Customer Reviews

Teacher Therapy

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I'm actually laughing out loud, which doesn't happen too often while working on the website :o) I just found this wonderful CD called Teacher Therapy, by teacher/folksinger Judy Bowen -- does anyone KNOW this woman? Does she do workshops? I would love to meet her!

Be sure to listen to the clips from this wonderfully funny and sometimes poignant CD on the trials and tribulations of being a teacher.

The first song is called "So You Want To Be A Teacher." Among the other words of musical wisdom were these lines:

"It takes more than facts and figures,
If a teacher you will be ...
You gotta have a good bladder,
'cuz you never get to pee!"

Another one that made me laugh is called "These Things We Always Say:"

"Why we just had our bathroom and our water fountain break.
What could you have been doing when we stopped there at the fountain?

Now sit back down, I don't think you'll dehydrate.
These things we always say,
That no child ever hears them,
We say them 1, 2, 3 ... ten times in each and every day.
Sit down now and be quiet ..."

"Schoolteacher Stampede" had me giggling, and "February Teacher Blues" describes how so many of us still feel halfway through March:

"Paperwork is higher than the Eiffel Tower
Brain is feeling mushy, I ain't got no power,
Movin' oh so slow, I just don't wanna go
To school.
Gray days, inside recess, you know what I mean,
Three weeks in a row and I just wanna scream,
February teacher blues."

Sound familiar to anyone? And how about these lines from "A Million Things"?

"Why is it that the teaching is the last thing I have time for?
Why am I robbing Peter to pay Paul?
Why is it every job gets halfway done and then I leave it?
Just to hurry to another, knowing I can't do them all.
The children come, I don't have time to hear their little stories,
I don't have time to give them all a hug ..."

And the final song, "Brandon Moved Away," made me a teeny bit weepy. It's a song about losing a student that you're afraid will get lost in the shuffle somewhere else, and you had no idea he was leaving at all.

I rarely recommend something I haven't yet touched and read/listened to in full, but this CD is wonderful, sight unseen. It made my afternoon, here at home getting over the flu.

Happy Teaching!

Victoria :o)
KinderKorner Owner

I first heard this CD in November and couldn't wait to share it with other teachers. It seemed so appropriate to call the teachers to the next faculty meeting by playing "Faculty Meetings" over the intercom. I even caught my principal after school one day and made her listen to a bunch of the songs. She too was impressed and is looking at the possibility of have Ms.Bowen join us on a professional development day. I loved the songs, the lyrics and the genuine "truths" of teaching that Judy Domeny Bowen has captured on this wonderful CD. Whenever I need a lift or had a hard day with my students, I play a song or two and immediately get to smiling, foot-tapping and singing along. I know, too, that there are others that understand and see the humor in the trials and tribulations of a teacher's day and it is pure enjoyment to hear it from one of your own. I think my favorite humorous song on this CD is the Schoolteacher Stampede. It really hit home with the holidays this year. As the musician herself might say about this CD, "its a keeper!"

As an ex teacher I was amused, entertained, educated, and touched by Judy Domeny's original songs about teaching, from the fun to the tragedies of teaching young children, Brandon's song pulls heavily at the heartstrings. Judy's voice is experienced in all the old ballads giving her an extra edge for this one. She has emerged suddenly as a songwriter too. Mostly the songs are riotous fun and hilarity sending you skipping to the teacher's workroom for some of Cheryl's cooking or a chocolate fix. I got copies for all the teachers I know who have a good sense of humor. This is a CD every teacher of children needs. Need excuses for being late again? Judy has answers; and plans for snow days. We have worn the grooves off our CD from playing it over and over.

Every time I listen to this CD I travel back to school. Only this time I do it not as a student, but as a teacher. Judy has connected her music to a profession long in need of better public understanding. What's best is the humor and the wit in how she has done it. Her voice and spirit carry the joy, frustration and the deep connection that teachers have with their students. How about one for politicians Judy? Just kidding.....!

I have laughed and laughed over the songs on Teacher Therapy! My kids are absolutely nuts about this CD, too. It gives them an inside look at teachers that they think is so funny. We sing along with the songs in the car. I've even played it in my classroom and my students have a great time listening to it. After I received my copy I ordered 3 more CDs for friends of mine. They love it, too!

I haven't heard anything this original and funny in a long time. Songs ranging from "Dress Code", to "The Letter G" to (my favorite) "Happy Snow Day" demonstrate the humor and sometimes ironic goings-on of being a teacher. Judy D Bowen can not only write great tunes but plays wonderful guitar and sings like an angel(a very insightful angel!). This CD is not only for teachers but for anyone interested in great songwriting and terrific delivery. I can't wait to hear what Judy Domeny Bowen does next!

Judy Bowen's "Teacher Therapy" is a must for all who have ever taught or been taught! Judy Bowen portrays the sense of humor that teachers use to survive daily routines, trials and frustrations in songs such as "Faculty Meetings," "So You Want to be a Teacher," and "February Blues." These songs will have you in stitches. But beyond the surface level of humor in Judy Bowen's songs, there is a consistent message that she, like teachers everywhere, truly loves working with children. This presents itself in "A Million Things," worrying that too much time is being taken away from the children for other tasks, with "The Letter G," with its heartfelt optimistic feel, and in "Gray November," which, as one of my personal favorites, paints the warm, safe and accepting sanctuary that schools hold for children despite what may be going on outside its walls. But most of all, the compassion and empathy that teachers feel toward their students, that made those dedicated people want to be teachers to begin with and has kept them coming back year after year, is superbly written into Judy Bowen's "Brandon Moved Away." There is not a teacher that can walk away from that song with a dry eye, for every teaher has had children that have left the emotional impact on their lives that Judy Bowen has so excellently captured. Make sure that Judy Bowen's"Teacher Therapy" is in your collection!

Buy this CD, now! You will not find another like it. I had the privalege of hearing Judy sing some of these songs in person. She is....amazing! Her voice has a pleasant "folksy" quality. After hearing even one of her songs, there will be no doubt in your mind, YES, she really is a teacher. No one could make this stuff up! My favorite track is "Brandon." I cannot listen to it without tears pooling in my eyes. If you've taught, you've had a child like "Brandon" and will be able to relate.

This is the BEST CD about Teachers and their lives that has ever been recorded! Everybody that has stood in sensible shoes in front of a group of small students will relate to all that Judy has to say! It's all soooo true! It's also good music,presented in a clear and folksy manner! Fun and a truly inspirational CD - YOU'VE GOT TO HEAR IT!

This is a terrific CD! A song will have me laughing at myself and my profession. Suddenly another song will come on and move me to tears. All in all this CD makes me glad to be a teacher, and motivates me to be a better one. I never tire of listening to it.