Ear Plugs

I live in a world of "surround sound."  For six hours a day, five days a week, I am surrounded by little people immersed in a world of sound.  Sometimes it's the sound of singing.  Sometimes it's the sound of musical instruments.  Sometimes it's the sound of voices conversing LOUDLY in the dining room.  I have had colleagues tell me that they would leave school everyday with a migraine if they had to do my job on a daily basis.

To be honest, I don't usually get migraines, but my sense of hearing is definitely a curse.  I tell my students that my ears are extremely sensitive; that I have "musician's ears."  I cannot work with ambient noise; I must have complete silence.  (I've been up since 4:00 a.m. because it's quiet and I can think better at that time of the day, although the dryer is driving me nuts!).  When people sing or play out of tune, it causes me physical pain.  When I allow my recorder students to "blow the bejabbers out of that thing" on Day One, I plug my ears.  I spend two hours every Wednesday doing dining room duty with ear plugs inserted in my ears.  People laugh at me.  I don't care.  I need my ears to do my job.

Currently in my classroom, my ears are being subjected to 5th graders composing on barred instruments, 4th grade recorder students learning to manipulate their mouths, air flow and fingers to produce a pleasing sound on their instruments, 3rd grade enhancing a folk song with Sound Shape drums and Boomwhackers, 2nd grade attempting to sing in 2-part harmony (a very painful experience), 1st grade learning to match pitch with their voices and finally, Kindergarten singing in a foreign tongue as they learn their songs for Pow Wow.  My ears are over-stimulated all day long, along with my brain.  (Did you know that you hear with your brain and not your ears? That's a post for another day.)

I keep a bag of ear plugs in my purse and in my desk at school.  Yesterday, they came in very handy.  I have a recorder student whose hearing must be more acute than mine.  He cannot tolerate any sound produced on that instrument without being brought to tears.  At our last class meeting, I moved him to the back row, thinking that would make a difference.  He cried through the entire class.  He came to class yesterday and I placed him on the back row again, however this time, I gave him a set of handy-dandy ear plugs to use.  He had never seen ear plugs, much less used them.  After a mini-lesson on the the art of using ear plugs, he now has his own personal set in a sandwich bag labeled with his name on it.  The bag will remain in my classroom until the end of the school year and I may have to make him a t-shirt that says, "I Survived 4th Grade Recorder Class with Mrs. Tamburrino."

Ear plugs.  A necessary ingredient in my "Recipe for Success" this year.  The absolute worst thing that could ever happen to a musician is for him to lose his sense of hearing.  It happened to Beethoven and I can't allow it to happen to me.

Until next time...