bounce and bounce and STOP- but the role play house in the corner was far more interesting, and besides: there were fights to pick!
There was kicking, yelling, tattling, rolling about on the floor, squishing, and poking. There was not much listening.
Fortunately Linda brought out the books again and that finally calmed enough of them down so that we could just sit for a bit and not pull tykes off of other tykes.
So what I'm saying is this: have a wonderful half-term break little ones. In two weeks you'll come back and we'll start learning the Christmas songs...
Showing posts with label technical difficulties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technical difficulties. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tykeography
Yeah, I'm just naming tyke posts made up words at this point...but I took notes today! So you get *Accuracy* and *Authenticity* which you all should really value in a tyke post.
Now, normally I would go about this chronologically- because that is how I think of things- in order to make sure that I don't miss anything exciting. In the past this has made for what I am sure were very tedious accounts of my day at school. "Well, in first period...." So today I am going to try and break away from that pattern. Namely because what I really want to tell you is that during garden time a little girl was balancing on this plastic tyre type thing and asked "Do you want to watch me and then clap?"
The tykes were moody today. Variable. Changeable. Mercurial if you will. In one of my reception classes I got mixed up with how I was planning to start the class so instead of using a story to do a vocal warm up to-- I just started singing. Singing with hand motions. Sound effects singing. Illustrating the sound and the actions together. And the kids were doing a fantastic job. They were pitch matching. They were singing in unison. They were singing with good, loud voices. They were all engaged. They were giggling in a "this is fun" sort of way that didn't disrupt the entire class and didn't turn into a "look at ME" sort of giggle. We kept it going for a good 5 minutes longer than I would have thought possible because it was just flowing and it was beautiful and gosh darn it *I* was having fun. So we drove their teacher from the room. No worries.
Then we tried singing the name song. Nope. For some reason this class just does not get the concept of singing in call and response form. I tried beating that dead horse for longer than was strictly necessary because we had just moved mountains with our miracle vocal warm up. But to no avail. They were gone and out of it for the rest of the class. We even sang a song where they have to divide up by gender and that didn't work either. "All the boys raise their hands! No, you're a girl. You're a boy, raise your hand? No?" Right then. Whatever.
In one of the nursery classes I walked in on a show and tell presentation which consisted of an impressive rendition of "Mama Mia" including dance routine. Well done you adorable little 3 year old boy! They were delightful and though they can't keep a beat to save their little tyke lives, they did do a creditable pig pile hug at the end of class- and you have to love them for that.
Linda and I did music club together. I was fried by this point having had one 15 minute break wherein I researched songs for their nativity play for Christmas. Fortunately Linda and I had independently come up with brilliant plans for music club. It is amazing how much faster time flies when there are two of us and twenty tykes.
Linda started it out so that I could recover my brain a little, (I was grateful) and it was interesting to see how we have different approaches. She's very good at songs and props and general tyke demeanor. She has a lot of tools in her tool box. I am very good at using whatever input the tykes will give me and shoving it into a song. Example lyric "we're all spitting our tongues, all spitting our tongues, la la la la we're all spitting our tongues." Admittedly I'm not sure what "spitting our tongues" means other than that a kid was ignoring me and spitting to himself across the circle and that was the correct number of syllables. It got his attention, the tykes enjoyed the spitting, and then everyone clamored to be the next to suggest an action. Today we got to be spiderman AND spidergirl. (Is there even a spidergirl? I don't know.)
Then there was the potty incident.
More properly the potty incidentS.
More properly the "oops" lake.
Ew.
The thing is that with 20 tykes of varying ages, none of whom are more than passably familiar to either Linda or me? It is really easy to fail to recognize the signs that someone needs the toilet. Like they keep standing up, but are too shy to ask to use the toilet so they keep sitting down when we tell them to. (You're such a good little boy! I'm so sorry I didn't understand what you needed!) Okay, so that was E's excuse. But N? You're nearly 5. And you know me. E's mother was watching from the hallway and came in once she realized what had happened. So he got cleaned up fairly quickly. Then we noticed that there was more than just a dampness, there seemed to be a puddle. So we moved the tyke circle to the other side of the room. At which point it became clear that N. had also had an accident. Most of which was hidden under a rolling bookshelf. It was a giant pee lake. That, like, 4 or 5 different tykes were all sitting in. Awesome. I swear we're good and observant teachers. Honest.
Now, normally I would go about this chronologically- because that is how I think of things- in order to make sure that I don't miss anything exciting. In the past this has made for what I am sure were very tedious accounts of my day at school. "Well, in first period...." So today I am going to try and break away from that pattern. Namely because what I really want to tell you is that during garden time a little girl was balancing on this plastic tyre type thing and asked "Do you want to watch me and then clap?"
The tykes were moody today. Variable. Changeable. Mercurial if you will. In one of my reception classes I got mixed up with how I was planning to start the class so instead of using a story to do a vocal warm up to-- I just started singing. Singing with hand motions. Sound effects singing. Illustrating the sound and the actions together. And the kids were doing a fantastic job. They were pitch matching. They were singing in unison. They were singing with good, loud voices. They were all engaged. They were giggling in a "this is fun" sort of way that didn't disrupt the entire class and didn't turn into a "look at ME" sort of giggle. We kept it going for a good 5 minutes longer than I would have thought possible because it was just flowing and it was beautiful and gosh darn it *I* was having fun. So we drove their teacher from the room. No worries.
Then we tried singing the name song. Nope. For some reason this class just does not get the concept of singing in call and response form. I tried beating that dead horse for longer than was strictly necessary because we had just moved mountains with our miracle vocal warm up. But to no avail. They were gone and out of it for the rest of the class. We even sang a song where they have to divide up by gender and that didn't work either. "All the boys raise their hands! No, you're a girl. You're a boy, raise your hand? No?" Right then. Whatever.
In one of the nursery classes I walked in on a show and tell presentation which consisted of an impressive rendition of "Mama Mia" including dance routine. Well done you adorable little 3 year old boy! They were delightful and though they can't keep a beat to save their little tyke lives, they did do a creditable pig pile hug at the end of class- and you have to love them for that.
Linda and I did music club together. I was fried by this point having had one 15 minute break wherein I researched songs for their nativity play for Christmas. Fortunately Linda and I had independently come up with brilliant plans for music club. It is amazing how much faster time flies when there are two of us and twenty tykes.
Linda started it out so that I could recover my brain a little, (I was grateful) and it was interesting to see how we have different approaches. She's very good at songs and props and general tyke demeanor. She has a lot of tools in her tool box. I am very good at using whatever input the tykes will give me and shoving it into a song. Example lyric "we're all spitting our tongues, all spitting our tongues, la la la la we're all spitting our tongues." Admittedly I'm not sure what "spitting our tongues" means other than that a kid was ignoring me and spitting to himself across the circle and that was the correct number of syllables. It got his attention, the tykes enjoyed the spitting, and then everyone clamored to be the next to suggest an action. Today we got to be spiderman AND spidergirl. (Is there even a spidergirl? I don't know.)
Then there was the potty incident.
More properly the potty incidentS.
More properly the "oops" lake.
Ew.
The thing is that with 20 tykes of varying ages, none of whom are more than passably familiar to either Linda or me? It is really easy to fail to recognize the signs that someone needs the toilet. Like they keep standing up, but are too shy to ask to use the toilet so they keep sitting down when we tell them to. (You're such a good little boy! I'm so sorry I didn't understand what you needed!) Okay, so that was E's excuse. But N? You're nearly 5. And you know me. E's mother was watching from the hallway and came in once she realized what had happened. So he got cleaned up fairly quickly. Then we noticed that there was more than just a dampness, there seemed to be a puddle. So we moved the tyke circle to the other side of the room. At which point it became clear that N. had also had an accident. Most of which was hidden under a rolling bookshelf. It was a giant pee lake. That, like, 4 or 5 different tykes were all sitting in. Awesome. I swear we're good and observant teachers. Honest.
Friday, January 30, 2009
I'm an idiot
I wouldn't want all these blogs to make you think that every thing I do comes up roses, that wouldn't do at all. So here is the remarkably idiotic thing that I did today:
So I got this new trolley for my bass, right? People use them to cart around their groceries, large bags attached to wheels with a tall handle. I bought one a while ago after I'd got fed up with carrying my bass everywhere. I went around to various shops that had them sitting out front and measured the depth of the platform above the wheels with my handy tape measure key chain. Eventually I bought one from a guy in a carpet shop who, when I asked for the price, said "eight pounds, but for you I'll go down to seven." I love when people haggle down with no help from me. Anyhow- this trolley has been brilliant and is very useful for hauling my bass around. It has also been handy because when my bass is set on top of it, it tends to stay there- so it has been a trolley/bass stand.
However.
One shouldn't trust a trolley/bass stand to always perform both functions to optimum levels (raise your hand if you see where this is going!) And today, when meeting our new tutor for the "refining workshop skills" class and shaking his hand, my bass toppled forward and fell onto it's bridge....
So that sucked.
Oddly, the front of the bass seems to be totally fine- it's the back that is all shot to hell. Pretty much every seam possible is open back there and the lower left bout as well. I was thinking a week ago that probably some of the seams were open because of the weather, and this pretty much confirms it. Having a bass split along the back when it falls on the front? Weird. They all look like really clean breaks and most, if not all, have hide glue on them which means that none are new breaks. So hopefully it should be easy to repair. I'm taking it to Malcolm Healey, the luthier, this afternoon. Obviously I will keep you posted!
But you can see why I feel like an idiot....
So I got this new trolley for my bass, right? People use them to cart around their groceries, large bags attached to wheels with a tall handle. I bought one a while ago after I'd got fed up with carrying my bass everywhere. I went around to various shops that had them sitting out front and measured the depth of the platform above the wheels with my handy tape measure key chain. Eventually I bought one from a guy in a carpet shop who, when I asked for the price, said "eight pounds, but for you I'll go down to seven." I love when people haggle down with no help from me. Anyhow- this trolley has been brilliant and is very useful for hauling my bass around. It has also been handy because when my bass is set on top of it, it tends to stay there- so it has been a trolley/bass stand.
However.
One shouldn't trust a trolley/bass stand to always perform both functions to optimum levels (raise your hand if you see where this is going!) And today, when meeting our new tutor for the "refining workshop skills" class and shaking his hand, my bass toppled forward and fell onto it's bridge....
So that sucked.
Oddly, the front of the bass seems to be totally fine- it's the back that is all shot to hell. Pretty much every seam possible is open back there and the lower left bout as well. I was thinking a week ago that probably some of the seams were open because of the weather, and this pretty much confirms it. Having a bass split along the back when it falls on the front? Weird. They all look like really clean breaks and most, if not all, have hide glue on them which means that none are new breaks. So hopefully it should be easy to repair. I'm taking it to Malcolm Healey, the luthier, this afternoon. Obviously I will keep you posted!
But you can see why I feel like an idiot....
Monday, January 26, 2009
Baroque Basseybye
Recently I have been having trouble tuning up my E string because the gear on the tuning mechanism had sort of, um, popped out? Like, you could force the gear to turn, but when it got to a certain point it would pop out of the grooves of the gear and you'd be back down a third or something like that. Basically it totally didn't work.
So I called Peter, and he thought that it was probably because there was too much string in the gear box and since the string is SO thick, it was probably pushing the peg out of place. So I had to take off the string, cut of the top of it, and then re-string it.
Not so bad, right? And it wasn't really-except do you know how difficult it is to try and convince a half centimeter thick piece of dried out intestine that it wants to be straight instead of curled like it has been for who knows how long? It's tough!
Anyhow, here is a picture so you can get a feeling for how thick this string is. Long story short- I totally fixed it and am awesome.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Comments
There have been a bunch of advertising comments recently- so I have just enabled comment moderating and changed it so that you have to type in squiggly letters before blogger.com will let you post. This should completely rid the blog of spam comments- but it does mean that comments may take longer to actually show up now because I have to receive an email saying that you have posted a comment and then approve it.
So, a little more work- but hey! No more spam!
I'm back in London and I went shopping again today- this time for clothes that I can actually wear in the Gambia. (We leave on FRIDAY. Everyone is sending emails back and forth, I'm getting excited) I went to Camden and found this awesome shop that sells light, but fitted clothing from India. So I'm totally down with the fabric and the cuts. I bought a very nice shirt that I think I will even be able to wear to work after the trip- and a pair of Aladdin pants. They are billowy and peacock blue and a bit silly but I *like* them.
I've just about gotten over my jet lag and am having crepes with Latana tonight. She got back from Paris this morning and I met her at the St. Pancras Int'l station. There are more creperies then normal there. Probably this is because that is where the Eurostar leaves from and why not get a head start on Parisian food?
So, a little more work- but hey! No more spam!
I'm back in London and I went shopping again today- this time for clothes that I can actually wear in the Gambia. (We leave on FRIDAY. Everyone is sending emails back and forth, I'm getting excited) I went to Camden and found this awesome shop that sells light, but fitted clothing from India. So I'm totally down with the fabric and the cuts. I bought a very nice shirt that I think I will even be able to wear to work after the trip- and a pair of Aladdin pants. They are billowy and peacock blue and a bit silly but I *like* them.
I've just about gotten over my jet lag and am having crepes with Latana tonight. She got back from Paris this morning and I met her at the St. Pancras Int'l station. There are more creperies then normal there. Probably this is because that is where the Eurostar leaves from and why not get a head start on Parisian food?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Picture?!
Okay, people. Every computer I have tried it on can see the picture...I'll try it again tonight when I am at my computer and not the school's. On the other hand, I've got just about everything else that I needed to get-I've made a detailed packing list, my laundry is going and getting done, and I'm going to yoga again tonight. Life is good.
Oh, and it is about 80 degrees outside so I have spend all day walking around. Whee!
Oh, and it is about 80 degrees outside so I have spend all day walking around. Whee!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Comments
Okay, so comments should now be available to everyone, and not just people with gmail accounts. Go ahead, test it and lets see if this works...
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