I found out today that two of my three desires for classes came true. I have only one grade (9th) and it's the grade I wanted. However, I have 8 classes which is more than I was expecting. Each class meets three times a week, so I have 24 hours of classtime every week. On the upside, I have a relatively easy schedule compared with some of the other teachers. Also, I'm teaching Bio to the ENTIRE 9th grade (well, the daytime classes). There are approximately 400 of them (50 in each class, or turma). MY high school had 350 students total!
I was on my way to do errands when I stopped into one of the Canadian's workplaces to drop off the shopping list I alluded to yesterday. I had heard singing there earlier in the week, and while inside, heard singing again. I inquired about the singing group, to which I got a very enthusiastic "Do you sing?". Before I knew it, I was in the bass section, alongside the president of the group who had the biggest smile on his face, nearly matching his girth and cavernously deep voice.
I was intimidated at first, because they were using the same notation as in church and they had more practiced voices, but I soon came to realize that this choral group was like any singing group in the States. There were many levels of voices, from confident to silent - and an equal number of personalities. The women who smiled at me, the wise-ass in the bass section, the young guy in the tenors, the altos who just can't seem to hit that melody...it was all very familiar.
However, the way they learn songs is just plain hard for me. I'm a visual learner - I need to see words on paper, then I internalize them. Well, there is only one copy of all the music they learn, and the director has it. It's handwritten in four parts, do-re-mi.
It's learned part-by-part and you memorize the words along with the tune. Typical SATB harmonies are used, and the song we learned today had a very straightforward bass line, which made it easier for me. They meet every day at 2 PM, for about an hour. It sounds like a great routine to get into, and should help me take care of my voice.
I'm reminded of a picture of Dashon and his singing group - and how out of place he seemed to look. But being on the opposite side, it's only skin color, and that's really starting to make sense.
So, my shopping list.
It had a circle in the middle with "Blake and Joao's Wish List" contained inside. Dotted lines branched off to lines curving into arrows throughout the sheet, indexing the different items. Though the whole space was used, it was not cluttered or clustered. When presented, all the items were found after the initial expectation/realization shock. It meets all the criteria of a shopping list, but looks completely different.
I'm still in the mail catch-up period with my new address, but that should change soon. I'll get mail sent to the old address pretty soon and it's been almost 4 weeks since I first gave my new address out. All this means that the stream of mail will start, and my letter-writing efforts will begin to pay off!
Peace
John
