I’m wondering, when on earth did UVU finally get a bachelor’s in Music Education???? Woooo! So I was perusing the course catalogue, and I’ve got everything for my BA or BS in Music except for 2 semesters of Music History, and 1 more piano class. But if I want my BS in Music Ed, it’ll be those 3 classes, plus Form & Analysis, Intro to Music Technology (I took this at CSULA, but I don’t know if they’ll count it), Scoring & Arranging, and Jazz Improvisation.

Those are just the extra Discipline Core Req’s, I’d also need:
Group Strings
Group Clarinet (Easy peasy!)
Group Trumpet (Also easy, just need to re-remember my fingerings, haven’t played a brass instrument in 8 years or so!)
Intro to Music Ed (took this one at CSULA, too, but not sure if it transfers over. It was fun, we got to visit a lot of different schools/ages of kids)
Percussion Practicum
String Practicum
Woodwind Practicum
Brass Practicum
Maybe 1 or 2 semesters of voice or clarinet or saxophone, but I took so many lessons at both CSULA and UVU that I doubt I HAVE to take more lessons. Now all the above in that list are 1 credit, easy peasy fun classes (Well, for me. And I’m sure my husband will just LOOOVE when I’m taking Group Strings and get to practice violin for a semester.) Still, all of these are doable within 2 semesters as long as I take 4 each semester (which is equal to 1 full credit class anyhow).

Now comes the hard part… Secondary Education! This is what would knock me out another year or more!!!

Development of the Adolescent Student
Educational Psychology
Foundations of American Education
Instructional Media
Exceptional Students
Classroom Management 1 and 2
Content Area Reading and Writing
Multicultural Education/ESL
Secondary Curriculum Instruction and Assessment
2 semesters of student teaching

Advanced Conducting (either choral or instrumental, I might want to take both)
Choral Liturature and Methods
Orchestra Liturature and Methods
Wind Band Liturature and Methods
Marching Band Techniques

And then one Gen Ed class in the Global/Intercultural requirement, since the school added that requirement in 2008.

WHEW! Can you see that I’d have my work cut out for me? I’m pretty sure that would take me 3 years…

So I guess as soon as my littles are in kindergarten, and any baby/child we might adopt are in preschool or daycare, THEN I can go back to school for 3 years, and get credentialed, and then work for almost no pay! But man, it would be SO FUN.

Basically that means in 2 years I can go back - I’ll be 29, finishing when I’m 31. Would I feel old doing that? Would it be better to just get the BA of Music (I could do that in 1 semester, except they spread the 2 music history classes over 2 semesters)… With a BA of Music, at least I’d have a bachelor’s degree, I could think more about performing. But I couldn’t teach at any higher than a private lessons type level, unless I got a job at a private school. And I know that someday I DO want to teach, probably as my kids enter middle school and get more autonomous. I mean, if I was totally honest, I’d love to be teaching right now. That’s why I even do the private lessons - even if I only have 5 students right now, that’s still 5 times a week I can help a child learn to love to make music.

I’ve actually been seriously thinking about getting Kindermusik certified so that I can teach young kids, and maybe asking the gal who runs my kids’ preschool if she’d be interested in having me teach there… but they already have 1 Kindermusik teacher.

So I’ve also been thinking about putting together my own curriculum for a couple of classes - for the preschool age group, I’d want to do a World Music and Movement class, where I can let them listen to music from all over, and maybe show a few basic folk dance moves. I’d also like to teach a preschooler’s Music Appreciation type class, where I can teach them the different instruments and how they sound and what types of music they play (Think listening to Peter and The Wolf, Aaron Copeland, that sort of fun stuff).

And then I’ve also been thinking about maybe getting into teaching a few Community Education classes - I noticed that right now they are offering exactly ZERO music classes - I could teach a Group Voice, Group Clarinet, and Group Saxophone class, a basic Music Appreciation class (geared more for adults), and a World Music class there… But I really need to go to the Cont. Ed. offices and ask them a million questions - would I need to find a place to hold classes, or would they have a classroom for me? Would I have to use literature that you buy on campus at UVU, or can I choose my own books? Would I be required to use CDs that already exist, or can I burn my own (for the world music and music appreciation students)? Would it be best to start with one or two classes, or would it be better to offer a great variety? I know that I could dedicate maybe 2 nights a week to classes, and do 2 or 3 classes in the evenings after suppertime. For the group instrument classes, I’d want to aim it towards adults who played back in school, but haven’t dusted off their instruments in who knows how long… I can give them a basic music reading refresher, and then probably use a basic method book (I’d maybe want to do a beginning and an intermediate class…) - and hey, sheesh, would it be better to split up the saxophones and clarinets, or would it be better to teach them together? I could even just make the class Group Woodwinds and work with the flutes and anyone who actually owns their own oboe/bassoon/whatever… (plus, if it was a winds group, I could have some fun concert/recital, have a few ensemble numbers and then each member do a solo!)

See? I have so many ideas, but sooooo many questions. And I don’t know which idea would be best… go back to school, and if so, which degree. Start getting serious about teaching, and if so, to small children, or adults?

Yeah, all this has been running through my mind the last few days, and it’s kind of driving me crazy! Maybe I should talk to my mother in law about it, she’s a musician, too.