I believe that children’s lives are shaped through the education they receive. As teachers, it is our duty to ensure that we create a pleasant, safe and supportive environment so that students can learn how to best equip themselves in order to succeed in life.
Learning is a lifelong journey. My decision to become a teacher is because I love to share my enthusiasm for music and for learning with everyone around me. When a task is fun and interesting, trying hard becomes effortless. I want to create a fun and enjoyable learning environment for children so that they themselves want to learn and participate, not just because they have to. When we teach kids to love learning, the joy of learning continues with them throughout their lives. When we expose them to music, their world gets so much bigger.
Teaching music is so important. Music teaches us to think differently, to feel and to communicate in a way different from any other. Learning music teaches us discipline and that we constantly need to work diligently on improving ourselves. Music also teaches us the importance of community. Every person needs to work together as a unit in order to produce the best possible outcome. Each one needs to constantly help each other and improve themself as well in order to succeed.
In addition, music is incredibly beneficial to our minds. In fact, a great deal of the brain activates simply by listening to music. Learning and performing music has been shown to improve interdisciplinary cognitive skills that contribute to successes in other subject areas (Gardner, 1983). It also develops fine motor skills and muscular coordination which help the student to perform better physically and mentally, giving them an advantage in other areas of their life. Music has also been identified as a separate intelligence (Gardner, 1983), meaning that learning through music is unlike any other experience in a school setting.
My teaching style incorporates a diversity of teaching methodologies and techniques. I believe that hands-on learning is very useful in teaching because I understand that a variety of activities is essential to the learning process. Every child is different and that it is important to use instructional strategies that appropriately address their different learning styles and needs. I always strive to teach in such a way that every student is engaged, and that every child is given the attention they require to reach their full potential. What I want for my students is to create an open and safe environment where they can feel accepted and wanted, no matter how different they may seem to be. Regardless of race, language, religion, sex, orientation, national origin and ability, every child needs you to love and respect them, and to respect their differences. This is something I feel is of great importance, and if we can teach our students to understand and respect the people around them, the world will change for the better.
Some things that I impress on students are the need to be responsible, accountable, to question, to think creatively and critically. Discipline and perseverance do not often come easily, and these are areas that children should be encouraged in. I also teach kids to be team players and problem solvers. We cannot solve every issue for them in the future, so why not teach them to start thinking for themselves right now? They are capable. They just need the encouragement and the drive to do so.
All students can learn. It is just a matter of how much the teacher is willing to do for their students. I have made a commitment to working as hard and spending as much time as necessary in order to make students successful, not just academically, but also socially and emotionally. My goal is to nurture the individual talents of each student, and to provide the skills and tools necessary for them to succeed in life. I want to help them be the very best that they can be.