This page shows my progress in refining my content knowledge of music throughout my graduate career and in my student teaching experience.

Below are two lesson plans from my high school student teaching experience: one from the beginning and one from the end of the Fall 2012 semester. The first lesson plan is extremely basic, only including my goals for the rehearsal. Fortunately, the lesson went smoothly which earned me a more favorable grade. However, the second lesson plan is from a rehearsal in November in which I included much more specific instruction and the choral Standards of Learning as well as my own goals for rehearsal.

First Lesson Plan 9/25/2012 and accompanying evaluation:

Final Lesson Plan 11/29/2012 and accompanying evaluation:

Next, I have my best analysis of of a choral piece during my student teaching experience at a local middle school in Spring 2013. This piece was included in a literature project for class in which I had to choose five pieces of choral repertoire for a concert for one of the classes I was working most closely with that semester. The particular piece I chose to analyze was a 2-part arrangement of Vivaldi's "Gloria." I analyzed this piece keeping in mind how I was going to teach this piece to the class in the future.
 

Featured below is a listening guide and lesson plan I completed Spring 2013 as an assignment for class. The material was based on the current skill level of the students I was working with during my student teaching experience that semester. The listening guide is a learning tool used to "guide" students through a piece by forging a connection between visual and aural learning, thus having them actively listen to the piece of music. Below the listening guide I've included the accompanying lesson plan in which I included links between our active listening and the repertoire we were currently learning in class for the upcoming concert.

Lastly, below I have one of my final lesson plans from my Spring 2013 student teaching internship. There is a distinct difference between this lesson plan and my earlier lesson plans from my Fall 2012 internship at the high school level. They have improved mainly because I made clearer, more concise goals and linked them to my procedure throughout my lesson plan. I have also attached the evaluation for this lesson that I received from my advisor.

The above elements show my progression in music education content knowledge throughout my graduate school career. I believe the areas that have shown the most growth are goals and musical content. My goals outlined in my lesson plans have become much more concise and therefore easier for the students to understand and achieve. This semester I have especially challenged myself to give students more specific feedback to further help them achieve these goals I set out for them. I have also improved how captivating and interesting my lessons are. I try to find as many developmentally appropriate, musical elements to discuss about every piece so that each lesson I teach the students is memorable and educational. I believe that through improving my goals and musical content in my lessons, the repertoire I teach will be much more intriguing to the students. In my opinion, learning should never be a dull experience; education of any kind needs to be relevant and exciting to the students in order for it to memorable.