Teacher, coach, rockstar, dad; Mr. Goldman does it all. Between teaching four classes, leading a club, coaching the track team, having his own band, and still being an active, loving father, Mr. Goldman balances everything with ease. The music teacher is a true staple of the Cardozo community.
Balancing life is never easy and Mr. Goldman is the first to admit it. Wearing many masks daily can take a toll on the human body.“I can’t act the same way I do in my chorus class with my track team,” he explained. “I don’t act the same way when I’m around my wife versus when I’m around my kids.”
While this is a hard task, Mr. Goldman admitted that it’s nice to be able to blend them together nicely, as they’re all connected in some way. “Music and humanities will always be connected,” he said. “I definitely have to shift gears a lot throughout the day.”
Mr. Goldman proudly mentioned that being in a band heavily influences the way he teaches his music classes by giving him a first-hand experience on what reality is looking for, what music students get once they leave high school.
“If you happen not to be some philharmonic level player,” he explained. “If you’re not a conservatory player, if you’re just an average musician looking to make some money. I can get a good sense of what people get hired for…what I’ve gotten hired for.” Mr. Goldman brings attention to the fact that musicians typically get hired for special occasions, like parties. However, Mr. Goldman specified that being in a band itself isn’t a high pressure job, especially when you get to rehearse and don’t have to worry about messing each other up. He calls it “comforting” in a way.
The music teacher admitted, as well, that he always knew he was going to do music; despite jokingly admitting he also thought he was going to be Billy Joel. Upon turning 21 and still having written nothing, he caved and shifted gears. After switching schools and years of contemplation, he transferred and began studying composition thinking it would be amazing. He sat through a few classes and immediately knew it wasn’t for him, he ended up caving in on his mother’s suggestion to sit in on an education class.
“…First class we discussed what needs to be done in the world of education and it turns out my mind just naturally gravitated towards that stuff anyway because I know what I was frustrated with and I didn’t do well sitting and just listening to someone,” Mr. Goldman explained. “I worked better showing it.” There began Mr. Goldman’s journey in education.
Now, teaching music at Cardozo, Mr. Goldman brings a lot into his classroom. A well balanced and safe student-teacher relationship in the classroom is needed as much as anything else, which he ensures. Students who have such relationships with teachers often feel as though they are at home. They open up easier and are less inclined to suffer from mental stress alone. In Mr. Goldman classes, especially his chorus class, his relationship with his students is one they will never forget.
Upon being asked what that relationship means to him, Mr. Goldman proudly stated, “I cherish it as much as anything else in my entire life. It is valid and valuable to me in my own personal life as the opinion, respect and love of my students,” he added. “I am nothing without the love of my students.”
Mr. Goldman shared he hopes the relationship affects the dynamic in his classroom. Some students are more comfortable with him however, in the same sense, he knows some students can tend to feel intimidated by the familial, blunt dynamic of the classroom. Mr. Goldman admitted that he tends to present reality in a way that is different from other teachers and tries to just be “real” about life, as it will be in the years following high school.
From first hand experience, Mr. Goldman suggests that any students seeking a music career after high school should just go for it. He admitted that it will be tough because it will be the student seeking out the music, there will be no one recruiting you saying you need music as part of your graduation requirements.
“…The facilities and faculties out there [for music] are so amazing it isn’t even funny,” he explained. “You can YouTube a better education then you can get in a conservatory because you have not just one teacher but 50 if you want it and you have different mechanisms and techniques and ways of achieving those techniques, more so than you ever did before so the resources available are endless.”
But, with endless resources comes a challenge: what to do first? Mr. Goldman advised music students, or any student for that matter, to try and sift through and pick one piece at a time to focus on. “Pick one piece at a time to stay focused on and stay in it until you finish it, because it’s so easy to get lost in the world and wealth of music. So if you stay focused on one thing at a time, eventually you’ll have a bunch of pieces under your sleeve.”
