Letter to a Future Student
Dear Future Student,
Music has a special way of moving people and creating a community among complete strangers. Music education plays a crucial role in educating people on the many incredible things that music has to offer.
As a future educator, I feel that it is very important to be open minded, understanding and willing to make accommodations for your students. Although this may be a difficult task when teaching in a classroom with a large number of students, I believe that it is important to always have these intentions in mind when in a classroom setting. It is crucial to remember that every student is different and so, they all require different things when learning. For example, while most students may understand a concept that is being explained in one way, there may be other students who require a different method of teaching that suits their learning style better. The various learning styles is an important thing to consider when planning and teaching lessons. It would be a good idea to incorporate as many different styles as possible into each lesson in order to allow a greater number of students to understand each concept in the ways that work best for them. It is also essential to get to know your students and their personal learning styles and abilities so that lesson plans can be adapted to fit the needs of your students.
I want my future students to learn that there is more to being a musician than just playing notes. Of course, the basic rudiments and ideas of making and understanding music are still very important but developing a love for music is crucial when teaching new musicians. Another really important thing to teach students is discipline. As a musician it is extremely important to have discipline and focus. Good discipline allows students to achieve greater amounts of success as it is also an important skill that applies to all other aspects of life. Discipline brings stability and form to a student’s daily life and promotes good behaviour.
I want my students to learn in a way that allows them to not only create knowledge but also a deep passion for music. By providing students with a friendly and comfortable learning environment, this will allow students to learn about music at a pace that works for them. By letting students learn at their own pace, there is less pressure on them and it leaves more room for them to discover their love for the subject as they please. I still believe it is important to push students to strive for realistic and achievable goals. By doing so, students will grow as musicians and can create their own milestones and achievements that they can be proud of.
Music education is very important because it gives students a new way to connect with others. Music has a way of bringing people together and creating a community amongst groups of people. Music also gets students excited to learn and keeps them engaged. Most students enjoy music class and use it as a method to positively express themselves and let loose. Music education also promotes imagination and curiosity. Through playing music, students can experiment and explore their own ideas and curiosities in a fun and educational way. This allows students to make a positive connection to learning and thinking.
I plan on teaching lessons in a way that is interactive and inclusive of all students and their learning styles. By considering as many learning styles as possible, I feel that fewer students will feel discouraged by things they may not understand. I also feel that encouraging mistakes and ‘wrong notes’will allow students to feel more comfortable when making music with others and think of these mistakes as opportunities to learn and better themselves as musicians.
I feel that making students feel like they are being assessed can discourage them and create harmful amounts of pressure. As a musician it is impossible to avoid feeling pressure and the nervousness that comes along with this pressure. It is important to prepare students for this inevitable pressure in a positive and fun way. This can be accomplished by using group work to diffuse the pressure to a more tolerable level until students are able to handle the pressure and view it in a positive way.
As an individual interested in music education, I feel strongly about providing students everything they require to achieve individual success. Music is an incredible thing that can have a great impact on a person’s life, especially when taught thoughtfully.
Sincerely,
Your Future Music Teacher
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Movie Clips
Movie Clip 1: School of Rock
The first movie clip I chose was a scene from the movie School of Rock. When thinking about movies that include clips of teaching and learning School of Rock immediately comes to mind. I decided to include this specific clip because I feel that it displays a great example of a good teacher. To give context, Jack Black’s character in the film is posing as a substitute teacher at prestigious private school after being kicked out of his band. He then starts a new band with the students in his class as the members. This clip offers many ideas of what real classroom learning should look like. For example, as the teacher is picking students to play in the band, he evaluates their strengths and places accordingly within the band. The students are also able to learn about working together as team when playing together as a band. Together they were able to learn how to rely on and support one another. Although all of his methods were not perfect in theory, there are still many important things that all teachers can take away from watching this clip.
Movie Clip 2: Matilda
The second movie clip I chose was a scene from the movie Matilda. In contrast to the first movie clip, I feel that this scene is a good representation of problematic teaching. In this video, the protagonist, Matilda, is experiencing her first day of school and is meeting the principal, Ms. Trunchbull. Just as the students begin to warn Matilda of Ms. Trunchbull’s abusive methods of teaching, Ms. Trunchbull demonstrates by threatening and throwing a student by her pigtails. This kind of behaviour is a perfect example of an abuse of power. As a teacher, you are a figure of authority to your students and therefore hold great power over them. To take advantage of that power in any way is completely wrong and should never be done. Ms. Trunchbull also uses fear to motivate the children to be obedient and learn, which again is wrong. Teaching students in this way not only causes them to have associate negative things with education, but also can affect a child’s wellbeing. This creates an impression that learning cannot be fun and exciting, however, when done properly it can be. The most important thing to not from this example is that learning should always occur in a fun and welcoming environment that promotes learning and growth.
Music in my Life
September 22, 2019
Influential Teacher
November 23, 2019
Every teacher that you encounter throughout your educational career will most likely have some sort of impact on you, whether it be positive or negative. One teacher that had an impact on me in a very positive way was my high school music teacher. I chose my teacher, Ms. DiNardo, because I was really interested in her journey to becoming a music teacher. Through the interview process I was able to acquire a lot of new and interesting information about my teacher.
One thing I was able to learn more about was my teacher’s past, starting from her very first experiences with school and music. She told me stories about her memories from kindergarten where she would sit in the teachers chair and tell all of the other students what to do. It is really interesting to hear these stories about her past and to learn about how they relate to her current life as an educator. I also found it fascinating to learn about the ways in which music was a part of her life including taking piano lessons, playing in school musicals and performances, and eventually teaching piano lessons. She also shared her experiences in post-secondary education with me. Through completing her undergraduate degree at University of Toronto in the concurrent music program, she is now eligible to teach intermediate/senior music teaching strings, instrumental and vocal music.
Some examples of the questions I asked include what inspired you to become a music teacher, was there a specific teacher/memory from your past that had an influence on your career, what is the most rewarding part of your job as a teacher, and what do you feel is the biggest challenge of being a music teacher.
Some themes that came up throughout the interview process was the importance of having a passion for your career. We spoke a lot about how her passion for music is something that has stuck with her and kept her motivated over time. Passion is what drives a person to want to better themselves and want to learn and grow more each day. She told me some stories from her past that helped explain that a person’s passion can be furthered and deepened by others around them. By surrounding yourself with people who are equally as passionate about the same thing as you are, you can discover new things about yourself and form an even stronger passion. My teacher mentioned her passion for music in most of her answers which further emphasizes its importance. Another theme that came up was the importance of each student and their individual needs. When asked about challenges of being a music teacher, Ms. DiNardo spoke about accepting students at any point that they are at in their musical journey. She explained that the biggest challenge is tailoring lessons to fit the musical needs of each individual student while still challenging the students who are more advanced than others.
Before completing this assignment, I have never had the opportunity to interview one of my teachers and I feel as though I have learned a lot from this experience. One thing I learned was how to formulate interview questions that were open ended and would evoke interesting and relevant answers. Even before I started the formal interview process that I recorded for the purpose of this assignment, I was able to learn a lot more about my teacher through simple and casual conversation. Now that I am no longer her student that dynamic has shifted and so we were able to have a more casual and personal conversation. This was a very cool experience because it reminded me that teachers are regular people with lives outside of school that students are typically unaware of in a formal classroom setting. This experience allowed me to see my possible future as a music educator a lot more clearly. I was able to imagine myself in my teacher’s position and picture what my life might be like if I choose to continue down this path towards becoming a teacher.
Overall, this experience allowed me to not only learn more about my teacher but about myself as well. I found it very interesting to learn about my teacher’s experience with music and education through the years and will always remember and cherish the stories she told me. I was also able to learn about and acquire a new and very important skill of being able to conduct an interview.