Teacher Practice
At Carnegie Hall's Summer Music Educator's Workshop
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
It is a part of my practice to constantly improve my teaching through professional development. Here are some I have participated in the last few years.
- Google Certified Educator (see certificate left)
- I completed my Google Certified Educator Level 1 exam in August 2020 to improve my facility with the Google Suite in the midst of online learning.
- Carnegie Hall's Music Educator Workshop (see certificate)
- I was first introduced to the Music Educator's Workshop (MEW) as an employee of Carnegie Hall, coordinating some of the program. Now, as an educator, I attend as a participant to connect with other educators and experts in the field. I have attended both the summer intensives and year-long programs.
- As a part of my first year in MEW, I worked with an experienced teacher who observed me teaching and helped improve my practice.
- Little Kids Rock (see certificate)
- I first became involved in Little Kids Rock through their grant program which allowed me to obtain instruments for my students. Now, I attend workshops to further my teaching.
- World Drumming (see certificate)
- As a classical musician, I have a tendency to default to Western music. In an attempt to further integrate world music to my practice, I attended a week-long intensive workshop on teaching World Drumming.
- Observations
- I have had the pleasure of observing Katie Traxler, an Orff expert and well known music educator in the city. I use a lot of her online materials, and it was extremely helpful to see her in action.
- Webinars
- On music teaching by experts in the field such as Laurie Berkner and Denise Gagner
- On decolonizing the music classroom (anti-racism in the music classroom)
PEDAGOGY & LESSON PLANNING
Morton Subotnick's 3 person model states that every person is born with 3 musicians inside of them: the Listener, Performer, and Composer. He also believes that each of these 3 musicians are at equilibrium with each other when a person is born... until they meet their first music teacher.
My lessons are built to be balanced. I want to bring out the Listeners, Performers and Composers in each child, not neglecting a particular aspect in favor of another. For example, in a lesson I will break down a musical goal, using balanced elements to achieve that goal. Similarly, my remote students follow a self-paced asynchronous lesson which includes varying elements such as "move along," "sing along," "read along," etc.
Goal:
Understanding musical opposites: Forte/piano (loud/soft)
Listening Element:
Hayden's "Surprise Symphony"
Performing Element:
Using wood blocks to play forte/piano and/or learning "I'm A Little Smelly Skunk" to practice progressively forte singing voices
Creative Element:
During small group time, students experiment with instruments and sounds in different timbres, textures and volumes
Movement Element:
Students stomp or tip-toe based on the dynamics of the music
Making Connections:
Students play and/or sing a song related to their current unit of study (transportation, clothing, etc)
A balanced, self-paced lesson
My progress tracker, currently displaying the "books" page
SCOPE & SEQUENCE
Over the years teaching at the Little Brooklyn Pre-K Center, I have been developing my own scope and sequence, as most music education resources are built for K+. Each of these units are filled with fun activities, songs, art projects, and games, and the ultimate goal is to build a space where everyone feels confident. I keep track of progress in an excel sheet with all my resources, songs, and now also the recorded lessons and activities from my youtube channel.
Pre-K Music Units of Study
- Our 4 Voices & Caring for our Instruments
- Echo Songs & Vocal Explorations
- Call and Response & Imaginative Listening
- Beat, Rhythm & Locomotive Movement
- Musical Opposites & Partner Songs
- Musical Opposites & Circle Songs
USING TECHNOLOGY TO CONNECT
Connecting in a virtual world has been difficult and draining for all of us. Luckily, I've been able to play to my strengths to create engaging content and learn new skills myself! Some ways I've engaged my students and bettered myself as a teacher in a virtual world are:
- Creating dozens of read along, sing along, play along, move along, and meet the orchestra videos
- Introducing my students to talented musicians around the country whom I recruited to teach about their respective instruments
- Teaching myself new video software such as Final Cut Pro and Prezi
- Teaching my colleagues how to use and better utilize Zoom and other online programs
Legato Lizard helps my students feel comfortable using their singing voices in the virtual Zoom space. Here I sing a cover with Legato Lizard, adapted from the movie Frozen, to introduce my students to Legato.
