EDUC-450
Standards and Instruction 2
Intro to the class...
In this class, I was placed in Mr. Poston's Band class, and Mr. Kettlewell's Mixed Choir. As an extra learning experience, I also was in Mr. Poston's 3rd period Orchestra class, and his 4th period Guitar class on Tuesdays. This extension of my Tuesdays helped me to better understand what a full day of teaching feels like and is preparing me better for student teaching. While Tuesdays felt long sometimes, I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences as both Orchestra and guitar had very different classroom cultures and they made me adjust my teaching to cater a little more to what the students needed. Band, Orchestra, and Choir were all ensemble classes and you taught mostly as one big group. Guitar, however, was much more individualized and while I do know how to play guitar, this class certainly made me think hard about how I actually play it. And interestingly enough, how some of my physical aspects (very long, hyper-extensive hands) affect how I play and hold the instrument that is very different to how most people play. As an instrumentalist in a choir class, learning the things that are difficult for choir are very different from band and orchestra. In choir you don't just press the right buttons and the note will come out, there are no buttons, you have to know exactly where that note is. In this class, I also learned that there is a big difference between choir conducting and instrumental conducting. A difference that I knew in theory, but had to learn in practice. During my time, a big focus on improving my teaching was improving my pacing, something that both of my mentor teachers have expertly helped me with. Below, you can see a few artifacts from this experience and how they have helped me continue to improve my teaching.
Standard 1: Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in the content they teach.
Artifact: This is a traditional assessment that I made for a hypothetical AP Music Theory class. It demonstrates my theoretical knowledge of music and how to asses student understanding of this academic topic.
At this point I feel confident in the developing stage of this standard. While in band and orchestra, I felt I was a little more in the proficient stage, as these are classes that I have spent a lot of time with. However, in choir and guitar, I still have a lot to learn about vocal pedagogy and leading more individualized instruction for a non-ensemble class like guitar.
Standard 2: Teachers establish a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment for a diverse population of students.
Artifact: This is an example of what a syllabus for a Wind Band class might look like. My three rules as stated are;
Don’t do anything to harm yourself, others, or the instruments.
Be respectful of others.
Show up on time, and with all your materials
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In my development, I feel that I am Proficient with this standard, as there are always ways to get better, I feel that I meet this standard in my teaching, and in my daily life.
Standard 3: Teachers plan and deliver effective instruction and create an environment that facilitates learning for their students.
Artifact: This is a document showing and outlining student work and my own assessment of their work at the beginning of the lesson, and at the end of the lesson.
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I believe my stance on this standard is developing. While there are plenty of aspects that I feel confident in teaching, there are still things for me to work on, specifically, feedback and my own aural skills within an ensemble. My work with Mr. Poston and Mr. Kettlewell's classes have certainly improved my ability to deliver valuable and constructive feedback to an ensemble, I still believe there is much for me to learn.
Standard 4: Teachers demonstrate professionalism through ethical conduct, reflection, and leadership.
Artifact: This is a reflection of one of the lessons I taught with a co-teacher from my class. This shows my ability to reflect on the lessons I have taught with a critical eye.
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I believe that specifically relating to the reflection part of this standard, I am developing. I think there are times when I may give myself too harsh of a criticism and don't pay enough attention to the things that worked and should continue to do more of. I would like to continue to build more awareness of the things I teach well and continue to build on those skills.
Professional Dispositions:
Within the standards listed in the self evaluation, I feel the most comfortable with "Collegiality and Responsiveness" and "Desire to Improve Own Performance". These two I feel are connected, because my desire to improve my teaching causes me to respond, revise, and reflect, better on feedback. I have a strong drive to continue improving my craft and feel that this is best shown in my want to stay the entire school day on Tuesdays.
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The standard I would like to work on the most is "Effective Communicator". While I believe my written communications to be up to par, my verbal communications could still use some work. I find it much easier to articulate my thoughts when I have paper and time to think, however, on the spot, verbal communication can be difficult and choppy for me. This affects my ability to give concise, valuable feedback and I would like it to be better than it is.