(Dansk overstættelse, takket være Chat-GPT nedunder)
You can take the fish out of music, but .....the music will find the fish, track it down, and insist it comes back!!!!! This is what happened to me, Mary, this year teaching. Choir and music have been the central part of my career. The 13 years at Frøstruphave I taught choir, band, singing and piano lessons. Then the past 5 years I have been leading choirs of all ages as Gospel project leader at our church in Skjern. For this I have been so grateful. Music has been a huge passion of mine since childhood and it brings me joy to both perform and also teach others and foster this excitement for music in others.
But this year in the US was different. I took a job that did not include music. The first many months of working at the school, there were multiple colleagues who didn't even know that I could sing! This is quite a weird thing to think about, as I feel music is such a big part of my identity. It was strange to be in a position where music didn't fill conversations or tasks. I was just getting used to this, when just before Christmas, the choir director at the Intermediate School and Middle School had a medical emergency and needed to be away from the job. The week before Christmas break I was assigned to the 5th grade choir, just as part of my building substitute job. I couldn't resist singing with them, even if I was only required to follow the sub plans - which were to put on a movie. It went great and the students responded well to the fun approach of singing in groups, etc. I had taken some of the fun Gospel warm-ups I use in Denmark and changed the words to be religion neutral, but the fun of the harmonizing and rhythms were still there! I went on Christmas break with good memories, thinking that little chapter was over.
Boy was I wrong. The first week back from Christmas break, I was asked to take the choir job again, this time with the middle school as well. So for the week I took 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade choir and with it just being a week job, I did fun warm-ups and taught them all a call and response pop-song. We were having fun! The students were excited, and I enjoyed having music fill my everyday again! Then the school found out that the choir director would be gone on a longer medical leave and asked me to continue for 3 more weeks. I said no at first, as I was unsure what the future would look like, would it really only be 3 weeks? I wanted to get back to my colleagues and job where I went to work, came home, and forgot about it. But after I turned it down, I was filled with a lot of regret. Although the mental load was a lot heavier, I was also getting to do music and have a daily routine I could count on. I was pretty down the evening after I turned it down and Søren said, "Well if God wants you in that position, He will find a way." The very next day I was approached again, and asked if I would reconsider taking the position, they really would love to have me. So here was my answer, and I said yes!
The next 3 weeks were a bit of a rollercoaster. After the "honeymoon period" was over, the students started realizing that I also expected things of them. That they would be getting grades from me, etc. The nature of the class, makes it a lot more difficult to keep on task and not just want to chat with the person sitting next to you. So we had a learning curve of getting to know each other and what the classroom looked like with me as their director. We worked hard on both behaviors and music making. At the same time that I added the Middle School choirs, I was also asked to step into the High School guitar class that the choir director also had. At first I was a bit hesitant, I'm not really a guitar player, but it turned out to be great. It was fun working with High School age students again (ages 14-18). I got to brush up on my guitar skills, and teach basic guitar and music theory. I was really enjoying it!
When the three weeks were almost up, the next message came. The choir director was going to be out for another 1½ months, and would I continue?? This time the answer was quick, YES, but that I would then like to schedule a concert (they missed their concert in Decemeber). We all needed the motivation of having something to practice for.
The next weeks were full of learning new songs, and getting aquainted with the previous songs they had learned. There were 230 students names to learn, new colleagues, etc. I was also asked to take the after school choir, Spartan Singers with combined students from 6,7,8th grade who had auditioned to get in. All in all it was going well. I felt a lot of support from the Middle School staff, and made a new bestie, the band director at the Middle School. We ate lunch together most days and shared conversations about teaching, parenting and life.
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| Band bestie Andrea! |
Leading up to the concert I had been working extra hard preparing extra after school and could also tell that I was not sleeping as well, etc. But I'm also used to that before bigger performance events, and tried to remind myself that this too would pass. By the start of March we were ready to put on a concert. There were 4 concerts in a row on the same night, each one being a success. The students worked hard, and were able to put in their best effort and concentration that day. We were all so happy to have been able to do a concert and show off all the hard work we'd done together.
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| Welcome sign and concert programs |
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| 5th graders |
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| 6th grade - old enough for matching concert attire |
When I had my last week just before Spring Break, I was quite emotional. I had spent almost 3 months teaching these students, and I'd really grown attached. I was also sad to say goodbye to the colleagues at the Middle School who had been with me through it all, from quick conversations, to support in the classroom. It was hard to say goodbye to the guitar class, the students I had started up at the semester start, to them I was the only teacher they had ever had! It was hard to say goodbye to the beautiful grand piano I got to play every day! But hard goodbyes only mean one thing, you've had something great!
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| Middle School choir room |
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| My office space! So nice having my own space! |
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| 3 different key chains for three different school keys and access badges |
Du kan tage fisken ud af musikken, men … musikken vil finde fisken, spore den op og insistere på, at den kommer tilbage!!!!!
Det var det, der skete for mig, Mary, i år som lærer. Kor og musik har været en central del af min karriere. I de 13 år på Frøstruphave underviste jeg i kor, band, sang og klaver. De sidste 5 år har jeg ledet kor for alle aldre som gospelprojektleder i vores kirke i Skjern. For det har jeg været så taknemmelig. Musik har været en stor passion for mig siden barndommen, og det giver mig glæde både at optræde og at undervise andre og vække denne begejstring for musik hos dem.
Men i år i USA var anderledes. Jeg tog et job, som ikke inkluderede musik. De første mange måneder på skolen var der flere kolleger, der slet ikke vidste, at jeg kunne synge! Det er ret mærkeligt at tænke på, da jeg føler, at musik er en så stor del af min identitet. Det var underligt at være i en stilling, hvor musik ikke fyldte i samtaler eller opgaver. Jeg var lige ved at vænne mig til det, da kordirigenten på Intermediate School og Middle School lige før jul fik en medicinsk nødsituation og måtte være væk fra arbejdet. Ugen før juleferien blev jeg sat til 5. klasses kor, som en del af mit arbejde som vikar. Jeg kunne ikke lade være med at synge med dem, selvom jeg egentlig kun skulle følge vikarplanen – som var at sætte en film på. Det gik rigtig godt, og eleverne reagerede positivt på den sjove tilgang med at synge i grupper osv. Jeg tog nogle af de sjove gospel-opvarmninger, jeg bruger i Danmark, og ændrede ordene, så de var religionsneutrale, men harmonierne og rytmerne var stadig lige så sjove! Jeg gik på juleferie med gode minder og tænkte, at det lille kapitel var slut.
Hold da op, hvor tog jeg fejl. I den første uge efter juleferien blev jeg spurgt, om jeg ville tage korjobbet igen, denne gang også med Middle School. Så i den uge havde jeg kor med 5., 6., 7. og 8. klasse, og da det kun var for en uge, lavede jeg sjove opvarmninger og lærte dem alle en call-and-response popsang. Vi havde det sjovt! Eleverne var begejstrede, og jeg nød igen at have musik som en del af min hverdag. Så fandt skolen ud af, at kordirigenten ville være væk i længere tid, og de spurgte, om jeg kunne fortsætte i yderligere 3 uger. Først sagde jeg nej, fordi jeg var usikker på fremtiden – ville det virkelig kun være 3 uger? Jeg ville gerne tilbage til mine kolleger og det job, hvor jeg kunne gå på arbejde, komme hjem og ikke tænke mere over det. Men efter jeg sagde nej, blev jeg fyldt med fortrydelse. Selvom den mentale belastning var større, fik jeg også lov til at arbejde med musik og have en daglig rutine, jeg kunne regne med. Jeg var ret nedtrykt den aften, og Søren sagde: “Hvis Gud vil have dig i den stilling, finder Han en vej.” Allerede næste dag blev jeg spurgt igen, om jeg ville genoverveje – de ville virkelig gerne have mig. Så her var mit svar, og jeg sagde ja!
De næste 3 uger var lidt af en rutsjebanetur. Efter “honeymoon-perioden” var over, begyndte eleverne at indse, at jeg også havde forventninger til dem – at de ville få karakterer af mig osv. Den måde en kor time er bygget op gør det meget sværere at holde fokus og ikke bare snakke med sidemanden. Så vi havde en læringsproces, hvor vi lærte hinanden at kende og fandt ud af, hvordan undervisningen skulle være med mig som dirigent. Vi arbejdede hårdt både med adfærd og med at lave musik. Samtidig med at jeg overtog Middle School-korene, blev jeg også bedt om at tage High School-guitarholdet, som kordirigenten også havde. Først var jeg lidt tøvende – jeg er ikke rigtig guitarist – men det viste sig at være rigtig godt. Det var sjovt at arbejde med high school-elever igen (14–18 år). Jeg fik frisket mine guitarfærdigheder op og undervist i grundlæggende guitar og musikteori. Jeg nød det virkelig!
Da de tre uger næsten var gået, kom den næste besked. Kordirigenten ville være væk i yderligere halvanden måned – ville jeg fortsætte? Denne gang var svaret hurtigt: JA – men jeg ville gerne planlægge en koncert (de havde misset deres koncert i december). Vi havde alle brug for motivationen ved at have noget at øve frem imod.
De næste uger var fyldt med at lære nye sange og blive fortrolig med de sange, de allerede havde lært. Der var 230+ elevnavne at lære, nye kolleger osv. Jeg blev også bedt om at tage efter-skole-koret, Spartan Singers, med elever fra 6., 7. og 8. klasse, som havde været til optagelsesprøve. Alt i alt gik det godt. Jeg følte stor støtte fra Middle School-personalet og fik en ny bestie! – bandlederen på skolen. Vi spiste frokost sammen de fleste dage og talte om undervisning, forældreskab og livet.
Op til koncerten arbejdede jeg ekstra hårdt og brugte også mere tid efter skoletid på forberedelse, og jeg kunne mærke, at jeg heller ikke sov lige så godt osv. Men det er jeg også vant til før større optrædener, og jeg prøvede at minde mig selv om, at det også ville gå over.
I starten af marts var vi klar til at holde koncert. Der var 4 koncerter i træk på samme aften, og hver eneste var en succes, forældrene var rigtig glad i hvert fald! Eleverne arbejdede hårdt og var i stand til at yde deres bedste og holde koncentrationen den dag. Vi var alle så glade for at kunne gennemføre en koncert og vise alt det hårde arbejde, vi havde lagt i det sammen.
Da jeg havde min sidste uge lige før forårsferien, var jeg ret følelsesladet. Jeg havde brugt næsten 3 måneder på at undervise disse elever, og jeg var virkelig blevet knyttet til dem. Jeg var også ked af at sige farvel til mine kolleger på Middle School, som havde været med mig gennem det hele – fra små samtaler til støtte i klasseværelset.
Det var svært at sige farvel til guitarholdet, de elever jeg havde startet op med ved semesterets begyndelse – for dem var jeg den eneste lærer, de nogensinde havde haft! Det var svært at sige farvel til det smukke flygel, som jeg fik lov til at spille på hver dag! Men svære farvel betyder kun én ting – at man har haft noget helt særligt!
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