INTASC 4

It is important that future educators are knowledgeable about their particular discipline. It is abhorrent to have an educator with little to no knowledge of the subject matter. Many concepts in music are abstract and hard to grasp right away in the beginning, especially in classes such as Music Theory. There is no way a class could learn this difficult subject, if the teacher himself does not fully understand it. Likewise, it is just as disheartening to have a knowledgeable educator who is unable to teach and explain their knowledge. There are many musicians in the world that are very knowledgeable about their craft, but are horrible at explaining. These types of people make poor educators. Educators are not only knowledgeable, but have a myriad of ways to explain their knowledge. This ability allows students to successfully learn and understand the concepts necessary to be a strong musician in the classroom. 

 

As a future music educator, I am building and growing my knowledge of the material that I will teach. Throughout my college career I have taken an array of courses that taught me not only the material, but different strategies to use when relaying the content to my students. As my professor once told me, a great teacher can have as many as thirty-two different ways of teaching the content. While I am not quite at that level of mastery, I am gaining many skills through my teaching experiences both inside the classroom at Ball State University, and also outside in my career experience.  I'm continuing to improve my skill set and my ability to explain my knowledge in a myriad of forms. Thus, I am attending Ball State University in order to better prepare myself for the classroom and expand my current knowledge. 

 

I pursue that knowledge as a student at Ball State University; here, I gain expand my knowledge and my list of skills to help me pass on and teach my knowledge. By the time I graduate, I will have the skills necessary to effectively teach my knowledge to my students. By continuing my music theory, sight singing, and primary instrument studies I am able to gain the knowledge required of a music educator. These courses help me understand the foundations of music and the reasons behind why I do and play, what I do. By continuing my MUSE courses as well as my occupation as a Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leader (for MUHI 100), I learn the skills necessary to properly teach my students the knowledge that I know. In these courses I able to take the knowledge I learned from my music theory, sight singing, and principle instrument studies and translate them into terms comprehendible of students. Much of skills are gained from my own experiences, failures, habits, and techniques that I tried myself through the course of my lessons. At the end of my education at Ball State University, I will have a working knowledge of all things music, and will have the skills necessary to properly explain my knowledge to my students.