I believe that professional development is essential to the continued growth of an educator, especially in music education. Being active as a professional in the field of music education is important because of the relationships you build with other educators and also improve as a teacher. Professional development opportunities that I have participated in during my time at Virginia Tech include The Midwest Clinic, Virginia Music Educators Association Conference, and Virginia Tech Band Directors institute. Below you will find a reflection of my particpation in these clinics. 

Next, you will see an evaluation of my professional dispositions and attitudes filled out by my advisor prior to student teaching this spring. Although I scored high on the evaluation, I continued to improve and better myself professionally. In particular, I've always enjoyed receiving feedback from my professors and cooperating teacher and tweaking my teaching from their suggestions. It's great to get an outside perspective!

It's important as a future teacher to realize that teaching isn't just a 9-3 job, a lot of time is spent before and after school working. Below you will see my log of hours from this past spring. Most days I came very early before school started in order to prepare for the day. I also had the opportunity to participate in parent-teacher conferences, which was an eye opener to how parents view your class and their child's participation in it. 

Below you will find my philosophy of music education and the rationale to why I believe music should be in schools. As I continue to grow as an educator my philosophy will change but I will always firmly believe that music has a significant place in our schools.

Philosophy:

"Tell me, I forget; Show me, I remember; Involve me, I understand"- Carl Orff

I believe that music provides a unique, engaging experience for every student to succeed as a person and musician. Within a music classroom students must work and learn collaboratively, with peers and teachers alike, to be successful. Because the music classroom is a collaborative environment student’s learn tolerance, leadership, teamwork, and other important aspects of character that accompany them throughout life. Since I believe that every student should have a unique and engaging experience I feel that differentiated instruction is an important factor for growth as a musician. No one child learns the same way and thankfully music gives them the opportunity to explore different ways problem solve. As teachers we need to be aware and observant of our students and how they learn so we can help them reach their greatest musical potential.

My goal as a music educator is to not only teach my students music but also instill in them my passion for music. I believe that if you are passionate about what you teach it effects your students and helps motivate them to find their passions, whether they be musical or not. Music is about expressing feelings, thoughts, and emotions. As educators I feel that we need to foster a positive and passionate learning environment. By doing so we can build our students’ self confidence, which is important for every single child. Music offers so many opportunities to succeed, as well as fail. We need to provide an environment where students feel that it’s okay to make mistakes and they can learn from them. If we are passionate about what we teach then that enthusiasm will transfer to our students and help them express their passions and emotions

Rationale

All students deserve to be provided with a well-rounded education; because of this music education is a vital part of a students education at all levels. Music education provides reinforcement in all other areas of curriculum, such as math and history while raising SAT scores at the same time. In a music education classroom students are provided with opportunities to learn tolerance, critical thinking skills, and other skills necessary to become a successful musician and person. Music is everywhere in our everyday lives and by giving our students the opportunity to perform, we are providing the framework for a lifelong enjoyment of music.

Musicians are also taught to express themselves creatively through performance, which can be a great outlet for those students who have difficulty expressing themselves verbally. Creativity is something all students should experience regardless of it they create a career out of music. Without music in our schools our students would be deprived of a wonderful opportunity to grow as people and learners.

Lastly, below you will find my final teaching collage from this past semester. This collage focuses on several aspects of my teaching that I covered in other collages and shows growth through the whole semester! Even though I have improved I believe there is always room for me to continue to better myself as an educator.

Beneath my collage you will find my resume as of May 2013. Thank you for taking the time to view my growth from student to teacher, please contact me if you have any questions!