Playing Catchup

OK, sorry...I know it's been a couple of weeks and I haven't finished writing about my training. I had to finish up, though, then travel back here, then attempt to settle back in, then leave again for a house-sitting gig. I kept thinking "I'll get to it"...so here it is.

Second day of "student teaching" was really great. My second toddler class went much better than my first, and my Friday four-year-olds were just AWESOME!! They were so into it; a few of them were singing right with me on a few of the songs, even though the kids had never heard those songs before. "Ticka Tacka" was a big hit again, and I couldn't be prouder. Then again, I plucked it out of a sea of songs to make it my favorite, all those years ago, so it must be catchy. (When a song has been living in your head for two decades, though you love it dearly, you forget it's a "catchy tune." Or so it happens with me.)

I even remembered to sing the right words this time! Some of these songs I know so well, I sing them on autopilot...which is easy on the nerves, but tough if a word has to be changed to make it work as a classroom song. Or a motion...good gracious.

So, Marie wanted me to make a circle motion with my hand during the verse of "Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley." The words are "He stamps his feet and claps his hands and turns around to view the land." The way I learned the song, you act it out. Well. Try making a little circle on the top of the drum when you're used to stamping and clapping. It turned into beating the drum instead, and I just couldn't stop it!!

Saturday we had our celebration...almost all the teachers in the company showed up, and we had songswaps and mini-workshops and learned lots of new stuff. We had FOUR songswaps...that's a lot of songs. My head was spinning by the end. I was awfully proud of myself, though. A lot of the songs people shared were mutations of old songs, so I would sing along. People seemed to think it was some kind of musical magic trick.

I remember one time, the woman sitting two seats away from me started to sing a version of an old Scottish tune, "Three Craw." I recognized the tune (Bram used to sing it, in cryptic Scottish dialect no less) and picked up on the lyric changes, singing along after only a few words. The woman sitting next to me started to stare and asked me, "How do you know this???" I smiled. In the lunch line, we started to talk about a song I'd shared, "Cheerio," and all the different versions. Someone turned to Marie and said "She knows so many songs!"

I explained to a few of them that it's all thanks to Sharon, Lois and Bram...they planted so many songs in my head, I'm starting out with a huge advantage. I even got to jump in later on a singing game, "Draw Me a Bucket of Water," and knew the steps from watching it on Skinnamarink TV.

It's fun to impress people. Especially when what they think is so impressive is so darn much fun.