• The Heart of the Matter by Robert Gillespie

    String teaching is an enjoyable and rewarding profession. The trick is not forgetting why that's so

    It is sometimes easy to lose sight of the real reasons why one became a string teacher. After all, it's likely that at some point during the year you may have to deal with an upset parent, an unsupportive administrator, a demanding teaching schedule, the results of unsuccessful recruiting, student dropouts or students who refuse to behave in class. Any one of these can rob you of the basic joy of being a string teacher. So let's take a minute and recall the many reasons why teaching strings is exciting and satisfying. Remembering them can keep you going during the school year.

    Pleasure Principles
    Nine tips to help keep string teaching a joyful experience

    Focus on the positive
    Everyone loses students. There are some students whom you will never be able to reach. There are some parents with whom you are never going to get along. There are some teaching situations in which you are just not going to be successful. Knowing this, you still must keep a healthy perspective. It is easy to let the negative outweigh the positive, and when you do, life can become pretty grim. So think about what is working. Truthfully, you are probably reaching a lot of students and parents. Always keep this in mind.

    Try something new
    Search for new teaching ideas, new music and new approaches. You may have found one way to teach vibrato that works well for you. However, if you only use that one idea for a long time, both you and the idea may get stale. Overcome that by attending professional conferences, talking to colleagues and reading professional journals. Learning more can keep you excited about teaching.

    Don't try to do too much
    Overworking is one of the best ways to develop teacher burnout. We have all probably experienced it. Be careful to set reasonable goals and to delegate. The more people you have involved in building your program, the greater the opportunity for success. Fatigue (both physical and emotional) can rob you of that joy you feel at the beginning of each teaching year.

    Develop other exciting and fun interests
    Constant work can dull your sense of joy about life and string teaching. Surround yourself with activities that are rejuvenating and fun.

    Keep playing your stringed instrument
    There is nothing like playing to keep us alive in our profession. The enjoyment playing provides spills over into the classroom.

    Develop great classroom-management skills
    Discipline problems with students are one of the quickest ways to lose your joy for string teaching. If you love the teaching process but cannot get your students' attention, you will quickly become disillusioned. Find a workshop, administrator or teaching colleague to help you learn how to exert positive control over student behavior.

    Accept what cannot be changed — for now
    Let's face it. Some things in your job that need changing may be simply beyond your control. Real change normally takes place over a long period of time, and while you can continue to try to bring it about, you run the risk of becoming frustrated and angry. At that point it is easy to lose any sense of joy about string teaching. Either accept the situation as best you can and learn to live with it, or move on.

    Develop friendships
    String teaching can be a lonely job if you travel to many different schools each week or if you are the only string teacher in your district. You can feel disconnected, which can sap your enthusiasm for teaching. Find some people who are fun to be with, both in music and outside of it. In addition, spend time with people who are excited about string teaching. There are many string teachers who are great fun to be around. Their upbeat outlook towards life and teaching can help rekindle your joy during the school year.

    Remember: This is a great profession
    What other job offers guaranteed Thanksgiving, Christmas and summer vacations, and the opportunity to touch children's lives with some of the greatest music ever written? Obviously, we have all been influenced by a string teacher or we would not be teaching the subject today. Remember the many joys of playing and teaching strings, and these memories will help keep you going throughout the school year.

    Working with children
    This is perhaps the greatest aspect of string teaching. Children get a freshness and excitement through playing strings that is incomparable. Watch their faces as they learn a new piece or skill. They are thrilled and so are we. Remember what you felt like the first time you picked up your instrument and made a sound? Children are one of the greatest joys in the world and we get to work with them every day. We even get paid for it! Remember the love that children and string playing bring to us.

    Developing and implementing new ideas
    The actual teaching process is fascinating. Figuring out how to best fix a child's playing position or crooked bowing is an enjoyable intellectual challenge — particularly when your solution works! Having a job with permission to develop new ideas and try them out is special and unique.

    Brahms or Beethoven
    String teachers get to share with their students some of the best music ever written. Remember the joy you felt after hearing a Brahms or Beethoven symphony for the first time? Remember how it touched you? We are so blessed in the string-teaching profession because of the great wealth of wonderful music we get to introduce to our students.

    Performing
    Isn't it a great thrill when the audience applauds, students smile and you feel the satisfaction that comes from knowing what your students have accomplished? There is something innately pleasurable about making music and performing. It is a natural high!

    People
    In string teaching you meet new people on a yearly basis. New students and new parents bring spice to your life. You do not have to work with the same people every day of every year. Some of the parents and students you work with will become your best friends and strongest supporters.

    Variety
    Every day is a new day. It is one of the reasons your job is so exciting. You plan, but students are unpredictable. They do not play or act the same way all the time. I have never seen a string teacher who is bored, but I have talked to many people in other professions who are.

    Impact
    String teaching frequently allows you to work with the same students over many years, sometimes from elementary school through high school. You can get to know students personally, have a positive impact on their lives for a long period of time and deeply affect a child's life. This is a privilege many classroom teachers who see students for only one term or one year do not have.

    Dr. Robert Gillespie, professor of music, is responsible for string teacher training at The Ohio State University, and is national President of the American String Teachers Association. He is co-author of the Hal Leonard string method book series, Essential Elements for Strings, Essential Elements 2000 for Strings, the new Essential Elements for Strings Plus DVD publication, and Getting Started: Strolling Strings for MENC, and is also a string education clinician for Scherl & Roth String Instruments, a division of the Conn-Selmer Corporation.

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