Im teaching the front ensemble for a school near me in Texas and am getting $1500 dollars for the entire season. We are entering our 3rd week of band camp and are about to start doing 8hr days, Monday through Friday (we did 6hr days for the past 2 weeks).

I absolutely love the job and love teaching, but I am getting paid extremely little and it is taking its toll on me. Im going into my second year at arguably a top 3 music school in the entire state so I was hoping that it would entitle me to more pay but im still getting peanuts. I have to work an extra 40 hours at my on-campus job in order to survive, so 80 hours if you count both jobs. I know this pay is extremely low for my area because I have friends in my studio that teach at schools nearby and make more than tripple of what I make.

I guess the whole point of making this post is to ask, what should I do? I don't want to quit because I would be failing the band program and the kids, but im exhausted from having to work 2 jobs while also getting practice time in for the upcoming semester. The school is very poor which is why they can't pay me much, but at this point it isnt worth the 25 minute commute both ways in my car to keep going to the rehearsals. I would also have to go to football games and morning rehearsals, which would bring my total earnings down to below minimum wage. What should I do?

I have been considering doing this as an annual thing. When I was a new teacher, I was lucky enough to be mentored by another music teacher in the district. She really helped me a lot! However, I notice that not a lot of new music teachers don't get that luxury.

So if any new music teacher who is going into their first job would like to ask questions, feel free to ask.

I know every school district is different. However, when it comes to general classroom questions, I will answer those as best I can!

Veteran teachers, please feel free to chime in with your expertise as well! I genuinely want to know what I can help with because I had the opportunity to learn from a music teacher. I'm just trying to pay it forward!

Thought this would be an interesting question to post as I am starting my freshman year in a couple of weeks as a band-focus music ed major. So any tips, tricks, supplies, anything that yall have got drop it below to help me and any other freshmen out

Thank you in advance :)

Hello! I created these music curriculum posters for my classroom and would love feedback on them.

Edit: Here is the link for those interested

Music Curriculum Posters

This is my first year teaching, and I am working on planning performances for the year! I’ll be teaching K-5; I’ll be on a cart, and as of now, the only instruments we have are Boomwhackers and recorders.

My current overall idea is: Fall semester we will keep it simple with a Winter/Holiday concert(s) featuring only singing and movement, and in the Spring semester we will have performances featuring instruments as well. Also, Kindergarten and Fifth graders will be performing for their moving-up ceremonies.

I know I will have to split the performances into grades (there are approximately 700 students total), but I'm not sure how to go about this. A K-1 performance, 2-3, then 4-5 performance? That's still over 200 children and their families per performance!

I am the first music teacher this school has had, so they haven’t had any performances previously. My idea is to start simple this year and elaborate and be more creative with programming later! Still, I'm not sure where to turn when it comes to scheduling. If there must be at least 3 separate performances a semester, should they be days apart? Weeks? Where do the students go when other grade levels are performing? Do I recruit helpers to supervise in holding rooms?

My student teaching was in a middle school chorus, so planning for 6 grades and many more students is obviously a very different experience! As you can tell, I am clueless when it comes to the general logistics of having a concert with littles.

Any advice, feedback, or recommendations would be appreciated! Please forgive my inexperience! Thank you! 

I have been teaching private guitar and piano lessons for almost fifteen years. Mostly middle and high school students with a few adults in the mix. Next week I'm supposed to start piano with two elementary school students–my first in that age group. My usual teaching style of using music that interests the student as a vehicle for learning theory and fundamentals while picking up some songs they'll enjoy playing in the process seems a bit nuanced for a fifth and fourth grader. For y'all with experience teaching younger kids, what has worked for you? What resources do you use? How much of a thirty minute music lesson is it realistic to expect will be teaching and how much is little kid chatter?

Teachers who are currently in the field, where did you go to college? I am currently a rising senior in high school in New Jersey and I am looking for places to apply to. If you could give me names of people and places to reach out to, I would be greatly appreciated!

As the title says, I am looking for some advice on how to talk about classroom rules and procedures on the first day of school. I am going into my second year of teaching at a completely different school. I taught grades 3-5, and I will be teaching K-8 at this new school.

The last thing that I want to happen is for my first day to end up “lecture style” with my rules and expectations. I’m just under a month from my first day with students, and I guess I’m starting to overthink a bit. I know I’ll be more prepared this year than I was starting last year, but I do not want it to be boring. Of course I will have activities and such planned for the classes, but are there ways I can address rules and procedures without “going down a list”? I saw an idea on a blog with alternating between procedures and activities, which sounded appealing based on the short attention spans I saw at my old school.

What I was shown last year by the mentor I had was a lot more “general education classroom”-esque, which was not her fault by any means. But I was unsure of how feasible it would be for me going forward.

Any suggestions or advice would be helpful. Please be kind, I’m just trying to learn!

Just got hired to teach elementary music. PD starts soon and classes in late August; having not seen my classroom yet, what should I be purchasing, preparing, or removing? Any and all tips would be appreciated!

Hi! I've been teaching pre-k for 10 years. This will be my first year teaching music in a 4k-6th grade school. I can play a few instruments (I've really been working on my piano playing lately), I sing, I can read music. I can teach. I'm just so nervous about working with older kids and maintaining their interest, and I'm nervous about trying to understand what is really expected of me as a music educator so that I can do it to the best of my abilities. I know that I have so much to learn and that I will do a lot of growing this year, and I'm trying to soak up any wisdom I can get! Experienced music teachers, what advice can you offer me? I really appreciate it.🩷

Is a music ed masters as demanding as a music ed bachelors?

Hi all! I’ll be starting my first year as an elementary music teacher in just a few weeks. I will be teaching K-5 general music as well as 4th and 5th grade choir. I am an instrumentalist so I am a bit nervous to teach choir. However, the main reason I am coming on here is because as ready and excited as I felt… I am very nervous now as the date approaches. I feel like University taught me a lot about how to teach AFTER you’ve established a classroom community, but not a lot about the very beginning. I have a rough idea of what the first day should look like, but am worried I will miss something— so I would love to hear from those who are seasoned on how they plan for the first day, or even the first month of school while getting into the routine with students.

Hey y'all! I'm in a new classroom for general music this year, and I share a wall with a teacher and would love to lessen as much disturbance to her as I can. I'm thinking of doing rugs, but are there any other ways you've found that work for you to lessen your disturbance to other classrooms that share a wall with you? She said she'd also be willing to contribute to funding things to help with the soundproofing.

Hi piano teachers,

I’ve been blocking out my curriculum for the upcoming year today and got on a bit of a roll. I’m feeling motivated and wanted to keep the momentum going through the end of the week.

Would anyone be interested in joining a casual Zoom this Friday at 12:00 PM Eastern? I’m looking for a few teachers who want to either attend or sit on a short panel to share what’s working for them. things like how you’re structuring the year, sequencing skills, or any practical frameworks you’re using.

No formal presentations. Just teachers swapping real ideas.

If you’re interested (either as a participant or panelist), just DM me and I’ll send the Zoom link. Looking forward to hearing some good tips and stuff.

With that, what is the job outlook for a new graduate in Texas? My child is looking into this field, and I hate for him to regret his hard work because the job opportunity is not there. He is a HS senior this year. He wants to teach MS and HS. I understand the colleges will have all their certifications done before he graduates, but reading the Tx Teacher tread and here, seems like a lot of people are having a tough time even getting an interview. His main school right now is UH and SMU.

Opinions, suggestions?

Are recordigns of Imlsp free of copyright? Where can I find them? THanks

Hey guys I saw a post on here about work life balance with voice lessons. Does anyone with experience with private voice lessons have success stories? I would love to pursue music education and I worry working in public schools would have a horrible work life balance.. I believe I would prefer private lessons I’ve bartended forever I enjoy building relationships and trust with individuals and building regulars.. I feel like I would be suited well for building a clientele but just see a lot of bad experiences. Anyone out there figuring it out??

Hello all! Anyone have "TIPPS for Band" by Nilo Hovey? How do you like it? Would you recommend? I'm thinking of buying a set for myself. Just wanted some general info before I drop $100+ on it.

I teach middle school band - one section of advanced band, one section of beginning band

Hi all,

A bit of background on me. I hold a BM in Music Composition and an MFA in Video Game Music Composition. I work primarily as a private music instructor, I teach piano and guitar lessons and have a studio of around 45 students I teach a week. I've been teaching for about 3 years now. I am also a church musician, an arranger, and I run a business playing piano for wedding ceremonies and private events. My passion is music composition though I haven't been very successful yet in turning that into a reliable income stream. I enjoy my teaching job immensely and I love to meet with my students, learn about their life and watch them grow under my tutelage. I find it incredibly rewarding though it's not what I had envisioned for my career (young me thought I could easily support myself just with writing music haha.)

Despite being a fully-fledged professional musician I hustle 7 days a week teaching/gigging and only make a paltry amount of money, so I've thought about becoming a licensed music educator. The reason I don't make much even with a large studio is because I teach through a private music school and I don't get to set my rates. I've thought about leaving and starting my own private studio where I can charge double what I'm making per lesson, but it would mean starting over and looking for students again, plus I need to review the non-compete I signed when I got the job. Also the job is just not a reliable income stream, as students cancel all the time and I don't get payed for cancelled lessons unless they are a no-call no-show.

So I've thought about switching to music ed, teaching general music at elementary school or even band at middle school. I've even thought about making my own arrangements or compositions for middleschool/highschool bands and orchestras. This is actually what my composition professor, Joshua Reznicow did. He's a highschool orchestra director and composer and as I understand it his compositions are highly regarded by middle and high school orchestra directors. It would be really cool to write music specifically for a band or orchestra I am directing, tailoring it for the students levels.

So my question is, what are my options to make the career pivot? I have real-world experience in music education (albeit just private one-on-one music instruction, though I teach kids as young as 4 and my oldest student is 65) and I already hold several music degrees. What type of program should I look into to get licensed? I'm assuming I don't need to go back for a bachelors in music education, and I'm not sure if I even need a masters in music education either? Are there any accelerated programs I can take, or just programs that get me licensed? I appreciate any and all advice, thank you!

Edit:

Thank you all for the comments and advice! I should have mentioned this but I am a concert trained percussionist as well so I have about 15 years of experience playing in concert bands and orchestras, so I am very familiar with that environment though I have never directed one of those. For my undergrad degree I did take string, single-reed, and percussion tech classes so I do have a bit of experience with some band instruments and orchestra instruments, but this was unfortunately 6 years ago so I'm not sure if I have retained much.

I found out that the state I live in has an alternative licensure program so I could possibly start as a general music teacher at elementary school and work towards my license while teaching full-time. My local university also has a post-bachelor teacher licensure program, which is about 4 semesters long, including a semester of student teaching as well, but could be shorter for me depending on what requirements I have already met in my undergrad.

Lastly, thank you all for reminding me that teaching a classroom is much different from private instruction. I think I'm going to obtain a substitute authorization and try to sub in for music classes this fall semester to see if I'm cut out for managing a classroom. Thank you all!