Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Why I Am a Music Teacher

I can't count how many times students have asked me "So why did you want to teach music?" I think today sums it all up.

I've been working on planning for the band program for the past few months, and one of my little 8th graders "Z" was so excited at the thought of being in the high school band next year. On the night of our instrument fitting, she quickly determined that she wanted to play a clarinet, and she sat in my room for the entire 4 HOUR fitting, "playing" the clarinet during any time it wasn't in use. The local music store came in for the parent meeting last week, and Z had to inform me that her father told her that she couldn't be in band because of financial reasons. She was very upset, and I told her that I would see what we could do, but that I wasn't sure how many (if any) school instruments we would be able to get.

Through the generosity of others, and through a project on DonorsChoose.org, we will be receiving a clarinet over the summer! The project reached completion last night, and I told little Z this morning. She was SO excited, jumped up and down, wrapped her arms around my neck. "Really?!?!" It's moments like these, when I see how excited a student is about becoming a musician, that make me want to be a music teacher. Moments like these make up for all of the days of horrible student behaviors, days of ISS coverage during my free periods, and any other "crappy days" we have as a teacher. To know that you make the difference in the life of one child...that's why I'm a music teacher.

If you have never visited DonorsChoose, please visit their site, find a project that means something to you, and help out a teacher in need of supplies or classroom equipment. We as teachers all know how hard it can be to function without some of the basic supplies, and you can donate as little as $5 to the classroom project of your choice, and your donations combined with the donations of others can make a huge difference in the lives of students.

If you want to see more of my projects, check out my teacher page! I'm not actively asking you to donate to my classroom, but it WOULD be really nice to have a bass drum for my classroom. :-)

God bless!
~Amy


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