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Years teaching at Monsignor: 20
Currently teaching: Pre-K–8th grade General Music, Vocal Music, and Theater
Proudest teaching moment: “When my 7th and 8th grade students put on Teens Rock. Teens Rock is a new performance that I began last year. I wanted every student at Slade to experience the thrill of performing, as well as to explore the history and genres of rock n’ roll music. They were allowed to perform their piece in any way they chose. Each student had to contribute to their group in some way, but none were required to perform on stage. Many were reluctant, but in the end, all but two students got on stage.”
Teaching philosophy: “I believe children learn best from teachers who are sincere and have relationships of trust and respect with their students; I believe students respond to teachers who are engaged and creative in their lessons and passionate about their content area; I believe that a teacher’s job is to teach content, but their bigger aspiration should be to inspire children to be curious, lifelong learners; I believe teaching is a noble profession and that teachers influence the lives of their students even if it is not realized until later in life; I believe that music should be learned through listening, singing, playing, dancing and moving; it should be experienced more than taught; I believe that it is my job to create opportunities for my students to grow musically, morally, academically and in life experiences.”
Toughest challenge facing educators: “I feel the toughest challenge for educators is having to compete with the changing values and norms of society due to technology and social media. It is difficult to keep up with technology and to have control over its influence on our students. We want them to have access to it, however, we do not want the negative aspects to affect them or for our students to become overly obsessed with having it.”
Back to What's Up? Teachers 2017
Monsignor Slade Catholic School, Glen Burnie
Years teaching at Monsignor: 20
Currently teaching: Pre-K–8th grade General Music, Vocal Music, and Theater
Proudest teaching moment: “When my 7th and 8th grade students put on Teens Rock. Teens Rock is a new performance that I began last year. I wanted every student at Slade to experience the thrill of performing, as well as to explore the history and genres of rock n’ roll music. They were allowed to perform their piece in any way they chose. Each student had to contribute to their group in some way, but none were required to perform on stage. Many were reluctant, but in the end, all but two students got on stage.”
Teaching philosophy: “I believe children learn best from teachers who are sincere and have relationships of trust and respect with their students; I believe students respond to teachers who are engaged and creative in their lessons and passionate about their content area; I believe that a teacher’s job is to teach content, but their bigger aspiration should be to inspire children to be curious, lifelong learners; I believe teaching is a noble profession and that teachers influence the lives of their students even if it is not realized until later in life; I believe that music should be learned through listening, singing, playing, dancing and moving; it should be experienced more than taught; I believe that it is my job to create opportunities for my students to grow musically, morally, academically and in life experiences.”
Toughest challenge facing educators: “I feel the toughest challenge for educators is having to compete with the changing values and norms of society due to technology and social media. It is difficult to keep up with technology and to have control over its influence on our students. We want them to have access to it, however, we do not want the negative aspects to affect them or for our students to become overly obsessed with having it.”
