Authenticity

It is very important for a teacher to be authentic. Students are able to tell when teacher is not authentic. A good teacher is someone who knows who they are, and more importantly the shows in their teaching the reasons that they first wanted to teach. I think that there is an initial spark in every effective teacher that leads them towards education.

I've had a few different moments when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. The first time that another student came to me and asked for help with what we were learning, I discovered that I had a passion for helping people succeed in school. It didn't take long from this discovery for me to decide that I wanted to be a teacher.

The second moment that I had was the first time that I ever held a conductor's baton. It was backstage during a performance of a musical that I was in. We used the band room as our green room. Another person was holding our band director's baton, and I ended up being the one to put it back in its place. The moment that the baton was in my hand I had a moment that I can only compare to a scene in Harry Potter. When Harry first grabs his wand in Ollivander's store. I felt that same sensation when I held that baton. Ever since that moment, I have wanted to teach music.

With these two moments as guides, I want to try to be as authentic a teacher as I can be. I don't ever want to forget why I love to teach, why I love music, and why I want to inspire musicians of the future to love music the way I do. Whether a student leaves my classroom to pursue music or not, I want them to develop a love and an appreciation of music that will never die. I believe that if I can be authentic as a teacher that I will be able to accomplish this.