Matthew Davis - Choir Teacher at Goddard Middle, Sandburg Middle, and Glendora High Schools

My favorite thing about returning to in-person instruction this year was seeing the excitement on the students' faces when they finally got a chance to sing with their friends again. I knew going into the year that I had to make sure the students were interacting with each other and singing as much as possible. The most difficult part of this year was managing 3 separate choir programs at 3 separate schools. As a first year teacher, I had no idea how I was going to manage all of these programs. There were a lot of things working against me like coming back from distance learning, learning how to do show choir, working with 3 different administrations, but throughout it all I kept the students as my primary focus and managed to make it through.It took quite a bit of adjusting, but I finally managed to find my rhythm and had several very successful events, performances, and competitions throughout the year.
My students love the warm ups, 'Mrs. Shady' and "The Good-Looking Cook." They're both sing-songey kinds of warmups with fun lyrics. They always request these 2 warmups every single rehearsal and it is such a joy to see them get so excited about warmups. Despite not having done it before now, I absolutely love show choir. I am excited to see where I can take these programs in years to come. If I had to offer one piece of advice to inspire other first year teachers it would be to ask a lot of questions. There are so many people out there who want you to succeed so don't be afraid to ask questions if you're unsure of how to do something.