Doing Teaching

a gem from 2014 that wasn’t posted…

It has been a whirlwind of a year!

I could leave this cathartic post there and feel a level complete… but… there’s more. Suddenly changing direction last year, leaving my Teaching Assistant position to return as a HS director, accepting 2 student teachers immediately, and now moving into my role on the state band /orchestra board. The dissertation looms (along with the great opportunities to continue to grow as a person that coincide with it). My desires to evolve the current practices in school music are still strong, but seemingly isolated. My passion for mentoring is as intense as ever, knowing that the interactions we have with colleagues can significantly shape our perspectives. Different opportunities to change myself, suggest change for others, and most interestingly, change WITH others.

There is a bump in the road, though. Too often, we (the metaphorical “educators”) sit around the table a talk about ways to improve education. We recite the obstacles (funds, resources, technology, time, etc) and squash dialogue with the excuse of “we tried that once, but then the state said…” (or whomever your opposition was). After that recitation is complete, the conversation ends. WHY! We need to continue to dream and wish and wonder about the “what if” and “I wonder what”  or “can you imagine how” that exist in our fields.