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Eric Baylin's
Songs to Brighten
A Teacher's Day


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Juggling the responsibilities of teaching, family life, and life in general can be daunting. We all need time to pay the bills, get to the dentist, shop for dinner, plan tomorrow's lessons, grade yesterday's papers, secure permission slips for upcoming field trips... and so on and so on and so on. Sometimes all those responsibilities -- and more -- converge at once and we just have to let go of our highest expectations for our professional selves. In short, we just have to wing it.

About the Lyricist
Eric Baylin has been a teacher for 37 years, working with a variety of age levels in both public and private schools in New York and North Carolina. He currently works at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, New York, a K-12 independent school established in 1854. In addition to teaching art and photography to middle- and high-school students, Eric coordinates a program of collaborative faculty study groups in Packer's professional development program.

I'll Wing It Again


(To the melody for The Sound of Music)

Sometimes it seems as though there's nowhere near enough time to do it all -- in school or out. When those moments -- those too-busy, too-stressful, too-much-to-do-today moments -- arise, all you can do is wing it.

The halls are alive with the sound of students;
They're coming my way, and I'm not prepared.
I didn't have time to complete my planning,
It wasn't my fault, and my job should be spared.

I had to leave school before three to deposit a check --
'Cause the mortgage is overdue,
Then pick up the dry cleaning, shop for a meal,
And there's still more stuff to do.

There was no time to grade any papers, and no time
To look at the text for today.
I'll wing it again.
Tomorrow, I might have to pay.

My class is alive with the sound of students;
They probably don't care that I haven't planned.
I give all I've got, and there's no time left for
All the things that life demands.

Song lyrics Copyright© 2006 Eric Baylin