Meanwhile, back at the ranch

I think I'm back.

It was my intention to blog over the summer, and write about things like the school interview process and other forms of institutional insanity. But then I housesat the happiest cucumber plant in the whole city along with the happiest peach tree, a herd of tomatoes, and well, you get the picture. I ended up canning 80+ pints of pickles and peaches and tomatoes and other assorted vegetables. Keeping up with produce left ate up a considerable chunk of time.

The other enormous chunk of time got used redesigning the curriculum I use. My employer - the WalMart of music education - provides a curriculum for their instructors. I've mentioned it before: It sucks. Sucks like a Dyson vacuum. Supposedly it is Kodaly-based. Yeah, right. Kodaly recommended preparing a concept weeks before presenting it to a class, not 10 minutes. Lesson 3 in second grade introduces singing rounds, not with something easy and familiar like "Frere Jacques" or "Row Row Row Your Boat," but with a 16 measure piece in triple meter. ("Frere Jacques" and "Row Row Row Your Boat" are both half as long and in the much more accessible duple meter.) I tried teaching it my first year, the only result was 28 frustrated and confused second graders.

I got tired of teaching garbage, and tried a few of my own experimental lessons at the end of last year. They went waaaaay better than the pre-printed refuse. The kids loved them, and so did I. That gave me the impetus to go whole hog and wrote all my own lessons, preschool through fifth. Granted I've designed curricula for other schools I've worked at, so it wasn't like I had to create anything from scratch.  Third grade music is basically the same no matter where you are.  But writing 216 lessons takes a fair amount of time.

That's where I've been.  With a little luck, the writing groove and timely posts are back too.