Teacher Interview

TRICKS OF THE TRADE FROM ONE MUSIC TEACHER TO ANOTHER!

While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is allabout:

“A fifth grade class was in the media center for a dictionary/thesaurus lesson. As I went over the vocabulary words to be used in the assignment, two boys immediately jumped up and began strutting around when I said the word “haughty.” “THAT’S ME!” each one proudly proclaimed.  Seems they got “hottie” and “haughty” a little confused. Their classmates (and teachers) had a good chuckle over that.”(ClassroomConnectionBlogspot.com)

“A kindergarten teacher comes to me in the office, and said a parent called her and said she’s glad I was back from the illness and hoped there would be no more.  Her daughter had come home after a day or two with the teacher replacement and told mom she had a “prostitute” teacher while her teacher was away.”(ClassroomConnectionBlogspot.com)

As evident from the antidotes above, the teacher role is a delightfully unpredictable role!  From silly misconceptions to teaching/learning strategies to the excitement of beginning each new day full of eager young minds to shape, each and every day is “consistently different.”  But of all the inconsistencies, technology is one of the biggest and most exciting changes to take place in educational instruction throughout the past generation.  Children who are just entering kindergarten, for instance, are already expected to be multimedia oriented, multitaskers, able to share a common language with their peers, be risk takers, be constantly engaged, and the list could easily go on forever.  But what does this all mean for the music classroom?

I recently sat down with Miss S, musician and teacher now for nearly thirty years, in hopes of receiving some insights as to the answer to this question.  While it seems that project based learning is the “up and coming attraction” for nearly every content area, it is important to consider exactly how beneficial this technique is for the students.  Problem solving is an essential tool that needs to be imbedded into our students’ minds from the instant they walk through our doors.  Ideally, this skill would be learned prior to walking into a classroom.  However, many students have difficulty “surviving” throughout their school years due to their lack of commitment.  The reason for this downward shift, in my opinion, is due to the parents’ inability to “let go.” Instead of teaching and properly preparing their children to survive in the “real world,” they constantly “do” for them what needs to be done, resulting in mass confusion when asked, for example, “What is the purpose, goal, or point?”  Another guilty party is in school administration.  With schools jumping on the “band wagon” of NCLB and striving to meet AYP, children are being taught how to be test takers, not thinkers.  We need to press upon our students the importance of thinking outside the box. Especially with all the advances being made in our technological generation!  Miss S agreed with my assessment, commenting that we may not know everything, but we know where to find it, and that certainly has the potential to make learning easier and the unfortunate consequence of becoming a hindrance.  You simply have to be technologically savvy to understand ways in which to incorporate it properly in any desired content area she enforced, since she herself comes from an entirely different background/generation.     

In a music setting, integrated technology can truly work miracles.  CD players, recording devices, roll out pianos, music games/software, projectors, and internet accesses are among the innovations that are present during a typical lesson with Miss S.  Of course, each of these things is used in moderation as to avoid strengthening an unimaginative and unoriginal mind.  However, it is true that children are able to grasp musical concepts more easily when a visual is provided, such as a keyboard.  Theory, aural skills, keyboarding skills, skills in composing, music history, rhythmic dictation, and musicianship are all learned, faster and easier, when the technologies above are integrated into the instruction.  Whether it is computer software or a piano, technology is not strictly bound to the computer!       

Unfortunately, administration is not always so appreciative to the fact that student achievement seems to soar when musical knowledge is captured.  It is unfortunate that the first subjects to get cut from educational programs when monies are tight are the arts, and it is even more discouraging that these are the areas that are so unappreciated.  For instance, Miss S relayed a story to me of the school’s band program and how for years they had been trying to raise money to get new uniforms for the marching band, for the ones in circulation were literally disintegrating.  The cheerleaders on the other hand had received new uniforms the previous year, and of course, they received new uniforms the next year as well, using up the funds which enabled the band from getting much needed uniforms.  You can be certain that the band would have been much more appreciative.  From uniforms to technology though, the administrations ideals are askew, believing that sports are first and foremost the thing to focus on.  So now it is our job to be enthusiastic about our profession and advocate, advocate, advocate!            

Teaching children to successfully incorporate different technologies into their studies requires an extreme amount of patience, but is well worth it, for the experience alone is exciting and rewarding when utilized properly, stressed Miss S!  And as our technologically charged discussion began to come to an end, I was left with a feeling of anticipation for a whole new world in which I will become an official part of within the next year!  In the brilliant words of Jason Robert Brown, composer of the musicalSongs for a New World, “Where’s the challenge, if you never try…I’m not afraid!”  I could not have put it better myself! 

*For more funny stories like the ones above, visithttp://classroomconnection.blogspot.com/2006/02/funny-school-stories.html