Life of a Music Teacher

Mrs. Nages the band teacher at Unatego has taken her time to answer questions about her life as a teacher. She has two children a boy and a girl.

1.      Was teaching music class your first choice for your occupation? “I knew I wanted to be a teacher, either math or music.” “I studied math in college, but I knew I could not live without music, but I could math.”

2.      What/who was your inspiration to become a music teacher? “My high school music director and being involved partly.”

3.      Is that why you became a music teacher? “Yes.”

4.      What college did you attend? “Ithaca College for my Bachelor’s and Syracuse for my Master’s.”

5.      What was your biggest dream in the music category? “To just be a teacher I never wanted to be a performance major.”

6.      Do you think it was worth becoming a music teacher? “Absolutely, I could not imagine doing anything else, or what I would be doing now if I did not.”

7.      Do you enjoy your occupation every day? “I do, it can be noisy and frustrating but you will have that no matter what.”

8.      Have you ever regretted your decision to become a music teacher? “No, but I do not like the new extra stuff that does not involve teaching.”

9.      Do you consider music class to be an important class? “Yes, very important for every student to be introduced to and it is a lot different than academics.” “Music uses a different part of the brain than academics.”

10.  How long have you been teaching? “Twenty years at Unatego and twenty two altogether.”

11.  What is the most important thing about music to you? “The involvement with music and appreciating the value of music.”

12.  What is your favorite thing about music? “To be able to be open to it.”

13.  In general, do you enjoy listening to music? “Yes, but not a lot at home because school is loud and I’m around music all day.”

14.  Do you have a favorite artist? “Styx, Queen, Pink Floyd.. those types of bands.”

15.  Do you consider yourself as a role model to your students? “I’d hope that students see that I care about them.”

16.  As a music teacher, what have you learned from your mistakes? “Listening to what students want to do with music, like what they want to play as an instrument.”

17.  What is your philosophy about music? “Everyone should be exposed and take those classes and try.” “There’s certainly ways to modify so that everyone can be successful.”

18.  What is your goal as a music teacher? “To develop a love for music.” “I loved the saying Mr. Lesh always said “Leave the place better than when I started.””

19.  Do you think taking a music class can be for anyone? “Yes, of course.”

20.  What is your favorite thing about teaching? “Working with the students seeing the students expression when they have been revealed.”