Supportive Staff, Experience Depends on Placement - Music Instructor Education Through Music Employee Review

ETM has a really critical mission with an incredibly passionate community behind it. Our teachers, office, staff, board and partners care deeply about providing the opportunity of a music education for all. It's an inspiring enviroment to be a part of.

It can be tough time working in the arts right now.

ETM Academy (summer training) and PDs can be helpful and the social aspect of having a friendly community of music educators is a plus. Curriculum is given with slide decks and other resources built-in. Leadership is friendly and supportive (to an extent - see cons). Public school hours (8 am - 3 pm) and all holidays off.

ETM has no control of how you are treated at the school and cannot hold anyone accountable for mistreatment. They can hold meetings with the administrators as an intermediary but will not intervene or defend you. Public school administrators can be rude, scream at you, not communicate important schedule changes or events that directly impact you, and if you ask them a clarifying question, patronize and snap at you for undermining their authority. Workload is HEAVY. Expect to use after school hours to work on lesson plans, feedback from previous lesson plans, feedback from observations twice a month, and other deliverables. Observations are extensive and way more frequent than other teachers experience in DOE, charter or private schools. Lesson plans are expected to be scripted with every detail (teacher and student prompts/responses) checks for understanding, differentiation, modifications, and extensions also have to be scripted. Feedback is extensive and micro-managed: Lesson plan feedback comments need responses to each one, observation comments are on every section of your lesson and responses are expected within 24 hours. Schools are located on the edges of the boroughs. So if you don’t have a car, expect to commute for at least an hour to an hour and a half each way. Pay is low for experience and workload.