Monday

I took my second of three three-day weekends this past weekend, and now I am facing the need to actually go to work for the next four days. After that, I will have another three-day weekend and then work for two days, and then I get a five-day weekend. November is back to how I prefer it - limited work time.

My first foray into professional development came to via Kanopy - it was a 90's documentary on Music and Movement. It was geared towards preschool teachers, but it was a good reminder of the research behind pairing music and movement for learning outcomes.

All of the non-development things that I tried this weekend were thwarted by outside influences. The eye doctor could not verify if my appointment was covered. I was offered the opportunity to pay the entire cost (before tests) and to try to get reimbursement. I opted not to do so. This new insurance company really stinks compared to what we had for the past two years. It is also more expensive (of course). The grocery order was delayed. The fast food place was not fast at all. It became a comedy of errors to see what was going to happen next. This all happened within two hours on Saturday. 

I stayed in my house yesterday.

It is raining right now and is supposed to continue to rain until after I am home this afternoon. Some of my students do not like thunderstorms, so I am hoping that those things will not happen during their time in music therapy. It is really easy to hear the rain and thunder in my classroom because there isn't much insulation between my ceiling and the roof. 

I have absolutely no plans for what we are going to do today.

We did games last week, so I want to do something more musical today, but I am not sure what we will do. This month is rock band month, so I could take out the electric guitar, bass, and drum set, but that is lots of work. My body is not always able to move the instruments that I need for this type of musical exploration. My first group of students will not move things for me. They are not interested in moving much at all. My next two groups are also not helpful in that manner, so I would have to wait until the afternoon before I could get the physical assistance that I need to move things out of the closet. This complicates the timeline of knowledge and/or TME experience. 

I also have a random (sorta) two days of sessions next week. I don't like these types of weeks because it means that some kids get more music therapy than others, but that's what the job is and what the job does, so there you go. I could wait for the rock band until Wednesday's group - they tend to be more helpful and enthusiastic with these types of things, and then the instruments would stay out until next week. That would be a good way to get everyone into the rock band learning experience with limited wear and tear on my body.

We will see what actually happens at work today. See you tomorrow?