Posted by lisa on February 09, 2004 at 09:32:33:
In Reply to: I have a confession. I HATE TO TEACH posted by Sean Chisham on February 09, 2004 at 00:28:08:
Sean --
I understand where you're coming from. I have students that are a MAJOR discouragement, even so far as to brag about how they did not practice, etc. This is the downfall of being an independent contractor for a studio - I have no power to choose which students I think should discontinue. The business wants the money of everyone, regardless of his/her motivation. This has effected a part of my opinion toward teaching.
I still love to teach on the whole, however. It is just a few of my students that keep me going ironically. One of my students, my best one actually, is nearly deaf. He is an amazing musician already, and only in 5th grade! Another of my students was seriously mistaught by her former band director. She has NO confidence (something I myself had a problem with once) and can't even begin to figure out how to find pitches on her horn. Every week we seem to make a little more progress, and she gains more and more confidence. I love to see that! Another favorite student plays trumpet. She's in sixth grade, and can play to a G above the staff, after I taught her the "easy" way to do it. Her band director makes her play hard music, which she is capable of, and she brings me little presents to lessons every week. For Christmas she gave me a beautiful crystal dolphin (I love dolphins). It just makes me feel so good that I truly make a difference to these kids!
While in the past I many times had a bit of a problem trying to practice excerpts and such, I still find great rewards from teaching music to others. Since I don't really see myself as ever being a college teacher anymore, I really enjoy everything I do with music a lot more. It's true I rarely get much time to play my horn in a "practice" sense (I do play in a couple of bands though), I get much more benefit from the musical activities I participate in, one of which is teaching.
I too had a very patient teacher that helped me to accomplish a lot of things in life. When I put on my teacher hat, I remember my own experiences, and think of how I could be making a big difference to my students too. This thought in itself gets me through the good times and bad.
~lisa (0: