BAND CLASS

GO BAND!

"Hello Class.  My name is Mrs. Christenson and I am your band instructor for the day.  Please warm up your instruments and then I want to hear your ensembles and solos."

No, this is not some cruel joke.  You got it right.  Yes, my first substitute experience was for jr. high and high school BAND CLASS.  When I got the phone call from the school asking if I'd be willing to sub, I was actually really excited...until I heard the word BAND.  And then, I almost quit breathing.  But then I thought about it a second more and was positive the teacher would just give the students a study hall (I mean, of course she would), and so I agreed... to 2 DAYS OF IT.

I showed up to class a little before the teacher had to leave so I actually got to talk to her for a few minutes.  She was leaving on short notice and didn't have time to put together lesson plans (of course she didn't), but the only thing she made clear was that THIS WAS NOT A STUDY HALL.

The students have a concert coming up this weekend and this was really bad timing for her to be out of class.  That was very clear from the beginning.  I think she was a little frantic because she actually asked me if I knew how to read music and if I felt comfortable leading them.  I just knew by her tone that if I told her "no", she would probably have a melt down.  AND, Dylan has really drilled me about what it means to be a good sub.  So... I told her I could do all of it... read music, direct, help them sound better, etc.

YIKES.

But, I'm proud to report that I think I did a good job.  I'm not sure how much the kids loved me, but I relied enough on my 6th grade band days to get me through it.  And for those of you who know me, this really was right up my ally.  I was standing up in front of those classes clapping my hands and yelling over the kids while they were playing... like I was refilming Mr. Holland's Opus or something. 

It was one heck of an experience.  I was walking across campus the second day and got stopped by another teacher (that I'm pretty sure is related to Einstein, based on his looks) who asked if I'd be willing to possibly sub his class in a few weeks.  He then told me, almost apologetically, that he taught math. 

I looked at him right in the eyes and confidently said,

"Not a problem.  You give me a call."

If I can teach band, I can do anything.