Every Single One of Us...

One week. We have been in school for one week and let me tell you that I am exhausted. But blessed, seriously blessed.

This school year I took on a little project for the bulletin board outside of my room. I saw this wonderful idea on Pinterest, and I stole it. Let's be real educators, we see something brilliant and we steal it! Here is the finished project!!

I just love this phrase. "Every one of us a single note but together we create a masterpiece." Each of those note heads placed on that staff are students, a few teachers, and one awesome Assistant Principal's thumb prints. Their individual mark on this world. Each one of those thumb prints represents one living and breathing human life. Each one of those "single notes" has hopes, dreams, plans, and ideals. But also each one of those "single notes" has fears, doubts, hurts, and pains many of which are sometimes just to hard to bear. I stand outside of my room everyday and I look at this bulletin board and sometimes it takes everything I have not to tear up. When it comes to teaching kids music, I tend to get a little emotional, sorry not sorry. The beauty of this board is that what makes it cool is all the notes together. Each day I take single individual "notes" and I help them to learn how to work together to create something wonderful to create a masterpiece. It is the most beautiful sound in the world to me when I hear middle school hormone filled kids work together and create amazing choral music. There is nothing better.

Today as I was standing outside of room one phrase stuck out to me and took on a whole new meaning, "Every Single One of Us." Educators, it takes every single one of us. It takes us working as a team, as a community, as a profession to reach children. To take them new places they have never been, to teach them to explore the world they live in, to show them right from wrong, to teach how to being involved citizens of the world. We can't choose the lives our students live. We can't choose their parents, their circumstances, their homes, their heartbreaks, and their brokenness. But we can do, is the biggest action of all, we can choose to love them. All of them. Their hurts, their broken pieces, their hang ups, and all. Is it easy? Haha, no! I have some students, in fact some class hours that are harder to love than others.It involves a lot of grace on my part. I know that their actions are rooted in something else, but it isn't me. Their hurts, their broken pieces, their hang ups, and all, they bring that into my classroom and they are just craving more. More love, more support, more attention and more joy. In order for me to meet their needs I have to do my best and be my best. I have to see the masterpiece in them, even when they are creating straight jackets out of their hoodies and attaching themselves to their chairs. For many of my students I just might be the only person who sees the masterpiece that they can become.

Educators we are creating masterpieces every day. Are some days harder, yes, but they are always worth it. So my challenge to myself is to be reminded everyday that it takes every single one of us, to create masterpieces. I am not in this alone. We are all working together to change the world. It is a daunting task, but we are professional educators armed with love and compassion, we create and make the most beautiful masterpieces out there! So my friends, this school year, let's choose joy and let's choose to make fabulous masterpieces.

Freshman Flashback

Tomorrow is OBU's move in day. It is so hard to believe that just eight years ago I was moving into to good old WMU and by old I mean super old, and starting my journey at OBU. Let's take a moment and just all have a collective scream that it happened eight years ago and not yesterday. Those four years were the craziest, busiest, and one of the greatest times in my life. As much as I loved my time at OBU I wouldn't trade in this journey and this chapter in my life for anything. But there are just a few things that I wished I knew back then.

Dear Freshman Meghan,

Welcome to college! It will be great and scary and awesome and fun and stressful all at the same time. Just a few little things you should know:

1. Being a music major. Abbandon any of the ideas that you have built up in your head about being a music major. It won't be like hours of high school choir. Let's just say you will spend hours in the libary, hours in the practice room, hours looking over symphonies and determining chords and form, writing fake lesson plans for your methods class. You will streached and you will be become better. You are blessed to be studying with some of the best professors in the world. Don't take that for granted. Don't forget their lessons. Spend extra time with Dr. Todd and drink lots of coffee with her.

2. Coffee You will no longer hate it. I promise. I really really really really really really really promise.

3. Friendships You are about to meet some of the greatest people in the world. Some of them will only be in your life for a season. They will bless your life in that time and even eight years later they will be there for you when you need but they won't be apart of your everyday life. However there are some friends that will stay with you way past graduation. You will all laugh together, cry together, travel together, teach kids together, and have fun group text conversions. These ladies will be there for you no matter what, no matter the distance, and no matter the time since you last saw each other.

4. The ARA. You can eat cereal and ice cream with every meal. It is awsome. The rest of the ARA...not so much.(Okay you still eat cereal and ice cream for dinner, but it is okay you are an adult so you can do that).

5. Maybe Teaching High School Choir Isn't What You Want You will be surprised by what age group God lays on your heart to teach. Shocked. And you will love it. Totes love it.

6. The Walk. Treasure those precious moments. Remember every step.

7. Nickname. You will start answering to the nickname MegLo. It may seem silly. But it will become a part of you. Because the person that gave you that nickname said it was because it made your name more fun and reflect that joy that you have for life.

8. Ring By Spirng I know that you are thinking "hey it's OBU, I'm going to meet the love of my life, get engaged, and get married three weeks after your graduation." Hate to spoil it for you, but it won't happen. And it is okay. In fact eight years later it still hasn't happened. And it is still okay. You know why it is okay, you can take up the entire bed, watch whatever you want to watch on Netflix, and you don't have to share your cereal (that is a big one for you). You will struggle with it. You will have days when it seems like that desire of your heart won't happen. But this journey, this gift of being single is one of the best gifts ever. Embrace your place, embrace this time. You won't regret it.

For the Love,
The 26 year old you about to start your fifth year of teaching.
P.S. You are still awkward. You still trip over stuff and run into glass doors.

Like I said before, I wouldn't trade in this season of my life for the world, but I do have moments when I wish I could go back to those days of Bison Hill and maybe do things a little differently. Spend more time with friends, have lots of fun, and okay maybe practice a little bit more.

God Bless OBU.

Because putting black eyeliner on your cheecks and jumping off benches in front of the steps of your dorm, is totes a Freshman thing. 

Dear Middle Schooler,

It is so hard to believe that school is just around the corner! I love summer and I love being able to relax and have some time to read books, go to the pool, go to the beach, and binge watch One Tree Hill on Netflix. But as much as a I love those days, I love teaching middle school kids how to sing even more!

So here are some thoughts that I just feel led to share, these are all things that I wish middle school kids knew and really understood before school starts. Oh and some of these things are pretty good for adults to remember too!

1. Lockers. This one is more new sixth grade friends that will be gracing our hallways. Having a locker is a huge rite of passage for a student and it can be exciting and scary at the same time. Just remember that it is more than okay that you can't open your locker the first time. In fact it is more than okay that you can't open your locker on the second, third, fourth, fifth and so on and so on try. Don't give up! You will get the hang of it! Just remember that on the first day of school there will be lots of teachers and your principal and assistant principals that will be more than happy to help you open your locker, that is what we are here for, to help you! However, the more you practice and the more you try it on your own, you will get it! This goes out to all middle school students. Don't let your locker turn into the bottomless pit. Lockers can get super messy real fast! Just remember to clean it out once and awhile. Oh...don't leave food in your locker. Gross.

2. Join Clubs. Be apart of different organizations and meet new people. Do you like to sing, join choir (cough cough hint hint), do you like to play an instrument, join band or orchestra, do you like to draw, think about Art Club, do you like writing, think about joining a poetry club, creative writing or newspaper club, do you like to lead and serve other peers, think about joining student council, do you love sports and playing them, try out for a sports team. There are tons of places for you to find a place to thrive at what you love to do. Plus when you are a part of clubs and organizations you will find other students that like and enjoy the same things you do and you can start building friendships with them. If there are dances and game nights go to them and have fun! If you have friends in choir, band, orchrestra, or they play on a sports team go to their concerts and games and support them. Have school spirit!

3. Listen to your teachers and do your homework. Put your phone away, social media and everything else will be there at the end of the day. No further explanation needed.

4. Problems with your friends. They will happen and how you handle them will show your true character. When you actually have a problem with friend, don't text them, don't post about them on social media, and don't start talking about them to other friends. Actually talk to them and if you feel that you can't talk to that person without getting upset, then go and see your teachers and counselors and let them help you. If you feel that you are hanging out with people that are wrong for you, that do things that you know that are wrong, it is okay to walk away. If they don't do everything to still have you in their lives then they weren't truely your friends.

5. Have fun! Middle School can be scary but it can also be one place that you can have a lot of fun. You are in the transition years from being a kid to teenager. Have fun, don't take yourself to seriously, laugh, be open to new things, and seek out those that can help you when it is overwhelming.

To all of my teacher friends, I hope you have an amazeballs year this year! Do cool stuff and please tell me about I want to know!! I'm looking for feature bloggers and I would love for you to guest blog about what you are doing in your classroom.

To my students for the 2015-2016 school year, I'm so looking forward to this amazing school year. We are going to have a blast!  

For Rent-Part Two

A few weeks ago I blogged about my awful search for a new apartment. Holy smokes. If you did not get to read that post here it is below!

For Rent Part One

Yes I would still much rather poke myself in the eyeballs with flaming hot chopsticks than look for an apartment.The past fews days have been full of tears and questions. However through these tears and questions, I found trust and favor. I learned one very tough and very hard lesson. As much as I disliked going through the process of finding a new apartment, the very important truths that I learned is what I will take away from this search and hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.

I Had An Attitude Problem. 

Let me start off by saying that at one point in time I loved living in my current apartment, but as time moved forward and circumstances changed my attitude changed. Sensing that I needed a change anyway I begin that process of searching for a new apartment, but things got hard. I hit some brick walls. A lot of brick walls actually. Budget constrictions, wait lists a mile long, and nothing seemed to be coming together. I became angry and hateful. I was frustrated with myself and my inability to find a suitable place that it started to bleed over into other aspects of my life. You see here is the thing, I lost sight on the fact that God was working. I had become ungrateful for the place that I had been blessed with, and I forgot about what lead me to my current home. Two years ago, I was days away from my lease ending with no where to go, I searched and prayed God blessed me with what I needed at that time. I was blessed again to stay here for another year after that. I forgot. I forgot that I am the daughter of the one true and living God, and that He will always provide. And just like that, a ton of bricks-lessons were taught and I was reminded of the goodness and grace of God.  

 Perspective Change

I heard the story of a woman and her child as they jumped from house to house trying to escape from horrible circumstances in their lives. Here I am complaining about my apartment and then I realized, I have a home, I have a roof over my head, and I have safety and protection. So I stopped looking and I started to be thankful. I started to trust that God was going to provide. Everything would happen in His timing. I asked for the prayers and council of good friends, who covered me in prayer and gave me helpful insight. Then the next crazy thing happened, knowing that be faith filled means taking risks. So I prayed it over and knew that God was going to provide for me, and I gave my move out notice to my complex without having another a place to go lined up. In my very calculated and well planned life, this was not an easy thing for me.

For the Love! 

You guys, God is good and He provides and fulfills His promises every single time. With the help of my parents my apartment hunt ended today and I found a new apartment to call home!! I'm so excited about this next chapter in my life as I get to move back into a community that is so dear to my heart, and I get to make new connections, build new friendships, and have more people in my life to love on. Because you know I'm all about loving people! I'm so very excited about loving my new neighbors! 

So I'm moving for the third time in four years and I'm moving on Saturday!!! So this week is going to be filled with thankfulness and packing. For the love, so much packing....

To Tulsa with Love

It is incredibly hard to believe that just four years ago I packed up everything that I owned and I moved to city where I only knew a few people. It was a huge risk. A huge leap of faith. Moving to Tulsa meant leaving behind everything that I have ever known. This has been and still is the greatest journey I have ever been on, and I fall more in love with this city and the people in it with each passing day. In these short four years, I have moved three times(and I'm about to do it again), been a member of two amazing churches, taught a bunch of kids how to sing, made some of the most amazing friends, and learned some of the most invaluable lessons.

Over the past four years, I have learned so much about myself. This might be shocking truth but I have always been an incredibly independent person. The about of pressure I put on myself to be successful can be a bit daunting and overwhelming. I always want to do everything with excellence, and it has been a driving force throughout my adult life. But many times, it can be crippling and sometimes way more than I can handle. One of the most important lessons that I have had to learn, is that it is okay to admit that I need help. Admitting that I need help isn't a form of weakness, but in many ways it is a source of strength. I'm a work in progress, and will always be.

But perhaps the greatness lesson, has been my relationship with Christ. I was the girl that went to private Baptist college, I thought I had the whole faith thing figured out. Boy was I wrong! Over the past four years I have experienced some of the deepest highs and lows in my faith. Throughout each time, I have walked away knowing that God has provided. My trust level, my belief, and learning how to do the irrational has greatly improved. God is a provider and He will always fulfill His promises. Trusting in God's timing has been the hardest. Going back to that whole independent thing, but really the "I think I know everything part of my personality": my plan is always the best. Or at least so I thought, but this plan God has for me, oh man it is just so good! Learning and watching it unfold has been both a joy and so scary at the same time.

My relationships are different too four years later. I love my family and moving away was really hard. To say that has been easy is an understatement. But they will still drop everything and show up when I need them. And we eat cheesecake when they come.

The greatest joy has been my friendships. Some of the most precious and dearest people have become a part of my life over the past four years. They have loved me, challenged me, shared their hearts with me, created environments where I have been comfortable to share my heart with them, encouraged growth in my teaching, and growth in my faith. Many of these friendships have taken me by surprised and they have given me such joy. They have allowed me to me and celebrated the funny ha ha hot mess that I can be, and they are just awesome. They are my people, my army of prayer warriors, and my weridos. I can't even begin to list you all by name because I am just so worried that I would forget someone, but you are greatest people on the planet. Thank you for listening to me, praying with me and for me, laughing with me, crying with me, and all of the in between.

So here is to many years with you Tulsa. Here is to new adventures in teaching, new adventures with new friends and old, new adventures to better myself and lifestyle outside of my classroom, new adventures in serving Christ and His church, and of course Josh's Snow Cones and Not Your Grandma's Cupcakes.

Kodaly Level One

Twelve days ago I started on one of the most challenging things of my professional career. I started my Kodaly Levels training. Kodaly is an approach to teaching music. There are three different levels and over the past few days I started working my first level. One of the best decisions I have ever made.

Over the past few days I have devoted hours to learning more about becoming a better musician and an better teacher. I practiced lots of solfege (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti think Sound of Music for my non-music friends), learned about Kindergarten and First Grade(mad props and respect to elementary music teachers), and pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I cried a lot. I made a lot of great friends. I became better.

I'm so excited to get ready to plan out and take what I learned and apply it to middle school choir! These past two weeks have given me a renewed focus on what I am teaching and how I am teaching it. There are just so many things swimming around in my brain! Being able to apply everything I have learned will have to go in phases. The first phases is for me to continue my own practicing of my own musicianship. The next step is starting with my sixth grade classes. Before school starts it is my goal to develop a plan for sixth grade, the year after that seventh grade, and finally then eighth grade. So my upcoming sixth graders are my guinea pigs but I know starting and building my Kodaly inspired curriculum is going to make them better musicians and people. This will be a long process but I'm excited to be going on this journey.

During this course I learned more about the man behind this approach Hungarian composer and educator Zoltan Kodaly. Kodaly was so deeply considered about the music education of his fellow Hungarian people. Each day in our methodology class our instructor Bev shared a quote from Kodaly, this one she shared today has just spoken to me and brought on one crazy ugly cry.

"It is our firm conviction that mankind will live happier when it has learned to live with music more worthily. Whoever works to promise this end, in one way or another has not lived in vain."

Oh music teacher friends, we are making the biggest difference. I know that there are rough days. I get it, I have them too. But how amazing it is this beautiful thing that we do? We get to teach music AND more importantly we get to teach kids. In a world that is so messy and so painful we get to share music with the world. So don't stop. Keep going. Keep chasing. Keep doing what you do. We got this!

A huge thank you goes out to my fabulous instructors Sandy and Bev, thank you for pouring your knowledge and expertise into us. I'm so glad to be going on this journey with you. Thank you for making me a better musician and teacher. Another huge thank you goes out to Dr. Gerber, thanks man. I'll try not to suck. Thank you to all of my friends that have encouraged and prayed for me and over me for the past two weeks, I really felt your prayers! Finally I'm so thankful that God has given me this gift of music and of teaching, and that He allows me to serve Him by teaching middle school kids. So excited for this next chapter in my teaching journey. For the Love, it is going to be best one yet.

What Are You So Afraid Of?

Fear

I can't even sugar coat this one. Sorry. Everyone has something or even someone that they are afraid of, including children. As a little girl I was scared of thunderstorms, which is a problem if you grew up in Arkansas like myself. I hated storms, when it would storm I would throw the covers over my head and squeeze my Teddy Bear tightly till it passed over. As an adult my fear of thunderstorms has gone away but I still hold on to a few childhood fears like spiders those aren't going away time soon. But there is one fear that has developed as an adult. It has held me back and has had a pretty big grip on my life. I have a fear of failure. Fear that I will work hard towards a goal and falling flat on my face at the end. Fear that I will let others down when I'm not successful. Fear that I will fail my students. It has such a tight hold on my life. Because of this fear I put an insane about of pressure on myself in order to be successful. I found that I was letting my fear control my life. Then I stumbled across this Bible Verse, "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8 

In this verse Moses is talking to Joshua. Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, and was taking them to the Promise Land. But through a series of other events, Moses was no longer going to lead God's chosen people into the Promise Land, instead Joshua was going to be leading Israel. I don't know about you but I feel like Moses would be a tough act to follow. The guy did part the Red Sea. Moses spoke these words to Joshua. That phrase, the Lord who goes before you, friends how amazing is that?!? God is before us, next to us, and behind us, we are covered. I need to replace my fear with trust. Trust that God goes before me. Rachael Myers, a writer and blogger with She Reads Truth, says it like this, "If I do trust God, then I have nothing to fear and I have every reason for joy." I have every reason for joy. 

So this brings me to what I'm currently doing to face my fear of failure...Kodaly Music Training. I will blog about the specifics of Kodaly at a later time, but I can tell you this, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It is stretching me and growing me. This is taking me out of my comfort zones and causing me to face this fear of failure head on. I'm so excited about how this training will effect my teaching. I'm already learning so much. Is it hard? Yes. Do I want to put my head through a wall? Yes. But I'm trusting in God. Leaving fear behind and knowing I have every reason for joy.

By the way ladies if you need great Bible Reading Plans, She Reads Truth is amazing!