Proud of Mrs Coates

It's a funny thing, watching your spouse at work. I've often wanted to sit, like a fly on the wall, in her classroom. I want to listen to her teach, seeing the things Corinne is passionate about and the things she has dedicated so much effort towards.
Well, this week I got a small glimpse to the very impressive adaptability of Mrs Coates. The kids show that she has put together at Old Rochester Regional Junior High was terrific and Mrs Coates was a dynamo, working the lights, the sound, the mics and the music, not to mention coordinating all the wee'uns to the right place at the right time. Her efforts were well recognised even by the kiddiwinkies who all wanted to hug her and tell her how much they enjoyed it.
To be quite frank, what I saw was nothing short of miraculous. Coordinating kids is hard enough, inspiring them to turn up each day, learn their lines, contribute to many different aspects of a show and then pull off a pretty dandy performance is heroic.

I wish I had some photos to post up here.....next time.

Into the Woods Jr.

The big day is almost here. We are officially two weeks away from the opening of ORRJHS Drama Club's production of "Into the Woods Jr.". It has been a great experience directing my first production and getting to know this really amazing group of students. Rather than feeling like I was just stepping into my first year of teaching, I feel like this added experience has made my dive right in. I know more students, more ins and outs of the school, more staff and I feel like I have joined into a really positive and successful tradition within the school community. These whirlwind 8 weeks has really taught me alot about myself and pushed me to really discover what I am capable of, what kind of experiences I can have and what kind of mark I can make at ORRJHS. I was nervous in the beginning about how I was going to cope with teaching this course, being the full-time teacher of record for the first and directing and organizing so many of the logistics of the show. Fully seeing this success come to fruition is yet to come, but I am trying to stay focused on the tasks still at hand and think positively. I am sure that I will have a detail report on the final outcome in a few weeks time... So, to all involved - Let's break a leg!