Idina Menzel: She's better than Beyonce.

Like a gazillion times better.

I just had the best night of my life.

Tonight was Idina Menzel's first Australian concert. And after eight months of planning and what feels like forever of dreaming, I got to finally see her in concert.

It was even more amazing than I ever imagined. Idina is so sweet, and funny, and amazing and it was the most amazing musical experience of my life. And of course, she has the most amazing voice.

She sang everything from Wicked to RENT, from Joni Mitchell to a bit of U2. I won't give away the whole set list, but it has something for everyone.

Admittedly, I started crying the second she started singing, and I have a severe headache right now from a lack of oxygen. For those who don't know me, and who I just really confused with that sentence, when I get super excited or something amazing happens, my brain forgets how to do basic functions- such as breathing. Remember breathing? That in and out, oxygen to the brain thing? Yeah, I didn't do a lot of that.

The most amazing thing was the emotional journey Idina took us on through the music. The show contained some absolutely beautiful and tender tributes to Marvin Hamlisch and Jonathon Larson, which I know inspired a few tears through the audience.

Speaking of the audience, Idina interacted with us a lot, which was awesome. She made a new friend in the front row, haha. She also sang Take me or leave me with three amazing audience members, who sang- as Idina said, "with harmonies!"

She also sang two of her own songs- 'I Stand' and a new song that she's been working on, which was so beautiful and was one of those aforementioned not-breathing moments. And on another note, 'I stand' sounds even more amazing with a full symphony.

Also, Idina is hilarious. Within the first five minutes of being on stage, she'd already complimented the ass of the conductor and made fun of her own word slip- confusing "element" for "elephant". She's so genuine and down to earth, and when she talks about her son, she just beams. There were so many little moments that happened that I will cherish the memory of forever.

Of course, she sang 'Defying Gravity', which was... I was a little worried beforehand that seeing it live would take away from listening to the Barefoot at the Symphony CD, but it didn't. It was just spell-binding, and such a once in a lifetime opportunity to actually hear her sing it live.

That was her first encore, and then she came back and sang an absolutely beautiful song that is (at this stage anyway) in her new musical If/Then, and 'Somewhere' from Glee. 

At one stage in the evening, she was talking about Beyonce, and someone called out "You're better than Beyonce" and she said "that's what the reviews will say- 'She's better than Beyonce.'" Hence, the title of this post.

So, yes, Idina is better than Beyonce. It was such a honour and a privilege to get to see her and listen to her. I'm so grateful and happy that Idina finally gets to perform in Australia! Hopefully, she'll come back!

I can't wait until Wednesday when I get to see her perform in Sydney! Also, now I get to cross off "See Idina Menzel in concert" and "Meet Idina Menzel" off my bucket list!

Today I made 2 kids cry. How was your day?

One of the reasons I always wanted to be a teacher, was due to my experiences with bullying at school. I had some fantastic teachers who helped me through it, and really supported me; and I always thought if I could do the same for other kids, I would be happy.

Today I got my chance, and it wasn't exactly how I pictured it.

I was teaching today, dealing with the usual stuff- getting the kids to stop talking, reminding them to take off their hats, and telling a boy up the back not to throw paper balls at a girl a few seats away- (let's call her Kate). I got them settled and got them to begin working when I noticed the girl was crying. I took her outside, and asked her if everything was okay. She told me that the boy who had been throwing paper at her and another boy had been bullying her- apparently since last October. They had been saying things and reduced her to tears just now.

I was not impressed. I loathe bullying and I won't tolerate it. So, I went back into the classroom, called the kids to a stop and proceeded to give them a furious lecture on the long-term psychological effects of bullying- speaking from experience. I told them how it affects people for the rest of their lives, the things people say to and about them; and told them that I wouldn't tolerate it in my classroom.

There was not a sound after that.

A few minutes later, when they were getting back to work, one of the girls (a girl who I'm usually nagging constantly to stop talking and get back on task) was in tears. One of her friends brought it to the attention of everyone, and she laughed as she wiped her eyes and explained that she was teary because when I was speaking about my experiences "it's so sad and I feel bad."

Then one of the boys who had been bullying Kate came up to me and asked if he could apologise to her. I said yes, and he did so.
When all the kids were finishing their work, two other boys near the front of the room thanked me for saying something and for doing something about it.

After class, I got two of my best students in the class to take care of Kate for me, just to support her and give her some support.
When I got back to the staffroom, two of the boys came up to me, who were about to go into the classroom next door. One of them, (who I shall call Fred), seemed a bit teary. I asked if he was okay, and he told me that what I had said meant a lot to him because he had been bullied too, and really related to what I had said. He ended up in tears too.

When I was alone in the staffroom, that got me crying. Because Kate and Fred are both really sweet kids, and I wanted to do more to help them. Plus, I had really only just held it together when I was talking about it in class, and talking about brings back unhappy memories and feelings.

I wrote up the two boys who had been bullying Kate in our discipline system (and crying), and took them down to the office. Outside Kate and the two girls I had asked to look after her were waiting to meet with the Welfare teacher, and they saw I had been crying and asked if I was ok. I spoke to them for a while, and one of them said to me, "I can't believe you were ever bullied, because you're amazing."

Well, that made my day. I just laughed and said "Not when I was 12, I wasn't."

But I think I really got through to them. I had so many of them talk to me in the playground for the rest of today. We'll just see if the message sticks.

So that was my day. I made 2 kids cry. How was your day?

Advice sought:

So, as I think everyone who reads this knows, I'm a teacher. And last year, my biggest class was 4 kids. This year, it's about 26.

Obviously, due to the changes in class sizes, I'm doing some things differently. My behaviour management strategies stay the same. I have a few tricks that usually work for me- my kids know when I go quiet, they have to shut up. My Year 11's call it my "angry eyes", haha. I give lunch detentions if I have to and send the really problem kids to my Head Teacher.

But the thing is that I still have to speak louder and project my voice more than I did last year. And after 8 periods of this a day, my voice is pretty strained. Especially now we're in winter, it gave out on me twice today.

And I have a little voice. I can't (as in physically can't) yell, so even just projecting my voice to carry across 20 odd kids, it's taking a toll.

So, I'm asking for help- is there anything I can do to protect my voice and/or strengthen it?