Reflective Essay: The Four Passions In The Classroom

One of the four passions in my life is teaching elementary and middle school students music, primarily through the use of string instruments. I get excited about teaching music because it is important to the human experience. It aids in the creativity and expression of students, teaches important social skills, and encourages working as a team to achieve a goal. But most importantly, it teaches students to enjoy the process of developing a skill and that talent can be increased. Learning in my classroom is the combination of acquired skills (critical thinking, singing in tune, and good string technique) and the development of a learner’s character. I know I have taught a student successfully when the student has developed a musical skill, …show more content…
Their teacher should be someone that they can look up to and admire. Respect is key. I am friendly with my students, but I am not their friend. My students know that they can joke with me on occasion and when it is appropriate, but they also know when I say it is time to focus and work hard that that is exactly what they need to do. This respect is earned by caring deeply about your subject matter and your students individually, taking your job seriously, being honest with students during successes and failures, and treating everyone with fairness. This respect, I have found often, creates an ignition within the student to try their best for the teacher. Add to this the teacher’s ability to convey that music is incredibility fun, interesting, and rewarding and you have a driven …show more content…
The genres, styles, and forms vary greatly. If the styles of music vary the styles of teaching music must also. I try to find the most effective way to teach each skill. A good educator possesses a variety of skills and teaching tricks and is able to interpret when to use them to make a student learn more effectively. When I educate I look at the age of the student, the subject being learned, and their prior knowledge to form an intelligent and mature way to instruct them. I also know how to break a large skill down into a set of smaller skills. I then make the student do those small skills slowly and deliberately so they can internalize it. Showing students that difficult tasks are reachable ingrains the idea that talent is a thing that can be developed and starts the student on a track towards loving learning because they can foresee the outcome. It is my job to teach students to enjoy this process of developing a skill by making music available to