It's the most wonderful time...

If you're anything like me, you feel a slight (overwhelming?) sense of dread this time of year. You haven't started your Christmas shopping yet. You don't celebrate Christmas and you hate hearing the music in every single place you walk into (I celebrate Christmas and I still can't stand the music). You're a gigging musician and you're stretched waaaaaaaaay too thin next month. Or perhaps you have lectures and tests to prepare and exam time is looming.

Whatever the reason, there has to be at least ONE thing that you can look forward to during this crazy season! Maybe it's the work party where everyone gets to let their hair down. Or a big family dinner where you can stuff yourself with food right before you join the gym for New Year's...

I look forward to the time off from school, but not because I'm away from the students! It gives me time to review the previous semester and figure out how to make the next semester better. During the break between this Fall and Spring I'm going to brainstorm new ideas for my Music Appreciation class. I'm always looking for ways to get more interaction. This semester I tried some new things and my students absolutely loved it, so I'm also going to work more of that into my Spring plans.

So what about you? What are you looking forward to this holiday season?

Fall 2010 - Favorite Moment

This is my favorite moment from the semester and quite possibly from my entire career at Pellissippi:

ME: What was I going to say next?
STUDENT: [Answers correctly] Do we get extra credit for being inside your head?
ME: No, you get counseling!