My Teaching Philosophy

As teachers, no matter what the subject matter, it is important that we set expectations
the second students walk through the door. That is no different in a music classroom. We put
our students on display a few times a year as a showcase of what they’ve learned and what
we’ve taught. I was always told “set your bar high, and raise it two levels by the second
concert”. If you make it known to your students what you expect of them and don’t accept less,
they won’t give you less. While setting behavior expectations may take some time at the
beginning of the year, it makes all the difference.
I always considered my music classrooms my safe spaces, and this is because my
teachers were themselves and were very open with us. I’ve always said that if I can inspire my
students half as much as I was inspired, I can die happy. The best way to teach music is by
knowing why you’re making music. Creating something with people like this is so personal and
beautiful, but if you miss this connection, you’ll miss out on so much the music you’re learning. It
is my goal to make sure that every student knows why we do what we do, and I want them to
want to be involved in the beauty that is creating music. If I continue the passion and ambition I
have as a musician, I’ll have no problem implementing this in my classroom.
I am absolutely in love with the ambition I see in young musicians. If you give them a
goal, and if they have the right mindset, they will do anything to achieve their goal. Most of them
are also okay with asking for help, something I was almost never alright with. If you offer a kind
and understanding place to grow, they will be willing to do what they need to do to get to the bar
you have set, and I absolutely admire that. Being vulnerable and open with your students will
show them that this room is a safe space, and will encourage them to share when they are
struggling.
While most musicians have a high bar set for themselves, I think something a lot of
musicians miss out on early on is their theory education. Personally, I never took a music theory
class until getting to college, and I struggled a lot because of it. It is worth knowing why music is
the way it is, and how to understand it. So much of music comes from the theory behind it, that it
is almost impossible to be fully involved without knowing at least the basics. As a singer, it is so
important that you know how to sing healthily, and that is something I am going to stress so
heavily as a teacher. Most anyone can sing or match pitch. But if you’re doing it in a way that
strains or hurts, you can do more harm than good. Singing healthily should feel nice and easy,
not like you're pushing. If you push, you can potentially hurt yourself past the point of fixing it,
and cause permanent damage to your vocal cords. It is important to have fun while singing, but
as a music educator, I will do my best to teach through example and make sure my singers are
doing so in a good and healthy way.
An important aspect of how music students learn is the idea of leading by example. In
some traditional core subject classrooms, students are given notes, expected to study, and then
are given a test. The teacher is there to guide the flow of the lesson and answer questions, but
cannot really act out or show a physical example of what is being taught. While that works in
some subject areas, it is completely the opposite in music, especially vocal. If you cannot show
your students the exact kind of vowel shape you want, they are never going to be able to give
you the sound you expect.
For example, take a student in private voice lessons. Students taking private lessons at
any time follow this format: they are given a selection of solo repertoire, and their couch helps
them learn and execute the music with the best technique, style, and confidence as possible. If
you’re a beginning voice student, and your teacher tells you to deepen your sound with no other
explanation, you’re going to have a hard time sounding the way they want you to. But if your
teacher tells you to lift your soft palate, bring your sound forward, and support your air, and then
sings the phrase with both a correct and incorrect sound, it will automatically become easier to
do what is expected. Once you hear the difference between what you’re doing and what your
couch wants, growth can come faster. Without teaching and leading by example in music
classrooms, we put our students at a disadvantage and keep them from growing as fast and
strong as they could. Music classrooms have always been set apart from other core classes, but
the basic structure of every classroom should follow the same ideals.
I have always been passionate about the ideal that classrooms, no matter what the
discipline, should always be a safe and welcoming place. Especially in music, your classroom
should be somewhere where students can come in, leave whatever stress or baggage they
have at the door, and create something beautiful together. They should feel like they have
someone or a group of people they can turn to with any issue they may be facing. In order for
that to happen, it is important to set expectations. Every student needs to know that in order for
them to feel safe in the space, they need to make it safe for their classmates. There should be
no judgement or slander of another student, and everyone should be supportive and
constructive. Without these expectations, students will be left to fend for themselves with no one
to turn to for help. If a student can’t feel safe and like themselves in a music classroom, I truly
believe that teacher has failed their students.
Once expectations are set, it is important to set up your room in a way that looks and
feels inviting. Your office should be private but can be open when needed, and students should
know that they are always welcome to knock if they need. I think there needs to be a separation
between where the students keep their personal items and where they are being productive.
This can help with that space between social stresses and what the students create together,
and can help students avoid feeling bogged down by their outside world.
I have always been a firm believer that a school’s job is to prepare its students for the
world after their education. Whether it be grade school preparing for high school or high school
preparing for college, it is important for students to feel like they have the skills necessary to
thrive in whatever new environment they will find themselves in.
A classic question heard in schools is “when am I actually going to use this?” I believe
this question is a bit misunderstood. A teacher’s job is not to only teach you applicable skills you
will use every day, it is our job to give students skills that can be applied to multiple situations.
Calculus? This subject gives you problem solving skills. Book reports? This grows your reading
comprehension and ability to turn it into a synthesis of the text. Not every individual lesson and
line from a textbook will be used in adult life, but skills you learned while doing those problems
will be skills that anyone needs to grow in the world.
I think the most important thing a school can do is help students find themselves.
Perhaps one of the scariest things for a student is the transition from high school to college.
However, college is where students truly become the people they want to be. This is because
most colleges give students the ability to express themselves in ways that they might not have
been able to. Not only that, but students become mostly independent. When students are
placed in a classroom where they are more than a number and a statistic, we as teachers get
the amazing opportunity to watch them grow into themselves completely. However, if we don’t
facilitate that growth, it won’t happen, like a plant won’t grow if it isn’t watered.
As educators, it is our responsibility to not only facilitate learning and stimulate growth,
but to be there for our students. As stated above, your students should know you care for them
and that you will help them to the best of your ability. If your students cannot say that they felt
safe in your classroom, you have not done your job.