Personal Statement (Updated Feb. 2017)

As an educator, I believe that students need a teacher who is passionate about their subject material. A teacher should always motivate and push the students to do their best. A teacher should be adaptable and contain the ability to differentiate their instruction towards the students. As well, it is important to have a sense of creativity when it comes to both learning and teaching music. I feel that I can use my imagination to create fun ways for student to grow and be successful in their lives.

A lot of my experiences come from my private teaching and high school volunteering. Within both, I learned how important it is to have a strong sense of time-management and organization. In private teaching, I only have 30 minutes with each student once a week. I make sure that I cover all the tasks for the week in the small amount of time I have. In the lesson, I am sure to cover their warm-up, then move into what we covered the previous week, ensuring that the student completed the material that was covered, followed by a new material for them to work on for the following week.

When I started my volunteer work, I was at a disadvantage only having 75 minutes with a class with 25-30 students to teach versus the one-on- one time I am used to. I overcame this by learning how to effectively work with the larger group by helping specific sections of the class. I remember working with a grade 10 music class and our focus was counting rests. As a group, we clapped the rhythm and then, I had the students work in small groups. By the end, the students could play the piece together without missing the rests. This was an accomplishment for the class, and myself.

Through my private teaching, I gained some administrative skills by keeping attendance, as well as organizing and rescheduling the lessons for students that give me notice of their absences. When I know that I must be absent I inform my students in advance and either reschedule the lesson, hire a qualified substitute violin teacher, and provide them with a detailed lesson plan for each student. When no substitute is available I do not charge the student for that lesson.

Through my experiences as a music teacher nothing is more rewarding than when a student overcomes and succeeds in understanding a difficult concept. It is my calling to become a teacher because I want to inspire students to be creative, passionate and motivated throughout their years of education.