Dissection of a Band Director Music Education by Joel Wagner - January 8, 2010June 30, 20100 I saw this cartoon posted on The Yellow Board yesterday and thought some of my musician-type readers wouldappreciate it. The cartoon is by John Bogenschutz (www.johnmusic.com). Over the Christmas Break, a few of the band directors from around the area got together and played some quartets around town. I'm the only one who has played seriously since college, and it's been about 5 months since I did that too. We were all suffering by the time we got to the end of our gigging. So the "Wonders how much longer he can keep his streak of not touching an instrument going" comment really made me crack up when I first saw it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Dissection of a
Since You’re In The Kitchen… Personal by Joel Wagner - December 22, 2008July 1, 20100 This has very little to do with education, but the concept is brilliant and bears sharing. Foodista is a cookbook with a wiki approach. Some of the cool features include: User-generated and user-edited recipes Easily link to recipes from your blog Click on an ingredient, and find recipes that include that ingredient For instance, here is a link to a recipe for Christmas Pudding. Feel free to explore the site while you have some time off for the Christmas Break!
The Loneliest Articles of 2007 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - December 23, 2007July 2, 20100 In the Christmas break, I am looking back at this blog's growth and development. I began writing a little bit for the blog in February, but didn't officially launch it for real until June. Since that time, growth has been pretty consistent. I now seem to regularly get a small number of comments for every article I write, with some eliciting more than others. As I look through the blog's archive, it strikes me that there are some articles that have either been buried deep in the archives, or for whatever reason, have gone unnoticed by my readers. So I am giving all of those articles a chance to redeem themselves, come up to the light of day. Here is
9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick) Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 18, 2007August 9, 201679 Life as a teacher can be awfully challenging. While the challenges change as we gain experience, there are always new ones. It can be an awfully lonely time for many teachers. This article looks at 9 reasons to quit teaching and also raises 10 reasons to stick with teaching. Think of the many reasons you have to quit teaching Bad students Bad administrators Bad curriculum Too much paperwork Too much negativity Too much responsibility Not enough time Not enough credit Not enough PAY Face it, you are not as good of a teacher as you could be. You're not living up to your potential. Nobody is. Where am I? Seth Godin says that you are in The Dip (What's The Dip?). This is that place
How Not To Waste Spring Break (or Summer Vacation, or Christmas Break, or Saturday, or Tonight!) Inspiration by Joel Wagner - March 8, 2007July 6, 20164 "I'm bored" No success will come from squandering time. Time is too precious to waste. The summer months and holiday weekend that we are afforded in the education business should not become an excuse to catch up on all the latest greatest movies and pack away the bon bons. Instead, these times seem to be best spent by analyzing where things stand with your current teaching position. What has worked so far this year? What will work better if I start doing it after the break? If it's summer, how can I start out the school year more prepared than I did last year? So what will I be doing over spring break?Another good thing to do is catch up on house