Give This Gal a Listen

Hey! Teacher buddies! If you haven't heard about this chick, you should really check her out. I have no connection. I'm getting no cut of the action. But she's like the best-kept secret ever. If you need a laugh, if you need a cry, her songs will do it for you. Because she, too, was a teacher. An insider like us. She's the real deal. I dare you to listen to any of these songs and NOT bob your head and say, "Ain't that the truth!" Well, maybe you won't say ain't, because you're a teacher. But you'll get what I'm talking about, and what she's singing about. Because you live it. Each and every day.

Judy Domeny Bowen. That's her. Here's the part of her website where you can listen to snippets of several songs. If you are so motivated, you can buy her CD there, or go through Amazon, where your can listen to samples and buy MP3s. Not that I'm pushing you to buy anything. I just think it's a shame that most people have never heard of her. Years ago, our PDC booked her for our first Professional Development day. Her presentation was fantastic. We laughed. We cried. We walked out of the cafeteria all fired up and ready to put our noses back to the grindstone. Because somebody GOT us. Somebody knew what we go through, why we do what we do.

I can't do her justice by posting the lyrics. And that seems kind of copyright-violating, anyway. But if you ever need to hear someone sing folk songs in a humorous manner about teacher stuff, check it out. Perhaps one of the following topics might appeal to you:

*sleeping in because you're SURE you'll be out for a snow day, but you're not
*teachers stampeding to the workroom to gorge on Christmas goodies every hour
*substitutes taking over your classroom, hanging streamers, promoting anarchy
*picture day and how various age groups approach it
*back-to-school classroom preparations
*last day of school
*classic kid books in the library
*yearly teacher observation
*future teacher of the year
*faculty meetings

That last one is what made me think of her today. Our first monthly faculty meeting. "Down to the library, that's where we go. We get us a pop, need some caffeine you know. Draggin' our feet, but we all gather in. The principal stands and begins..."

Like I said, I have no vested interest in this woman's entrepreneurship. She's creative. She built a website to hawk her works and talent. She established a career after her career. She's good enough, she's smart enough, and doggone it, people should like her!