nafmeadmin.
nafmeadminI am now in my 7th year at my school (11th teaching) and I am STILL dealing with scheduling problems. Our school is in its 2nd year of a 4×4 Block A/B schedule. Although I LOVE the extended periods for my band classes, it is absolutely killing my enrollment. Band students are not being scheduled into my classes and therefore I have to rely on an after-school band rehearsal to accomplish anything. My program is small and I have 2 band classes this year. One class has 12 students, the other has 7?!!! In these classes I have students that have played for several years and some who have never seen an instrument before. I have NO lessons scheduled at all. I have another rather large handful of students who participate in band but are not enrolled in any of the classes. This is very frustrating because, despite our obstacles, our program has been relatively successful. I have brought the problems to the attention of my administrators (supportive) and my (lack of) guidance department and very little has been done to remediate these problems.
I need help! (not just the mental sort) What can I do to drive home the importance of getting this set up correctly? Are there any consultants or people in NAfME that can help me make my administrators understand the things that need to be addressed? I feel like I’m spinning my wheels and want to get this right for my students. We could have a GREAT program here and everyone wants it, but nobody seems to be able to help me make it happen. PLEASE HELP!!!!
nafmeadminI had a similar problem at a school I taught at previously and when I approached admin on it I was told “If you can figure out a way to make the schedule different and make it work better for you go for it.” So, in short they were not going to take the time to change things around in order to benefit the music program but if I could find a way to do it then they would consider my ideas.
Seems hurtful that they don’t care but yet….I wanted it bad enough to spend the hours and meeting with teachers to finally find a way that would work better. If you jump in and come up with something maybe they will take the time to consider it. Just a thought…
Christopher M. Johnson, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy, is currently the Chair of the Music Education and Music Therapy Department and Director of the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Johnson earned his Ph.D. from the Florida State University.
Since his arrival at The University of Kansas, Johnson has taught courses in Instrumental Conducting, Teaching Instrumental Music, Managing Behaviors in the Music Environment, Psychology and Acoustics of Music, and Research Methods in Music Education and Music Therapy. Johnson served two terms as the editor of the International Journal of Music Education: Research, the research publication of the International Society for Music Education. He is currently serving his second term on the National Association for Music Educations Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. He also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education, and one earlier term as the Chair for the MENC Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. Johnson also served as the Chair for the Research Commission of the International Society for Music Education.
Johnson’s research interests include applied research in music education, and basic research in all aspects of the psychology of music. He has published articles in many journals including the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Music Education, the Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Band Research, Contributions to Music Education, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, among others. Johnson has also been an active member and contributor to the Research Seminar of the International Society for Music Education and World Alliance for Arts Education.
Johnson received a university teaching award – the Ned N. Fleming Award for Excellence in Teaching and received the recognition for Graduate Teaching Achievement from the Center for Teaching Excellence. Johnson was also awarded a lecturing & research award as a J. William Fulbright Scholar and recently received the Ella Scoble Opperman Citation for Distinguished Achievement from the Florida State University College of Music.
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