Jen Midkiff, professional educator!
And I have a license to prove it! Finally completed all the paperwork (I'd done the coursework a year ago, but changes in IN certification law and the online-ization of the DOE database slowed things down. But I have a shiny new "Professional Educator's License", valid until 11/17/2021. Go me! ;)
Of course this license isn't TOTALLY truthful: it claims me as a teacher for "Music: Choral, General and Instrumental", grades K-12. The K-12 part is right, but I did NOT do the instrumental-certification track in undergrad. Indiana only has one license for music, though, so this is it. I could technically apply for a band or orchestra job; I'd just be no good at it, unless the students already knew how to play their instruments. Of course I can coach rhythm and dynamics and line and phrase, all the music theory and musicianship things; it's the nitty-gritty of how to play and maintain most instruments that I don't know. Brass and woodwinds especially intimidate me; I'm apparently a touch asthmatic, which explains why after four months of flute study I was still getting light-headed within 5 minutes of practicing.
But all that aside, I'm thrilled. A ten-year license instead of the standard five-year means I don't have to worry about taking classes again for a long, long time. Not that I'm averse to learning; it's just EXPENSIVE, and right now the $ is going for things like violin lessons for Maddie (and in a year or so, cello & lessons for Katie).
Next up, applying for a faculty scholarship to fund going to the Weston Noble Alumni Choir next July. Weston will be 90 years old in 2012, and he wanted to do a tour on top of the usual weeklong alumni choir thing. I haven't gone to it since 2007, but it was WONDERFUL. So for 2012 he wants to do the weeklong thing at a retreat center somewhere near Yosemite, and then take another week and tour down the California coast. Can't afford it on my own, but I really want to go; I miss Nordic Choir more than I can properly express, LOVE singing for Weston, and who knows how much longer he'll do this? For all I know this will be his last year: go out on the high note of one last tour. I don't want to miss it. If I don't get the scholarship, I'll probably try a Kickstarter or some other fundraising website. Ideas, anyone?
Of course this license isn't TOTALLY truthful: it claims me as a teacher for "Music: Choral, General and Instrumental", grades K-12. The K-12 part is right, but I did NOT do the instrumental-certification track in undergrad. Indiana only has one license for music, though, so this is it. I could technically apply for a band or orchestra job; I'd just be no good at it, unless the students already knew how to play their instruments. Of course I can coach rhythm and dynamics and line and phrase, all the music theory and musicianship things; it's the nitty-gritty of how to play and maintain most instruments that I don't know. Brass and woodwinds especially intimidate me; I'm apparently a touch asthmatic, which explains why after four months of flute study I was still getting light-headed within 5 minutes of practicing.
But all that aside, I'm thrilled. A ten-year license instead of the standard five-year means I don't have to worry about taking classes again for a long, long time. Not that I'm averse to learning; it's just EXPENSIVE, and right now the $ is going for things like violin lessons for Maddie (and in a year or so, cello & lessons for Katie).
Next up, applying for a faculty scholarship to fund going to the Weston Noble Alumni Choir next July. Weston will be 90 years old in 2012, and he wanted to do a tour on top of the usual weeklong alumni choir thing. I haven't gone to it since 2007, but it was WONDERFUL. So for 2012 he wants to do the weeklong thing at a retreat center somewhere near Yosemite, and then take another week and tour down the California coast. Can't afford it on my own, but I really want to go; I miss Nordic Choir more than I can properly express, LOVE singing for Weston, and who knows how much longer he'll do this? For all I know this will be his last year: go out on the high note of one last tour. I don't want to miss it. If I don't get the scholarship, I'll probably try a Kickstarter or some other fundraising website. Ideas, anyone?