School District: Hamilton City School District
Grade you teach: 6th-grade Elementary Strings and 10-12 High School String Orchestra
What is your favorite subject? Orchestra
What/Who inspired you to become a teacher? Both of my orchestra teachers inspired me to become a teacher. My first orchestra teacher, during elementary and middle school, drove me to be both a better musician and a better person. My second orchestra teacher, during high school, refined my skills, put me in leadership roles, and expanded my knowledge of both music and teaching. I knew I wanted to be a combination of the two and bring the same love and joy of music they gave me to my students.
What do you enjoy most about teaching? What I enjoy most about teaching is the progress and successes made throughout a given nine weeks. As an orchestra teacher, we can work on three to four pieces for an entire nine weeks. Seeing and hearing the progress from week one to week nine is amazing. Additionally, seeing the looks on my students' faces after a successful performance is priceless. They all know the struggles it took to get from barely playing the piece to playing it at a high level. That joy of knowing their accomplished something is truly special.
What is a memorable experience you’ve had while teaching? One of the most memorable experiences I’ve had while teaching is taking my students on a field trip to Music Hall (Cincinnati) to hear and see the presentation of the Violins of Hope. Not only was it a great experience for my students to go to Music Hall (a place many of them have never been to before), hear musicians of the Cincinnati Symphony (a group many of them have never seen live), but they also got the background of those particular violins and their importance to history.
How have you maneuvered online classes and distance learning? As an orchestra teacher, this has been particularly difficult. The lag/delay of Zoom calls or Google Chat calls does not work well for a rehearsal setting. Most of my time was spent creating activities for those students without access to an instrument or the internet and having those students with access to the internet and an instrument record themselves playing through pieces individually for assessment and feedback.
How can families adapt to be successful during these challenging educational times? For elementary-aged students, I think it is important to practice the guidelines of your district. Whether that is practicing wearing masks at home, washing your hands for 20 seconds, or keeping your “personal bubble.” For middle school or high school-aged students, I think practicing independent working is extremely important. If there is going to be any sort of virtual learning, that takes a lot of independent working and self-discipline. Creating a daily schedule and teaching time management is a great way to adapt and learn valuable skills.
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