What’s In Your Front Seat?
Ed Simon

What’s in your back seat? Metaphorically speaking, what is important to you and has value to you more than anything else? This is a question I pose to you which has job and career implications. Many people struggle with professional and personal life balance. “I’ve got issues”, rings so true but so differently for all of us as musicians and teachers. Not to mention what issues our students face that we are totally unaware of – more on that later. Let’s focus on our adult issues first.

The burn-out and drop-out rate in the education field is dramatic and perhaps even higher with music teachers. Approximately fifty percent of teachers are gone within their first five years – astonishing. In order to address this issue and assist teachers, school districts in many areas have stepped up their professional development programs while providing Peer-Mentoring and Critical-Friends groups. But what goes beyond work related goals and assistance? – Life balance. What is important to you and the ability to recognize it: prioritizing, weighing, resting, relaxation.

What’s in your front seat? It’s different for all of us. A single first-year teacher will have different priorities from a married first-year teacher, from a first-year teacher with two children and on and on…widowed, divorced, re-married. What about the 30-year veteran teacher with aged parents to care for who has a different kind of life to balance with work?

How is the quality of your life? The quality of your teaching may be very similar. What makes us tick? Have you forgotten? No time for hobbies? – Make time! This may be just the balance you need to get through the ten weeks of spring musical, 4th grade string day, parent/teacher conferences, all-suburban auditions, community orchestra, recommendation letters, another committee meeting, and report cards! By the way, your son needs cupcakes for the class party, your daughter needs help painting the CO2 car for 7th grade tech class, and your parents are moving to a smaller place and want you to come by and look through their 50-year collection of plates and pictures they thought you might like to have.

In my life, some of the best professional development has been in swinging a hammer during a project, attending my children’s events and tedious grass cutting as think-time for music selection. My hobbies are trains, woodworking and interior design. Yours might be exercise, cooking clubs or photography. Wednesday night is Philharmonic night, period. If you are not in a community orchestra, consider joining one. You are a trained musician. Demonstrate your skill to your students and friends. Don’t forget to practice! Sometimes not thinking about the job so much is the best way to look forward to the next work day.

What’s in my front seat? My children, spouse and everything I love about life. What’s in my back seat? My job and everything I love about teaching music. One is not necessarily less important than the other, just different. A sort of work-life integration. One tends to feed off the other. When was the last time you asked your spouse or good friends to come to one of your school concerts so they could see what you really do? They see you at work—interacting with your students, dealing with instruments, music issues and the other stresses that go along with pre-concert preparations. The thrill and experience of a live performance of music performed by the youth that YOU have prepared could be very interesting for them and they get to see a side of you they didn’t realize was so unique. Go out and celebrate! Enjoy the fruits of your labor and the closeness of friendship and support. We need that! You may just approach your job with renewed vitality and interest. Don’t forget to return the favor! How interested are you in what your friends do?

Your students also deal with similar life-school balance and integration. It’s easy to forget that our students carry a lot of baggage around: the stress of tests, trouble or sadness at home, relationship issues, poor diet, lack of sleep, activities and jobs. It’s no wonder they may be walking into our rooms in a bad mood. Remember, too, that strings class or orchestra is an elective – not a requirement. Make your students feel invited, needed, and integral to the ensemble’s success. Our class may not be in their front seat but it may very well be in their back seat – a need for music in their day. The joy of making music with one’s friends is a special moment in time. Create many of them.

I’d like to thank Andy Johnston for his service to MMEA. His dedication, insight, wit and his genuine charm were much appreciated the last two years. If any of you have any suggestions for future article topics or conference clinicians please let me know at esimon@pkwy.k12.mo.us.

As we look for relaxation during the summer vacation, remember that inspiration can show itself in many forms – music selection poolside, a couple of great lesson plans while biking, reading a supply catalogue while barbequing or ideas to hook students the first day while driving to that summer escape. Enjoy those moments. Enjoy life. What’s in YOUR front seat?