flâneur

Some Thoughts on Teaching

worrydream.com · 1,106 words · saved by 1 readers

My piano teacher played the piano. Like, all the time. He had to; it's not easy to make a living as a musician. Between tours, his band played restaurants, bars, weddings, anywhere they could get a gig. He wrote jingles for infomercials and TV shows, produced tracks for hopeless hip-hop artists. He'd sit in twenty-hour recording sessions, driving home as the sun came up. He chose this life because he loved music, and when he taught music, he was teaching what he did. In that way, his teaching was honest. My improv teachers perform improv. Not as a hobby, but as a centerpiece of their lives. I remember John Remak casually beginning a talk with, "I've been doing improv for twenty years, I love improv, it's my life." It's my life. John makes his living as an attorney, but improv is his life. He teaches from his own experience, and in that way, his teaching is honest. Back in high school, I was taught differential equations by a working engineer. He spent his days at Lawrence Livermore Lab

Some Thoughts on Teaching Some Thoughts on Teaching Bret Victor / November 23, 2011 Some teachers teach from life. My piano teacher played the piano. Like, all the time. He had to; it's not easy to make a living as a musician. Between tours, his band played restaurants, bars, weddings, anywhere they could get a gig. He wrote jingles for infomercials and TV shows, produced tracks for hopeless hip-hop artists. He'd sit in twenty-hour recording sessions, driving home as the sun came up. He chose this life because he loved music, and when he taught music, he was teaching what he did. In that way,

saved by

related reading