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!
Christmas Concert Ruminations Music Education by Joel Wagner - December 20, 2008July 1, 20104 My Christmas concert came and went. No, I don't have a "winter concert" or "holiday concert." We don't play winter music at the concert. We don't play Easter or Halloween or Arbor Day music at the concert. We play Christmas music. So it's a Christmas concert. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that concept? Why are so many people scared of offending people that they let fear dominate their lives? My concerts used to be offensive, but that was because my bands didn't know how to play. Now, they sound pretty good, and all that stuff. We have fun. We perform both secular and sacred music. Of course, none of them have words, so there is really
Just How Important Is Excellence? Personal by Joel Wagner - December 13, 2008July 1, 201011 I love competition. I thrive on competition. I love being able to get a group of kids to create a powerfully musical performance. These are tremendous things. But I have come to realize that this is not the most important thing we can do. If we lose sight of why we are in education and focus solely on winning (having the most kids pass TAKS, getting more kids in the all region choir, having an undefeated volleyball season, or whatever), we miss out on an opportunity for some of the greatest education we can provide. As a band director, I struggle to ensure that my pursuit of musical excellence does not overtake my desire to provide a high quality education
A Modern Retelling of an Ageless Classic [VIDEO] Personal by Joel Wagner - December 2, 2008July 1, 20101 I love the visual effects employed here. Note the extensive use of whitespace. Greatness! Oh yeah, the message is incredible too.
101 Reasons To Be Thankful Personal by Joel Wagner - November 27, 2008July 1, 20100 Salvation by grace alone, through faith (Ephesians 2:8) Heaven Opportunities to preach Playing music Writing music Creating music My pastor My church Having the best job in the world My students My students' parents My hearing My intellect Air conditioning Heaters Running water Health Health insurance Life insurance Paychecks Freedom from discrimination Freedom from starvation Freedom from religious persecution Freedom from torture The Declaration of Independence The Constitution The United States of America Gospel For Asia Waking up this morning Stars Mountains Flowers Sunlight Moonlight Birds singing Silence Tacos tapatios Making salsa Breakfast tacos Oatmeal raisin cookies Pineapple empanadas Singing at the top of my lungs when nobody is looking or listening Google Calendar Google Reader My readers Comments
Thanksgiving Break 2008 Personal by Joel Wagner - November 26, 2008July 1, 20102 As I've written in the past in How Not To Waste Spring Break (or Summer Vacation, or Christmas Break, or Saturday, or Tonight!), I prefer to spend my down time doing things productive. I am fortunate that my school is off for this entire week. So what have I done? Caught up on housework As a single guy, housekeeping just doesn't seem to find its way to the top of my priority list all the time. This weekend, I caught up on laundry, cleared out some space in my spare bedroom and made it a functional office, completely cleaned the living room, and just got caught up on things that fall behind. Mariachi practice Mariachi has become my
Thank You! Personal by Joel Wagner - October 16, 2008July 5, 20103 I told one of my former college professors about my blog shortly after it first started back in 2007. She liked what she saw and decided to use some of my material in one of her classes. In fact, she used So You Want To Teach? as an assignment for one of her classes this semester. Each of the students was assigned to leave a comment on something that I posted on here. Imagine my surprise when I got an email from her last week asking for my mailing address so that her class could send me a card. The card came in the mail today and I want to thank Dr. Witt for her wonderful work and inspiration as
Reminders Personal by Joel Wagner - October 8, 2008July 1, 20103 Becky writes: Joel ~ Thank you so much for your article on hope. I was sitting here staring at a stack of papers that need to be graded, wondering how much longer I can take the stress that is piling up on me. I am in the middle of KTIP (Kentucky Teacher Intern Program–for new teachers), and the extra work that is involved with it is about to push me over the edge. I need to step back and remember why I am doing all this. It is so easy to get distracted by all the meetings and never-ending to-do list. @Becky - I have to remind myself so much of the time. I've heard it said that often the
5 Guilty Pleasures On My iPod Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - October 1, 2008July 1, 20106 The 4th edition of the Music Education Blog Carnival is up over at Teacher in a Strange Land. Our beloved host Nancy asks the question, "What five songs on your iPod do you consider guilty pleasures?" It's difficult to boil it down here with over 11,000 tracks (somewhere around 5,000 songs and 6,000 sermons) on my iPod, but I'll see what I can come up with. Here they are: The Devil Went Down To Georgia performed by Mariachi Sol De Mexico The song itself is not too off target for a Texas boy, but the fact that I recorded this off of a live performce video on YouTube makes it all the more funny. Mariachi Sol De Mexico's trumpets
If You Don’t Fill Your Schedule, Someone Else Will Personal by Joel Wagner - September 29, 2008July 1, 20102 I have gotten 4 comments in the last 24 hours from people telling me about a time in their life (past or present) where they were so focused on school that it completely stressed them out. A big part of that comes from the fact that so many of us have a hard time saying, "No!" Personal time is a vital key to maintaining (or regaining) the sanity that we have lost as a result of our work. If the only people you hang around are kids, parents, teachers, and administrators, there can be no wonder you are burning yourself out! Quick, read these articles! 25 Tips For Less Stress 65 Things You Should Do Right Now To Avoid
If You Only Make One Change This School Year…RELAX!!!!!! Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - September 28, 2008August 5, 20167 Nothing in the classroom is worth added stress in your life. Nothing. If you only make one change this school year...Relax! I know so many band directors (and other teachers as well, but mostly band directors) who get so incredibly worked up over their jobs that they lose their health, marriage, youthful physique, energy, or alienate their own children. Why? Because of their own selfish pride. Just because nothing catastrophic happens this year doesn’t mean that nothing will. Stress can be cumulative in your life and may be building up and festering over a period of a handful of years. The best solution is to stop. Now. How do we avoid stress? I have written at great length about this in the past, so instead of
Getting Busy Personal by Joel Wagner - August 8, 2008July 1, 20106 Today is my 30th birthday. I have summer band this morning, and then not much else planned the rest of the day. I'll probably end up writing a more substantial blog article about this later on. On that note, I have been out of touch with the blogging world lately. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that I have become quite busy in the "real world" and blogging takes a back seat to all of that. This has really been the case since April and many of you have probably noticed quite a downswing in the number of articles I have written. I also fall behind in reading. When I first started blogging, it served
Nobody Works Harder Than Teachers! You Sure About That? Personal by Joel Wagner - July 13, 2008August 5, 201629 I recently wrote the most-commented article on this site to date about the number of hours teachers work and comparing those to standard business world people. As I write this one, I’m sure it will stir up just as many responses, though many of them will surely be in disagreement with me. Just keep reading, and tell me where I’m wrong at the end! One of the comments to that article said something to the effect that “nobody works harder than teachers do!†While I agree with the sentiment, I think it’s possible for our own passion to cloud our word choice at times. Comments continue coming in about that article, and I saw an email right before I went to be last
20 Books Everyone Should Read Personal by Joel Wagner - July 12, 2008July 1, 201012 Summer is a great time to read and catch up on reading. I have a bookshelf full of books, but very few that I have read really jump out and grab me as being amongst the greatest. But a handful do. These books have, in one way or another, changed the course of my life. I recommend each and every one of them to you now, in no particular order. We'll start 10 spiritual books. After that, we'll go to 5 personal growth books, and finish up with 5 teaching books. 10 Spiritual books that everyone should read The Bible Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Howard Taylor
Freedom And 50 Other Things That Make Me Happy Personal by Joel Wagner - July 4, 2008July 1, 20102 Freedom from oppression Doing what I love and making money for it Freedom of faith The Bible Hymns My family My friends My dogs My home My blog Clarinet Learning The opportunity to learn Dave Ramsey My iPod My laptop Summer "break" Spring break Christmas break Trumpet My students Making music Mariachi Text messages My iPhone 3G that I'll be rewarding myself with next week WordPress The color blue Enchiladas Cheesecake Texas Drum & Bugle Corps Preaching Teaching Accomplishing things Creating things The feeling of being organized Water Horn Making progress Learning to play golf IHOP Winter Rain Clouds Happy memories Abstract Art Shostakovich The look on someone's face when they are learning something The look on someone's face