[Dixielandjazz] IAJE - TJEN - Some thoughts.

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Folks:   As I have tried to explain in this thread previously,  I am 
not a Teacher Hater at all, I have been trying to show the enormous 
Problem that exists across this country's education system relating to 
music.  Not just OKOM, even though it is suffering greatly as a result 
of the overall problem with the SYSTEM and the Politics involved and 
foisted upon the teachers.

Hence many of the Better and or Good Teachers got fed up with it and 
retired or simply quit and left the system to it's own ill-fated devices
which we are now experiencing the fall out from and will do so for a 
lot longer as the problem multiplies.

I am merely saying that the System is badly broken and needs to be 
fixed or dumped and a new plan put into action.

Remembr the "New Math" don't you well we saw what that did for the 
educational system,  the old one was not broken but some genius decided 
we needed to fix it anyway.


Musical content:   "Teach Me Tonight"   but Somebody please teach me 
Right !

Kids will soon get their musical education the same way they do their 
Sex education, in the back seat of chevrolets in the darkest part of 
town.  :))


Cheers,

Tom Wiggins


-----Original Message-----
From: larrys.bands at charter.net
To: mike at railroadstjazzwest.com; dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] IAJE - TJEN - Some thoughts.

   > Mike (who wonders why music colleges even bother with some gene
> types.)

As long as you can pass the required state
> exams and have at least a 'B' average in your music courses
> you'll probably be hired as a teacher.

Wow - I can believe it - My teaching certificate reads High school
instrumental and VOCAL as well as K-8.  I turned down what would have 
been a
very good job because it had a string program and I turned down several 
that
were half and half instrumental and vocal.

Not only do I never want to teach vocal or strings but I would be
incompetent at it .  Just because  a teacher has those credentials 
doesn't
mean he should ever teach them**.  I have turned down more than one job
because I just didn't want to be incompetent at anything.  I did have 
to
teach a 7th and 8th grade vocal music class one year because the vocal 
guy
refused to do it.  Sorry to say that was the lowest point of my entire
career.  I was terrible at it and never should have let him foist it on 
me.


**I played in the orchestra and have a 3 hour class in strings.  I got 
6 F's
(still on my transcript) in Choir because I thought the teacher was a 
fag
and I didn't want to be in the choir doing the music they did so he 
gave me
F's for 3 years.  I finally cleaned up my act and got in the required 1 
year
in choir for the degree requirements.  For that and after never having 
a
private voice lesson or class in voice they gave me a K-12 vocal music
endorsement.  Think about it, I could actually be a vocal teacher today 
in
the public schools.
Larry
St. Louis




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