tpter1

Well, I guess I'll get things rolling. I suppose once the school year begins alot will surface, so let's start with some introductions...even though many of us "know" each other from the forum, we may not know what exactly we teach, where we teach, and how long we've been doing this.

I teach in a small, rural district of about 550 kids in a k-12 school. My area is 5-12 band, and I'll also be teaching theory again this year (there was a thread about that...thanks to all who helped out on that!). We offer 3 concerts bands grouped by grades as 9-12, 7-8 and 5-6. There's also a jazz band, open to kids in grades 7-12, and marching band open to students beginning with the summer of their 6th grade year until the summer after they graduate. I also teach brass as an adjunct at St. Lawrence University (going on my 3rd year doing that). I've been teaching for...umm...15 years now.

Vulgano Brother

Born & bred in the pacific northwest, played & taught private lessons and at a couple colleges. Moved to Germany, played & taught within both the Posaunenchor and Musikschule traditions.
The Posaunenchor started with the idea of offering a church choir for people who can’t sing, and as a ”portable organ” for outside services. The name comes from Luther’s translation of Busine into German, favorite instruments are trumpets and trombones. Literature abounds, mostly 4 part, and always in concert pitch.
The Musikschule is usually funded by a town or a German kind of 501-C3 not for profit organization.

highbrass

I am a former band/orchestra/chorus teacher (grades 4-12 for about 8 years) and am currently a librarian at a semi-rural elementary school, enrollment approx. 1,100 students in grades PreK-6 (and yes, I prepare and teach lessons for all grade levels!). 90% of our students are on free/reduced lunch, with a 40% ESL (English as Second Language) population. Because our school has no music teacher, I will occasionally create lessons which involve music and musical instruments (and connect this to literature, since this is a library, after all). So in essence, I am an ad-hoc music teacher as well, at my own convenience, of course. I've been in the education field for 12 years now.

In case you are wondering why I am not currently teaching music, there are two reasons. One, I wanted to perform more as a freelance musician (I not only gig on trumpet, but also French horn) and thought it best to be employed in a job which would allow me the time to do so. Two, I had started to sing in a symphony chorus and taking voice lessons, and wanted to keep my voice healthy as much as possible. I get sick a lot while teaching (remember that schools are the "germy-est" places, especially elementary schools), and my voice used to get hoarse when teaching band (I do not have a loud voice, so to attempt to project my voice over 30+ students, 5 periods a day was too much for my voice). But that's just me; I wasn't able to figure out how to effectively project my voice (I'm sure there is a way).

I enjoy helping friends with their band programs, so occasionally I will run a trumpet or horn sectional for my friend's middle school band, help screen incoming 5th and 7th grade band students for a prestigious private school twice a year as well as adjudicate brass and percussion students in youth symphony auditions annually. It's great to be connected to music in every way possible, as I don't know what I would do without it.


Liz

trumpet blower88

I started teaching private lessons to 5th grade students just starting out in band two summers ago. My first summer I only had two students, this summer I have five. I meet with each of them idividualy once a week, and once a month I run a group lesson to get them used to playing within a section and playing along with each other. This summer I also started teaching one student piano lessons, and with that I've expanded my group lesson into a very basic theory course as well, getting them introduced to more complex aspects of music that they wont really learn right away in an elementry school band class. Things like more difficult rythms, time signatures, and even some music history. They seem to like it.

I'm entering my first year Northern Arizona University majoring in Music Ed, I'm going to take it fairly easy my first year getting used to college and everything, but hopefully next year I can get on staff at one of the Flagstaff Highschools for their marching season.


Now... If I'm going to be a teacher, I should probably work on my spelling, I'm sure there's quite a few spelling errors in there.

Dave

..

bandman

I’m currently teaching at the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette, Louisiana where I have the privilege of teaching about 145 great students. This is my 3rd year at Fatima, where I took over a program of about 40 students. They are a joy to teach, and they have brought much of the joy of music back into my life, after I had just about lost it in my previous band position.

Prior to moving to Fatima I taught until retirement in an economically poor Lafayette Parish Public Middle School (no names for obvious reasons you will see). I took a program there of 75 and built it into over 400. We were extremely successful in retention, and in getting the job done! We received a superior at every festival but one in the entire time I was at that school. We also won several major competitions through out the southern part country.

I retired a few years earlier than I should have because I had a principal that just could not support the arts. Sports ran the school. The last year I was there he decided to put all of the students in classes according to grade, not experience or ability. What was a five band system with students in the appropriate class and appropriate instrumentation, became a class with first and fourth year students in the same class, and students who could play grade 3-5 music mixed in with students who had never held a horn before. I retired from that job 10-weeks into the school year.

I served two years as technology supervisor/religion teacher for a small Catholic school. In the second year I suffered a heart attack. My heart problems continued and I didn’t know how long I would be out so I resigned that position so the school could get a permanent replacement and move forward.

The week I resigned that job the principal of my current school called. Basically he told me that when I was ready to return to work to let him know, and the band program would be mine. He has been a very valued supporter and friend of the band program. He even came with us on our trip to Florida last year. He is an amazing administrator, and an amazing role model for both his faculty and student body.

In closing, last week he made the purchase of a building that had belonged to the church, which will become the “creative arts department for our school. It’s nice to know that in the time when schools are cutting the arts, ours has made a major commitment to this area! I am truly a blessed person to teach at such a great school, and I thank God everyday for these blessings!

davidjohnson

since 1972.
k-12 music (instrumental & vocal)for sloan-hendrix school district in arkansas since '85...with a little college work in between the years.
for 5 years i did a jr high band at a large jhs and really enjoyed that, too.

dj