Standard 2: The teacher of PK-12 music has skills in creating, arranging, and improvising.
A music teacher must have the necessary skills to teach students the technical aspects behind creating original music so that they can exercise their own creativity within the art. Specifically, teachers must have trained and become proficient on improvising, arranging, and composing original music. Music is and always will be a creative art form. Teaching students these aspects of music makes music more personal for them and teaches them how to understand the music of other composers that they may be working on individually or within the classroom.
As a teacher, I know my abilities fit this standard well. I have worked on understanding improvisation, arranging, and composing and have participated in doing each of those in several settings. In high school, I performed as the lead tenor saxophone in our jazz band and performed in several venues throughout the MidWest. I was privileged to perform in the Winter Park Jazz Festival twice. At this festival, I performed improvised solos with the group. I have a talent for improvising and I enjoy it thoroughly. During the summer of 2016 I was able to work as an intern at Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, Kansas where I arranged music for choirs and small ensembles on a weekly basis. I continued in this fashion by working an internship at University Christian Church in Manhattan, Kansas where I created the content for their summer VBS program and composed many of the backing tracks from scratch. I have also been selected as the winner of three composition competitions in my theory classes in college and all three were performed. I have had the privilege of premiering several compositions during my time at college.
Because of my drive to continue exploring the realms of improvisation, arranging, and composing, I know I will be able to promote my students learning in these areas. As someone who is continually learning about these subjects, I can bring a fresh idea to the classroom every day. I am inspired to keep learning about these concepts because there is so much involved in them. They are always growing and changing. I have a drive to understand and so I know I will be a great asset to students who are interested in the same field. Finding small details that make compositions and creating music is one of my hobbies. I enjoy finding the drive behind the creativity of composers and sharing it with people. By doing this I can encourage my students to explore their own creativity and find inspiration in these realms of music creation.
It is important for teachers to have the ability to teach students the technical aspects behind creating original music so that they can exercise their own creativity within the art. Children are extremely creative when allowed the chance to exercise that part of their being. As teachers, we must be ambassadors of that creativity and grow ourselves on these topics so that there is the greatest chance of student learning and exploration within our classroom.
As a teacher, I know my abilities fit this standard well. I have worked on understanding improvisation, arranging, and composing and have participated in doing each of those in several settings. In high school, I performed as the lead tenor saxophone in our jazz band and performed in several venues throughout the MidWest. I was privileged to perform in the Winter Park Jazz Festival twice. At this festival, I performed improvised solos with the group. I have a talent for improvising and I enjoy it thoroughly. During the summer of 2016 I was able to work as an intern at Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, Kansas where I arranged music for choirs and small ensembles on a weekly basis. I continued in this fashion by working an internship at University Christian Church in Manhattan, Kansas where I created the content for their summer VBS program and composed many of the backing tracks from scratch. I have also been selected as the winner of three composition competitions in my theory classes in college and all three were performed. I have had the privilege of premiering several compositions during my time at college.
Because of my drive to continue exploring the realms of improvisation, arranging, and composing, I know I will be able to promote my students learning in these areas. As someone who is continually learning about these subjects, I can bring a fresh idea to the classroom every day. I am inspired to keep learning about these concepts because there is so much involved in them. They are always growing and changing. I have a drive to understand and so I know I will be a great asset to students who are interested in the same field. Finding small details that make compositions and creating music is one of my hobbies. I enjoy finding the drive behind the creativity of composers and sharing it with people. By doing this I can encourage my students to explore their own creativity and find inspiration in these realms of music creation.
It is important for teachers to have the ability to teach students the technical aspects behind creating original music so that they can exercise their own creativity within the art. Children are extremely creative when allowed the chance to exercise that part of their being. As teachers, we must be ambassadors of that creativity and grow ourselves on these topics so that there is the greatest chance of student learning and exploration within our classroom.