Goals Reflection Paper 1

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Rebecca Fahey
Professional Semester
Goals Reflection Paper
04/26/14









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The identification of a persons strengths and weaknesses not only serves to
better the person as a whole, but also serves as a means to help the person develop
professionally. However, in order to assess the progress that has been made, it is
important to develop a method of evaluation. A set list of goals, procedures, and
evaluations not only provide an apparent pathway to personal improvement, but they
also serve as an applicable method of evaluation. I believe these goals, developed
around and based upon the School of Educations Conceptual Framework, have
provided me with a clear guideline for my growth as an educator and as a person.
Knowledge of Self as an individual is the first section of the School of Educations
Conceptual Framework. Under this category, I developed the goal of gaining the trust
and respect of my students both in the classroom and on an individual basis. Over the
course of my college career, I have learned that one of the most important aspects of
any classroom is respect between the teacher and the students. Throughout my
professional semester, I have strived to gain the respect of my students by genuinely
caring about them and their growth academically and musically, and by providing them
with new goals and helping them achieve those goals.
In all of the ensembles I have worked with this semester, a prevalent issue
amongst the students, regardless of age level or ensemble, is producing a big sound
and being self-confident. I believe that by helping them develop confidence in
themselves and their musicianship, will help them to trust and respect me as a teacher,
thus improving the overall classroom environment. I intend to evaluate this goal by
determining the increase of student attitudes towards me over the course of the
semester. Additionally, I will evaluate this goal by assessing the improvement of the
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students in musicality, confidence, and sound projection. In all of the schools I have
student taught at this semester, I believe I was able to gain the respect of the vast
majority of the students. I have strived to develop a strong rapport with my students;
earning their respect and trust in the classroom. This rapport allowed me to be an
effective teacher in and out of the classroom.
The second section of the School of Educations Conceptual Framework is the
Knowledge of Content. For this section, I devised the goal of attempting to learn and
memorize almost all of the fingerings for the instruments my students play. Within the
first week of my student teaching, I recognized the challenge in helping some students
because I did not know the fingerings to all the instruments they play. When there are a
large number of students playing simultaneously, it is difficult to hear which instruments
are producing the problem notes.
Throughout the course of the semester, I have attempted to accomplish this goal
by reviewing the fingerings of the more commonly played instruments first. Doing so
allowed me the opportunity to quickly assist the majority of the students. Many
instruments have similar fingerings, so I used this knowledge to my advantage to learn
instruments with similar fingerings at the same time. I believe this helped me make
connections between different instruments, along with making my goal less
overwhelming. Of the various techniques I experimented with to reach this goal, the
method I have found to be the most effective is by learning the fingerings of new notes
along with the students in their lessons. This method works particularly well with the
students in younger grades who are just learning the notes.
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I chose to evaluate this goal by determining my own personal ability to name the
correct fingering for a certain note without looking it up in the book. Each time a student
would ask me about the correct fingering for a specific note, my goal was to be able to
tell them without looking it up or thinking about it for too long. Additionally, I will know I
have achieved my goal when I am able to look at what fingering a student is using, and
know whether it is correct or not.
Knowledge of the Learner is the next category in the School of Educations
Conceptual Framework. Within this category, I developed the goal of creating a
classroom environment that will enhance the students learning styles. According to
Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences, people learn new information in seven different
ways. Consequently, it is important to address and teach to each different student's
learning style. Throughout the semester, I have attempted to do this through various
activities in both the ensembles and general music classes.
In ensembles, musical and interpersonal intelligences are the easiest to address.
While in an ensemble, the students either sing or play together as a group. In order for
me to address these intelligences, I followed the procedure of having the students play
or sing together as much as possible, interspersed with small amounts of instruction.. In
general music classroom settings, I made use of the other intelligences through different
projects and activities. This procedure included drawing pictures to music, learning how
to dance in a certain style, personal reflection of music, completing rhythm patterns, etc.
As a means of evaluating this goal, I ensured that each of my lessons were
directed to at least two different multiple intelligences. Additionally, I ensured that I
included an activity that was specific to each intelligence at least once a week. This
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allowed me to involve all student learning styles in my classroom. In response to this
concept, I was able to strengthen the weaker areas of a student's learning.
The fourth category in the School of Educations Conceptual Framework is the
Knowledge of Pedagogy. In this section, I established the goal of developing various
ways of relaying information, making effective transitions, and devising new ways to
keep students engaged in the content. Although these may appear to be three differing
concepts, I believe they are, in many ways, very similar. Oftentimes, it seems that
students misbehave out of boredom. If I can come up with different ways of relaying
content and making effective transitions that are engaging, I believe this will be a
solution to this problem.
I accomplished this goal by coming up with a list of transitional techniques (ways
of transitioning between content without lengthy gaps or silences) and ways of
redirecting student focus (ways of regaining the students attention when they lose
concentration). In the midst of transitions between activities or sections of music, I
would generally ask the students a question they would have to answer, give them a
section to practice quietly on their own, or I would give them a subject to reflect upon as
a group or individually. All of these methods worked very well in terms of keeping
students engaged, but in a controlled setting.
Primarily, I evaluated this goal in my ability to gain and maintain control over my
students during transitions or breaks in rehearsal. Overtime, I observed that I spent less
time between transitions, had less silences while teaching, and had better control over
the students. For these reasons, I believe I achieved this goal. Good transitions involve
a steady flow between activities, and bad transitions result in becoming off-task and
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disruptive in the success of the rehearsal. I believe I demonstrated the most growth in
this goal because I now have an instinctive sense of how to make effective transitions
that keep the students engaged and on task.
The final section of the School of Educations Conceptual Framework is the
Knowledge of Self as a Teacher and Member of a Learning Community. Within this
category, I developed the goal of putting forth an effort to interact with the various
parents and members of the community in a professional and welcoming manner. I
accomplished this goal while conducting pep band and interacting with parents at
basketball games. Additionally, I realized this goal by speaking with parents at church
and other social gatherings. This allowed for the parents to connect with me in a neutral
and relaxed setting.
I evaluated my success of this goal by requiring myself to talk with at least 1-2
parents or members of the community at various school and social events. This
provided an opportunity for the community to become more comfortable with me, and
allowed me to meet others outside of school. I found this networking to be very
beneficial in a small community, such as was the case of my first placement.
I believe I have made significant improvements in certain aspects of all my goals.
The direct correlation of observation, experience, practice, reflection, and
correspondence with my cooperating teachers and adviser are the primary reason for
my improvement. Although improvements can continue to be made regarding all of my
goals, I believe that they have reached my personal level of satisfaction. As I continue
teaching, I will strive to further develop the goals I have laid out so I can endeavor to
become a proficient educator and a better-rounded person.

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