In a recent post, “Were you ready?” on the Future Teachers forum, one student asks if other music educators were nervous starting their first teaching job. MENC member, Richard Fiese wrote a letter to one of his students entering his first year teaching. Here is the insightful advice he offered. These tips can help student teachers as well.

1. Teach children through music, about music, about themselves, about others, about beauty, about life.
2. Imagine your classroom and the students exactly as you’d like them to be. Then identify everything that you must do to make it happen.
3. Never get upset when students can’t do something. They are merely identifying what they need to be taught.
4. It’s more important to be able to say one thing a thousand different ways than it is to say a thousand different things each day.
5. Let the students make music right away. Get to the good stuff! Music is its own reward—use it to your advantage.
6. Avoid references to your program, your students, your room. Avoid using “I,” “my,” or “mine” when discussing the program, the students, or perceived needs.
7. When you don’t know something—ask! Then decide based on the best information available. Remember, virtually every teacher fails in some way; it’s how you react to failure that will help determine your ultimate success. Successful teachers look everywhere for answers; less successful teachers tend to withdraw to avoid having their “failures” discovered. Ignorance can be overcome, but stupidity is forever. 
8. Some days teaching isn’t fun—get over it. Everything in life can at times become a rut. You’re fortunate that you’ve selected a wonderful rut! Stick to it, and good times will reward you in the long run.

 “I was extremely nervous about teaching—not just my first year, but my first couple years in any of the new jobs I got when I changed schools. This is normal. There is a lot of stuff that really needs to be learned on the job and nobody is really completely prepared for what it’s like to be in charge of students by yourself, to develop your own curriculum, and to figure out what you need to teach when, etc.” says MENC member Christine Nowmos.

Are you nervous about your first teaching job? Post your comments on the Future Teachers forum.

References

Richard Fiese, “Open Letter: To First-Year Teachers,” Spotlight on Transition to Teaching Music, Reston, VA: MENC, 2004. This article was originally published in the Florida Music Educators Association Journal, Florida Music Director.

MENC Member Richard Fiese is a Professor in Music Education at Houston Baptist Universit, Texas

MENC Member Christine Nowmos is the general/vocal music teacher of grades Pre-K through 4 at Mary S. Shoemaker School in Woodstown, NJ.

--Shauna Leavitt, November 19, 2008, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education. (menc.org)