As I recently found myself called back into music education after taking a long sabbatical to raise my young children, I was reminded of the difficulties of “starting over” in our profession once again. While it is an honor to mold young minds and develop their musical skills, one often overlooks the challenges that a new music educator faces. Whether you are a first-year teacher or it’s your first year at a new campus, I hope that these reminders prove helpful.
Avoid Burnout
Unfortunately, many music teachers opt to leave the profession after the first five years. Between a pandemic and recent school funding crises, sometimes it feels like we struggle to survive just one year, much less five! With heavy workloads, long hours on the job, and significant isolation (since we make too much noise in the fine arts wing), it can be difficult to see the “light at the end of the tunnel.”
Burnout can also occur from a lack of administrative support, classroom management difficulties, or a general deficiency of skills or resources. I remember the paradigm shift in my own teaching career after I felt like I “survived” the first few years, and then I could work to fine-tune my program and create a better work-life balance. However, I have observed that I go back into survival mode each time I begin teaching at a new campus and the cycle begins anew. You’ve got to survive before you can thrive, but it’s possible!
Work-Life Balance
When I was student teaching, my supervising teacher gave me the best piece of advice which I still carry with me to this day, “You take care of you.” The seemingly grammatically incorrect emphasis on “you” shook me. I had to take care of myself so that I could take care of others. Teaching is one of the many “helping” professions - healthcare, education, social work, etc. - and in these careers, it’s easy to give so much that you forget to take care of yourself.
Be sure to set realistic boundaries and practice self-care — healthy food, exercise, and sleep really do make a difference! Find a hobby that you love that doesn’t involve music - pick up a crossword puzzle book, paint with friends, go rock climbing, or do something that brings you joy! Mental health is incredibly important, so don’t hesitate to reach out to a therapist or a good friend for support.
Find a Mentor
If you are in your first year of teaching, one of the best things that you can do is to find a mentor. Often times, you may not know what questions you have until they actually arise and are staring you in the face, which is where your mentor can step in to advise you and provide support.
Your state music education organization or school district may have a mentorship program already in place. Here in Texas, TMEA has a mentoring network (link) where you can sign up to be paired with a veteran teacher, but many other states have a similar program as NafME affiliates (link). Don’t be afraid to ask questions and “steal” ideas from other seasoned teachers in your area as well — this is how we learn to be better!
Build Rapport
While we like to believe that our preservice college education can prepare us for all that we need to know to be stellar music educators, experience is truly the best teacher. We all learn a great deal in our first few years of teaching - from classroom management, to organization, to budgeting - but building rapport with our students and colleagues is crucial. Be a team player! Get to know your front office staff, administrators, and even the janitors — believe me, you will appreciate having that rapport when you need the lights turned on at 6:00 a.m. and no one else has the “magic key!”
Build a relationship with your students, their parents, and the community. This may take some time, especially if your predecessor had been in his/her position for many years, so be patient with this process. Remember, a slow transition to shape the program and retain students may be better in the long-run than a sudden 180-degree turn! Lastly, be a positive support for your fellow directors in your district and region as well - you never know when you will need a favor from a colleague, so continue to pay it forward! Build rapport by establishing an identity that you will be proud of in future years, both in your community and in your classroom.
Find Your Teacher Identity
We all have different “hats” that we wear throughout day. Who you are in the classroom may be different from who you are at home, and that’s okay! Part of your teacher identity may also be established by the age and gender of students that you teach and the demographics of your particular area. If you are in an urban public school, your classroom will look very different from a suburban private school, and you may have to teach a little differently to appeal to those students.
In the choral world, our classrooms are sometimes divided not only by ability level, but also by voicing (and often gender) which can necessitate being a different personality in front of each group of students, based on their maturity level, motivation, and musical ability as well. In a similar fashion, we wouldn’t respond to kindergarteners in the same manner as we would to high school seniors, so we have to be prepared to pivot if we teach multiple age groups, react appropriately to varied teaching environments, and think on our feet!
The Business of Music Education
To a certain extent, running a school music program feels similar to running a business - balancing a budget, generating purchase orders, perusing vendor lists, making copies, and fixing the copier when it breaks! Aim to get to know your colleagues and especially your front office staff as they can help you know who to go to when questions arise.
Find an organization system that works best for you. For keeping track of money, use financial planning software or simply keep a budget spreadsheet in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. Personally, I find that cloud-based apps are useful since I’m often accessing documents from multiple locations and devices, but you have to find the tool that works best for you! With an endless music educator to-do list, aim to organize and prioritize these necessary tasks - use post-its, keep a list on a legal pad, or use a digital app.
Conclusion
While there is no magic pill to guarantee you a great first year of teaching, having a battle plan for challenging situations and recognizing that you are not alone can be reassuring. Celebrate your success and growth throughout the year because even the small victories count! When possible, “leave work at work” so that you can have some mental space to reset at home. Last, but certainly not least, seek out a mentor who can encourage you to be your best and guide you on the path to success, so that you can do the same for your students.
No matter how many years we teach, there is always more for us to learn — and later, the tables will turn and it will be your chance to be a mentor! Continue striving to be your best no matter if this is your first year or your forty-first year in the classroom because you will have a valuable impact on every student who steps into your classroom.