Follow Up #1: Am I Teaching?
Short answer: yes. Slightly longer answer: not as much as I'd like. Longer answer follows...
The whole idea behind the return to UNCG that I wrote about in the last post was that afterwards I would secure a position in the public schools teaching music and be secure and content for the rest of my working days. So far, it really hasn't quite worked out that way. The hiring process for schools is a mysterious thing that I haven't quite figured out yet. I applied for somewhere around twenty positions, but only got called in to interview for two. One of those, an elementary school position, remains unfilled a month into the school year. The other one, a rural high school with a very small band but popular guitar and percussion programs, ended up giving the job to an interim guy who was there all along. Sort of begs the question; when is an opening REALLY an opening?
I'm still plugging away at it, trying to get on the substitute teaching list, checking in on the job postings every few days, that sort of thing. I've also put in for a job that I don't want to say too much about here right now, suffice it to say that it's not teaching, but dealing with music education in a more administrative sense. It would be a really cool job, but I know it's going to be a very long process before it's filled.
In the meantime, I'm piecing things together; I do have a part-time job doing interwebby things. The actual work is kinda boring, but the people there are interesting, and as they say, it's a paycheck. I'm also still teaching private guitar lessons, which I truly enjoy. I seem to always be a few students shy from where I want to be with it. And I just began teaching afterschool guitar classes one day a week at a local Catholic school. If the first week is any indication, that's going to be a lot of fun.
Lastly, I'm finding myself making more money actually playing music this year than I ever have. A lot of it has come from musical theatre, I'm getting started on my fourth show of the year. Three of the four have been doubling on guitar and banjo, so the $100 I spent on a second-hand banjo has been a good investment.
Enough for now. Coffee is needed. I'll get more into recent musical activities in my next post. In the meantime, if you hear about a job...
The whole idea behind the return to UNCG that I wrote about in the last post was that afterwards I would secure a position in the public schools teaching music and be secure and content for the rest of my working days. So far, it really hasn't quite worked out that way. The hiring process for schools is a mysterious thing that I haven't quite figured out yet. I applied for somewhere around twenty positions, but only got called in to interview for two. One of those, an elementary school position, remains unfilled a month into the school year. The other one, a rural high school with a very small band but popular guitar and percussion programs, ended up giving the job to an interim guy who was there all along. Sort of begs the question; when is an opening REALLY an opening?
I'm still plugging away at it, trying to get on the substitute teaching list, checking in on the job postings every few days, that sort of thing. I've also put in for a job that I don't want to say too much about here right now, suffice it to say that it's not teaching, but dealing with music education in a more administrative sense. It would be a really cool job, but I know it's going to be a very long process before it's filled.
In the meantime, I'm piecing things together; I do have a part-time job doing interwebby things. The actual work is kinda boring, but the people there are interesting, and as they say, it's a paycheck. I'm also still teaching private guitar lessons, which I truly enjoy. I seem to always be a few students shy from where I want to be with it. And I just began teaching afterschool guitar classes one day a week at a local Catholic school. If the first week is any indication, that's going to be a lot of fun.
Lastly, I'm finding myself making more money actually playing music this year than I ever have. A lot of it has come from musical theatre, I'm getting started on my fourth show of the year. Three of the four have been doubling on guitar and banjo, so the $100 I spent on a second-hand banjo has been a good investment.
Enough for now. Coffee is needed. I'll get more into recent musical activities in my next post. In the meantime, if you hear about a job...
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