Three Ways to Challenge Yourself As A Music Teacher To Promote Growth

As a music teacher, I want to continually grow my skills and abilities. I want to be a better conductor, musician, teacher, and motivator to name a few. No matter what the area I want to focus on may be, to achieve growth, I must step outside of my comfort zone and deliberately push myself. Here are three recommendations to push yourself for growth as a music teacher.

1. Be deliberate about targeting an area (or areas) of growth. 

Chances are, with the business of teaching/conducting life, that if you do not take time specifically to target areas or an area of growth, little will occur outside of the naturally occurring osmosis. I recommend taking time at the beginning of the school year to select your area(s). Then make a plan. So much of growth is based on personal discipline and organization.

Challenge yourself by choosing areas for growth!

2. Select at least one piece of music that is a challenge for you.

Granted, this may not always be possible musically depending on the level of your students. However, the challenge for you could be introducing a quality piece that you know will take quite some time for your students to appreciate (but which most eventually will if taught well). I heard a High School choir at a national ACDA conference a few years ago present a whole set of Hindemith pieces as part of their program. Teaching a group of teenage singers to appreciate the Hindemith music and perform it well would likely be a greater challenge than the musical aspects of the piece.

Challenge yourself with repertoire!

3. Set aside regular time for professional/personal growth.

Like the first one, this seems very obvious, but so easy to neglect when teaching life gets busy. I would recommend that this should be outside of school/district requirements. This extra focus will help you become an exceptional teacher. Think what would happen if you set aside just 30 minutes per week for the whole school year to research something, practice something a bit extra, etc.... Most school calendars in the USA run four nine week quarters. 30 minutes per week could amount to 18 hours of focused improvement time in the course of a school year.

Challenge yourself by carving out time for growth!