Remember a couple years ago I was saying I wanted to be a band teacher? I wrote a blog post on this website about it. Well, because of that...I am finally getting a chance to do it.
Well, here's how it came to be. Since that post, I had still been doing my thing. I was freelancing, teaching a lot of lesson students each week, performing when I could, being a dad, etc. I was thinking about getting my teaching certificate next year, once my youngest son was in full-time public school. But then, I found out that there was a long-term sub opportunity in Coupeville...where I went to school. The normal band teacher was said to be away from the position for an unknown about of time, and in the meantime the had a sub who wasn't really a music teacher but was doing a good job keep the kids going...but they wanted someone who could really teach them music and get the kids excited about music. So thee school counselor, who is the mom of two of may students, suggested me for it...just because I made that blog post and she saw it. And she had seen me in action as a lesson teacher and an ensemble director and camp leader, and felt confident I could take over in Coupeville for however long was needed and do it well. That's so nice of her.
I don't know how long I'm going to be subbing, but I crossing my fingers that it's going to be for a long time. I'm so excited, but I'm a little scared. Teaching in a public school is something I have never done before, and I definitely didn't think it was going to happen to soon in my life, after I had made this decision to be a band teacher.
Of course, I had to modify my lesson schedule so that I wasn't teaching 7.5 hours a day at a school and then 4 more hours at the music store each day of the week. It was really hard to do, because I either had to drop students, reduce their lesson time to just 30 minutes, or teach them once every two weeks. I just want to help everyone, y'know? It's a real problem...
So...we'll see how it goes. I start in the morning...teaching band in a small middle & high school...a beginning band of 20 members...a high school band of 11 members...2 music production classes...a guitar class (I've never played guitar before)...
But the most important thing is to build rapport. To do my thing.
Take care and value music.