I *heart* my family

I want to tell you all about our Valentines Day.  But- I don't really *heart* Valentine's Day...if you know what I mean.  Sure, I appreciate getting a card and some candy- or the case of this year- some chocolate covered fortune cookies!  But, I've started to realize that part of the whole purpose of Valentines Day (besides being a huge commercial conspiracy, but I swear I'm not going to post about that....)....AHEM, part of the whole purpose of V-Day is to teach kids that it is important to love and appreciate each other.  We take one day of the year to teach this lesson-certainly not enough- but it gives kids something to get excited about, and makes them feel special.  

And who wouldn't love this little girl??

Or, this handsome dishwasher?

This is the box Maddox made at nursery school for their V-day celebration.  It came home filled with valentines from the other kids, and lots of candy!

She made us a card:

Marshall left us a note on the fridge. 

This is what we gave Mdx this year:  a sticker book, Curious George book, first word flashcards, animal crackers, and a neon ball.  She got plenty of candy from school!

Posing nicely...so she can have candy.

Right before bed- yep, she wants MORE candy!

I'm glad to tell you that Mdx is now a good tooth-brusher every night before she goes to bed!  At first she wasn't interested, but now she actively brushes her own teeth, rinses off the brush, and says "night-night" to the toothbrush before we walk down the hall to her room.  

I *heart* my students

Closer to the beginning of February I took a group of 12 of my students to the All-City Orchestra auditions.  Last year our school only sent one student due to the fact that there was a substitute, and she didn't really help them prepare or push the kids to audition.  This year I made ALL of the students learn the audition song and perform it for each other in class.  They also had to memorize their scales for a grade, and we practiced sight-reading for weeks!  I set up transportation for the kids who needed it, bribed them with donuts.......and 9 (NINE!!) of my students got into the All-City Orchestra!  We are by far the smallest program in our city, so to get 9 kids in really means a lot to me.  I know it will be a great experience for them, I remember it well from my own adolescence.  It means even more now to be on the other side.

The Director's and Volunteer's meeting before auditions started.

Our judging table, which was behind a screen.  The clock was for us to time the 30 seconds that the students were allowed to study the sight-reading.  Notice my 2 cups of coffee (and cellphone on silent)

The standard Virginia judging form- I was in the HS Violin room.  

Back at school, here are some of my lovely 7th graders.  Don't worry, I asked their permission to show them off (no names of course).  This class loves to figure out songs by ear, their favorite is the theme to "The Backyardigans", which they want to play in our concert.

The back of my 6th grade class- and the front of my classroom.  They wanted to get their picture taken while they were playing.  This class has just learned that sometimes there are not 4 beats in every measure, and 3/4 time is much cooler.  Just wait until they hear 6/8!

Some of my High Schoolers- who are not shy at all!  They are begging me to take them to Busch Gardens....however I'm not convinced that would be any fun at all- at least for me.

I didn't need the All-City competition to tell me my students are awesome!  They show me every day in class.  :)