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May 2008Ryu Goto plays Paganini Concerto at 7 years old!!!Published: May. 30, 2008 at 8:14 AMI found this so amusing I had to share with everyone.
I'm no longer an undergraduate...time to march onward to summer!Published: May. 15, 2008 at 7:48 AMI know...it's funny to talk about summer when we are still in mid May...However I just hit another mile stone in life; I finished my undergraduate course work and will be graduating on May 24th. Believe it or not...I'm more relieved than excited to be done with school. What I AM excited about is what lies ahead for summer. At the momentthese are my plans for summer: June 4-8 Attend the 2008 Internation Viola Congress at ASU July 6-12 Attend the OSU String Teacher Workshop taught by Robert Gillespie July 14-17 Go up to Santa Barbara for a week of viola lessons with the wonderful Hellen Callus August 1-8 Suzuki Book 4 Teacher Training After all this I will be completely broke, but I will be happy. Especially after not being able to do anything last summer. My only wish is I could do more musi programs. If I could have things my way I was participate in summer music programs all day, every day, all summer long. I look forward to the inspiration and newfound knowledge I will obtain this summer. Summer of 2008 will be the best summer yet! I can hardly wait!
Maybe a career change is in order...Published: May. 2, 2008 at 11:59 PMThe old saying goes "those who can do and those who can't teach..." These days it seems like I cannot do either. I'm sure many of you have seen teachers that fit this category. They play beautifully however they simply cannot teach. Or vice versa, they may not be the greatest player but are amazing teachers. There are also those fortunate ones that have teachers that are able to both a wonderful teacher as well as performer. Lately I've been feeling less confidence in myself as a teacher. I do mean well and I WANT to learn to do well. Through my life I've had some wonderful teachers however I have also had some terrible ones. Those terrible teachers had served as an example of everything I did not want to become. Since junior high school I've wanted to be able to teach in the public schools be able to share the motivation and skill my own teachers instilled in me. I myself am a product of the public schools. Because I could not afford it financially I was not able to study privately until I was about 17. Through kindness and patience my private teacher has helped me come a long way playing pieces like Walton Viola Concerto, the Reger Suites, Schubert's "Arpeggione" Sonata, or Vieuxtemps Elegie. These are pieces that I thought would be forever out of my reach. I wanted to become the next Mr. Holland, the next Roberta Guaspari-Tzavars, and the next Dorothy Delay of the music education field. I not only wanted to create passionate players but players that would play at a high level despite studying music in the public schools. Alas, I've been feeling discouraged this year about that ever happening. I am patient and I get along with the kids find when not teaching. How ever when I'm in teacher mode my ability to connect is a different story. I feel like maybe I just don't know how to teach nor do I have a knack for it. I try to get training or learn from others when I can. I try to observe other music teachers, I've done Suzuki Book 1, 2, and 3 training...I will be doing Book 4 training in the summer, I'm going to the Ohio String Teacher Workshop directed by Robert Gillespie in July...I read publications sent by ASTA, MENC, and Strings Magazine to gain more insight and knowledge. Yet after 4 years of teaching at the middle and elementary school level I feel like I should be getting a lot more accomplished with my kids and I often see the class sizes dwindle. This is a reflection of me not doing enough to inspire them. I feel bad whenever I see looks of boredom or confusion. I especially become flustered when I hear bad notes, bad technique, bad rhythms, etc. It's so easy to spot the bad but what becomes difficult is knowing how to fix it to become good especially with so many levels of comprehension in a group setting. I just wanted be remembered as someone that has a positive effect in the music education field. Not to be remembered as someone that turned them off music. I wish I knew what to do. As discouraged as I am, I will keep trying to succeed in this path and see where it takes me. I gave up a lot for this and there's not turning back, nor would I want to. Vent over.
More entries: April 2008
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