About Me:
I am soon graduating the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Music Education. I have created this site in hopes to compliment my online portfolio by giving you a more intimate tour of my education and experiences. Enjoy!
Philosophy of Education
As I begin my journey into the educational field, I find myself applying pieces from many different schools of thought. However, most of my teaching strategies center in pragmatism and Orff’s methodology. I believe that we should focus on the students in such a way that they are able to help direct their own learning through experiment and experience. Through this method, students will be able to explore their boundaries, learn cooperation and problem solving and develop the necessary skills to succeed in school and life. Actively and cooperatively learning will allow the students to make the most out of their educational experience.
I believe in the application of a fairly standard curriculum. That is, I like the idea of having course goals laid out at the beginning of the year. I do however, also like the idea of having this curriculum as only a skeleton for the lessons to come. We may not know what our students are going to excel at or have trouble with throughout the year. This skeleton gives us the opportunity to develop specific lessons according to our student’s strengths and weaknesses. Especially in the music classroom, where learning may be more activity based than other subjects, I feel we need the opportunity to modify lessons when the need (from the teacher’s perspective) or desire (from the students perspective) arises.
Orff believed that students should experiment or learn now, and analyze the information later. It has been my experience in the music classroom, that students learn faster, retain information longer and have a more enjoyable experience when they learn concepts through many different vehicles. Applying a historical perspective through reading, a performance perspective through activity and cooperation as well as having an open discussion about or experiment with the topic is crucial for the students’ full appreciation and knowledge of the subject matter in regards to music. This combination of bookwork, physical work, social activities and meaningful discussion and experimentation, allows the students to store information in different parts of the brain. Biologically speaking, connecting more synapses also increases learning and application of similar processes later in life.
I encourage creativity within the realms of a lesson. I want the students to suggest and create modifications to a lesson. With creation comes responsibility and ownership. This develops necessary leadership skills, gives the students more pride in their work and solidifies the accrued knowledge.
I want a room that is free of discrimination and open to culture. There is a lot of wonderful music from different parts of the world. Music defines some cultures. We need to experience as much of this as possible without passing judgment, given the vast blend of cultures in our country.
I believe that students should be able to help direct their own learning. Through this cooperative direction, I am able to observe their behavior and attitudes in order to adjust the lesson as needed. Respect is earned not given. By my willingness to accommodate to the students’ needs, I am able to reciprocate the respect they give me, and that they deserve.