Just realised that I will be in Merida for the '5 de Mayo' celebrations... hurray! I might be a lone observer however, since it looks like I will be the only one sticking around after the Telchac gathering. Still, Merida is a very festive city and I'm sure that I'll get busy enjoying the downtown scene. A play, a concert, the museums, and one the usual outdoor presentations of the Ballet Folklorico de Merida - a visit to the market, a pizza from my favorite casual joint and hopefully, catch the Tuesday night serenata. If I can do all that in 3 days, and see a couple of friends, and get to meet a few new business contacts, I will be satisfied. The truth is... I would stay there for a few months and I'd be fine and dandy. But no can do. Maybe in a few years...
Teaching is fantastic, I feel inspired and energised. It's a screaming reminder that I get whenever I am in the classroom : I love teaching music above all, and everything else that comes with running a business suddenly makes much more sense. There is my business self in the office, and the payoff is that I get to be my music teacher self in the classroom.
While reviewing my lesson plans, I remembered that I needed a new rhythmic piece for grades 4, 5 and 6. I could'nt find one in all my books... so I wrote one. After all, I know exactly what I need - and it came to me spontaneously, as for all the other little songs I have written so far. I ran with it and decided to use it for the very first set of classes (it's to introduce notation), and it worked very well. Best of all, the kids loved it!! I will document the whole thing (partition and teaching process), and add it to my teacher training workshop for Monday. A 3 hour workshop for grade 4, 5 and 6 teachers - which I am finalising this week. I still have a few partitions to write for the manual, but overall it's all good to go. Teaching adults is a lot of fun, and I love to give them tricks to make their job a bit easier. When it comes to teaching music, many of them are not comfortable. So I bring it back to the basics with fun activities, and most of the time it dissipates their anguish and gives them confidence. If their students can do it, they are very likely to be able as well!
And with that, my office self is busy booking the Petit Atelier team for the period from January to March. It's looking excellent! I have a new teacher for the East end, and a first gig for him too. He is a fairly well known artist on the French Toronto scene, and he teaches French and Music in the daytime. I am thrilled!!! I will be training him in December, and he will be starting in January. I am hoping that he will have a couple of days available for me in his weekly schedule, but in the meantime I'm happy to start slowly - and adding clients overtime as he gets more comfortable.
Okay - time to go! Teaching 5 Kindergarten classes today, and it's all about beat and rhythm. Watch out for those rhythm sticks!!!
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