My Personal Attributes
I believe I
have a variety of attributes that would contribute to me being a successful
music teacher, both from the musical standpoint, and from the teacher
standpoint. Musically, at this very moment, I am decently proficient in viola
pedagogy, seeing as I’ve been playing for around nine years, nd have an
extensive knowledge of how the other string instruments are played due to being
around them and experimenting with them throughout my school music career. I
assume once having taken string tech at IU, those skills will improve
exponentially. Additionally, I’ve always been a very strong sight reader. I
learn very quickly, so once I have the absolute basics of concepts understood,
I can typically run pretty far with them. This has translated nicely into my sight
reading abilities. For the most part, I can sight read most complex passages,
and while in high school, there were very few instances I couldn’t read our
high school level literature without 100% accuracy. Also, in high school, I
took the IB HL Music course and received a 6 on the exam. This course is sort
of an introductory class to collegiate musicology and music history and
context, so while I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, I do have a general idea of
what was going on musically in different locations and time periods throughout
music history, and I can apply this general knowledge to my music in terms of
how I style and execute it.
Clearly
just the musical aspects of my ability do not necessarily correlate with being
a good teacher. There are many aspects of teaching outside of music that are
incredibly important. I may not have all of them on lock, but I believe I
possess a fair amount of qualities that contribute to good teaching. First, I
am incredibly self-reflective. I am constantly assessing whether or not what I
am doing is being done in the most ideal way. This is incredibly useful, but
also a bit of a curse because I am constantly unsure of whether or not ive made
the right choice, which leads to some confidence issues, but ultimately the
pros of this characteristic outweigh the cons. Being self-reflective is an
incredibly important teaching tool. There is no perfect way to teach because no
student is the same. It is important to be self-aware of how you treat every
single student and adjusting the way you teach to fit each unique circumstance.
Guidelines can only get you so far. Second, I consider myself to be fairly
patient. I think patience is one of the most important qualities to have as a
teacher. You need to be able to work through something with a student until they
understand, no matter how long it takes. Having that patience for a student or
for a class in general shows the students that you are with them through each
step as a supporter, as opposed to someone who is frustrated with them.
Patience goes hand in hand with self-reflection because sometimes if something
is not working, you need to regroup and try another method of getting the
information across. For example, one of my former private violin students was
never the strongest rhythm reader, so when it came to learning dotted rhythms,
it was an uphill battle. However, week after week, we worked through them. We played
clapping and counting games, we subdivided out loud, we wrote out subdivisions
underneath our notes, we counted the subdivisions out loud while we played, and
many other things, until finally, I sang her the muffin man song, which has
dotted rhythms all over the place. Once she heard the rhythm in a song she was
familiar with, she was able to internalize the subdivision and play the rhythm
perfectly. The bottom line of that anecdote is that I had patience for her week
after week. I taught her dotted rhythms every possible way I could think of
with a smile on my face, because the second you start to show frustration, the
student gest discouraged, and their improvement will be stunted. Patience is of
the utmost importance. Beyond those two big skills, I am also a very well
organized person, and have very good balance within my life. I also like to
believe I keep things funny(ish) and lighthearted while I teach.
Professional development plan
I think
the biggest issue I have that needs working on is my comfort in front of a
classroom. I don’t ever really get nervous being in front of a classroom, I am
just incredibly in my head. I am constantly concerned that students are judging
every move I make, so even though I am confident in what I am doing, I am never
comfortable enough to really come out of my shell in front of groups of people.
I also struggle with eye contact, because for me, it feels very vulnerable to
make eye contact with another person. I have always had this use, but now as a
teacher it has become way more apparent as something that needs to be dealt
with. Eye contact is an important means of communication between a conductor
and their orchestra.
Accomplishing
feeling more comfortable can be improved upon by just pushing myself into more
social, or public situations, and just allowing myself to own it a bit. I know
that my discomfort is all in my head, so I think if pretend to be confident, my
brain will eventually think it’s the real thing. This has already worked
numbers on my social confidence, because just a few years ago I was practically
mute in front of anyone who I wasn’t extremely close with. Now, I am able to
make easy conversation with anyone, so I think it’s fair to say I’ve made a lot
of progress. Now I just need to bridge that gap over to music. I think being in
a real classroom with real students will make a world of a difference because
in class, I know I’m being judged by my peers and professors while teaching,
and while teaching private lessons, you are constantly aware of the fact that
there is a nosy parent in the other room on standby to make sure they’re
getting what they paid for. I think when I stop having to prove my ability to
teach to others, I will become much more comfortable.
` In regards
to the eye contact issue, Ive been working on a variety of different methods to
lessen the awkwardness it holds for me. The first is simply to make more of an
effort to make eye contact with people while I speak to them. It’s like
exposure therapy: I hate making eye contact, but If I force myself to do it,
eventually I’ll be more comfortable. My second method of handling this is
allowing myself to believe that vulnerability is ok. Eye contact to me feels
very soul searching and intimate, and I hate feeling like that most of the
time. Ive been working on opening up both to myself and to others about how I’m
really feeling about things. Allowing myself to be open and vulnerable has
helped a bit over the years, but is definitely still a work in progress.
I would
say in general, my goals are much geared towards personal comfort with myself
and with others. It has been a life-long process, and I anticipate it
continuing to be, but the more I work on it, the more manageable it gets.
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