I have them, but I noticed something early on about these types of dreams. First,the band hall doesn't look the same. The office looks somewhat different. The bands don't sound the same at all. The rehearsals are unfocused and without a plan, the assistants are confused and unmotivated. And of course, the person portraying me in the dream is clueless, overly emotional, and generally out of control. Nothing about my teaching resonates in the dream.

However, the dreams often feature some of the best kids I taught, and some that were just regular b flat band members. And together they are those who are causing the problems.

I've decided, "to heck with this dream." It's not me, and this never was me.

Hey wait...maybe that's what my dream is trying to tell me. Maybe this dream is trying to remind me who I was in reality and what I tried to do as a teacher, especially when I look at the world these days and think teaching kids the right way to grow up must not have been important. No, because we care this much and we tried this hard, it did make a difference...

So I celebrate the dream's reminder and the good-conscious-stirring memories I enjoy when I wake up.

Another thing I've noticed is that I drink a lot of coffee in the morning...strong coffee. This dream is usually the one that wakes me up. Maybe my body is telling me it needs coffee! Here's your band dream! Wake up!