Educational Philosophy in Alignment with Student Needs & National/State Epectations

                I believe my philosophy aligns well with student needs and the national/ state expectations because I will help students work to their full potential and more by using their intelligences and creating higher levels of thinking.   When creating a lesson I will carefully “unpack” state/national standards and determine if they will provide endurance, leverage, or readiness.  This process will help me select the standards that are most important.  After selecting a standard I will examine my students’ intelligences and create a lesson plan that matches their strengths.  Not only will I use my students’ strong points but I will also challenge them by using higher levels of thinking with Bloom’s Taxonomy. 

                Although academics are extremely important, I also believe positive social skills and building good rapport are key to being successful in a classroom.  I will create a safe, fun learning environment and have clear expectations to my students.  Throughout the school year I will form meaningful relationships with my students and have them develop enduring friendships amongst themselves.

Music Therapy

                I think music therapy can be very beneficial to students lacking social skills and those who need extra support in Reading and Literacy skills.  Music therapy is multi-sensory and can be adaptable to numerous ages.  It helps children with special needs attain educational goals identified in their IEP. 

                Music therapy helps students develop social skills by providing avenues for communication and increasing cooperation and appropriate social behavior through singing, creating and moving.  It allows students to verbalize and vocalize more, helping them improve their social skills.  These skills learned in music therapy can then be transferred and carried on throughout the rest of their lives. 

                Students lacking in reading and literacy skills also benefit from music therapy because it helps students focus more on an area and assists in their attention and perception memory.  I

Special Education & Differentiated Instruction

Special Education & Differentiated Instruction

                Thinking back years ago when I was an elementary school student, I cannot recall seeing so many students leave the regular education classroom to receive special education services.  Working at an elementary school for 6 years, I’ve noticed an increase in those students who need additional resources and extra support in the classroom. 

                 The district I work in I think does a phenomenal job in providing to students’ needs.  Our special education teachers carefully set attainable goals for students on their IEP’s.  At the meetings they also state the different strategies and methods they will be using to help students reach their goal. 

                Regular classroom teachers also help in this process by using differentiated instruction in the classroom.  They differentiate one of three areas: content, process, or product according to the students’ readiness, interests or learning profile.  This differentiation can be carried out through whole class instruction, small groups or working individually with students. 

                Special education teachers and regular classroom teachers continuously assess their learners and give students access to materials and resources to support their learning.  It takes a whole team effort to ensure the success of these students.

Bloom's Taxonomy and 9 Standards

                There are 6 cognitive levels that fall under Bloom’s Taxonomy:  remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.  These traits provide a means of expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking.  They organize thinking by beginning with the most basic forms of remembering, all the way to more a complex thinking of creating. 

                Although it may not seem like it at first, Bloom’s Taxonomy shares similarities to the National Standards for Music Education.  They both use active verbs to describe each category or standard.  Some of these key verbs include understanding and evaluating which are listed under both topics.  Other words listed on the standards like composing and improvising can be linked to creating under the Bloom’s Taxonomy pyramid. 

                When Bloom’s Taxonomy is applied to specific learning activities whether it’s a music lesson, playing an instrument, or a studying a unit in social studies, it will help develop the full range of students’ cognitive abilities. 

Assertion #3

Results in any classroom are generated in the interactions, around specific content, among students, the subject matter, and the teacher.

I believe this statement is wholeheartedly true.  Teachers are the core or root in creating progressive results.  Establishing good rapport in the classroom and clear expectations at the beginning of the year will result in positive relationships amongst students.  Teachers need proper academic training and professional development courses in order to assist in students’ learning challenges.  Teachers who are prepared for their work will show positive results while teachers who are underprepared may show negative results.    

TERMS

Cognitive learning: The theory in which a concept is introduced at one level and revisited at successive levels and ages, each time with deeper understanding and mastery.

Cooperative learning: involves structuring classes around small groups that work together in such a way that each group member's success is dependent on the group's success

Eurhythmics: The art of interpreting musical compositions by rhythmical, free-style bodily movement.

Multiple Intelligence Theory: A set of criteria to define intelligence based upon analyzing the abilities that enable human beings.  All human beings possess varying abilities in all intelligences which are: Linguistic, Logical-Math, Musical, Bodily Kinesthetic, Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic, and finally Spiritual.

Rote learning: A memorization technique based on repetition. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more one repeats it

Think-pair-share: A strategy used to check for understanding that is used during discussion times.  Students are given the opportunity to discuss their responses in pairs or small groups. 

Checking for Understanding: A mental process wherein the learner is asked to summarize his or her perception of what has been learned

9 Music Standards

NATIONAL STANDARDS IN MUSIC EDUCATION

1. Singing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied rep. of music

3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments

4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines

5. Reading and notating music

6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.

7. Evaluating music and musical performances

8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts

9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture