Hey future self! Lookin' good, old chum! ;D So, I was thinking, in case you get overwhelmed and things start looking glum, remember your core values. Remember that they are what make you as a person, and define every action you take and every conversation you have. And also remember that your students can see the evidence of these, whether you want them to or not. You become identified by your core values, and what you believe in and stand for becomes who you are. So keep strong to those core values we mentioned in the last blog, and also, remember these.
Music teaches life skills.
Classrooms are communities and should teach community skills and values.
Music is a curricular subject in its own right, and exists for its own sake.
The classroom is a place of caring and respect.
Every child can learn.
Be proud and celebrate your accomplishments as both teacher and ensemble.
Jeph,
ReplyDeleteI like what you say, but you don’t go quite far enough. There is a practical reason for clearly defining your core values as a teacher—because all of the materials and decisions that you make will ultimately lead back to them. So when you decide how to grade, recruit, or even organize your lesson you will draw upon these values. The other thing is that the content (while present in your blog) isn’t very clear. I am not sure that you will realize that the list of values is in numerical order in terms of priority. Format your blog so things like that “jump” out at the reader.
.5/1 NS