Truth be told, I had no idea that I was going to be teaching music in public schools a couple years ago. Throughout my college career I knew that I loved playing the bass and that I loved performing, but the reality of the musician's life was also very real: your income might be unstable, orchestras are having financial difficulties left and right, and the self-employed nature of free-lancing means that healthcare is completely your responsibility. These looming thoughts that I'm sure we've all had caused me to meander back and forth between phases of intense bass playing and phases of doing trying new things (mostly computer science) throughout my four years of undergraduate study. Before I had finished making up my mind, my four years were up coming to an end and I needed to think of something to do.
The thought of teaching in public schools had always been at the back of my mind; after all the very reason that I was at a music conservatory was thanks to an incredible music teacher that I had in middle school that gave me something to do and something to love. Come to think of it, all of the biggest influences in my life have been incredible teachers and mentors that have helped me try to figure out what in the heck I was going to try to do with my life and how I was going to do it. Of course there was my middle-school teacher that got me started, but from there the list of teachers goes on and on: from Douglas Basye, (my first bass teacher. Yes, his last name is actually Bayse), Thomas Sperl, Scott Dixon, Joanne Erwin, LeslieAnne Bird, Andrew Hire (I could keep going forever).
After much internal debate, I got myself enrolled in the one-year Masters in Music Teaching program at Oberlin to see if I was cut out to be a teacher.
I'll cut past the Masters in Music Teaching(MMT) program so the post won't get too long and also because I want to talk a bit about it in another post, but the program was a one-school-year-and-two-summer program that gave you licensure to teach in Ohio (which is pretty much allows you to teach in all states).
After the somewhat anti-climactic ending of the MMT program, I drove home back to Southern California and got to work looking for a teaching job. I was quite surprised about how fast I was able to find jobs, and I decided to take up an offer in the Rowland Unified School District in Los Angeles County teaching elementary and middle school band and orchestra.
So now here we are in the present day -- but wait, what was the deal with the Music Machine in the title?! Well, on the first day on the job, I was told to go around to the different school sites to figure out my teaching schedule and greet all of my principals.
So far so good.
At the first school I showed up at, I asked which room I was going to be in so that I could start getting a grasp of how to set up. The office lady looked up at me a little confused through her glasses. "You're in the bus... aren't you?" It turned out that the district I am working in had purchased two busses for the music teachers to drive around in and use as mobile classrooms. Without further ado, I present to you the Music Machine! I haven't quite started having classes in it yet because I'm cleaning out the inside.
Leave a comment down below if you have any suggestions for decorations!
After much internal debate, I got myself enrolled in the one-year Masters in Music Teaching program at Oberlin to see if I was cut out to be a teacher.
I'll cut past the Masters in Music Teaching(MMT) program so the post won't get too long and also because I want to talk a bit about it in another post, but the program was a one-school-year-and-two-summer program that gave you licensure to teach in Ohio (which is pretty much allows you to teach in all states).
After the somewhat anti-climactic ending of the MMT program, I drove home back to Southern California and got to work looking for a teaching job. I was quite surprised about how fast I was able to find jobs, and I decided to take up an offer in the Rowland Unified School District in Los Angeles County teaching elementary and middle school band and orchestra.
So now here we are in the present day -- but wait, what was the deal with the Music Machine in the title?! Well, on the first day on the job, I was told to go around to the different school sites to figure out my teaching schedule and greet all of my principals.
So far so good.
At the first school I showed up at, I asked which room I was going to be in so that I could start getting a grasp of how to set up. The office lady looked up at me a little confused through her glasses. "You're in the bus... aren't you?" It turned out that the district I am working in had purchased two busses for the music teachers to drive around in and use as mobile classrooms. Without further ado, I present to you the Music Machine! I haven't quite started having classes in it yet because I'm cleaning out the inside.
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| This is my mobile classroom: the Music Machine! |
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| The inside of the Music Machine - help me figure out what to do with it! |
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