Educated to Death

preludeofthebreath asked: Hey there! I'm going to school for music education next year (which is a very time consuming degree) and was wondering if you knew of another endorsement that would be good (and not hard to get?). I was thinking french, since I already have about 15 french credits, but that's also a little-needed endorsement, too...

Continue with French, that’s a foreign language endorsement (if you can squeeze in a bit of Spanish it can’t hurt). English/literacy is never a bad idea as you can use language literacy as a part of your music instruction and vice-versa. Lots of language learning works in concert with the cognitive skills developed in music. And, of course there’s mathematics. High need, similar cognitive skills. TESOL is also an option since you already have a bit of language learning under your belt. It’s a high demand field that will give you the opportunity to use your music and language skills. I taught maths before I finally landed a music position. Having done other things makes me more marketable as a music teacher even. I’m available to assist during testing. I also do (and assist colleagues with) quite a bit of arts integration. It should come naturally to someone with a background in the arts such as yourself. Hit me up if you need to know more. Also look at anything the Kennedy Center has to offer on arts integration.

One more thing, make sure your chosen concentration is something you could handle teaching. Do what you love, but don’t pigeon hole yourself. Make sense? Best, ETD