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Jonathan Griffin
I grew up in Hillsville, VA where I attended and graduated from Carroll County High School in the spring of 2016. It was here that my own choir and band teachers sparked my love for music. I initially started my music journey in 6th grade band class where I learned how to play the Bb Clarinet. In the years to follow I pushed my skills by auditioning for Jr. High All-District Band and being selected to participate in one of the most incredible experiences I had at this time in my childhood. I continued honing my instrumental skills by continuing to participate in selected ensembles at my school as well as auditioning for Jr. High and Sr. High All-District Band almost every year along with learning to play various new instruments like the piano, flute, alto saxophone, and the oboe on my own. By 9th grade, I knew that teaching music was exactly what I wanted to pursue as my career, but I didn't quite know at the time what that would look like.
In 9th grade, I joined choir to appease my friends and my choir director after many failed attempts to convince me to join. I was not prepared to be completely challenged as a musician, because I incorrectly thought that singing was too simple and easy. I eventually decided to audition for Sr. High All-District Choir in the 10th grade and every year after that. Though I wanted to be a band director, I still very much enjoyed singing as well. However, all of that changed when I auditioned and was selected to participate in All-Virginia Chorus both my 11th and 12th grade years. I was floored by the massive amount of gorgeous singing I experienced at All-Virginia Chorus that it completely rewired my brain to pursue my career as a choral director.
After high school, I enrolled as a music education major at Emory & Henry College in the fall of 2016. During my time at E&H, I made so many memories with the various directors and mentors who shaped me as the musician and educator I am today. This was also the time I decided to establish the Grace Notes acapella group with the help of some amazing friends. Grace Notes, though it no longer exists, was a staple of Emory & Henry College between 2018 and 2020 being featured at many events around campus and the Abingdon community. Grace Notes gave me a good sense of what it would be like to be a director one day and I would not be who I am today without those experiences.
Though I graduated from E&H in 2020, I did not start my career as a public school teacher until February 2021 when I accepted and started my role as choral director at Lebanon High School and Middle School and the general music teacher at Lebanon Elementary School where I still teach to this day. While at Lebanon, I've been able to reestablish the choral program after COVID-19's devastating effects ravaged the number of students in the choral program. With the help of parents and my students, I was able to take a program of only about 20-30 students from 5th grade to 12th grade in 2021 and grow it to nearly 120 students this year. I am incredibly grateful to everyone in my life who have shaped who I am not only as a person, but also as a musician and educator.
Teaching Philosophy
I genuinely believe that through dedicated practice and encouragement, anyone can learn to play an instrument or sing. Differentiation and having multiple ways to teach a concept is the key component of teaching. Everyone learns differently and in turn their teachers or instructors shouldn't teach everyone the same.
I want all of my students to understand how the brain learns new information as well as how the learning process works as many children and adults don't know how to properly learn a new skill. The best thing about teaching music is that even with talented individuals, no one is perfect and no one is above practicing--everyone has skills that they can improve upon. The most fundamental skill that music can teach everyone is the ability to make a mistake, assess why and how you made the mistake, fix it, and try again. Most people are self-conscious about their mistakes, but they are integral to the learning process. We should be teaching students to make and learn from their mistakes instead of avoiding mistakes altogether--that's not how humans learn.
Though these are all important components of teaching, one of the best advice I could give to any teacher is to focus more on the relationship you have with your students. Get to know your students, what their interests are, if they have any hobbies or sports they enjoy, what kind of music they like to listen to, and try to find something that connects the two of you no matter how small. Learning isn't about work all the time; learning, and specifically learning music, should be enjoyable. If the student isn't enjoying themselves, learning becomes a chore. Learning is easiest when your teacher makes it fun. As one of my favorite educational speakers, Rita Pierson, once said, "Kids don't learn from people they don't like."
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