So. . .I'm determined I will be ready to face the little buggers in an organized fashion -- before they cry "mutiny" and lead me to hit the bottle. . . .of Prozac.
I start every year with a very general graphic organizer to plan my curriculum. This is, by far, my favorite part of teaching. (sickening, yes) I draw a web with "music" as the center and determine all of the important areas a student must learn. I don't consult the state frameworks or the MENC guidelines or anything besides my head. All of these categories don't have to be equal in importance, but I am determined to somehow work them into my curriculum. I then branch out from this level into more specific behaviors that work on these goals.
This year, I have the following areas I am determined to address in ALL of my classes (even the college-level flute lessons):
1. Tone
2. Technique
3. Theory
4. Improvisation & Composition (an area I neglect all too frequently)
5. History
6. Phrasing (Musical Language)
7. Breathing (I'm keeping this a separate category because I have neglected it in the past, even though it may fall under "tone", "technique" or "phrasing".
I will post how I used these areas to determine my curriculum planning in the next post.
