So, I share an office with Choir Teacher Buzz. It's like sharing space with a teenager. For all of his talents, he has some maturing to do. It is my strong belief that Buzz has lived most of his life in communal environments in which the concept of personal ownership of items and supplies, while not completely ignored, is considered (as Captain Barbossa would put it) "more of a guideline".
In short - he takes my shit.
In his first year at New Republic HS, he would borrow my personal electronics without asking - sometimes loaning it out to students. He would also use some of the music department stuff, which is fine, but there were times when we would both need the mobile AV cart, and it never occured to him to ask, even when said equipment was hooked up in my classroom. He takes office supplies that I had paid for out of my pocket, and even things like iced teas that I bought in bulk from Costco. One time he used up an entire box of large envelopes for a project he was working on for his masters program.
He's not trying to 'steal' anything. He just uses what's around him when it's convenient, and doesn't consider the impact it will have on others. He figures if he just offers to compensate that it will smooth everything over. To illustrate this further, I offer the following anecdote taken from one of our joint over-night mountain retreats:
I had just lead an excursion to the local market for food. We were mostly shopping for the group, but a few of the students used their own money to buy personal items. One of those items was a bag of chips that ended up being opened by Buzz immediately upon our return to the cabin. "Oh, did Nathan buy those for you?" I asked "I thought he got those for himself. He kept saying that those are his favorite." Without skipping a beat he answered "I don't know who they belong to - I figure that if they get upset, I'll buy them more chips."
And he kept eating them.
To his credit, Buzz is fairly generous with his own things - still, he doesn't seem to understand that he causes distress and disappointment that he can not assuage by simply replacing the item(s) in question. In my case, he's more likely to just give me money. It's not about adequate compensation - it's about trust. It's also about...
GODDAMMIT MUTHERFUCKER YOU ARE BARELY IN YOUR THIRTIES WITH NO FAMILY. I HAVE A WIFE AND A GODDAM KID AND I'M RUSHING OUT OF HERE MOST NIGHTS TO PICK HIS ASS UP FROM SCHOOL AND TAKE HIM TO FUCKING KARATE LESSONS OR SWIM LESSONS...NO, I DON'T HAVE TIME TO STOP AT FUCKING STAPLES OR TARGET AND GET MORE ENVELOPES FOR "US" - GET YOUR FUCKING ASS TO THE STORE AND REPLACE THE SHIT YOU TOOK. IF YOU HAVE A BIG FUCKING PROJECT WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO USE UP ALL OF THE SHIT, THEN GO BUY IT IN BULK BEFORE YOUR START RATHER THAN TAKING ALL OF MINE. SO PUT YOUR FUCKING MONEY BACK IN YOUR FUCKING WALLET BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT AND GO SHOPPING FOR MORE LIKE YOUR FUCKING HOUSEKEEPER!
Anyway... We've already talked about it. It helped a little. He's stopped borrowing my tech. (I was tempted to take his car keys and then tell him that a student needed to use his car to go buy some drum heads or something right before a concert). But my pens still disappear, as does my stapler and tape dispenser. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to go hunting for a pair of scissors.
We'll talk again, but I'm coming up with some other counter-measures of my own. I've installed a lock box under my desk where I can keep the small stuff that I don't want to walk off. I'm also going to put the folders and envelopes in the old filing cabinets that are tucked away deep in instrumental music territory. They lock too. It will probably work in the interim, but I'm also concerned about spending the message that anything *not* stashed in those locations is fair game. Waddaya do?
This would be a bullshit thing to take to the admin, but I almost willing to bet it will get there before the year is out.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Bandmageddon
Last night I was one of the judges for the school's rock band show-down. It went fairly well, with a few notable exceptions:
1) One of the bands was made up of mostly Music Department students, who decided to use mostly Music Department equipment - I was not asked if this was okay. I walked into the competition and saw our drum set on the stage, along with most of our audio equipment. I was assured on the spot that they would be taken care of.
2) One of the later bands hopped on stage - their drummer jumped behind our set and proceeded to pound on the heads with far more force that what is appropriate for jazz heads. I went over to looked at me sheepishly and said "I didn't know they were going to do that" to which I replied "That's why we don't bring *our* stuff.
3) The punk band that took the stage brought their mosh-pit for the show. The event coordinator heard that this was going to happen and said beforehand that moshers would not be allowed in the door. As it turns out, everyone was allowed in the door (I don't know how they would identify the moshers anyway), and the moshing proceeded all the way through the band's performance. I don't have anything against moshing, nor punk bands, but this is an event sponsored by a public school. If there is no means to prevent this kind of thing on our watch, then I'd rather not be one of the adult district employees in the room who has to share the liability.
4) It turns out that the faculty judge sitting next to me is not only familiar with the afore mentioned punk band's members - he went so far as to pay their entry fee. He proudly announced beforehand that he would be pulling for them - and gave them the highest marks before he had heard *any* of the bands perform.
Other than that, everything went as well as could be expected, except for a few butthurt bands that didn't win (the punk band being one of them... despite my colleague's biased input). It would seem that we got most of our equipment back in good order, although I am not going to be in favor of bringing it out again.
I think it's time maybe for me to bow out of this production.
1) One of the bands was made up of mostly Music Department students, who decided to use mostly Music Department equipment - I was not asked if this was okay. I walked into the competition and saw our drum set on the stage, along with most of our audio equipment. I was assured on the spot that they would be taken care of.
2) One of the later bands hopped on stage - their drummer jumped behind our set and proceeded to pound on the heads with far more force that what is appropriate for jazz heads. I went over to looked at me sheepishly and said "I didn't know they were going to do that" to which I replied "That's why we don't bring *our* stuff.
3) The punk band that took the stage brought their mosh-pit for the show. The event coordinator heard that this was going to happen and said beforehand that moshers would not be allowed in the door. As it turns out, everyone was allowed in the door (I don't know how they would identify the moshers anyway), and the moshing proceeded all the way through the band's performance. I don't have anything against moshing, nor punk bands, but this is an event sponsored by a public school. If there is no means to prevent this kind of thing on our watch, then I'd rather not be one of the adult district employees in the room who has to share the liability.
4) It turns out that the faculty judge sitting next to me is not only familiar with the afore mentioned punk band's members - he went so far as to pay their entry fee. He proudly announced beforehand that he would be pulling for them - and gave them the highest marks before he had heard *any* of the bands perform.
Other than that, everything went as well as could be expected, except for a few butthurt bands that didn't win (the punk band being one of them... despite my colleague's biased input). It would seem that we got most of our equipment back in good order, although I am not going to be in favor of bringing it out again.
I think it's time maybe for me to bow out of this production.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Professional paranoia
Since his arrival at NRHS, Choir Teacher Buzz has been revving the engine and gunning the throttle on the vocal program. In less than two years, he's gone from two choirs to four, and it looks like he'll be adding a fifth next year. But remember that NRHS is a relatively small school, filled with kids who love to stretch themselves too thin - and when you're trying to build a blue-ribbon choir program, you'll recruit everyone you can... including the instrumental kids...*especially* the instrumental kids with their years of training in note reading, and developed sense of rhythm.
To be fair, Buzz isn't trying to 'steal' my kids per se - he maintains that having vocal *and* instrumental training is crucial to developing musicians. He isn't wrong about that. What I question is his perspective of how all of this will play out. Buzz doesn't see the the disadvantage he's handing me. He's a young teacher out to prove his potential to the world (and to be sure, his potential is considerable). He has no family to tie him down, and as far as I can tell - he devotes every waking hour to his craft, which is admirable to an extent, but it is worrisome to people like me who have been trying to find a healthy balance for myself, my students and their families.
One of our other colleagues in the performing arts dept. is very open about the fact that she expects students to prioritize her program over everything else (including academics). Buzz believes that he's nothing like her, but I'm not sure he realizes that the expectations he sets up fall like dominoes into the same direction. He won't tell kids to prioritize his program, but he'll stir them into such a state that they will willingly make sacrifices in their other commitments to accommodate his goals. Every time I see him talking to one of my band/orchestra kids, it feels like I'm watching a cereal commercial where the announcer pushes the product as 'part of this balanced breakfast' - when the truth is that the manufacturer has no concern as to whether you actually include the *other* components of that meal. They just want you to buy their product. Likewise, he wants these kids desperately, but ultimately, it will be up to them to find their own balance.
Sometimes I wonder if my worries stem from the fact that I just don't want to work as intensely as he does. He's offering exotic trips, competitive festivals and far more performance opportunities.. all of which are meant to change students lives. I'm offering... well... a zen perspective on music making, designed to fit peoples lives as they already exist. And it's more than just a fear that they'll abandon me for him - it's a fear that even if they stay enrolled in both instrumental and vocal, they'll prioritize vocal over instrumental, simply because he tends to be more demanding than I. As his program grows, I expect there to be more and more conflicts.
So, do I feel threatened? Hell yes. I wouldn't change my goals for his, but I'm afraid that many of my students would because... who wouldn't? And if it did turn out that our shared students tended to value his experience over mine - he might feel pity for me, but he will also continue to do what's best for his program.
So... do I talk with him about this? I mean... how is that supposed to come off? "Hey Buzz, could you not be so exciting and fun? It's pulling too many of my kids. I mean, could you just try to be a little less amazing?" I know exactly how that sounds. And what am I supposed to tell my kids who want to audition for his groups? "Don't go! It's a cook book!" It's tempting. It's also petty and smacks of sabotage. Plus, if they really do end up preferring his experience over mine, who am I to deny them?
Along time ago, in the days before Principal Palpatine, the rise and fall of Empire High School, and the subsequent establishment of the New Republic (Which, is flourishing quite nicely, by the way).... *I* was the hot young music teacher on campus, who took the music program from obscurity, and put it on the map and in the consciousness of the rest of the school. But I was no Buzz - I had none of his confidence, and my skills as a conductor and educator were significantly weaker (to be fair, I hadn't started my masters at that time, whereas he is just finishing his). Even so, at my best, I can't do the same job with a choir that he can - a fact I don't beat myself up over. I at least take credit for handing him something that he can work with (It is likely that had Buzz been on the scene back when I first got to NRHS, he wouldn't have *wanted* to work at this school.)
I'm not particularly envious of Buzz (perhaps a little). I fear, however, that in order to avoid having the instrumental program become 1) a training ground for choir or 2) a second hobby for the music students.... I would have to become the kind of director I don't want to be. Basically, I would have to become like him - plan his kind of calendar, and make similar demands of my own kids. The students wouldn't be able to split their energies between both - they would *have* to choose.
I am not him, and I have no desire to be, but I don't know how to protect what I have left without engaging in an unofficial competition. Maybe I should put more faith in my students, and in their loyalty to me.
To be fair, Buzz isn't trying to 'steal' my kids per se - he maintains that having vocal *and* instrumental training is crucial to developing musicians. He isn't wrong about that. What I question is his perspective of how all of this will play out. Buzz doesn't see the the disadvantage he's handing me. He's a young teacher out to prove his potential to the world (and to be sure, his potential is considerable). He has no family to tie him down, and as far as I can tell - he devotes every waking hour to his craft, which is admirable to an extent, but it is worrisome to people like me who have been trying to find a healthy balance for myself, my students and their families.
One of our other colleagues in the performing arts dept. is very open about the fact that she expects students to prioritize her program over everything else (including academics). Buzz believes that he's nothing like her, but I'm not sure he realizes that the expectations he sets up fall like dominoes into the same direction. He won't tell kids to prioritize his program, but he'll stir them into such a state that they will willingly make sacrifices in their other commitments to accommodate his goals. Every time I see him talking to one of my band/orchestra kids, it feels like I'm watching a cereal commercial where the announcer pushes the product as 'part of this balanced breakfast' - when the truth is that the manufacturer has no concern as to whether you actually include the *other* components of that meal. They just want you to buy their product. Likewise, he wants these kids desperately, but ultimately, it will be up to them to find their own balance.
Sometimes I wonder if my worries stem from the fact that I just don't want to work as intensely as he does. He's offering exotic trips, competitive festivals and far more performance opportunities.. all of which are meant to change students lives. I'm offering... well... a zen perspective on music making, designed to fit peoples lives as they already exist. And it's more than just a fear that they'll abandon me for him - it's a fear that even if they stay enrolled in both instrumental and vocal, they'll prioritize vocal over instrumental, simply because he tends to be more demanding than I. As his program grows, I expect there to be more and more conflicts.
So, do I feel threatened? Hell yes. I wouldn't change my goals for his, but I'm afraid that many of my students would because... who wouldn't? And if it did turn out that our shared students tended to value his experience over mine - he might feel pity for me, but he will also continue to do what's best for his program.
So... do I talk with him about this? I mean... how is that supposed to come off? "Hey Buzz, could you not be so exciting and fun? It's pulling too many of my kids. I mean, could you just try to be a little less amazing?" I know exactly how that sounds. And what am I supposed to tell my kids who want to audition for his groups? "Don't go! It's a cook book!" It's tempting. It's also petty and smacks of sabotage. Plus, if they really do end up preferring his experience over mine, who am I to deny them?
Along time ago, in the days before Principal Palpatine, the rise and fall of Empire High School, and the subsequent establishment of the New Republic (Which, is flourishing quite nicely, by the way).... *I* was the hot young music teacher on campus, who took the music program from obscurity, and put it on the map and in the consciousness of the rest of the school. But I was no Buzz - I had none of his confidence, and my skills as a conductor and educator were significantly weaker (to be fair, I hadn't started my masters at that time, whereas he is just finishing his). Even so, at my best, I can't do the same job with a choir that he can - a fact I don't beat myself up over. I at least take credit for handing him something that he can work with (It is likely that had Buzz been on the scene back when I first got to NRHS, he wouldn't have *wanted* to work at this school.)
I'm not particularly envious of Buzz (perhaps a little). I fear, however, that in order to avoid having the instrumental program become 1) a training ground for choir or 2) a second hobby for the music students.... I would have to become the kind of director I don't want to be. Basically, I would have to become like him - plan his kind of calendar, and make similar demands of my own kids. The students wouldn't be able to split their energies between both - they would *have* to choose.
I am not him, and I have no desire to be, but I don't know how to protect what I have left without engaging in an unofficial competition. Maybe I should put more faith in my students, and in their loyalty to me.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Colleague Blues
So one of my private students is participating in an elementary school band being head up by one of my colleagues - one who occasionally sends me some of his 'graduates' my way. Problem is, they're not particularly well-trained. This kid is a prime example. From what I can tell, my colleague puts sheet music in front of his band, but trains them by playing recordings and/or rote teaching them parts. What they end up learning may or may not be what is actually represented on the paper. He prepares concerts - the parents and other (non-musical) faculty applaud. No one is the wiser.
The kid I've been teaching on the side is nice enough, but trying to put him on track has been difficult. He wants lessons, but wants to side-step the usual helping of basics. It seems that he's settled into he idea that they aren't necessary. That's not my only frustration - I'm constantly grappling with the dilemma of whether I should teach him the proper way to play his parts, thus ensuring that he's the odd man out in his band, or reinforce what his director is 'teaching' him, and take turns at the wheel of the vehicle that is taking him down the road of musical illiteracy.
What gets me the most, though, is that this kid is just a representation of the problems contributing to NRHS's stunted musical growth .
The kid I've been teaching on the side is nice enough, but trying to put him on track has been difficult. He wants lessons, but wants to side-step the usual helping of basics. It seems that he's settled into he idea that they aren't necessary. That's not my only frustration - I'm constantly grappling with the dilemma of whether I should teach him the proper way to play his parts, thus ensuring that he's the odd man out in his band, or reinforce what his director is 'teaching' him, and take turns at the wheel of the vehicle that is taking him down the road of musical illiteracy.
What gets me the most, though, is that this kid is just a representation of the problems contributing to NRHS's stunted musical growth .
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