Student Teaching

Loyal readers (all 10 of you ;) ) know that my undergraduate degree was in choral and general music education. To complete the certification process, you needed to complete student teaching. My student teaching experience divided out to be one quarter in high school choir and one quarter in elementary general music.

By the time I began student teaching, I was very sure that I was no longer interested in being a music teacher. It's not that I regretted my musical education; in fact, I would glad that I now have that background. But, the thought of being a classroom music teacher deal not have the appeal that it did four years before.

On my morning walk today, I walked by Oshkosh North high school. I did my student teaching my Oshkosh West, but regardless, it got me thinking about my student teaching experience. Sadly, when I recount this experience with folks I can honestly tell them it was one of the worst experiences I have had in my life. I got nervous every morning and dreaded almost every experience of being in front of the class.

As someone who doesn't mind performance and public speaking, this might seem wierd. As I reflect, much of it has do to with the fact that I did trust my own musicianship; I always had a fear that I was not teaching them correctly or that I was not a good enough singer. It always haunted me. There were many moments when I wanted to quit outright. Thankfully, Jacque and my dad were very caring and supportive, but were also helpful in letting me know that I should continue through the experience.

My supervising professor knew that I did not want to go into music education as a career. I actually made an appointment with her early on to drop out of student teaching. She told me that if I did so, I could kiss goodbye any chance of getting a recommendation of any kind. In hindsight, I realize that wouldn't have made much difference because I never really needed a music reference in my career anyway.

Alas, I stuck to it and made it through. And, although stressful and not all that fulfilling overall, I came away with some good experiences. You can chalk it up to being one of those experiences that "builds character".

Why would I even talk about this on the blog?

Ultimately, we are all going to have experiences that may not be enjoyable. But, we find that when we complete them, we grow as people. I have become fond of this verse from Proverbs 19:21, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."

I realize that we go through peaks and valleys in life. My experience in student teaching has been very helpful to me since that time. It helps me to know what I don't want to do with my life, but it also helps me to find postiveness and meaning in something that could easily be completely lumped into being bad. God has a way of leading us to things we never thought we'd do. This is one of those experiences. I know we have all had them. Know that no matter how bad something might feel at the time, there is a meaning behind and lesson to be learned.