SJS Music

In order to be a truly outstanding teacher I believe that you must have your student’s needs at the forefront of your mind at all times. This means providing them with the best education and experience as possible, and taking the time to show them that you care about them on a personal level.

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I strive to do these things every day.  I have striven to obtain the best education for myself so as to pass my knowledge on to my students in an accessible way. In college I went out of my way to take extra music theory, conducting and methods courses, going above and beyond the minimum required courses to attain my degree. Since graduating I have made a point of taking many continuing ed courses to keep my knowledge fresh and to gain new skills.

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I try to make every class enjoyable for the students by working on exciting and challenging music, and providing them with opportunities to distinguish themselves by playing solos at concerts. I also try to bring in guest speakers or guest artists to pique the students interest and keep them excited throughout the year. My first year teaching I brought into my beginning band class a guest composer, Daryl Johnson II,  to work with the students on his piece Paragliding to play for the final concert. In my second year, along with other schools in the area, we combined our efforts in order to requisition a new composition from a local composer, Peter MacKenzie. It was performed in March, 2014 with the 8th grade Flathead Valley Honor Band.

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Perhaps most importantly, I  try to show my students every day that I care about them on a personal level. I do this by taking time to listen to their stories and laugh at their jokes. I always leave my door open at lunch so that if a student needs extra time to practice, or to confide in someone, I’m available for them. I believe in providing the students with what they need. Sometimes they need someone to laugh with them, sometimes they need a healthy reminder of what’s expected of them in class, and sometimes they just need someone to listen. Regardless of what they need, I try to be that for them, and that is what makes me an outstanding teacher.

 

In my first two years I was teaching band and choir at a class B school, with a very small music department. Because of limited student numbers in my classes I gained a lot of experience dealing with a wide range of skills and abilities in my classrooms by addressing this in multiple ways.

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To ensure success at all levels I provided a range of different levels of music difficulty for each concert. Firstly I always provided a piece that would be relatively easy to learn. This gave even the students with lower skills confidence in their playing abilities. I would also program a more difficult piece for each concert, providing the more advanced students a challenge, and giving the less advanced students the opportunity to improve their skills. To balance the program I would try to provide a fun, fast paced piece, a slower more melodic piece and a piece that will encourage them to think musically whether through interesting rhythmic motifs, complex harmonies or any number of musical concepts that we learn in our warm-ups.

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In order to bring the bottom of the class up  to the level of the more advanced students I made sure to work on music fundamentals at the beginning of every class. We practiced reading and counting rhythms, learned our scales and arpeggios, practiced breathing properly with correct posture, played chorales to develop ensemble and listening skills, and did sight reading on a daily basis. This made up my daily warm-up routine at the beginning of every class, and ensured that all students possessed the  basic understanding and skills to play their instrument and develop their musicality.

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I also required students to practice at home for one hour each week in order to maintain an A grade in my class. The students who practiced for the full hour or more a week always rose to the top of the class regardless of where they started musically at the beginning of the year. The students who practiced for less than an hour a week progressed at a slower rate than the others, but still improved through class exercises. I also occasionally gave students the opportunity to practice individually or with a partner in a practice room during class time.

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I always welcome anyone into my music classes, because I believe in the philosophy of “the more the merrier”. I don’t believe in shutting anyone out from the opportunity to create music, and I believe that everyone has the capacity to create music, and even excel in it with the proper guidance. I do my best to provide that guidance every day!