TRUE COLORS

Friday afternoon, FINALLY! The end of a very long week. I am proud of the individuals who I work with. I saw first hand, counselors, faculty members and administrators working together to make this TAKS week a success. Every adult in my building trying their best to balance the needs of the children in their care with the multitude of demands placed upon them by the powers that be. The professionals in our building showed their true colors and I am proud to be among them. If Texas education is a success, it is because of the human beings that work with kids, NOT because of a color the dot questionnaire.

TAKS DAY #3

OK, Texas Education Agency. I've done your dirty work! Freshman TAKS test given. No fun. No games. No learning. Finished. So grateful that this is not my real life! Especially grateful that this is not the students' real life.

TAKS DAY #2 - DONE!!

The second day of freshman babysitting is done. I have been so blessed with a nice bunch of kids. Today I broke out the crayons and playdoh. I couldn't believe that it kept them entertained all morning. While some were doing the creative thing, a very competitive game of Scrabble went on. Several spent hours on a never-ending game of Monopoly. I loved seeing the kids entertaining themselves without the use of electronics and gadgets. You know, maybe some learning is taking place in my TAKS prison after all.

TAKS DAY #1

I must admit, the first of the four day TAKS extravaganza was actually rather pleasant. Since my 30 freshmen were not being tested today, they stayed with me in the choir room for five hours. Their teachers sent homework packets and they spent about two hours doing homework and listening to the radio. After that, we watched 'Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Squeakquel.' After a short lunch break, I broke out the board games. Most of the kids were delighted. Funny, teens who have been raised in the technological generation, enjoying Clue, Operation, Twister, and Scrabble. Would it surprise you that the winning word in the Scrabble game was "anus?" I thought not.

A COMMENT ABOUT T.A.K.S.

This week, every Texas school will be administering the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test to students. For four days this week, all learning in our great state will cease. Some students will be involved in filling in circles with number two lead pencils being careful not to make stray marks on their paper or reading ahead to the next section in the test booklet. Teachers will be there reading the instructions from the printed script - actively monitoring - the TAKS police - who are actually TAKS prisoners themselves. Other students will be killing time. Some students will stay home while others (like the ones I will spend the week with) will be sitting in classrooms with nothing to do, all the while being quiet and staying out the hallways as to not disturb the test takers. As for me, I will spend four days with 30 freshmen who will only be testing on Thursday. What are my plans for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday????? I just left Target with a basket full of crayons, color books, playdoh, board games and DVDs. My district will pay me full salary to babysit 15 year olds for three days at a rate of approximately $350 per day. Let's see..... my total TAKS babysitting fee for this year (including the earlier TAKS administration days)has now reached $1,500. Multiply that by the other highly educated babysitters in my building, in my district, throughout the state of Texas and the cost is staggering! Just saying...........

PERSONAL SPACE, PLEASE

Junior High School boys cannot keep their hands to themselves! Constant hitting, pinching, tapping, every minute of the choir period. I once had a seventh grade boy who had to have his own square. Honestly, he spent so much time picking at those around him, that I moved his chair away from the others and gave him his "assigned square" where he sat all year. This year, the touching epidemic seems worse than ever. The boys have given a new name to an old prank. You know the one..... where someone stands on one side of you and sneaks his hand around the back of your shoulders and taps on the opposite shoulder to make you look the wrong way???? We all grew up with that, right? Well, it has a name now. "Ha, ha, ha! You been merked!" In an attempt to understand why this activity goes on in my class on a daily basis, I asked my boys why they do this? The answer was simple...... "cause it's funny to see them look the other way." OK! A new game has appeared in the choir room this week. My young men seem to enjoy pulling out each other's leg and arm hairs. Why? I haven't figured that one out yet. But I did get an explanation from one of my former students, a college aged young man. He explained to me that girls would do it too, but they don't have any leg hair. I am forever grateful for the invention of the razor!!!

CHOIR IS MY HAPPY PLACE

Disastrous! That is my best description of my treble choir’s recent practice run on a past UIL Sight Reading piece. I thought that I had chosen a simple enough selection for early in the contest season, but I soon found out otherwise. After a valiant, but unsuccessful effort, my girls looked at me with expressions of disbelief. Seeing that they dreaded my forthcoming critique, I surprised them by changing the subject.
Acting just a bit silly, I announced to the girls that we all were about to take a trip to our “happy place.” I started the journey by describing my favorite cabin get-away in the mountains of Ruidoso. A student quickly chimed in with her description of a barefoot walk along the beach. Another spoke of her imaginary tour of Paris, France. And then, quite unexpectedly, the words of my sweet Naomi made an impression on me that I will not soon forget. Amidst the cheerful chatter of teenage girls rang out the sincere statement, “But, Mrs. Lollar, CHOIR is my happy place!” It was one of those priceless moments in teaching that make the preceding hours of frustration worth the effort.
After class, the words continued to replay in my mind. “CHOIR is my happy place.” How often do we consider the truth in that simple statement? Some students, like Naomi, come from musical families and are destined for a future involving music. However, the vast majority of our kids do not come to us with that background. Consider the kid who has just failed the geometry test that determines whether or not he earns high school credit for the course. Although he has probably lost his academic eligibility, playing his guitar is his world. What about the girl who lives in substandard housing with a single parent who is always at work? Her CD player and dreams of stardom keep her busy at home and involved in school. Do you know a social outcast who has no one to sit with at the lunch table, but who feels a connection with music and with you? To these children, their happy place is the choir room, and their adult role model is you, their director.
I urge you to strive create the kind of environment in your choir room where all children are accepted and nurtured. Your attitude can help to diffuse anger in a child who has been bullied in gym class. Your words can ease the tension experienced by the honor student with more responsibility than she can handle. Your affirming greeting may be the only positive word that a problem child hears from any adult during the day. Give your children (and yourself) a happy place to enjoy the art of singing.

*** T I M E O U T ***

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then after a lot of other great stuff, he created teachers. Knowing that teachers would wear themselves out by devoting too much time and energy to their jobs, he created "Personal Days." Some call them "none of your business days" or "mental health days."
Whatever you want to label it, today is mine!!! I have learned that my students will survive and life will go on without Mrs. Lollar. So, this Monday, I will guiltlessly clean my house, work in my garden, check in on "The Young and the Restless," and give myself a pedicure while watching Oprah. All this before I pick up the grandkids at 3:00. A busy day of rest. But worth every minute. Watch out kids, tomorrow an energized Mrs. Lollar will return to class. You'll have a much better teacher because of a simple day of **T I M E O U T **

DECADES IN THE LIFE OF A TEACHER

My teaching style has evolved during the decades of my career.

Decade #1: FINDING MY PROFESSIONAL FOOTING . . . . In September, 1980, I walked into the elementary music classroom and looked around. I took a very deep breath and realized that I could call this classroom mine! I was the teacher. I got the big desk and could use the chalk any time I wanted. Hard to believe I was just a 22 year old girl. Nerves, energy, and excitement filled my first decade in education. Experimenting with curriculum, with relationships with parents and co-workers, and especially with student discipline. All of that while raising two young daughters of my own. How did I manage? My own youthfulness, I guess.

Decade #2: REACHING MY PROFESSIONAL GOALS. . . . This was a decade of confidence and pushing boundaries. I became a voracious goal-setter. Not because I sought after this life-style, but because I just could not stop myself. I set the first goal ten years into my teaching. I left my comfort zone and stepped into the secondary choral classroom. For the first few years, I spent every day basically scared to death. I set the bar for success at U.I.L. Concert and Sightreading Contest. Baby steps - one foot after the other. As soon as one goal was achieved, another was set. For me, the next step would be developing convention choirs. All of that while raising two teenaged daughters. How did I manage? My own drive for perfection, I guess.

Decade #3: CREATING MY OWN PROFESSIONAL LEGACY . . . Some have said that aging is not meant for sissies. I can tell you that aging has it's perks. For me, this was the comfortable decade. That darn perfection thing continued to gnaw at me, but I learned to embrace it. Setting and achieving higher goals than I ever dreamed for myself, my choirs performed for several state and regional professional conventions. Although the musical achievement was the primary goal, the secondary outcome began to overtake it in importance. This was a decade of relating to my students with a closeness that I had not experienced before. Each face in the sea of standard attire clad teens became an individual in my eyes. I cared deeply for each child and that teacher-student relationship made our music-making even more sweet. All of that while helping raise two adult daughters and their five offspring. How did I manage? By the grace of God and with the help of a loving husband!

Decade #4: ENJOYING MY PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS . . . Hard to believe, but I am teaching "grandstudents" now. The children of former students are graduating high school and I fear that one day in the near future a child may tell me that I taught their grandfather. I love being older (except for the aches and pains.) I feel comfortable in my own wrinkled teacher skin. It has long been my goal to develop "laugh lines" instead of "frown lines." The best part of my mid-life personality, is that I have released my inhibitions. I will do just about anything to get through to my students, even things that surely would have embarrassed me in my younger days. Sometimes I think the kids feel sorry for poor Mrs. Lollar because she just doesn't know how silly she looks. Yes, I do, my dears. But if silly helps you to learn to enjoy music and to enjoy life, I'm willing to play the part. All of this while facing the inevitable end of the career that I have loved so much. Where will I go from here? How will I manage? I will stay firm in the knowledge that God has plans for me that are greater than any goals I could make for myself. I will trust; I will follow; I will serve.

WHAT IS IT WITH JR. HIGH KIDS AND BODILY FUNCTIONS???

Among the most discussed topics I hear as my students enter the choir room is a word I wouldn't even SAY at their age. No, it's not THAT word, but another 'F' word..... . F A R T !!! "Who farted?"......"Miss, He farted!"...... "Oops, I farted!" Apparently the locker room is where most farting occurs.
We laugh about who farted, how loud it was, how it smelled, and who witnessed it. The boys seem most entertained when a coach passes gas. The laughing never ends. In my day, if an accidental gas release did happen to occur, NO ONE would admit to being responsible. Not so today..... the kids delight in admitting that the odor permeating the room is theirs. The smellier, the better. It is even more effective if the culprit lets one go while the choir is standing on the risers. The farter has a captive audience! And how about BURPING! Even the girls have burping contests! They find it very entertaining. I still think it is rude and vulgar. And whatever you do, don't keep the tissue box in the front of the classroom. Who can make the most noise while blowing his nose? The class hero, that's who. Whatever happened to good manners?

WELCOME TO MY LIFE

Hello. I am a junior high school public school choir director.
My life includes daily choir rehearsals with over 200 twelve to fifteen year old students. Does that sound like fun? Well, sometimes it is exactly that. We are noisy. We laugh alot! We are hardly ever still. We are energetic. But there are other times. . . like when someone has just had a disagreement with a friend; or when a break-up occured in the hallway on the way to the choir room. Or.... when half of the girls in class are simultaneously experiencing PMS ...or.... when your boys choir forgot their ADHD meds. Especially if these disasters occur during UIL time or TAKS day! I spend my days encouraging, cheerleading, parenting, organizing, counseling, and hopefully educating. Nobody promised me that this calling in life would be easy and it's not! But it certainly is interesting. I invite you to step into my world as I post a thought from time to time about my work with teens. I hope to keep a literary record of my experiences for my own benefit, but I hope to inspire a teacher or two with my words. Welcome to my life!