Music Teacher: The Life of a Music Teacher

Introduction
Being a music teacher is not a "fall back" career. Music teachers used to be made up of people who were unable to make a living as performers. The newest generation of good music teachers are people who made the art and science of teaching music a priority over their own performing.

Reach across the curriculum. Make an effort to connect your music teaching to whatever is going on in the regular classroom. Is your fourth grade studying the midwest region of the US in Social Studies? Then use an authentic folksong from the midwest as part of your teaching in music class. There are infinite possibilities, and reaching across the currriculum always keeps administrators happy.

Make data-driven decisions and assessments. It used to be that if you showed up to music class and you smiled, you received an A. Today, music teachers and administrators are looking for very specific assessments with clear criteria and verifiable data. For example, let's say the assessment is measuring singing in tune. A very basic rubric would look like this.

4- Consistantly Sings in Tune
3- Consistantly Sings in Tune with One or Two Mistakes
2- Sometimes Sings in Tune
1- Rarely Sings in Tune.

Based on the criteria in this rubric, give the student a number. When you have a whole class worth of data, plug it into an Excel sheet and you can plot a quick graph of your data.
When you assess a student, record them singing. There are digital recorders that plug straight into iTunes for less than $200 now. If you get an angry phone call from a parent, you will have evidence to back up your data-driven decision.

Job Function
The best part of my job is seeing kids develop a form of self expression through music. Some kids need music as an outlet for their emotions. Some kids benefit more from the cognitive challenges of music reading. Some kids just need another person in the building aside from their teacher to relate to. To this third type of student, sometimes you are teaching life through music, not music itself.
The worst part of my job is getting my time or space disrespected. Often I will be "bumped" from my room because of a special event. Other times I will be dragged into meetings that have nothing to do with my subject matter, no matter how much I try to reach across the curriculum. Advertisement
Lifestyle
I love my life. I have the satisfaction of knowing that what I do makes a difference in children's lives. The sheer number of kids affected by my teaching through the years is overwhelming. I believe in what I do. If you can't decribe why you work somewhere in three sentences, work somewhere else.
The hours and location of my school are perfect for me. Every morning I go to the gym, then I put in a full day at school, and I'm out of school everyday before the first rush hour. Summers are also a blessing, though I use them to design my curriculum for the upcoming school year.
The kind of person who succeeds as a music teacher is the kind of person who is humble but also a fighter. You have to be able to fight for your music budget without being cocky about your own program. You have to get along with people who you have nothing in common with. You have to make sure you can make the best out of a bad situation. For example, if you slaved over a lesson plan for a week and there was a fire drill on the day of the big lesson, you have to role with it. You have to have infinite patience with children.

Additional Information
If you enjoy children first and you enjoy music as well, become a music teacher. The rewards are tremendous.