The Evolving Educator

The Evolving Educator is a conglomeration of and repository for everything I’ve learned and created over the years…so far. As I evolve as an educator, so will this resource.

The site is written through the lens of a string music educator, yet there is much information that can benefit any educator or music educator.

My goal is to serve a wide gamut of teachers as I include not only my current tools but also previous incarnations and how they become what is useful now.

I also envision this site as a printed book and resource so if you know of any interested publishers, please let me know.

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Be sure to check out my bass blog, MostlyBass.com and my online store which features my book, “An Introduction to Double Bass Playing”.

Check out books and products I recommend at Amazon.com.

Have multiple sources of revenue

Fortify your home base

Sometimes your enemies are really friends

Continually upgrade and learn

It’s ok to change strategies

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes or perspective

Maybe you’re not seeing details behind the scenes

The big picture isn’t always revealed immediately

Anyone, at any age, can win

There’s always a do-over!

And second chances are ok – as are thirds, etc.

Save early and often

Does your school have terrible coffe in the lounge? Put half of a cinnamon stick in the bottom of your cup before pouring. Yum!! And good for you.

Hi readers! I’m curious who’s reading the blog. Post your name (just first is fine!), what level you teach, and what major city you are near. Thanks!

No year will be perfect.
There will always be students you don’t like.
There will always be students you do like.
There will always be students that like you.
There will always be students that don’t like you.

There will always be students that practice.
There will always be students that don’t practice.
You will never have 100%. That doesn’t mean not to try for 100%.

There will always be the student that:
is late
is on time
is early
smells
is tired
is happy
works hard
doesn’t seem to care
is dirty
has a great family is still a poor student
has a tough family life but is still a great student
doesn’t want to be a musician but wants a musical experience
wants to be a musician
wastes their abilities
wastes their time
uses their time
wants you to use their time

I’m looking to use my skills in the field of personal coaching.

As a music teacher, much of my job is basically personally coaching. During a rehearsal, I organize, analyze and review data. Then I decide what to do with that data, if anything.

In rehearsals, lessons, meetings, and throughout the day knowing what to discard, what to keep, what to pursue, what to modify and what to leave alone are skills I have honed over my years as an educator.

These are skills that can be applied to any area of life.

If you feel your life is out of control or your time management abilities could use some sharpening, I can help!

Why should and do we have orchestra (or anything for that matter?) in schools?

We’ve all heard and given many reasons – to have a musical experience, to cultivate the arts, to allow to kids to ‘express’ themselves (yeah, right), because it’s good for them (it is, but WHY?), etc…
But these are all superficial reasons that only mask much deeper reasons and laws of nature and human nature.
Some say it’s because it fosters self-discipline and habits & ethics of work. That’s not bad. Perhaps it goes even deeper – down to self-sufficiency and trust. Learning an instrument is a true and tactile demonstration of natural law – you can’t run before you can walk and you can’t play the concerto without even learning how to open the case as a child. There is order and sequence. It is about learning about these natural sequences that are immutable and universal.

How about trust? What aspect of trust? The only way to gain trust is to be trustworthy and the only way to be trustworthy is to practice being trustworthy – first to yourself, then to others. How to you learn to be trustworthy to yourself; internally? By making by first making small commitments and keeping them – like saying your going to practice and doing it. Orchestra (and all music, and most other activities) is a means to practice the muscle of trustworthiness. It is about keeping promises to yourself. You can’t keep promises to others if you can’t first keep them with yourself – YOUR self.

Orchestra is about mental fitness.It trains, hones, and sharpens our mental blade and faculties. It can give a student’s life meaning – Logos as Viktor Frankl put it.

Hello Readers! Do you have any PowerPoint / Keynote lessons you’d like to share? I’m looking to do something theory related on my SmartBoard and wanted to get some ideas.

Thanks!Here’s a simple presentation KeyNote presentation for teaching key signatures.

100 reasons to be a teacher from OnlineCollegeGuru

Google offers a lot more than just search and email. Their online office software has become quite robust over the years. I used to have my school database and documents on my laptop which I brought back and forth to school but now I do most of that with Google Docs. Of course I still need something more powerful for fancier documents with graphics and making concert programs. And the spreadsheet  can’t do more advanced tasks like lists in a cell. But for day to day to use it’s a phenomenal resource and I no longer have to bring my laptop every day to work. I can access everything from anywhere that is online.

Check it out at http://docs.google.com

If emotions are at the core of learning, why do music educators and ensemble directors consistently ignore the student’s emotions? Nearsightedness and for their own emotions.  Or perhaps we should be thinking about future emotions.
It is easier to look a month or two down the road. It is easier to view own your road rather than putting yourself in the students place ten years from now. And of course it feels good to win. Bringing home the gold ‘proves’ that you’re a great teacher. Or does it?
Is it really about how ‘good’ your ensemble is? Is it about how many gold medals you win? How many competitions you attend? Those are events to experience and targets to shoot for but not the end goal. It’s about the students and their experience. It’s about them having a positive experience. It’s about them walking away with positive emotions.
Think about the kid in the back of the section. He’s a mediocre player. Not always in tune and sometimes comes in at the wrong time. Do you cut him or put soap on his bow so he can’t make a sound? Of course not. But down the road, what is really going to matter? Not the fact that the group received a lower rating because of him. No, what will matter is that he participated. When he looks back, the fact that he was in the group will make the difference and in turn affect  how he interacts with people, groups, and situations.
What do you remember about your school music experience? I don’t remember what score I received at contests but I can tell you how teachers treated me and what kind of experience I had.
I remember my baseball coach not putting me in the game because…well because I sucked at baseball! It was a freshman league and all he cared about was winning. Does it really matter? How do you think I feel about that experience and how does that affect me now? Will your students want to attend a musical event as an adult or will it cause negative emotions to reverberate with them?

Here’s a note a got from a student a while ago I was impressed – that takes guts.

Warren Buffett’s Advice to Your Kids

Once a year, more than 10,000 shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) descend upon Omaha, Neb., to listen to its managers, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, answer questions for more than five hours. Buffett, arguably the world’s greatest investor, is known for his willingness to teach others. Here, paraphrased, are some of his answers to questions asked by or for youngsters.

On how to cultivate and keep friends:
What do you admire in others? Adopt as many of those qualities as you can and you’ll attract others to you. Whatever repulses you in others will repulse others if you have it. Cultivate habits that attract people when you’re young.

On how to succeed in investing:
Stay within your circle of competence. If you have doubts if something is within it, it’s not. It’s better to stay well within your circle of competence than wander around its edges. You can have a small circle of competence and do well — that’s OK. My own is small.

On preparing for retirement:
Think of any car — a genie offers you any car in the world. The catch is that it’s the only car you’ll ever get. What do you do? You read the manual 10 times, you change the oil twice as often as you need to, you take fastidious care so that it remains the car of your dreams forever.

You get only one mind and body — the same ones you’ll have at 40, 60, etc. Take care of them and maximize their potential. It will be too late to take care of your body and mind (and car!) later on. You can maintain them, but it’s hard or impossible to undo big mistakes or negligence later on. You don’t want to end up with a wreck on your hands.

Your main asset is yourself. Treat yourself as a valuable asset. I often explain to students that I’d be willing to pay today for a percentage of the future earnings of good students. They’re valuable assets already, worth something right now.

You can learn a lot from Buffett’s engaging and educational letters to shareholders. Read them online at the Berkshire Hathaway website.

What are we really training our students for? My brother is a mathematician and educator and it’s refreshing to get his perspective. We should be creating life long learners and appreciators with a foundation that allows them to pursue the field if they so choose. Too often we approach students as though every one is going to enter the field we teach. How unfortunate for the student that enjoys a subject but doesn’t want to live it! It’s too easy for us educators to squeeze the enjoyment of a subject out of the student so that they loathe it.

My goal for my young musicians is to get them to enjoy their instrument and appreciate playing. Remember in the ‘Classical’ period, everyone was an amateur musician. Most households had a piano and most people could play it. Einstein turned to his violin to stimulate his mental processes.

Does this mean we sacrifice standards and fundamentals? Of course not! But we should look at the big picture, see how we fit in that, and create a positive and understanding learning atmosphere.

My SmartBoard finally got hooked up and ready to go in my middle school orchestra classroom.

How do you use your SmartBoard with your class or ensemble?

Do you have any favorite tips or tricks?

UPDATED 02/10/10

NotifyMe – A reminder program with a web interface. Uses push notification.

AwesomeNote – Simple yet refined note program that syncs with Google.

GeeTasks- To Do list that syncs with Google Tasks

Chronology – Simple, elegant timer

Calengoo – Sync with Google Calendar

SplashID- Keep track of all your usernames and passwords… I have been using this since the Palm days of 2000.

Shovebox – The ultimate digital filing cabinet. Syncs with Mac program.

What are  yours?

What do you do to counteract the mid-year blues?

Here’s a newspaper blurb about a recent school concert!

Post your 2010 goals, resolutions, and thoughts!

from “The Perfect Wrong Note” by William Westney

“Education consists, not so much of knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently APPLIED.”

I hope everyone is having a great and restful holiday break!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Camino – Fast, clean, simple – it’s my web workhorse. Not as powerful as Firefox but not as cumbersome either.

As an employee of a not-for-profit organization, teachers are entitled to participate in a 403(b)(7) investment program. A 403(b)(7) plan is a tax-deferred retirement plan often available to employees of public schools or non-profit organizations.

You hear your corporate friends talk about their 401k. It’s kinda of like that but with no employer match and you get a choice of mutual funds to invest in.

Talk to your business or payroll department about information. This is a great thing to do as it invests PRE-TAX dollars, thus reducing your taxable income and each dollar has more buying power.

Yes, most teachers have their TRS, but come on, don’t you want to live comfortably? Start planning for your future NOW!

Jeesh, I wish I could sell these things

Looking for  online to-do and project management? Check out Toodledo. It is very powerful and can sync with many computer, phone, and handheld platforms.

I use it in conjunction with Notebook and Pocket Informant.

And there’s no reason why students can’t setup a free account that they can access anywhere.