Ups and downs

It's amazing, teaching is.  At times, I am very excited about current activities and look forward to participating in very exciting projects.  Conversely, there are moments that ignite feelings of frustration and sadness.  I suppose this is life and it's about treasuring those special moments, when they occur with enjoyment and fun; and respond to the not so nice moments with charm and patience.  What is important to remember is that our students do appreciate our positive energy and respond better when we show interest and care in their work and development.

I have discovered some interesting articles that inspire my lessons.  One such article shared rules to success in the music business.  The first rule I shared with one of my classes today because it captured my interest.  The article suggested that whenever we are involved with music, we should bring our "A" game effort to the activity.  I could tell with the silence in the class that my added comments about this suggestion struck a nerve with all of them.
The class unfolded smoothly and I believe it was due to this brief presentation.
Bye for now

Some time has passed

I get ideas every now and again about themes and topics I would very much like to include and enter into this blog, but time seems to fly by without being able to accomplish this task on a regular basis.  One idea that does pop into my head is about music teachers and how passionate they are about their programs.  Unlike other disciplines, such as English or math or science, music teschers appear to be very serious about promoting their programs and increasing their numbers and sections.  If I use myself as an example, I dedicated time to arranging concerts, attending festivals, creating opportunities for field trips and excursions, recordings, and community performances, performing for assemblies, attending meetings with administration to convince them about the need for more money to support all these great initiatives for the students, the school community and beyond!
indeed, it was serious work and we did it and continue to do it because we have a passion for the music and a passion for the program.  Like captain Kirk, from star trek, nothing is more important than your command, your ship!