Why I Decided To Teach
I have reasons for teaching that are both passionate and practical. My love of music is no secret, and I have my mother to thank, for being my first teacher. Before I was born, she sold her twelve-string guitar and bought a Baldwin upright piano. Every day, we would sit and play Spinning Song together. I took piano lessons for a year, in first grade, but I quit as the school year ended. I was not a fan of my private teacher. She was old, her house smelled funny, and she constantly yelled at me for failing to "keep my pinky down" during practice. (I still joke that I only went to recitals to read the Shel Silverstein books on her coffee table, and for the free food.) I loved my elementary school music teachers, though. I started playing piano again in middle school, teaching myself using all of the sheet music I could find in our house. Later, after an injury, I learned that I was born without certain tendons in my hands, which explained my early difficulties with the piano. I continued to sing and play saxophone through my college years, and each teacher I had encouraged me to take on greater challenges. Music became a love, a discipline, a passion. I have been very fortunate, considering what music has given to me. That passion had to start somewhere, and I wanted to share it with others. Practically speaking, teaching music also provides a stable salary and benefits to support what I love to do.
Teaching Philosophy
My past experiences have greatly influenced my teaching philosophy. I believe very strongly in honesty, patience, and acceptance. Being a musician is about learning how to take failure and success together, and care for both of them like a child. Skill development is only a part of the process, albeit an extremely important one. I am an avid (rabid?) proponent of sequential pedagogy and Brain-Targeted Teaching. Music and teaching must also be meaningful, for both my students and myself. Dialogue is important. I am frequently irreverent and silly, but I can also be quite strict. My standard motto is "I will do anything if it gets you to learn," and I share this with students on their first day in my class. I like to meet students where they are, and then challenge them to learn/do/listen to MORE. Diversified instruction, multi-cultural education, and exposure to all kinds of music are part and parcel of my class. Technology is also extremely important to me, and I try to incorporate it into my class when I am able to do so, and when it suits the material.
Why Baltimore?
After I graduated from college, I originally intended to teach in the Pittsburgh area or attend graduate school. Due to an unexpected financial loss and a lack of open positions in the area, I started looking elsewhere for teaching positions. I approached my former advisor, who suggested that I contact Baltimore City's Director of Fine Arts. I forwarded my résumé to her, and received a phone call two days later. Four days later, I had been hired by my current school. In just under two weeks, I had quit my restaurant job in Pittsburgh, moved to Baltimore, and started training. Originally, I only intended to remain in Baltimore for a year or two, but here I am, half-way through year five!
My Current Situation
Teaching in Baltimore has been eye-opening, in many ways. I didn't think that I would enjoy teaching middle school students, because I found greater enjoyment teaching other grade levels during my practicum. I feel as if I have really grown into my position. I have fun everyday. I laugh, sing, dance, and get paid to do those things. There is a mutual respect and admiration that exists in my classroom, and it is easy to go to work each day, knowing that I will never be bored with what I do. I have been able to see my students grow as people and as musicians...more and more each year. I have also realized that, despite all of the above, this is not the ideal situation, for me. My boyfriend of nine years still lives in Pittsburgh, and we have now spent over half of our relationship in different states. We frequently discuss our future together, but it will be a tricky path to follow. I have wanted to attend graduate school to study musicology for years; I have been interested in pursuing my Ph.D since high school. There are some considerable risks involved: I will initially take a huge pay cut, it is more difficult than ever to find and secure tenable positions in the humanities, and it could require drastic re-location. That said, every time I attend a conference or dip into some personal research, it confirms my desire for this challenge. Case in point: this past November, I attended the American Musicology Society's annual conference in Philadelphia. While there, I met the husband of a musicologist, who asked me if it was my first AMS conference. When I told him that it was my third in five years, he replied with, "What, and you're not a musicologist yet?" No, I'm not a musicologist...yet.
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3 comments:
I think I'm getting the hang of this! Wow! to have a boyfriend for 9 yrs while you live in a different state sounds like real love!
You know, you look like you love what you do. You adapted well to a complete different environment. That's something I have noticed about artist/musicians. You are open and willing to change.
Hi, R.H.,
Let me tell you that, were you really born without certain tendons in your hands, you'd have known this fact well before your injury, it would have bothered you a lot, and you wouldn't be able to play - neither piano nor saxophone.
Has someone pulled your leg?
Was your injury related to playing?
In response to Paul R. -- If I offer a few more details about my injury, it may be helpful.
My hand injury was not related to playing. I tripped and fell over a wooden magazine rack in my aunt's kitchen. (I was in middle school, and embarrassed that my mother wanted to dance with me at a family gathering. Ha.) In an effort to cushion my fall, I put my hands behind me. My left palm caught on the corner of a metal electrical outlet plate, which had been bent away from the wall...probably when someone was putting the magazine rack there, in the first place.
Given that it was around 2:30 in the morning on the 4th of July, the emergency room docs opted not to call in a surgeon. I did receive a significant number of stitches, both inside and outside my hand. I visited a specialist once a week, for about two months following the accident. Initially, he still wanted to perform surgery to repair my hand, because he was concerned that I had nicked or severed a tendon when I was injured. He opted to wait until I had healed further, to check for possible improvement.
Those visits ended the moment that he asked me to perform some routine exercises with both the injured and uninjured hand.
To be clear, I am unable to move my pinky finger (either hand) independently of my other digits. The only knuckle that moves is the one closest to my hand. I am only able to move the first and second knuckles of each ring finger; the tips of my ring fingers are "rubbery" and weak. Essentially, the specialist explained that my tendons are fused together. Keep in mind that he was speaking to a child, so he explained that I was born without the same tendons as other people.
...and for the record, it did and does bother me a lot. Playing piano, typing, etc. can be mildly painful. Playing certain guitar chords (a full G-Major chord, bar chords, etc.) are basically impossible. I had to request a doctor's exemption/excuse just to pass my collegiate guitar class. There are certain things that I will never be able to perform at a proficient level. After I quit taking piano lessons, I used to "cheat" by playing using incorrect fingerings...I avoided my weak 4th finger like it was my job! Speed has always been an issue, even with basic scales. Despite the above, I consider myself to be fortunate, and I wouldn't dare equate my issues with more serious conditions.
I am curious, though. Are you speaking from personal experience or research?
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