Week 2 Reflection

When reading the story about Katie in the assignment, I couldn't help but think of a few of my former students who were in similar situations. These students, Cole and Joey, were both very naturally talented musicians. In my previous job, I taught K-12 general music, middle school band and choir, and high school band and choir. I was the only fine arts class for many years in this very small rural school district. I had Cole and Joey in elementary music classes, and started both of them in beginning band in 4th grade. Cole moved away when he was in the 5th grade. He then moved back when he was in 7th grade. When Cole moved back, he didn't sign up to be in middle school band or choir class. In his junior year of high school, he decided to join the high school choir class after many student's encouraged him to join. The following year, he also joined the high school band class. The whole time that he wasn't enrolled in any music classes, he continued to play guitar and sing at church. Through out all of this, I was very happy to see that his love of music stayed with him throughout the move, and what I called his 'cool' phase of not being in band or choir. His senior year, we had a talent show at the school. He was one of the first acts to sign up, and performed two or three times on different instruments and with different small groups. When he decided to sign back up for choir and band classes, he helped me see that someone's love of music last through their life, even without enrolling in classes.

My other student, Joey, was in my band classes all the way from middle school through high school. He was a percussionist in my top band. When Joey was a sophomore, he and his brother started playing guitar in their free time. This is a student who was extremely shy when it came to performing in public. By the end of his senior year, he and his brother would go around town and play at different locations for fun. The transformation that happened through music was very inspiring to witness. About a year or so after Joey graduated high school, he had the opportunity to play guitar along with one of his favorite bands on stage at a concert.

This type of musical creativity wasn't necessarily developed in band and choir class. A lot of their musical journey during school was self motivated. These two students were not exactly like Katie in the reading, but their musical journey through school and after graduation was inspiring to see. Knowing that I was a small part of their journey means so much to me.