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
NTLS Teacher College – No Teacher Left Standing Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - January 20, 2009June 30, 20100 A little bit of levity here, in light of my current Student Teaching Project. (By the way, if you are student teaching, join us by writing a blog and letting me know about it!) Brought to you by TeacherPortal.com.
It’s About That Time…Christmas Jokes For All! General by Joel Wagner - December 16, 2008July 1, 20103 Found these on the Yellow Board. Enjoy. If you're a band director (especially in Texas) and you don't read the Yellow Board, you should. Q: If athletes get athletes foot, what do astronauts get? A: Missletoe! Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? A: Frostbite. Q: Why was Santa’s little helper depressed? A: Because he had low elf esteem. Q: Why does Santa have 3 gardens? A: So he can ho-ho-ho. Q: Where do polar bears vote? A: The North Poll. Q: What do you get when you cross an archer with a gift-wrapper? A: Ribbon hood. Q: Why do birds fly south for the winter ? A: Because it’s to far to walk.
Pacing: What Every Great Band Director Knows Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - September 25, 2008May 29, 20167 One of the greatest challenges that I had as a first year teacher was with classroom management. I've mentioned that a number of times before and I think most first year teachers go through that. As with most, I noticed that I had some days where the kids were good, and others where they were bad. It was just so unpredictible. But why? What made those days so unpredictible? I honestly think it was a combination of things. But the most important factor in the behavior of the kids had to do with how much dead time they had. How much time they were unoccupied and had to find something to do to keep themselves occupied. How do you keep them occupied? The academic term
Less Stress: Play At Work Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - November 2, 2007July 5, 20100 We come now to the final chapter of our 25 Tips For Less Stress. This is perhaps my favorite one of all. Without this decision, you cannot have a stress-free life. The key is to choose to have fun at work. No matter what industry you work in, if you love your job, you will be more productive. In education, our products are educated people. The more we love teaching, the more of our children will be successful. That love will translate into their development of greater passion for learning. It's an upward spiral. Conversely, when we hate our job -- or when we just show up to collect the paycheck -- it also shows. The students laboriously come to
It’s Time For An Attitude Adjustment Personal by Joel Wagner - August 31, 2007July 5, 20101 We put a sign up a few places around the band hall on Wednesday. It says: EVERYONE NEEDS AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT Choose Your Attitude :) :( I decided that I needed to take that advice myself. So I am going to adjust my attitude. I was reminded yesterday just how different 7th graders are than 6th graders. I said something to one of my favorite students (yes, teachers have favorites) in class. It wasn't intended as a rude remark, but it was sarcastic. She obviously took it the wrong way, and she began crying. There was no sobbing or anything, but there were definitely tears. That tore me up. Then I was at church that night. We were studying Galatians