Student Teaching:

Elementary General Music

Teaching a "Carnival of the Animals" lesson to a 1st grade class at Park Forest Elementary

Link to the Unit Plan I created and taught to my 4th grade general music classes

Link to my Classroom Management Plan that I plan on using once I have a classroom of my own. (Could change to match district/building policies).

I was very fortunate in that I got to complete my General Music emphasis student teaching placement with the fabulous Patti Begg at Park Forest Elementary School in the State College School District. I loved every minute of my time singing, dancing, and playing with the K-5 students at Park Forest. In the nine weeks I was there I had the chance to create my own lesson plans and make music with the students in areas of singing, folk dancing, form creating with scarfs movement, instrument playing, and rhythm creating. I got to rehearse the 4th and 5th grade choir students and the 5th grade Orff ensemble. I also had the opportunity to help put together two large assembly's for 5th grade Opera performances and a Black History Month Assembly. I am so grateful for the opportunities I received, the relationships I built with the students, my co-op, and other teachers in the building, and for the amount that I grew as a person and teacher in this student teaching placement.

Playing piano while fourth grade students sing and play Orff-styled instruments

Student Teaching:

Elementary Band

Due to the unfortunate occurrence of Covid-19 in spring of 2020 my Elementary Band student teaching placement, with Roy Schaeffer in the State College School District, had to take place through remote learning. Even though this experience was different then what I thought it would be it gave me the opportunity to learn a great deal. I quickly became very experienced in different online learning tools such as Zoom, FlipGrid, and SmartMusic. Even though I never got to work with the students in person I still got to interact with them each week and teach them new information. This experience gave me the chance to gain experience in something new and engage my problem solving and creativity skills. I am grateful for all I learned in this student teaching placement.

Examples of "FlipGrid Challenges" that I posted for the students weekly. They would respond with their own videos in their classes FlipGrid page.

Practicum Teaching

In fall of 2019 I had the opportunity to work with Nancy Youmans in State College School District as apart of my General Music emphasis class at Penn State. I got to visit Mrs. Youmans classes once a week where I would do observations and then teach her classes. This opportunity gave me a great experience of what teaching elementary general was like first-hand. I was able to try out my own lesson plans while learning under a great role model. It was an overall wonderful experience that made me feel very comfortable in front of a class.

Having fun with scarf movement with students from Gray's Woods Elementary

Singing Onstage:

In the fall of 2019 I got the chance to work with the company Singing Onstage. I helped out with a weekly class where I taught students ages 4-10. Throughout the fall months the students learned and put on a production of "Frozen KIDS". I helped the students with learning their songs, choreography, stage directions and lines. At the end of the class the students got to preform their show in an actual theater for a live audience! Through this experience I learned great strategies for teaching and retaining the attention of young students through long rehearsals. I've always loved musical theater and grew up on stage so getting to work with young students to help put on a production was like a dream come true for me!

Reading Buccaneers

Visual Instructor/ Choreographer

After spending 5 years marching in Drum Corps I got the opportunity to start teaching Drum Corps in 2018. With a heavy dance background growing up, and instrumental and marching experience, I was brought on staff at The Reading Buccaneers as a horn-line visual instructor and choreographer. I've been on staff for two years now and plan on continuing to be a part of the team. This experience has so far been extremely rewarding. It's allowed me to be creative, become used to teaching and presenting myself in front of very large groups, and gain patience by breaking down steps to teach dance to beginners. I love every minute of teaching drum corps and am very grateful for the experience and the relationships I've built through it so far.

The 2019 Staff posing on show props during finals weekend

The corps practicing the 2018 show with my choreography

Members of the horn-line practicing a warm-up dance I taught