The semester is over, and there's finally time to reflect! Kind of. There's still a lot to do. Wedding planning proceeds apace. And I was recently hired into a performance of the Vespers for Nuestra Señora Del Pilar by Joseph Ruiz Samaniego, which is rehearsing several hours a day. And it's also beautiful outside! Highs around 80, dry, sunny... We're on our fourth stunningly gorgeous day in a row--every once in a while I even forget that we live in rainy, overcast, humid southern Indiana.

But I have been reflecting a bit on the semester. I got my evaluations back, and I think they were my best ever. I had the students grade me on a number of different propositions, and nobody (not a single one!) gave me less than an A on Instructor is enthusiastic about teaching, Instructor teaches students with respect, Instructor seems genuinely interested in my progress, or Instructor is fair and impartial in dealing with students. That's something to be proud of!

Everyone also seemed to particularly love the last unit, which confirmed something I had felt myself: that this unit was where I finally hit the right balance of systematic theory and analytical discussion. This is a problem I had all first semester: I wanted to get away from focusing on theory for its own sake, so we talked a lot about individual pieces of music, style, and interpretation. I was baffled when the most constant complaint seemed to be that we weren't focusing enough on the rules of counterpoint! But I think having some kind of system helps structure a class and make students more confident about their own learning. So that's a lesson to take into the future.