Student Teaching Standards Portfolio

Introductory Section

This portfolio is my opportunity to show off what I have learned and worked on throughout the student teaching placements.

My primary placement is with Mrs. Jennifer Martinez at Bacon Elementary School in Poudre School District. Her classroom emphasizes a combination of methodologies including Kodály, Dalcroze, Orff, Music Learning Theory, Feierabend, and Little Kids Rock. The school’s population is generally of a middle class, suburban socioeconomic status and includes grades K-5. There is a higher than average population of students with special needs (including 504 plans, IEPs, etc.) as the school contains a MultiCat and a Students with Autism program.

My secondary placement is with Ms. Andrea Hollenbeck at Preston Middle School in Poudre School District. Ms. Hollenbeck strives to put relationships first in her classroom. She believes in pushing children to their fullest potential and doing so in a manner that treats them like real human beings. The school’s population is of a middle class, suburban socioeconomic status and includes grades 6-8.

Below, please find pages for each standard with requisite artifacts and rationales. Additionally, you will also find my CEP Dispositions reflection just prior to the standards.

Placement Reflections

Primary

My time at Bacon Elementary School with Mrs. Martinez has been, in one word, enlightening. To practice implementing concepts and skills that I’ve learned over the years at CSU has felt wonderful. Interacting with real students while refining my teaching skill in the field has allowed me to discover both my strengths and my areas of growth more clearly than any practicum or methods class. Perhaps the biggest takeaway that I discovered from working with Mrs. Martinez is that elementary students can achieve just as high of musicianship as secondary students — it simply looks different. Musicianship, performance, and skill are all variable to what students are capable of finding success within. Through the opportunity to craft and teach my own lessons, I’ve led 4th and 5th graders through the process of composing their own music, 2nd graders in performing music in parts, and Kindergartners towards feeling macro and micro beats (as some examples). For their age and experience, these are just as amazing of musical experiences as any repertoire at the secondary level.

Additionally, my views of music education philosophy in terms of designing lessons has also shifted. While I’ve always taken a “whole student” approach to lesson design, my Primary placement allowed me to practice integrating and playing with various learning and psychological theories to create best practices for each class. Seeing the same students consistently has meant I can tailor and differentiate to a degree I haven’t been able to do in previous coursework. As an example, the Kodály methodology is a strong way of teaching music, but it is not always the most effective practice for each population. Combine this with the COVID-19 precautions against singing and it becomes very clear that another methodology might be needed to help supplement students’ learning. Edwin Gordon’s music learning theory and Little Kids Rock are two ways of providing a structured, yet tailored, instruction that still allows students to interact with authentic and enriching musical experiences. Furthermore, looking at music from beyond a praxial lens has also been beneficial. Many of my lessons relied on the contextual and referential elements of music as transmitters for the formal being that students cannot necessarily interact via praxial tools (at least as it relates to singing).

Finally, this student teaching placement has allowed me to take a very real look through reflective practitionership into my own teaching processes. Post-lesson debriefs were the norm in the classroom and often Mrs. Martinez and I would have long-winded discussions on the backgrounds of students as it relates to their success in the music room. Informal observations were used to catch mannerisms such as the usage of names, positive vs. constructive feedback, redirects, partner/individual think time, among others. I was also allowed the flexibility, while adhering to the overall week-long sequences I created, to play with how I taught things and change them from class to class to try and find things that worked better for a certain population than others. Some of these trials were successful while others stretched my ability to cope with a lesson that wasn’t going as well (this is where I worked on my improvisational teaching). Along this same line of thought, not every student was consistently in my corner. The students, whether due to a special need or accommodation plan, who were most difficult forced me to be creative in how I handled classroom management and whole class learning. If I needed to take care of one or two students, sometimes peer teaching worked well for the others. Sometimes the class just needed help with remembering expectations. One class, I figured out eventually, simply needed a new lesson sequence that was more suited to their maturity and level. After changing their sequence the whole class found much more success. All of this being said, I find that I am much more capably equipped at classroom management while also treating every student like an individual who belongs.

Secondary

During my placement at Preston Middle School, I have been stretched in every conceivable way — all them positively. My musicianship, ear, doubling ability, student rapport, and sequencing skills have all been greatly improved. While there is still much growth to be done, I can thank Ms. Hollenbeck for her willingness to, as she puts it, “throw me to the wolves” and allow me to experience music teaching in a middle school setting from the fullest. Aside from my duties teaching class every day, I have had the wonderful opportunity to participate in 5th Grade Instrument Try-Outs, Middle School Honor Band, Standardized Testing, coaching and running track practices and meets, helping with percussion auditions, and so much more. Additionally, I spent about a week and half solo teaching without my mentor teacher in the building due to a recent surgery and recovery. Through Ms. Hollenbeck, I feel as if I have been given the opportunity to study what it has actually been like to teach and run a band program; for this, I am thankful.

What I have learned most from Ms. Hollenbeck is that relationships must come first. Excellent teaching, high standards of musicianship, and organizational skills are all important, but are superseded by the ability to connect with children. Forming bonds and investing in their lives outside is something that I have learned is incredibly important. From remember students names to knowing the progress on their personal projects (like one of my students who is coding his own 32-bit video game, or two who participate in softball and horseback riding) makes students realize that you care about them as people — not simply the bodies in the room creating the music that you want created. Even if knowing deep details cannot be achieved with every student, simply asking the question “how are you?” to every student everyday will aid in forming a bond to show that you care. As my colleague in the building, Josh Greiner, has said, “I never feel sorry about spending time with students in lieu of doing my other work. If staying an extra 30 minutes after school means that I get to be goofy and have a laugh with the students, then it is worth it.” I now understand that this is truly the key to great teaching. Students will invest in us (and our contents) if we first invest in the totality of who they are.

In terms of my takeaways from teaching, I have learned that it is greatly important to meet students where they are each day. The ensemble class is where I belong — teaching at Preston has shown me that I thrive in this environment. But that doesn’t mean that simply because I am passionate about it that my students will walk in everyday with the same vigor. There is no should, only what is — especially during COVID times. Therefore, my ability to alter plans and improvise teaching has gotten so much better as well as my ability to take “problem-solving” scenarios and turn them into teachable moments. Often, in an ensemble it is easy to fall into a “fixer” mode where we simply fix the issues in the ensemble without actually teaching the students. When times are harder and students are struggling more, rather than getting frustrated and trying to go into “fixer” mode, I have been striving towards turning every moment into a teaching moment — impromptu teaching sequences, if you will. In doing so, students are thinking critically while also getting the memory strengthening that they clearly need. While the benefits of teaching at Preston could go on and on, it is simply put best that I am a much better teacher having worked here and have learned so very much thanks to the students and the music staff (Ms. Hollenbeck, Mr. Greiner, and Ms. Johnson).