I am pretty sure that my life is a musical. I do not say this because all of my life’s problems get solved and wrapped up in a happy bow every two to three hours. It is not because my life is full of high drama and delightful sidekicks (though I could definitely have fun writing about that). I believe my life is a musical because I have songs going through my head or coming out of my mouth at all times of the day. Now I am no Stephen Sondheim or Lin-Manuel Miranda, so only a few of these songs are impromptu, awkward originals. Most are simply borrowed.
Given this showtune-ified life, it came as no surprise that today–the first day of work in the new school year during a pandemic–the song that came to me in the first 30 seconds of waking up was Frozen 2’s “Into the Unknown.” Who doesn’t love to belt out a showtune with Idina Menzel at 6:30 in the morning? Don’t worry; this was in my head. I try to spare my husband the loud singing until at least 7:30.
I am not very surprised by this song’s early entrance in today’s playlist. It has been making its way into many personal musical scores since I first heard it. Originally it was just because it’s an awesome, powerful song to sing. Once the pandemic hit, it was because the song just fit the circumstances. There are so many unknowns when teaching and living during a pandemic, even after five months of this. Jumping into this new school year, I am wondering how to connect with brand new students over the internet. The remote teaching that I did last spring seems like a piece of cake now. At least I already had strong relationships with those students. How will I build those relationships and build classroom community solely online? I also do not know how I will juggle teaching and helping my own children–as remote teaching and remote learning will certainly have increased expectations and rigor now that the districts have had a full summer to make necessary changes. As of the writing of this post, I don’t even know what classes I am teaching. Yes, Idina/Elsa, I hear you! I feel you! I am heading “into the unknown!”
Given all of that uncertainty, however, I must find out what I do know. I definitely have assets that will help me jump into this new school year. Just as I do for my students, I must find and build on my strengths and my prior knowledge. This helps my breathing to slow, my song to come to a diminuendo.
Here is what I do know. Here is my foundation for this unique school year:
- I love teaching.
- I know how to teach.
- I love kids.
- I know how important it is to build relationships with my students.
- I know how to ask for help.
- I know how to laugh at my mistakes.
- I know how to learn from my mistakes.
- Students love it when I admit my mistakes.
- I know that teaching from home is the safest for my family.
- I know this is temporary, but my approach to it will have a lasting impact.
- I know I can do this.
This probably isn’t the last day that I will be singing along to “Into the Unknown,” but I also look forward to singing new songs in my future. Any guesses as to what they will be? What songs are a part of your musical soundtrack this year? I will try to optimistically look forward to the next act of my musical with confidence in what I already know.
Song credit:
Lopez-Anderson, Kristen, and Bobby Lopez. “Into the Unknown.” Frozen 2, 2019.
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