The Defroster of your First Year Windshield

Have you ever been late for an appointment or for work on a dewy morning, and as you rush to your car you realize that the windshield is covered in a thick fog? You can't really wiper it off, because it's on the inside of the windshield. The more you wipe with your hand the more you smear the wet fog around. The worst part... You are late!!!! You don't have time to sit and wait for the defroster to take over, so you pull out of your driveway wrapped in an in-car fog. Then, as you drive dangerously down the street (Please note that I speak only hypothetically of an incident such as this...where was I?) the fog ever-so-slowly lifts aided by the languid defrost blower which cannot be turned on high enough. Now, part of your windshield is crystal clear... unfortunately, it's the unusable part in the very low center of the windshield... while the other part... the useful/needed part in front of your driver's side windshield... is still covered in fog! As you continue down the roadway recklessly driving with your life and everyone else's life in danger, (You're still late... remember?) the fog slowly disappears to reveal a crystal clear view of the road and you begin to wonder, "Why didn't I take the time at the beginning of this journey to let the window clear? It would have saved my nerves from racing and getting myself in an uproar! Oh, I know... I tried to do it all by myself, because that always works to my benefit—or not!" WELL... A first year teacher may spend much of their first year feeling like this hypothetical driver, recklessly flying by the seat of the proverbial pants! But the fog of the first year teacher can be defrosted in just three days at the end of February... The defroster is called the KMEA In-Service Workshop!

This year's "defrost" was a hit, because Holly and I had the opportunity to meet some great new instructors of music from Kansas, and there wasn't as much snow as last year! There were 45 first year teachers and college students at the "Tips from the Trenches" question and answer session with a veteran panel of teachers. We had the most diverse panel that we have had in years. This year we were fortunate to have music coordinator Shawn Chastain, high school band director Lance Burnett, high school and middle school band director Toby Wood, middle school choral music director Patty Ahern, elementary music teacher Judy Mareda, and high school music accompanist Tammy Laird giving incredible perspectives from their teaching experience. The panel did an excellent job of answering questions - in fact, we ran out of time and some didn't get some questions answered. From this session, it was suggested, that next year we might try the following... after a brief open questioning period of time, new teachers should break into content areas, and speak with each content area veteran teacher represented on the panel.

The New Teacher Luncheon had 5 of 6 district mentor chairs in attendance, which was a real bonus to make those one-on-one connections with new teachers in their district of Kansas. There were over thirty new teachers in attendance. The speakers gave pertinent information to help guide these teachers, but unfortunately NAfME President Nancy Ditmer was unable to attend. Our guest speakers were KMEA President Avian Bear, KMEA Executive Director John Taylor, Assistant Executive Director of KSHSAA Reggie Romine, and representing KMMA and Senseney Music, Lori Supinie. A follow up has been planned with all the attendees and our hope is to have a mentor for each teacher.

Several great pieces of information were learned from the new teachers during this new teacher luncheon. The areas of most concern to this group of new teachers were: Classroom management/discipline; Curriculum development; Knowledge of teaching materials & music literature in your teaching area; and Student evaluation and grading. Most new teachers want a mentor, but not all had one. New Teachers shared advice with each other saying: "Don't be afraid to ask vet teachers for ideas, they love to help!;" "You can do it! Don't be afraid to ask for help!;" "Ask lots of questions! Be flexible and breathe!;" and "Just keep swimming!" Also, some new teachers gave a great perspective of their KMEA ISW workshop by saying: "Continue coming to KMEA even if you have a job far away from Wichita. It's worth the money;" and "Go to KMEA!" Holly and I agree with all of these great comments!

New teachers need a bit of clarity, just like the aforementioned driver. Sometimes the first year of teaching can seem difficult and a good clear guidance from a mentor teacher will help wipe away the fog, which blocks their vision. Fortunately, new music teachers have a "defroster" called the KMEA ISW, which can start the path to clarity in their new career!