I had an identity crisis during my first few years of teaching. I had to wade through the stressors of a new job, getting an ensemble ready for a performance within days of school starting, and trying to balance a personal life. I had an idea of who I wanted to be, but I wasn't exactly sure of who I was at that particular moment.
We’ve all encountered this scenario: The baton is up, the group is ready to play, the downbeat almost hits the air, and then a hand goes up. You respond, “Yes?” A student says, “My instrument isn't working.”
During my first five years of teaching, I could have benefitted from some real help. Unfortunately, I was petrified to have my high school and college band directors come out to watch my rehearsals.
People change jobs for various reasons. When the time comes to change jobs, business and stress can take over. As with many new experiences, there isn’t always an owner’s manual for what to do.
During an interview, you’ll be asked a battery of questions, but remember that it’s essential for you to ask the interview committee questions, too.
Interviewing for a job can be stressful, especially during the early years of your career. Below are some tips taken from my experiences as an interviewee and as an interviewer.
A good resume is the first step in landing a job interview. Below are some tips to improve your chances of standing out in a pile.
The word selfish gets a bad rap. By definition, it’s “lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure.”
Saying “no” may sound easy, but it’s really very complicated. “No” is one of the shortest complete sentences, but it carries significant emotional weight for some people.
I once heard a music professor say, "if everything is accented, nothing is accented." We've all seen a 16-bar phrase of music with every note accented. When we play the ink precisely as it is written, the music sounds like the teacher from Charlie Brown — monotonous, boring and predictable.
Time is a precious commodity. As music teachers, we not only have to protect classroom time, but we have to carve out a few minutes (or hours!) here and there to take care of our must-do, non-negotiable tasks.
One of the most effective actions we can take as music teachers is to seek an understanding of our entire school and community and not just our music program.
Yes, you read the title of this article correctly — please proceed with caution because this topic may offend most music teachers.
