A Teacher Being Taught

Growing up, school was always pretty easy for me.  While I won't say there weren't struggles at times, as some of my friends and family can attest to, I realize that many of those times only felt like struggles because I was used to being able to get good grades without working extraordinarily hard.

Now, as a teacher, I sometimes have trouble connecting with the students who don't do well.  The problem with a lot of people who go into to education is that many of them grew up liking school, which is why they want to return as a teacher.  However, this makes it more difficult to relate to students who don't like school and/or have always struggled to even keep their grades average.  While this doesn't mean these people can't still be great educators, it does mean that they might have to work harder to reach those not-so-easy-to-reach students.

It has been an eye-opening experience these past few weeks as I have gone back into the student's seat and been taught as opposed to being the teacher.  When I was waitress back in high school and college, I found that from time to time it was helpful to go out and eat and be waited on to remind myself of what kind of service I would (or wouldn't) want as a customer.  This has been a similar experience.  In my Italian language classes, I am in a traditional classroom setting, sitting in a desk with a teacher up front.  In my voice lessons and coachings, it's more one-on-one, but I still have a little more insight after having been a teacher myself now.

Let me tell you, while I have blogged a lot about experiences not related to my study of music here, it has not simply been a vacation in Italy.  I am being challenged in more ways than I ever imagined when I decided to study here.  One of my opera scenes in particular is one of the most challenging pieces I have EVER encountered, by far (for any musical folks who are curious...in one section of the scene, there are two different time signatures being sung--at the same time!).  I have also mentioned before that Italian diction is not quite as simple as I had thought.  I used to think it was the easiest of any foreign language I have sung.  So you can imagine how I felt when the program director specifically requested for me to go to a special Italian diction session--with only two other students who were taking it for credit.  I was a little embarrassed, to say the least.

And then it dawned on me: there are students, plenty of students, that I teach that feel like this all the time--and have felt like this their whole lives since they started school.  They have spent their lives getting remedial instruction, getting put in the "dumb" class, even getting put in special ed, in some cases.  I have been able to bounce back from having my pride hurt this time, but if I had spent most of my life at school being told, if not in so many words, "You're dumb," I'd probably quit trying, too.

I know this might sound like I'm suddenly becoming an advocate for the self-esteem movement.  Trust me, that is not what I'm trying to say.  I still believe it's important for students to learn that they aren't always going to be affirmed for everything they do and that hardships are part of the process.

Which leads me to my second revelation: teachers don't criticize students unless they think they have potential.  When I have a student who has dug him or herself so deep that s/he has no chance of passing my class, I stop pushing them.  At a certain point, I feel that it would be giving them false hope of passing if I were to keep badgering them to turn in homework or participate in class.  So I turn my focus and energy to the students who I know actually still have a chance of passing.  And I have discovered that my teachers here do the same thing.  They wouldn't have to care about making me better.  I'm just a high school English teacher.  I'm not a Wichita State student who they would feel obligated to turn into an exceptional singer.  And yet, they still push me as they would any other student.  I have come to the realization that their constructive criticism only means that they think I have potential to be an exceptional singer.  Maybe I won't end up at the Metropolitan.  But it's nice to be given the chance to become good enough to be there.

So I have learned to be grateful for criticism.  And yet, I've also learned that affirmation is important as well and should not be forgotten to be given along with the criticism.  Our stage director even talked about this in acting class today, saying that sometimes teachers jump straight to criticisms without affirming anything their student does, resulting in an invisible little guy on their student's shoulder constantly saying, "YOU SUCK!"  Obviously, this is not helpful, either.  But neither is no criticism at all.

Deep down, I think most of us know that being pushed by our mentors is good for us.  However, this can be easy to forget, especially if you've never been in the position of being a mentor.

So the next time a mentor figure in your life hands you criticism, embrace it.  If you need to sulk for a little while initially, do it.  After all, criticism does have a tendency to bring us down.

But ultimately, it is a reminder that we can be more than what we are.

Cliff Jumping and More

I am a little sore tonight after an exciting day at Cinque Terre, which is what many of my most recent photos are of.  It is a gorgeous place, and apparently everyone knows it--it was jam-packed with tourists so much that I almost forgot we were in Italy with how many people were speaking English.  I even overhead one little boy say to his mother, "Why are there so many Americans?  We're not in America!"  There were also lots of Brits, too, as well as people from other countries.

Cinque Terre literally means "five lands," referring to the five villages that make it up. There is a walkway surrounding the rocky hills where the villages are located as well as a swimming area.  The water is crystal clear but very salty.  There are also lots of rocky places to climb, including one particularly high cliff where daring people would climb up and jump off way down into the water.  When I first saw people doing it, I didn't think there was any way I could ever be convinced to do it myself.  However, I decided I wanted to at least climb to the top of the cliff.  Then I realized about halfway up that trying to climb back down would be scarier and more dangerous than just jumping off.

When I got to the top and saw just how high it was, I almost chickened out.  But by this time, everyone below was watching and cheering--both friends and strangers--and I realized that there was no graceful way to bow out.  Plus, I figured I should prove to myself I could do it.  So, after several minutes of hesitation and procrastination, I took the plunge.  Unfortunately, I did not meet the water as gracefully as others before me.  My backside smacked that water so hard that I ended up with bruises, a VERY sore tailbone, and...what I would refer to as the equivalent of a patriotic wedgie (if you don't know what I mean, Google it :)).  But I faced my fear!  So...who cares if it hurts to sit down for a few days, right? :)

Anyway, I would write more, but I'm pretty tired from today, so I will probably hit the sack soon.  Ciao for now!

Firenze and Fresh Fish

Wow, not even a week has gone by, and I'm already blogging again?  Crazy!  It has been quite a week--it is weird to think that last Sunday I was just getting on a plane to come here--it seems like I have been here so much longer!  At the same time, it's hard to believe that a quarter of my time here has already gone by.  I find myself wanting the days to go by slowly so I can savor all the time I have here.  This is such a beautiful place, and I love being immersed in my study of opera.

We had our first master class on Friday with a renowned opera singer, Claudia Catania.  She has sang both at the Metropolitan and on Broadway and is on the Metropolitan Wall of Fame.  Sounds intimidating, right?? In theory, yes, but, in person, she is actually very down-to-earth and sweet.  She did an excellent job of being forward and direct without being condescending.  She was very encouraging to everyone who sang (which, by the way, everyone here did a wonderful job--it was amazing to hear one great performance after another) and towards the end said we were all good enough to be at the Metropolitan if we wanted to.  Inspirational!

Saturday our whole group took a day trip to Florence (or Firenze, as it is in Italian), which is a little over an hour train ride from Lucca.  I had no idea there could be so much to see there.  We spent a lot of time at the Pitti Palace, where the first opera was performed and there is a lot of renaissance art.  I mainly wanted to see Michelangelo's statue of David--which I did, in the Galleria di Accademie--but there is so much more that I didn't get to see that I am hoping to go back next weekend.  I still want to go into the Duomo (see pics on Facebook) as well as some other old buildings that I didn't get to see yet (I'm not so good at remembering all their names :)).

Today (Sunday) a few of us went to Viareggio, a city near the Mediterranean Sea, in hopes of swimming and sunbathing on the beach.  However, it rained all day!  So when we got there, we ended up going to a restaurant near the sea that serves fresh fish.  The waiter said they don't have a regular menu because it changes based on the fresh fish that is caught each day.  And how fresh it was!  We got a couple types of pasta with fish in it as well as some sea bass--which he brought out to the table before it was cooked!  I don't think I have ever had fish that was still completely in tact--eyes and head and all--until today!  You can see photos of it on my Facebook page :).  Now I wish I would have gotten a "before" shot from when the waiter brought it out before being cooked--but it didn't look too much different after being cooked, either!

Well, that's all for now!  Again, check out my corresponding pictures on Facebook!

Arrivo a Lucca

Ciao, tutti!  I have finally arrived here to Lucca, Italy, and so far, I am loving every minute of it.  Getting here, though it went smoothly, was quite the trek.  As many of you know, I flew out of Denver since I was at a wedding in Colorado.  I flew to Chicago, then London, and then finally Pisa (yes, as in the Leaning Tower of Pisa :)).  Strangely enough, on the bus to the terminal in London, I met an Indian couple--from Kansas!  The husband was wearing a K-State jacket, so I asked them if they were from Kansas, and it turns out they are both professors at KSU.  Such a small world we live in!

Anyway, upon arriving in Pisa, I managed to buy a bus ticket to Lucca (in my very limited Italian), about 45 minutes away.  It was pouring rain by the time I arrived at the Lucca station.  So there I was with two big bags of luggage, trying to find a taxi, which I finally did.  He took me to the language school, which is one of our central locations.  As soon as I got there, a teacher took me in to a classroom to test my level of Italian, which really just involved a short conversation--nothing too intense.  After that, Lorenzo, another teacher at the school, took me to my apartment, where I was met by my landlords, Stefano and Monica (yes--apparently my name is also very common in Italian!).

After studying abroad in Wuppertal (Germany), where my apartment basically consisted of a hard chair, a desk, and a bed, I wasn't really expecting anything extravagant for my apartment here.  However, I was pleasantly surprised!  We have a kitchen with a dining room table, a living room with couches and a TV, two bedrooms, and a spacious bathroom.  I live with two other girls, Kendra and Charissa, who are doing the same program I am.  Charissa and I share one of the bedrooms.

My daily schedule is basically the same each day.  We have two hours of Italian language class in the morning with Lorenzo, then an hour of acting class, then 30 minutes to an hour of rehearsal for our opera scenes, then an individual voice lesson with my teacher (Dr. Crum from WSU), then a coaching session with an accompanist.  I have only been here two days and already feel like I have made progress.  I don't think I have ever been drilled so much on diction--except for maybe when I took voice lessons in Germany.  I always thought Italian diction was easier than other languages, like French and German, but now that I am being coached by native speakers, I feel like that's only an illusion!

Lucca itself is a beautiful city.  It is completely surrounded by a wall, and the only way to get around within the wall is to walk or bike--a person must have a special permit to be allowed to drive there.  The population is about 85,000, so it has pretty much everything a person needs to get around.  There are more tourists here than I expected there to be, which makes me want to disguise myself as not being an American even more.  I have already gotten a new purse and a pair of Italian sandals :).

The problem is, any outward impression of not being American falls flat on its face when I try to communicate with Italians!  I'm hoping that will change at least a little bit while I'm here.  One thing I have noticed about Italians that I like is that it is easier to try to practice your Italian with them.  In Germany, it was almost frustrating that everyone could speak English because it made it very difficult to practice my German with native speakers.  As soon as they figured out I was American, they would immediately switch to English.  However, Italians will try to speak Italian with you even if your Italian isn't great.  At the same time, they are also willing to speak English with you if needed.  I don't think most Italians speak as much English as other Europeans, such as Germans and Scandinavians, but most seem to know at least some--probably because they've had to interact with tourists often.

Anyway, that's the gist of things so far!  We are taking a day trip to Florence this weekend, so I'll hopefully have some new stories and photos to post after that!  Check my Facebook page for photos of Lucca and my apartment.

Grazie per la lettura! :)