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.

_______________________________________________
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.

The things us teachers get excited about!

Mariner Software, makers of some of my favorite software including MacJournal, StoryMill, and Paperless is having a 40% of sale.

Visit http://www.marinersoftware.com/store/cart.php

and use Coupon Code: 20YEARS

The time is approaching for schools to start back up again. My district in suburban Chicago is starting on August 16 this year. What are you doing different this year?
I’ve been reading The Practice Revolution by Philip Johnston and I’ve revising my practice records to focus on goals and results rather than just minutes practices per week.

I just finished the book, Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. This is a must read for aspiring musicians, artists, and athletes and their parents. It dispels the myth of innate talent and uses research to show that drive and environmental factors are the real path to greatness.

http://petertambroni.com/edu/fundraising/

Have an idea for an article? Need to vent your educational issues? Want to contribute to The Evolving Educator? It’d be great to have some guest writers and contributors for this blog.

Email me at tambroni AT hotmail DOT 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 and egos.  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?

Another school year has come to a close. This year was a busy one. It was my first year as vice president of our teacher’s association and I was also on the negotiation team for our new contract.

Oh and I taught too

Each year I reflect on how I can improve what I did for next year to give my kids a more positive experience. I also recharge by reading books, practicing, and hitting the gym a lot!!

My goals for next include tweaking my rehearsals to be more productive for longer stretches of time and working to stay refreshed throughout the school year. That’s tough. How to not get a little tired at some point. But I figure I’ll change things the moment I feel stale or start playing more with the students – they know I love to play the bass.

I’m currently reading Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin – I highly recommend it. Despite it’s business focus it uses many music examples from throughout history.

One of my summer goals is to go through this site and add more material. If you’re reading this and would like to be a guest blogger, please let me know.

“They would rather be inspired than anything else. So be what you want to see.” – Steve Chandler

Check out a short technology article I wrote for iSchoolBand.com.

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!

I am totally in love with Evernote!

“Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free.” Read more here.

I’m expanding my career experience into the realm of life coaching. More information is available here.

A cool article from Online Education Blog.

Check it out it HERE

On page 30 of Essential Elements, upbeats or pickup notes are introduced. I have always had a difficult time teaching this to students but here are few things I’ve done over the years to help.

Write in the counting – 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4  and have the student work backwards to figure out what comes before 1.

Relate the pickup note to a prefix of words. Students in the fourth and fifth grades know what a prefix is and this make perfect sense – the song has a prefix and this ties in with their language arts class. The students immediately understand it

Hi readers, sorry for the lack of posts but I’ve been on spring break. Although I didnt visit anywhere I did spend plenty of time with my fiance and enjoyed the great weather that Chicago had. Remember to enjoy life too!

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.

How do you pronounce Bach? Debussy? Schoenberg or Lutoslawski?

Unless you met the composer, it is probably slightly different than I or someone else says it.

We americans tend to be very pretentious about our pronunciations. I’m all for accuracy and being correct but if you’re more worried about the aspirated ‘ch’ in Bach than in practicing his music, there’s a problem!

I have played with people from other countries and they generally say the composer’s name in their accent. In one ensemble in graduate school, I was the only American. Names were pronounced differently but if everyone understood, it was fine and we moved on. So why can’t we say names with our accent? It just happens to be an American English accent rather then French or Italian. And did you ever introduce yourself to someone from another country? You say your name and they say it with some linguistic rules from their language, but it’s not a problem.

A few years ago I had a student from Poland. I asked her how to pronounce Chopin and it wasn’t even like our pretentious way of saying it. So, in this case, the correct Polish pronunciation was different than how us Americans are trying to pronounce it. So who is ‘right’?

Now, what should we do?

• Try to be somewhat faithful to the original language. For example, no one pronounces the ‘J’ in ‘Janacek’ like ‘jello’ – it has the ‘Y’ sound. But then again, we probably don’t get the vowel and accents correct – but the effort is there without overdoing it.
• Listen to the classical music station as they tend to me very well informed people and see how they pronounce it.
• Right or wrong, don’t dwell on it. Say the name and move on – unless there’s a compelling reason not to. For example, I was once corrected on the pronunciation of Poulenc. I asked how he knows and my teacher responded with, “Well, when he introduced himself to me.” Touche. He wins.
• Focus more on your playing and musical skills. They speak volumes.
• Listen to the people around you and go with the general consensus – even if it is incorrect (like Chopin!). It will make life easier and you can concentrate on your playing.

Thanks, and as Gyorgy Ligeti didn’t once say, “Go Practice!”.

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

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.