Some musings I had during class in first term, 2014:

I want to be a music teacher who encourages inquiry.  Those who say there’s no room for that in a band room haven’t really looked at the music.  They see the notes on the page, and hear the sounds produced, but they don’t understand why it was written, what the composer meant or felt in the writing.

Exploring the music.

Mark says he wants to be a germ, infect his students with the same passion he has for his subject.  To scar his students, in the best possible way.  He doesn’t want to be the teacher who makes kids afraid to fail, but the kind the kids don’t want to disappoint.

But what do I want to do?

Adrien wants to be the kind who gets to watch the light go on.  Helping those people find the intelligence, and confidence in themselves.

So what do I want to do?

I don’t know yet.  I want be better than my years of awful teachers, making my best friend cry and hate being in choir, in her first year.  I want to be better than the teacher that made me feel like math was something that made me stupid.

I want to be Mrs. McKinney, or Mr. Allen.  Who showed me how to be a better musician and still have FUN!

I want to show them the way, and then get out of it so they can explore on their own. I want to create a relationship with every student in my room.

I want them to feel my passion for them through our subject.  I want them to feel like it’s their room, their music, their experience.  I want them to know I am in school for them, not because I just want to teach the music.  I want them to learn, and grow, and create their own identity.  And if it includes msic, all the better.