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A note to college / university music education students
who may be browsing through my band website...
First of all, you are entering into a VERY exciting career
-- give it your all. I've been at this for over 30 years and
do not regret a minute of it! Good luck to you, I hope you
find it equally rewarding.
As you look through this site, you may find ideas that you
would like to use; please do!!! If it works for you and
makes a difference in your teaching, I am delighted. Steal
them and use them. Be honest and don't call them your own,
but on the other hand, you do not need to credit me
(although you had better credit me if it is for a college
class -- your Prof might be very annoyed to find you had
stolen ideas from the web without doing a proper
bibliography!).
If you see things that you like and you think there may be
more (ex: the beginning thoughts paper is only one of four
"Thoughts" papers), send me an email and I'll tell you
more.
If my ideas spark your ideas, share them!! I'd love to hear
from you. If you notice any mistakes (historical, musical,
grammatical, spelling...) PLEASE(!!!!!) let me know! Teacher
quality (especially here in Massachusetts) is suspect enough
without having errors on my web site! (And a word to the
wise... ALWAYS present your best work! If you are a lousy
speller or don't write well, cultivate a friendship with
someone who can proof your work and help you learn. NEVER
send home memos that have misspellings or poor grammar --
remember, we too are responsible for the verbal education of
the youth of America, not just the English teacher! End of
lecture number 342.)
Lastly, feel free to contact me if I can be of any help to
you in your preparation to enter the world of music
education. If you live in, or are visiting the Boston area,
feel free to arrange to come by in person and check out our
program.
Again, good luck and have fun with the kids!
Diane Muffitt muffitt@bandnotes.info
(Hmmm... one more lecture / word-to-the-wise... Before you
stand in front of your first classroom, be sure you have a
solid repertoire of classroom management tricks (yelling at
kids does not count!). Read, talk to the masters, observe
how teachers quell problems and stop issues before they
happen, remember what YOUR directors/teachers did -- both
the effective and the ineffective. Make a journal of moves
you have seen -- create a list of what worked and what
didn't. Check out the book: Setting Limits in the
Classroom: How to Move Beyond the Classroom Dance of
Discipline by Robert J. Mackenzie, Ed.D, Prima
Publishing, PO Box 1260BK, Rocklin, CA 95677. And always
remember that the key to a working classroom is respect --
and it has to go both ways. Everything you do, ask yourself,
"Was that a respectful response?" If not, apologize --
setting good examples goes a long way toward creating a
climate that is productive and positive!
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