Teaching Standards

Seaford HS Music Dept

This past spring I student taught in the Seaford Union Free School District on Long Island. Through the struggles, triumphs and laughter I learned a LOT! This week I am going to be posting the first part of my "Professional Teaching Portfolio"


A teaching portfolio from a CW Post graduate is a map of the students life over the course of a four month period. Sweat, lots of tears, love and hate go into putting together these portfolios because they will follow them for the rest of their teaching career.


Here is the beginning of the "meat & potatoes" of my portfolio; the fluff and filler (rep. lits, concert programs, etc...) will not be posted in their entirety, but enough to show an economic format. All of the lesson plans and Standard examples were successfully created, edited and executed by me with the feedback from cooperating teachers in the Seaford School District and superviors from the CW Post Music Department.

“Philosophy of Music Education”

       The education of our students is of fundamental importance. Music is a medium that offers a variety of areas to study that educates students wholistically. Music education is A) entertaining, B) educates our students mentally, physically and C) expands intrapersonal relationships.
       Music has always been a fun thing to break up long day. Music may not feel like work and hard concentration during grammar school and that’s the point! The most natural progression of learning, such as the Gordon Learning Theory, helps the students to discover a body of musical knowledge with the guidance of a teacher. This theory lends itself to all types of learners and has proved itself very flexible in being paired with other music learning tools such as the Kodaly’s solfege syllables and the Curwen hand signs. Kids need to acquire knowledge and social skills but they should not be boring. Through my student teaching experiences at the elementary level, I have found that by using Dalcroze’s philosophy of learning through kinestetic exercises such as rhythm clapping, and other multi-sensory methods of presentation helps to reach every child. They are more receptive to the material being taught and are more apt to share their musical experiences with others.
       Logical and mathematical skills are positively impacted as a result of learning the organization needed for performing. A substantial amount of music reading is mathematical; rhythms are counted and are proportionate to the meter being studied. Linguistic skills advance as well due to the vocabulary and communication required to discuss music history, playing techniques and music reading itself. Communication is expanded from peer to peer, and student to teacher.   
       While studying music students are working their bodies. Before one even picks up an instrument one is using his or her hands to put rhythms in their bodies. Clapping or patting the rhythms on ones legs aides in the development of some hand-eye coordination as well as helping to internalizing rhythms. Lung capacity is built up slowly over time due to the gradual increasing of practice and performance time. The dexterity of ones hand and finger are also increased while playing instruments.
       Through concerts, athletic support provided by our marching band and participation in community events our music students communicate with our audiences and our community. Music bonds the members of our ensembles and classes together through making music. That in turn helps them to withdraw from the “image” based social criteria. Instead, students are looked at and evaluate others as important contributors to the music making process. Looking back to my high school years, the band gave me a sense of belonging in the overwhelming school community. I recall my first week of high school, being lost and confused with the building and how the schedule worked. By the end of the week my new friends, the upper-classmen from the marching band, had taken me under their wing and taught me the ins and outs of the school. To these juniors and seniors I was not just another sophomore to pick on and trick, I was a member of their band and a friends that they would keep for years to come.
       As a music educator my job is not only to expand the body of music knowledge that students possess, but also to educate each student as a whole human being. Through music I hope to bring students together through learning and fun.