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Reflection Paper
Yvonne Freese
Spring 2014









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Over the past 13 weeks I have been able to Student teach in a K-12 setting. Over
this time I have developed as a teacher realizing what being a teach entails.
Knowledge of Self: I will grow in my understanding of music and teaching young
minds. I will gain experience in discipline and handling problems appropriately for the children.
I believe that this was a goal that I fully accomplished. Being in a K-12 setting I was
forced to deal with all kinds of problems, from 1
st
grader outbursts to High schoolers not
paying attention. I felt that I really developed a system for discipline and was able to
apply my skills in the classroom.
Knowledge of Content:I will challenge students with material taken from the Silver-
Burdett Making Music books and music taken from JW Pepper. I will choose repertoire that will
correlate with their set grade and talent levels that challenge them in correspondence with the
National and State standards.
I believe that I was really able to realize this goal. I had not dealt with concert repertoire for
younger choirs and my teaching experience allowed me to seek ways of acquiring repertoire.
Through my supervising teacher I was further able to realize what kinds of programs are out
there and what they are capable of. I look forward to continuing to build my repertoire base as I
teach in the future.
Knowledge of Learner: I will gain acceptance of other learning styles and behaviors of
students in my classroom K-12.
Through my experience as a student teacher K-12, I was able to really differentiate my
instruction towards all students. I could tell when students werent understanding the material
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I originally taught and Id switch to something else or break it apart even further. This goal
really made me strive for excellence in the classroom and gain an understanding of all types of
learners.
Knowledge of Pedagogy: I will gain a deeper understanding of music K-12 and acquire
what music selections fit each age group.
During student teaching, I was introduced to a variety of materials that I can use to teach music
in the classroom. I felt that I made great strides in this goal buy looking into different materials
that both my supervising teacher and the band instructor used. I was able to be apart of four
concerts during my student teaching experience and was able to take notes of the level of
repertoire used and how that repertoire was approached and how well the students handled
the information given.
Knowledge of Self as a teacher of a Learning Community: I will gain an
understanding of what it is like to work with other teachers, parents and community in a school
environment.
I wish I had the opportunity to fully realize this goal. I felt that I was only able to obtain this goal
through the parents who came to the concerts, the play, and music awards night that I helped
coordinate. I wish I had more time to really get to know some of these parents. I feel like this
might have been easier at the beginning of the year when they have a booster meeting and
scheduling meeting. I look forward to fully realizing this goal when I have a classroom of my
own.
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