Sarah McConnell
Mrs. Usher
Intro to Music Education
4/24/03
My Decision to be a Music Educator
Not everyone who wants a degree in music should be a music educator. For
instance, certain individuals would rather be performing for others than teaching others
about music. However, I have reached the conclusion that I should be a music educator.
This decision is based on the fact that I want to teach students, and I want to inspire
students. I want to spread knowledge of the beauty of music with others. However, in
order to become the best teacher I can be, I must work on my confidence nervousness,
assertiveness, and my classroom management skills. However, with hard work, I can
overcome my weaknesses.
In the past, I have had many good music teachers. Music class was always the
part of the school day I looked forward to. Furthermore, I admired the teachers who
taught me, and I always wanted to be like them. I want students to learn to enjoy music as
much as I did. I should be a teacher because I know by my experiences how a teacher can
affect student, which gives more a better understanding of how teachers can affect
students. For example, my piano teacher was the best music educator I ever had. She
continually challenged me to surpass what I thought I could not accomplish while
teaching me to have an understanding about music. Secondly, she taught me what it feels
like to perform for others. I became involved in Fort Nightly clubs, and she pushed me to
play at church. Although many times I grew frustrated when I practiced or when it took
me a long time to accomplish a piece, I kept at it since I loved playing. Therefore, I want
to become a teacher because I want to help students find what they enjoy about music the
most, and I want them to have a further understanding about music.
In order for any person to truly enjoy anything, the person must acquire
knowledge of it. Therefore, I should be a music educator because I want students to
learn, and I want to continue to spread to others how music affects our daily lives. I want
students to become critical thinkers, and I want the students become more open to
different types of music we do not hear every day. Secondly, I have a passion for the
learning process. For example, I enjoy sitting in classes absorbing information. Learning
about anything develops the mind, and I want to help develop students’ minds, which is
another reason why I should be a teacher. Since I enjoy music, I chose my college study
to be music related. Furthermore, I would teach students individually and help develop
their minds; therefore, I want to give other students the gift of knowledge and the chance
to succeed as I was given the chance.
Although I desire to become a music educator, I realize certain obstacles must be
overcome before I become a teacher. Just like any other career, music takes much time
and effort. However, I realized throughout this semester that one of my biggest struggles
is my struggle with confidence. I am my own worst critic, for I worry too much about
whether I am good enough to teach music. Yet, this lack of confidence moves in the way
of my abilities. The lack of confidence hides the talents I posses. Furthermore, I need to
be more assertive.
In order to calm my nerves and to be more assertive, I need to change my attitude
on the way I view myself. I need to be play piano and sing more in front of others, and I
must consciously work on improving my abilities in order for me to be more confident.
Knowledge breads confidence. Therefore, it is extremely important a teacher is confident
in order for the students to learn. Students can sense when a teacher is nervous, scared, or
not confident. Therefore, when students can see the lack of confidence, they will not be
likely to listen to that teacher. Therefore, the students will not learn from the teacher,
which defeats the whole purpose of becoming a music educator. Again, I must grow more
musically to be at the confidence level necessary to achieve individual student learning
when I teach.
Classroom management is another aspect I need work on. However, through
different methods classes and with hard work, I will be able to control a classroom more
effectively. Furthermore, when I gain more assertiveness and confidence, I will be able to
be in control of classes. When I taught lessons to my peers this year, I was nervous, and I
could not teach others a concept I thought would be easy to teach. I need to relax myself
before I teach, and I need to continually remind myself why I want to be a teacher and
why I should be a music educator. If I remind myself that my goal is to help students
develop their minds and how I want them to think critically and have a knowledge and
love for music, it will give me more insight to how I will teach a lesson. It will push me
to find different and more effective ways to teach. Secondly, I want to learn more about
how to conduct and help students keep rhythm since I am not too strong in that area.
However, in the choral methods classes I take along with other education technique
classes, I will become more open to the possibilities and the different teaching styles that
work best for me. However, I first must have more knowledge about how to teach
rhythm, pitch, and other technical aspects of music. Thus, with hard work, I believe I can
become the type of teacher I want to become, a teacher who students can respect and
learn from at the same time.
Every person should be able to realize the good in themselves along with the bad.
Therefore, I recognize that despite my lack of assertiveness and confidence, I am a hard
worker. What I need to accomplish, I work hard at it in order for that to be accomplished.
Furthermore, I enjoy learning, which gives me an advantage to study and absorb more
information. Secondly, I am an approachable person, and I try to connect with people on
an individual level. I try to meet different people, and I try to learn from everyone I meet.
Therefore, my openness and my willingness to learn about others will help me in my
teaching career since I will be trying to help each individual in the classroom learn. I
have a love for learning, and I can use that love of learning and the openness to people in
the classroom by being the kind of teacher students respect.
Again, this class I have taken has helped me realize why I should be a music
teacher, and it has helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses I have in my teaching
skills. I have discovered how much classroom management comes into play when a
teacher is teaching, and I have realized that my techniques in how I teach basic principles
along with my confidence needs to be improved. However, with my hard work ethic, I
am sure that with time and development I will become the type of teacher student can
respect. More importantly, I will be the type of teacher students can learn from, and I will
be the type of teacher that will help students to learn and grow individually.