Tag: teacher
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‘Fame’ High School Stages Sit In
Very proud of my alma mater. As a music teacher, I couldn’t agree with these students more. Good for them. Please read this article.
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ISM’s in me
The problem with being someone who likes to fix things is, you may end up causing more problems. Unintended problems which may put into question the very reason you chose to help. In my case, a bad mixture of paternalism, guilt, narcism, and hero’ism gone too far. Recently I caught myself trying to help too…
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Music and Words
Last month my school had an assembly celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Every year I think about how my school celebrates MLK. In years past, when I taught at a small independent elementary and middle school, we kept it to many of his highlights and events. Students learned about nonviolent protest,…
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Identity and Representation
Little over a month ago I ran into a former student at a performance. As we caught up with one another, he mentioned conversations or topics we had explored a few times years ago. We discussed the idea of what it feels like when you feel like you don’t really, fully, belong where you are.…
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Interesting Week of Thoughts
When I share something that is linked somehow to popular culture, it’s often because “I am late to the party”, but still want to participate. In this case I may still be late to this party, however, I can’t shake how I felt after watching Black Panther. My insights won’t offer anything new to the…
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Twitter Profile
When I was first setting up my Twitter account, I was stumped by my title. At first, I thought, I should just use what’s on my business card… The only problem was which one should I use. At the time I was a freelance trumpeter, with about 498 cards from Vista Print and a music…
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Picking a high school in New York City
Many of my middle school students already know where they will be attending high school. When I was their age I had no ideas where I’d be spending the bulk of my teen age years. There were only 3 real choices for me at the time. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts,…
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Middle of summer worries for a music teacher
It’s the middle of summer, my kid is watching cartoons while I look at my units of study for the up coming school year. Since I am a middle school band director, I tend to worry about how effectively I am helping students learn specific skills on their instruments and the other parts of music, like music theory and…
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A Reminder of Why I Teach
Sometime I listen to a podcast called Snap Judgement hosted by Glynn Washington on NPR. The show melds fascinating stories with a hip-hop backdrop. Last week I listened to a story by Joyce Lee called “Dropping The Ball” about her experience with a former student. It gave me pause and reminded me of why I…
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Honey Do List & Team Work
The end of a school year for a teacher invites a certain level of relaxation and time to both reflect on the past year and plan for the next school year. When your kid goes to the school where you teach you have a different perspective of your time during the summer. Planning a action…
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