Since I graduated high school, I have often enjoyed reminiscing with my former classmates about the good times in school. We also have discussions where we roll our eyes about the bad times. Most of the good times that come up involve a particular teacher or class we took. I want to be the teacher my former students reminisce about and say, "Hey, you remember Mr. Greenfield"s class?" or "Man, choir was the best class I took in high school." How do I plan to accomplish this? I will make sure the students have a healthy and comfortable learning environment while making some wonderful music.
The an important thing for my students to remember is not what songs they sang, or even what musical concepts they learned during the process, but that they continue to support and have an appreciation for all the arts. Most of my singers will not be music majors when they get to college (although it would be nice, I am being realistic), but I expect them to still sing in some capacity after high school. Most importantly, they should be, as the ideals of my fraternity say so eloquently, "manly musicians, musicianly men" (or if it is the case, womanly musicians, musicianly women). In other words, through music, they will understand the power the world beholds, and can be great people because of my teaching.
2 comments:
Hey Karl,
I agree with your statements here. I definitely believe that the classroom should be "a healthy and comfortable learning environment." This is the type of environment that most students learn the best. As for a music teacher, I think the one thing above everything else that our students should take away from the classroom is the appreciation for music. Yes, most of the students will not go on to college for music, but as long as they understand and will appreciate music, then we have done our job as music teachers.
Music can hold so much power.
Good job,
Jaime
Karl,
I like your perspective on this question. I think we all want to be that teacher that students will remember long after they graduate. The tricky part is actually putting these aspirations into effective practice.
I also commend you on taking a "real life" approach to education. We would be fooling ourselves if we thought that every student would actually retain all the musical training we provide for them. It's definitely more important to teach our students to be decent human beings than it is to make them phenomenal musicians (although it would be nice).
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