MUSIC 23241: MUSIC TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, Assistant Professor
Kent State University School of Music
Fall, 2011
CRN: 200910 – Section number: 001 – Class Days: TR 7:45a – 8:35 am - Classroom: SOM E202
Office: Band Office - 330.672.2965 - Telephone: 330.672.2965 (Kent Campus) - E-mail: mneiman@kent.edu
Office Hours: TR 9:00 – 9:55 am (Additional hours available by appointment)
BlackBoard and Text Readings
Submitted by: Ryan Critchfield
Submitted for: Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, lecturer
Date: September 15, 2011
The instrumentalist, Volume Number 59, Issue Number 1, Pages 12-15.
Mark Leonard talks about how he has developed as a teacher, and how his music program has grown with him. He is a young teacher, and is still learning the ropes, but is an accomplished teacher at his age. He talks about dealing with parents, controlling students, and ways of offering encouragement to them. These are all important factors in leading a music program.
He also talks about how you have to delegate authority to the students, and give them some responsibility. At the same time he talks about setting limits for them, so they do not get out of hand. On top of setting these limits, he makes it clear that you cannot budge from your position, so as to keep consistency in the program. If things are not consistent, there could be problems with student behavior.
This article was very informative. He talks about how you need to be prepared with your material, and be self critical of your own mistakes that you make. No good teacher constantly blames his own faults on anything else. I particularly like his idea of student empowerment within the class. As an eagle scout I am particularly fond of this, since people learn leadership and confidence when they are guided through a situation and then let to do it on their own. The duties assigned do not need to be overly difficult, but just something so they can learn. The last point I want to discuss within the article is his reaction to student connection. He talks about how Rick Lorenze and his wife taught in the same district, and both had different ways of interacting with their students. While the transition of personality may have been awkward for the students at first, Mr. Lorenze made his work for the students, even though he may not have been as outgoing as his wife was. Everything that you need to become a good leader can be learned, and all the attributes can depend on you and your environment. If you have a type B personality like Mark Leonard, you can make it work for your environment. If you have a very outgoing personality like Mrs. Lorenze, adapt that. Leaders do not need to change who they are, they just need to find a way on how to be the most effective with what they have.
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