Jeffrey Douthwright

Professor Wallace Alexander

Teaching Process and Curriculum Design

February 8, 2018

Learning Autobiography

Throughout my years of public education, I can only faintly remember half of it. 7th

grade to Senior year of high school is my extent, but I still do not have many plentiful learning

experiences. I was a very quiet and observant student, and rarely spoke up or asked questions in

class often. I had a very easy time understanding material, but one class I always did struggle

with, and it took me a long time to realize this, was Concert Band, and learning music. I have

played an instrument since 4th grade, and never stopped for eight years. I have had three music

teachers, but the most notable one was my high school teacher, Mrs. Jen Fortin. Although I

rarely ever spoke, and was a very quiet player in Freshman year, I slowly improved my

confidence in playing, and she helped me as well. In Junior year, I came to the realization my

music skills had not improved much since 4th grade, and I was determined to do just that. Mrs.

Fortin was the same teacher I had for those four years in high school and helped me understand

the quiet self-contained person I was, and how I should change it. By Senior year, I improved

my playing, started to learn past one instrument, basics of music theory, could feel confident in

practice and performing. I had created many friends from the band and felt a sense of home

when in the band room at high school; I looked forward to seeing the same people and going

through classes with them as well. Mrs. Fortin liked to talk a lot with students on the class level

and connect personally with the students; one day in my final year she was talking about how
much she enjoys seeing students improve, and she used me as an example. To me, this was very

powerful, and I really felt that if I did not have her as a teacher, I would have missed out on so

much. I would have never realized this if she had not said it, and I thank her greatly for showing

me the confidence I had in myself. I could not thank Mrs. Fortin enough for helping me come to

this realization of my performance. Not only did she improve my musician skills, but she

improved my communication and confidence skills. Without this experience, I would not see

myself as how I do today and hope I will always remember this experience to the end of my

days. Moving forward in my pursuit of education, I will remember charitable moments like this

mean a lot to students, like it did to me, and will be a useful tool in my future classroom.