Change is Coming! shoo shoo shoo

Well I am equal parts THRILLED and totally grieved that I am going to be changing schools and school districts at the end of this school year. 

I have been truly blessed during my time at my current school and the Lord has been faithful to give me a true love for the students I've been blessed to serve while at this school.  Not only has he blessed me with a love for my students he has provided an amazing team and the very best administrative support a music teacher could ever have.  I know that I am a better teacher than I otherwise would have been because of the great people I have worked with. 

At the very same time, the Lord has been faithful to lead me into a new direction with new opportunities and healthy changes that I am eager to see come to fruition. 

I am certain that over the next weeks and months as I prepare to go and start over at a new school I will face difficult days, but I really believe that my one regret is that I can't take my current school family with me because I know I would love keeping them near. 

Not only am I changing schools and districts, the culture of the neighborhood I am serving will change as well. 

For the entire 14 years I have been a teacher, I have served a student population with a high percentage of low-income, at-risk students who are learning English as a second language and who face significant often cultural obstacles that have kept them from reaching their academic potential..... Over the years my students have struggled to have test scores in the academically "acceptable" range and who have had to work extremely hard to reach toward an academically "recognized" school rating. 

Now I will be working at a school that serves primarily upper middle class students and although I know for certain that each of these students just like ALL students face obstacles of their own, as a school their test scores indicate that their students perform at an academically "exemplary" level. 

That my friends is a HUGE change for this music teacher to comprehend. 

On a purely personal level, its a great time for me to reflect on what I do and how I do it.....

What in my practice do I need to hang on to because it will meet the needs of any students?

What elements of my practice do I need to refine so that I can extend the learning of my future students past what I am accustomed to presenting?

I'm hoping that the next few weeks will illicit both thoughtful and useful blog posts from me as I process and prepare for the big changes coming me way.....

One thing I know for sure..... I am determined to leave my old school in good shape. 

It was not so long ago that I came to this school with more questions in my head then I could possibly ask about how things worked..... SOOOO I think I'm going to put together a notebook for whomever is going to be hired for the position that I leave vacant..... I'm going to fill it with things that would have saved me time when I was first starting here..... As that notebook takes shape I plan on sharing it with you..... We all know that leaving well is important as it benefits our students.