Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS) Newsletter!

August 5, 2000

Table of Contents:

1. MTIPS Theme
2. Welcome Notes - (Shameless Marketing!)
3. MTIPS Development
4. Notable Quotables
5. Notable Birthdays
6. Book Time
7. Recommended Sites

1. MTIPS Theme

We have the incredible opportunity to influence our students in ways that are much more powerful than simply making them full- functioning musicians.

2. Welcome Notes

Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS)!

Welcome to our 27 new subscribers! A heart felt "thank you" to my friends and colleagues who forward MTIPS to their friends. Your vote of confidence, through sharing MTIPS with your friends is very special to me and continue to encourage me to create MTIPS. THANKS! MTIPS is a free monthly newsletter that's goal is to provide piano teachers, (hopefully you!) with insightful practices that will make the career of sharing music with soon-to-be musicians a more rewarding and successful one. I hope that this electronic publication assists you in creating a more enjoyable and successful lesson for you and your students.

Please let me know how I can be of service to you in reaching this goal. You may contact me at: NickAmbrosino@musicsimplymusic.com. I look forward to playing with you through this newsletter. Let's have some fun!

3. MTIPS Development

Why do you continue to pursue the career of music educator? Is it for the money? (Without straining my brain, I can think of 100 different fields in which we could all make more money!)Is it simply because that's the subject in which you received your degree? Is it because you sense a greater mission that is being fulfilled through your role as a music educator?

I asked myself that question when I was in my mid 20's, having been a music educator since I was 19. The insights I gained in exploring the question were incredibly enlightening! I believe that many of us are more simply "educators", than "music educators". We simply love to teach. In reality, we can't even help it!

If we learn a new skill, we are soon sharing it with someone else. If we discover an interesting fact, we are on the phone with a friend, telling them about the information. Educating is in the fiber of our being.

Are you really just teaching your students how to make music? Or is there a deeper mission to your role as a music educator?

Year after year, when I poll my graduating seniors as to what was most important in our interaction in the music classroom, invariably very few of the most important lessons were about music. Most students comment about the life lessons they learned as a result of interacting through music.

We have the incredible opportunity to influence our students in ways that are much more powerful than simply making them full- functioning musicians. We can, if we choose, show them how to be full-functioning human beings (John Dewey used the term "fully actualized"). Our interaction with our music students provides opportunities to teach them about appropriate goal setting, self discipline, communication skills overcoming frustration, and time management, just to name a few of the life lessons!

What else, besides the music, are you sharing with your students? They learn by example. Believe it or not, they watch you very carefully, as they are always learning. What non-musical lessons are they gaining in their relationship with you? How else are you enriching their lives?

4. Notable Quotables

"If you want to be successful, it's just this simple: Know what you're doing. Love what you're doing. And believe in what you're doing." -Will Rogers

"Integrity has no need of rules." -Albert Camus

5. Notable Birthdays

Leonard Bernstein 08/25
Claude Debussy 08/22

6. Book Time

The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino. Wouldn't you want to know what the first words, upon your birth, your higher power whispered into your ear were?! This is one of my favorite books of all time! I re-read it once a year, simply because it renews my spirit and puts me in touch with my highest being, both as a teacher and as a person. Og has an incredibly easy-to-read writing style. This is a must have in everyone's library! To order this book for only $5.49, click on the link below: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553279726/musicsimplymusic

7. Recommended Sites

http://www.philiphumbert.com. Visit this site for over 200 pages of articles, Top 10 lists (everything from motivation to romantic things to do for your partner!), humor, quotes, and tools for your success! Philip Humbert also publishes a FREE monthly newsletter to which you will want to subscribe. Check it out!

Copyright © 2000 Nicholas Ambrosino. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute MTIPS so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached. The author of this article is Nicholas Ambrosino and he may be contacted at:

http://www.musicsimplymusic.com
director@musicsimplymusic.com

To subscribe/unsubscribe, send an email to: Mtips-list@musicsimplymusic.com With either words "subscribe MTIPS" or the words "unsubscribe MTIPS" in the body of the email.

"We enjoy what we do, and so will you!"
phone: 631-863-2354     fax: 631-471-8311

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