Success... to me.

I am officially a music teacher. Honestly, when someone asks me what I do, I have a little bit of pride when I tell them that I am a music teacher. There is something very honorable in the profession of a music teacher. And, it took me a really long time to become one. :)

I have now been teaching for about two months and I have a few stories to share that fill me with joy and have taught me some important lessons.

The first day of Kindergarten, the children followed after me in a line while I sang to them and we formed a circle and all sat down. I went around the circle and looked each child in the eyes and through a song, asked them to sing their name for me. There was one boy especially that looked completely terrified when I sang to him. When the time came for him to sing back, he burst into tears. He began talking in Spanish and asking for different people. All I could do was give him a hug and tell him "esta bien". I didn't know what he was saying and I didn't know how to communicate back to him that everything was all right. In that class, he has been my worry. A couple classes later, he actually smiled while we were playing a game. I felt so good after that class! The class before this last class, I taught them a Spanish song about trains. He LOVED it! He was smiling the whole time and played the game along with everyone. He even laughed a couple times. And finally, this last class period, I decided it should be a game day where the children picked their favorite music games and we would play them as a class. He raised his hand and said "chucu" (choo choo). I was so proud of him. We played the game. He smiled at me so many times that day. What is success? I found my definition that day.

I teach six classes of special education each week. Every class has a large range of children with different disabilities. In each class period, I sing a song to each child and look them in the eyes while I hold their hand, or touch their knee, or their foot. There are some children that jerk away at my touch until I begin singing and then they calm down. There are some children that get so excited for their turn that they can't hold it in and they yell out while I am singing to the child in front of them. I have children that are completely immobile in wheelchairs and all they can do outwardly is smile or cry. It is amazing to sing to them and hold their hands and have them smile so big, it permeates the entire room. Last class period, I found another definition of success. At the end of every class with those children, I sing "Peace Like a River" with sign language. Every once in a while, a child will sing along, but usually I am singing it for them and they watch... sometimes. Last class period, almost every child in that class was trying to do the sign language and singing along with me. What a beautiful sight that was. My heart was full.

I have a first grade class that is unruly to say the least. I have been praying for that class specifically since I started teaching. I have not been able to figure out how to help several of the children. To give an example, while I was teaching one day, two boys began fighting. One of them ran up to me and said that the other one had called him a motherf_____. The other boy repeated what the first said. They both went to the principal's office. A couple class periods ago, I had a thought that I know came from my Heavenly Father. One of the boys was acting up so much that I couldn't teach the class. I asked him to come be my helper. He came and sat by me and I told him to watch for children who were being especially good and then he was supposed to write their names down on a piece of paper for his teacher when she came to pick them up. He took his task seriously. By the end of class, he had ten names down. He literally beamed when I told his teacher that he was the one who had found the names. I have more work to do with the class, but that was my definition for success that day.

I was thinking about my definition of success the other day. I was trying to determine what I want my students to get out of music class. I feel like the push is for the children to understand solfa and to know how to read rhythms. Yes, that is important. However, what I want for the children in my music class is #1 for them to feel loved and accepted, #2 to find that they can be successful at something, and #3 to learn to love music. If they don't like music, what is the point of teaching them how to read a rhythm? If they don't feel loved, why would they feel like what I have to teach is important? If they are not successful at something, they will give up on life.

THAT IS WHY I TEACH MUSIC

NOT because I expect you to major in music.

NOT because I expect you to play or sing all your life.

NOT so you can relax or have fun.

BUT- So you will be human

So you will recognize beauty

So you will be sensitive

So you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world

So you will have something to cling to

So you will have more love, more compassion, more

gentleness, more

good…in short, more life.

Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live?

Author Unknown

I love being a music teacher because it helps me to be better at life. While I am teaching those children music, they are teaching me life.