This week we had the opportunity to connect with one of our teaching partners out in St. Augustine, FL, Jonathan Dotson.
Jon has had a long and fruitful relationship with the classical guitar world. He has experience as an international performer, was one of the founding members of the Texas Guitar Quartet, a graduate of some of the best guitar studios in the country including UT-Austin, and taught for 11 years at UT-RGV in Brownsville TX as well as lending a hand in the creation of Texas Southmost College’s music program before becoming the Director of Guitar at St. Johns County Center for the Arts at St. Augustine High School in Florida!
“I was a student here at St. Augustine HS from 1990-1994 and this was one of the only HS classical guitar programs in the nation at the time. I currently serve on the board of Guitar North Florida, a new nonprofit dedicated to building guitar programs in schools, and I am also a board member of the St. Augustine Music Festival, which is the largest free classical music festival in the nation. I have a very small private teaching studio, but I reserve most of my time for my SAHS students and am not doing much private teaching,” Jon shares.
Jon’s relationship with ACG goes back to his grad student days back in 2004. He helped in the early years of our private lessons program and was an active outreach performer for many years. We now connect with him regularly through our GuitarCurriculum resource!
Our core philosophy at GuitarCurriculum.com is simple: Expressive, beautiful music-making from the very first day. All of the materials and resources at GuitarCurriculum are designed to support that simple and critical goal. GuitarCurriculum will engage your students and make it easy for you to focus on making beautiful moments in every class and every concert. There are many ways we can help create this experience. We asked Jon to share a bit about how he curates his classroom environment and he shared,
“My classroom is a safe space for music learners. In the morning, before the bell, it is filled with students practicing, socializing around the instruments, organizing groups, or just hanging out before class. The Performing Arts teachers all have first period planning, so these aren’t homeroom students early for first period, just kids who would rather be in the guitar room than anywhere else. The same is true for lunch period and after school. I pride myself in my availability to the students and in the safe, judgement free creative space they enjoy in the guitar room.
Classroom management issues have been the single greatest challenge that I have experienced, and one for which I was woefully unprepared. My hubris as a first year teacher did not last long, to say the least! I did spend two years teaching k-5 music as a stopgap position when I first moved home, and those kids just ran all over me. I was TERRIBLE at it. One piece of advice that kept coming back at me was “The best classroom management is a good lesson plan”. I never got it, mainly because my expertise as an international concert artist was completely irrelevant to that situation and I had no idea what I was doing.
GuitarCurriculum’s method books were a complete game changer. Engagement has skyrocketed, students’ confidence is at an all time high, and so is mine. Lesson planning is much easier and the holistic lesson plans and literary sequences make for perfect 45 minute sessions that end with a successful performance. The kids rolled their eyes at first but the lessons are just so engaging that it reduces wandering minds and noodling. Now they’re coming in and grabbing the books on the way to the guitar rack. I started guitar 2 class at level 3 and advanced (guitar 3 & 4) at level 5 (book 2).
I kept coming back to the advice I kept getting from my teacher friends. I’m now very proud of the progress I have made as a classroom teacher.
Since receiving my class set of the Ensemble method books, every day is a controlled, carefully scaffolded, well sequenced lesson that the students are completely engaged in. My tendency to push students beyond their comfort level is no longer an issue. 100 percent of the students are engaged in every lesson, with few exceptions. I did not anticipate how the students not only need this structure, but they crave it. They actually enjoy the class much more overall than in my previous two years as a high school teacher. They make requests, they want to revisit previous units to play the songs again. There’s no eye rolling or requests for rock and pop (we do devote Wednesdays to chord study and pop tunes, but again, very carefully, and using the chord charts in the books so we don’t break procedure). Now that the procedures and routines are established, my guitar students come in, take their book from the shelf, get their instrument from the rack, and take their seat. The daily unit/assignment will be on the board. The students know what to do before I even take attendance. Once everyone is seated and attendance is taken, the magic words “standby, please” immediately quiet the room, and we begin the lesson. Total. Game. Changer.”
Connecting with students in an impactful way don’t always need to happen stictly in the classroom, Jon shares more about how he creates engaging experiences with his students:
“I created a recording studio and rehearsal space in the back storage/locker room with a full PA, drum set, lots of amps, mics, etc, as well as a fully operational audio/video setup with Logic Pro and Final Cut pro, and students can earn the privilege to reserve time there with their projects. Some students are learning the software and tech as part of their curriculum. Others are using the space to make the connection between what they learn in the classroom and the pop/rock/whatever that inspired them to take guitar in the first place. This inspiring creative space allows students to transfer their knowledge to a more familiar and fun environment. During guitar classes, it’s also used for small ensembles, sectionals, or private lessons with one of our many volunteer guest teachers.
Another of my favorite ways to connect with my students is through performances outside of the school setting. I have always been a very busy working musician, and I am in a position to offer students the opportunity to perform in the community and launch their performing careers. I will host ‘open mic’ events for them in local art galleries or listening rooms, invite students to select performances and allow them to play during my breaks (through the sound system), and sometimes act as a sort of manager for new and upcoming ensembles, bands, etc. This is not limited to classical guitar, many of my students are in different types of ensembles and bands, and many of them are playing professionally already. My status in the community as a teacher and performer allows me to set things up for my students using my connections in the industry. This allows me to incorporate music industry and entrepreneurism into my teaching in a very palpable way. Sometimes, students are picked up by the venue. Super fun.”
We are so grateful for the teachers, like Jon, whom we get to work and interact with everyday. Every day, your dedication, creativity, and passion shape not just your students’ musical journeys, but their confidence and sense of community. We’re grateful for those who push themselves to learn alongside their students and produce successful, beautiful, and driven music in the classroom.
Thank you for another successful semester. Thank you for being on this journey with us.
