Northern State University

Student Teaching Experience

MUSIC Teacher Work Sample
Spring 2022

Candidate Name: Dylan Unruh

Candidate Phone Number: 605-252-2286

Candidate ID Number: 7500429

Cooperating School(s): Lincoln Elementary and Watertown High School

Subject/Content Area: Elementary and Secondary Music Education

Grade Level(s): K-4, 9-12

Date Submitted: 4/24/2022

I understand that obtaining, or attempting to obtain, a passing grade on a TWS by falsification or

misrepresentation may result in a failing grade in a course or expulsion from the teacher
education program.

I grant permission for the Northern State University Department of Music and School of
Education to use my Teacher Work Sample as an exemplary (outstanding) model for teacher
candidate and university supervisor training purposes in the future. I understand my name will
remain on the document for proper credit.

Electronic Signature of
Candidate Submitting the TWS: Dylan Unruh
Portfolio Active Link: https://dylanunruh.weebly.com/
Task I: Professional Goal Setting
Task II: Contextual Information
Task III: Instructional Design and Implementation (Lesson Plans)
Task IV Student Learning Objective (SLO) and Analysis
Task V: Analysis of Focus Students (2 Case Studies – 1 at each level)
Task VI: Reflection, Self-Evaluation, and Goals Achievements
 Task I: Professional Goal Setting

Knowledge of Self as an Individual

Goal: During this experience, I will learn the names of all the students in the concert and
symphonic band and begin learning individual things about each to show them that my
relationship with them goes beyond just seeing them in band every day. I believe that
recognizing students for who they are is a large part of building relationships.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by beginning with the students in the jazz band and then
adding all the students that come in for individual lessons every day. Through the lessons I will
begin to fill in many gaps for names and additionally I will try to start a conversation with one
student before and after band that is not entirely about music/band. As the semester goes on, I
will try to make these conversations related to past conversations too.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by both at the midpoint of my student teaching and at the
end trying to name every student in the band before class starts one day. I’ll do my midpoint test
around February 4th and my final one on March 4th.

Knowledge of the Learner

Goal: During this experience, I will begin to develop a knowledge of where students should be
at in each grade level, and how to pick pieces so that it is in their zone of proximal development
allowing them to stretch their abilities while not being unrealistic.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by analyzing the general skill level of each student's
instrument in each grade, and then ask my CT where she tries to have them at which points. For
example, range is a big deal for trumpets, because repertoire increases their range moves up the
fastest. So, through trumpet lessons and seeing what has been picked for what them and what
they can play I will be able to tell where they should be at a certain point in their development.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by making a list comparing what I found to be the learner's
ability versus what my CTs expectations are of them. The closer my analysis is to what my CT
says the better I have gotten at knowing where learners should be.
 Knowledge of Content

Goal: During this experience, I will learn and then apply the South Dakota standards for music
education.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by studying both what resources I can find about the
standards and using my cooperating teacher to see how those standards can be applied. Then I
will use that knowledge of the standards to make sure they are achieved through my teaching.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by keeping track of the standards I use while building
lesson plans and seeing if I can cover them all throughout my student teaching

Knowledge of Pedagogy

Goal: During this experience, I will implement my recently learned knowledge of classroom
manage and apply it daily in my interactions with music classes.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal through daily analysis of how well behaved my students
are and how well I was able to regain control when things get out of hand. I will also use my CTs
external opinion to help get a more accurate picture.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal on a weekly basis by rating how each class went each day.
My end goal will be to have entire weeks where I didn’t have to interrupt class for behavioral
reasons.

Knowledge of Self as a Teacher and Member of a Learning Community

Goal: During this experience, I will begin connecting and getting to know non-English speaking
students that I interact with weekly in the Watertown school district. Though this can be
challenging and uncomfortable, I know that trying to make those connections will help me grow
as an teacher.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by trying to speak with the two main non-English
speaking students I see. The first is a Spanish speaking boy in my CTs advisory and the other is a
Puerto Rican clarinet player in the symphonic band. For the clarinet player I am going to be
adding a lot more visual and gesticular methods to my teaching to add context to what I ask in
band. For the advisory student, he comes 5 minutes earlier than all students and I will be talking
to him everyday before other students arrive.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by reaching out to the ESL teachers in the school and
comparing the information I have learned about these students throughout the semester with
what they know of the students.
 Task II: Contextual Information
According to the United States census, the town of X has a population of 22.2 thousand

people. The population has been increasing by 0.19% yearly and currently ranks as the 5th largest

city in SD. Of these 22.2 thousand people, 91.7% are white, 2.28% are American Indian or

Alaska native, and 1.71% are multiracial. Less than 1% are black or African American, Asian,

Hispanic, or pacific islander. This means, like many other areas of South Dakota, the diversity is

not that high and therefore all schools have relatively small or developing ELL programs. The

largest non-English speaking population is the Hispanic community at roughly 626 people of the

population. X has a median age of 37.8 as of 2019 and the median household income is $50,971.

The poverty rate is 14.7% and increased by 4.83% last year due to most likely caused by Covid.

Though many individual schools don’t have report card percentages available through the

depart of education, the district overall has reported on their information from last year. Through

states assessments X school district reported that 57% of their students were proficient in the

area of English and Language Arts and 45% of students were proficient in Mathematics.

Attendance and graduation rates are around the state average with attendance being 90% and

graduation rate being 97%. Though some other numbers are promising, only 32% of their

English second language learners are on track and college/career readiness is 53%. I perceive

this to mean that the school district puts a lot of work in to making sure students gain enough

knowledge to graduate their school but may not successfully prepare all students for what comes

after secondary education.

The X school district has six elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school,

and one high school. The elementary schools cover k-4, intermediate is 5-6, middle school is 7-8, and the

high school is 9-12.

Task III: Instructional Design and Implementation (2 Lesson Plans)

Common Lesson Plan Template

Music Education
Teacher Candidate Name: Dylan Unruh

Grade Level: 9-10 Band

Subject: Band

Date: 2/10/22

PLAN
STATE STANDARDS

Performing:
HSp.MUe.Pr.4.2.a – Demonstrate using music and reading skills, how the elements of music
contribute to understanding the context of the music in prepared or improvised performances.

LEARNING/BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

 Play instruments with others

 Maintain a steady beat
 Listen to others and blend and balance tone and volume
RATIONALE

According to Mark Fonder in the music educators journal, explains that the concept of the
pyramid of sound is an integral concept to understand, both from the director’s perspective and
the student perspective, to making a band sound blended and balanced. The human ears are
more apt to hearing higher frequencies so two things need to happen for quality sound. First,
lower instruments have to play out and the higher ones have to be more restricted while in their
highest register. Additionally, third and fourth parts have to play out more due to their lower
registers on average.

In this lesson students will be able to understand how to get a quality sound out of their
instrument and how to create a successful and homogenous sound with the band around them
through active listening.

Fonder, Mark. “Defining and Realizing Your Band's Ideal Tone.” Music Educators Journal,
vol. 85, no. 3, 1998, pp. 22–25., https://doi.org/10.2307/3399141.
MATERIALS

None

TECHNOLOGY

None

ACCOMMODATIONS

None

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Be responsible

Be respectful

Be safe

Be kind
 IMPLEMENT
LESSON OPENING (hook)

Before class, write F major scale warmup, Lincoln legacy measures 1-49, and witch and
the saint
 Students enter, construct instruments, and wait for morning announcements.
 Do pledge of allegiance.
TEACHING PROCEDURES

 Begin with F major scale

 Ask each section before starting what note they will begin on
 Flutes: F
 Trumpets and Clarinets and Tenor sax: G
 Alto and bar: D
 Start with unison note to tune to and then play through the major scale
 1st whole notes, 2nd quarter, 3rd eighth, last made-up rhythm on each note.
 Beginning of Lincoln Legacy to 49, if possible
 Spots to check for sure, Clarinets at 16, Flute trills at 9 and 16
 Trumpets introduction in 6/8 and the handoff to trombones at 11.
 Listen and adjust as necessary on other sections. Always listening and adjusting.
LESSON CLOSING (transition)

 Hand off to Jackie to begin Witch and the saint. Start by getting the percussion moving
immediately.

Analyze
PRE/POST ASSESSMENT or EVALUATION

None

REFLECT
Drilling the transposition is a big emphasis for me during my time here in Watertown. Helping
each section understand how to get the notes that they need to be able to play successfully.
Every time I have to talk through the different tricks for each key to help them find them, but
with enough time I am hoping they will start to know beyond just the easy ones that they
always use.

Getting started on this Lincoln Legacy piece has been difficult so far. Students are still
struggling with the 6/8 triple meter feel, but in individual lessons I have been making strides
with them to understanding and they always leave being able to play the main melody in 6/8.
Getting that to grow into the whole band is yet to be seen, but after this weeks section I am
hoping it makes a bigger dent in helping them all get it together rather than just individually.

I struggled with the flutes and trombones today, helping them get the right slide positions and
fingerings for some flute trills took me forever in front of the class and I will look ahead at
those more in the future and even write them in the score to speed it up more.

Common Lesson Plan Template

Music Education
Teacher Candidate Name: Dylan Unruh

Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Subject: Elementary Music

Date: 4/20/22

PLAN
STATE STANDARDS

2.MU.Pr.4.2.a

With minimal guidance, demonstrate knowledge of music concepts (such as tonality and meter) in music
from a variety of cultures selected for performance.
LEARNING/BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

 Sing with others

 Keep a steady beat
RATIONALE

According to Rebecca Schaefer and Katie Overy with the Annals of the New York Academy of
Sciences, a steady beat is believed by many to be a naturally occurring response to music and
specifically the beat of the music. Contrary to this, many adults, especially those with special
needs, struggle specifically with moving to a steady beat even though they are able to
auditorily perceive it. Synchronization of the physical body to the music is a skill that needs to
begin in childhood with years of reinforcement to concretely develop the ability to move “in
time” with the music.

In this lesson, students will be able to demonstrate their ability to play a steady beat on a drum
that will determine the tempo of the game. If students find difficulty in starting this beat I will
help them, but beyond this, students' ability to keep a steady beat on their own will be formally
assessed.

Schaefer, Rebecca S., and Katie Overy. “Motor Responses to a Steady Beat.” Annals of the
New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1337, no. 1, 13 Mar. 2015, pp. 40–44.,
https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12717.
MATERIALS

Identical sticks, tape, drum, and piano

TECHNOLOGY

Music Play online for Salish video

ACCOMMODATIONS

None

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Be responsible

Be respectful

Be safe

Be kind

IMPLEMENT
LESSON OPENING (hook)

 Begin the class by listening to the Salish hand game song one time.
 Ask students where they think it might come from. What it sounds like to them. What
instruments are playing?
TEACHING PROCEDURES

 Explain where the song comes from, and how it relates to where they live here in SD.
The Salish native Americans live in Northwest US and Southwest Canada. Most of their
population lives in either Oregon or Washington. Show the map that highlights where
they live and then show where we live.
 Listen through the Salish hand game twice. The first time was just the video, the
second time encouraged the kids to sing along.
 Head to the piano and play the two different phrases between m.1-2 and m.3-4. Ask
them to listen to the differences and see if they can hear them. Follow this by a short
game where they show the difference and have them sing it between each time.
 Sing through the song without the video for the first time, and in the second round listen
to the kids alone. Now introduce the two-game elements: sticks and the drum. Kids
must choose at random to find out which stick is marked and that person, whether they
are right or wrong, then plays the drum next time.
 Between rounds, I will assess their ability from 1 to 3 in keeping a steady beat. 1 is the
inability to keep one. 2 can keep one with assistance. 3 is they are fully proficient alone.
 With the drum, explain that 4 beats will be heard before we begin. Model this two to
three times. 
 Begin to play until all the kids get a turn.

LESSON CLOSING (transition)

 Make myself the person playing the drum the last time through so that students can
move with the beat to the door at the end of the lesson. Once everyone is quiet and
ready to go, reveal the mystery musician, and take them to the gym.

Analyze
PRE/POST ASSESSMENT or EVALUATION

Students will be formally assessed during the game on their ability to keep a steady beat while
playing the drum for each round. They will be rated 1-3 in keeping a steady beat. 1 is the
inability to keep one. 2 can keep one with assistance. 3 is they are fully proficient alone.

REFLECT
Doing this same lesson with both the 3rd grade and the 2nd grade really shows the levels at
which the same material can be taught. This 3rd-grade class did really well with this lesson
and I was happy while watching myself teach it. Doing the grading while also moving the game
along was a lot for me but doing it more would make it even easier. Assessing while going
along allows for a much more accurate view of their skills and putting the date of their
proficiency it can show their growth over time in an organized manner. 

I am continuing to try to incorporate the piano while I teach the pitch information to the kids to
help them reach the range they need to. Though they altered the song a bit from its original
melody, they were very close, and I could hear variations in it as I walked around the circle. I
believe that at this age very few kids are always listening to what others are singing, rather
they are much more focused on the game that is being played.

Finally, I am trying really hard to incorporate more organized ways of getting children lined up
and ready to go at the end of class. This video shows a very successful attempt at what I’ve
been doing with nearly every class.

https://youtu.be/yKweu0NILJw

Task IV: Student Learning Objective (SLO) and Analysis

 What do I want my students to be able to know/do?

 o Students will be able to recognize and explain key signatures for the improvement

of their independent music reading skills. According to South Dakota music

standards, learning to read and notate music gives students skills with which to

explore music independently and with others. Reading music promotes higher

level thinking skills through translation of symbols and serves as a means of

communication throughout the world. A firm grounding in this standard lays the

foundation for lifelong learning.

 Where are my students starting?

o Student began by taking a non-graded pre-test consisting of 19 questions. Prior to

this pretest no teaching or review was done to fine that absolute baseline

knowledge of the symphonic band at the high school. The average score was 42%

which was 8 of the questions correct. Though this average was the compromise of

some extreme outliers. For example, 6 students either got a perfect score or only

got a single question wrong. Meanwhile there were 5 students that only got two

questions correct.

o Included in the next figure are the results by percentage of the pre-test
 How will growth be measured?

o Growth will be measured first by the pre-test to establish a baseline for all

students. Following this pre-test two more shorter 5 question tests will be

administered after each of the two sections are taught for 2 weeks each. At the end

of the 4-week teaching period there will be a single week of reviewing all of the

content cumulatively before the post-test is administered. By administering

smaller versions of the post test after the related section, an overview of what may

need additional time teaching will become apparent, or students may show their

mastery early which would result in extra time to learn about the subject more

deeply.

o Included next are the first and then second data evaluations of the shorter 5

questions quizzes. The average of the first was 88% and the second was 90%.
  What can I expect my students to achieve?

o By the final assessment students will be expected to achieve, as a class, an

average score of 95% on a 20-point test that is similar in style to the pre-test. This

will mean that all of the students will either have an opportunity to get at least one

questions wrong. More likely, a very large percentage of the class will shows

complete 100% proficiency on the test, while others have score that do not meet

95%.

Pre-Assessment: Nearly all the data gained that influenced the lesson was gained from the pre-

assessment. This group of students has had knowledge of the content area in past years, but by

the end of their high school career are expected to have retained mastery and understanding. The

pre-assessment is a 19-point test where all of the questions are score equally. The first 4

questions are a representation of understanding sharps and flats, and the order of them within a

key signature. The remaining 15 questions are to assess understanding of major key signature.

First, in sentence format asking, “How many sharps/flats are in the key of X”. Second, in picture

format showing a key signature, for example, and asking them to identify the key.

Each still will be shown the key in the respective clef they read in on their band instrument.

Post Assessment: Based on the post assessment student met our set goal of a class average of

95%, they actually achieved a 96%.

Also included below are samples of one version of our pre/posttest.
Based on the data students showed a 54% increase in understanding of the concept of key

signatures, and more importantly 100% scores went from 3 students to 49 students. This

demonstrates a much-improved understanding in the area of key signature reading. I believe that

the way we taught these lessons was largely influenced by our additional need to continue

rehearsing for upcoming concerts. The lessons and instructional strategies were limited to 5-10

minutes of our overall 40-minute class which meant we had to teach and move quickly. If I was

to work towards this same goal in the future, I would use more hands on activities throughout the

instructional period, over simply lecturing, direct instruction, and simple checks for

understanding along the way.

One of the most interesting pieces of data that began to reveal itself from the first

assessment, was the percussionist were the sections with the most understanding and

development of key signatures, meanwhile the flute section had the slowest growth and all of the

students who did not achieve a 95% on their test individually. This suggests that something

within either the mastery of the instrument, or my hypothesis, the parts they are exposed to

within music, leads them to better understanding the reading part of their music education.
 Task V.I: Analysis of Focus Students (Elementary)

At X elementary I selected a first-grader Y for this case study. There is a surplus of

students within the three 1st grade classes here that have some sort of behavioral issues, but Y is

the most extreme that I have seen. It is believed that the reason there are so many students in this

age group who struggle in school is because the beginning of their schooling experience

overlapped with the beginning of the pandemic. This means that rather than this year being their

second or third year, it is more like their first. Y not only shows extremely aggressive behavior

towards others, both physically and verbally through swearing, but he also is not learning

anything in his classes because he refuses to engage in any sort of apparent learning. 

Through speaking with my cooperating teacher, I learned that there are two primary

factors that contribute to his behavior and stunted education growth. The first is Y’s family and

home situation. Since Y was born his father has been in prison for a long-term sentence and his

mother left Y at the age of 3 to be raised by his grandma. This grandma has also begun to suffer

from dementia-like symptoms which has been recorded by the school in the past when there have

been periods of time that Y did not attend school for a week at a time and his grandma came in to

meet with the principal. As Y ended kindergarten things were looking okay in areas of learning

and goals were set for him for staying on track with the rest of his class going into his 1st-grade

year, but his mother decided to re-enter his life over the summer. He spent the summer in a

different state living with his mom, but when school began he came back to X elementary. At the

beginning of the year, he was doing good again, until his mom who he spent the entire summer

with stopped responding or wanting to see him anymore. In addition to these family struggles, Y

also has ADHD and has shown signs of childhood depression. For these reasons he has been put

on medication for both, but changes are being made frequently to try to make his meds more
effective which can change his behavior and moods drastically. In this time, I witnessed him

swearing excessively, attempting to physically harm students around him, and speaking in

delusional language. He would say things about how his wife cooked him meals yesterday, his

YouTube friends are going to save him from going to school soon, and darker images like

talking about death. Y’s key issues that have been identified are abandonment and a lack of care

and attention at home.

According to Kaitlyn Petruccelli in her research, one of the most effective solutions to

helping children with trauma such as abandonment is building and prioritizing relationships with

these students first. I know that the school had some success with this already with Y, but that

paraprofessional who was connecting so well with him had to leave for her own professional

advancement which left Y feeling abandoned once again. I started to build a relationship with Y

too through what I learned about his extreme interest in the game Minecraft. I would spend 5

minutes at the end of class separately with him talking about the game and just listening to what

he would tell me about it. This caused Y to really look forward to music every week, but not for

the right reasons necessarily. Additionally, Y has since been transferred to another school in X

for more specialized help which initially will cause him to feel even more abandonment and

fluctuation, but hopefully will help him for the better in the long run. Another research by

Grasso, and others, talked about mental patterns of children with childhood trauma and how

changing those patterns is the only thing that will help the children move on and succeed in

school. Developing routines and creating opportunities to be successful within those routines

were a large emphasis in this study. As children begin to feel hopeless they will act out, and as

they act out they will be treated differently by adults and others which will most likely make

them feel once again helpless. Breaking this mental cycle through success and feeling success is
a strategy that can be done easily, and the steps can move very slowly towards the child

functioning at the same level as their peers and succeeding with them.

Citations

Petruccelli, Kaitlyn, et al. “Adverse Childhood Experiences and Associated Health Outcomes: A

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Child Abuse & Neglect, Pergamon, 24 Aug.

2019, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213419303047.

Grasso, D. J., Dierkhising, C. B., Branson, C. E., & Ford, J. D. (2015). Develop-

mental patterns of adverse childhood experiences and current symptoms

and impairment in youth referred for trauma-specific services. Journal

of Abnormal Child Psychology, retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/

s10802-015-0086-8
 Task V.II: Analysis of Focus Students (Secondary)

At X High school I selected Y for my case study because of his advanced abilities in

music, compared to all of his peers, in addition to his ability to self-diagnose and correct through

his instructors and self. This year Y is a sophomore in high school and plays percussion in the

symphonic band and also sings in the upper choir ensemble. To be a part of either of these

groups as a sophomore students have to audition with the same material as upperclassmen do for

their seating and show ability above that of the members of the junior class. I worked with Y for

the first time during my first week while he was preparing material for all-state auditions. 

Based on his ability and maturity I assumed he was a senior and did not think twice about

it. The timpani solo he was learning was out of “Sonata for Timpani '' by John Beck which is

often reserved for senior-level solos and even college repertoire due to its usage of extended

techniques. Techniques include re-tuning mid-piece, back of mallet usage, hand drum playing,

and complicated rhythms mixed with time and meter changes. Then for his marimba audition, he

was doing a common upper-level mallet solo called, “Yellow after the Rain” which uses 4

mallets constantly and has more challenging passages too. Finally, on his pre-test that we

administered for SLOs this semester, he was one of five students in either of the bands that got a

perfect score, and the rest of those scores were seniors. From all these inputs I decided that Y

would be an excellent candidate for observation in my case study. 

Y grew up in X and has been a part of a band since 5th grade as a percussionist, but

outside of band and school-based music is where I have learned a lot of his advancements have

been made. My first cooperating teacher (CT) is the high school band director, and my other CT

is the elementary school music teacher who both taught Y as he was growing up as well as
knowing him outside of school in a church setting. Y took piano lessons for four years before

being in band in 5th grade and was in choral activities with church which would have given him

additional exposure to music and some polyphonic singing before most students. He has always

been a very attentive and successful students and this behavior carries over into the music

classroom.

My main point of focus for this case study is how to help him continue to accel as a

gifted student in music, in addition to ways that I can help him succeed while being placed with

students who are older than him. At this point Y auditioned for all-state band for the first time

this year, and though he did not make it in, the percussion section is almost always exclusively

seniors in the state. I believe the best way for him to be challenged as a gifted student will be

through his individual lessons and repertoire choices that are selected for contest and all state.

Furthermore, being in a band with kids that are mostly older than him, but at the same time might

be less talented musically, could result in possibilities for bullying and especially exclusion from

the rest of the players.

In my research on helping this particular student, I came upon similar examples that

made it clear that this situation may call for helping the students surrounding him as much.

Joiner says that there may be opportunities for a younger student to excel above others, but it

may cause feelings of inadequacy amongst students of the older age group. Seeing a younger

person meet their level quicker and even move past them can lower their self-esteem. Often these

feelings are what lead students to bully those who are younger whether they know it or not. A

combination of making the younger student continue to participate but being careful not to put

them in a spotlight for their own good is a balance that has to be met in a situation like this.
Solberg, Edwards, and Nyborg advocated for a taking notes and confrontation when necessary

approach. Keeping an eye out for unusual or non-inclusive behaviors and addressing them

appropriately. Whether it is coming from the younger or the older students, major behavior

changes can be a sign that they are feeling discourse in the situation and that it should be

addressed rather than left alone to see what could happen.

Citations

Stine Solberg, Anne Edwards, Geir Nyborg. (2021) Leading for School Inclusion and

Prevention?

How School Leadership Teams Support Shy Students and Their Teachers. Scandinavian

Journal of Educational Research 65:7, pages 1203-1216.

Joiner, T. E., Jr. (1997). Shyness and low social support as interactive diatheses, with loneliness

as mediator: Testing an interpersonal-personality view of vulnerability to depressive

symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(3), 386–3

94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.106.3.386
 Task VI: Reflection and self-evaluation – Goals

This student teaching experience was completely different and an incredibly important

part of my path to becoming an independent teacher in my future career. The pre student

teaching experiences that I did last year were just a sample of what I would be doing this

semester, but nothing prepares you for full time, everyday teaching, like doing it. My field

experience was broken into two 8-week periods split between high school band (9th-12th grade)

and elementary music (K-4th). I started my field experience at the high school band which is what

I intended to be the content area for my job next year.

On my first day at the high school my cooperating teacher and I took things slow and got

acquainted which helped us align our plans for the rest of the semester. My cooperating teacher

(CT) later revealed that she will be retiring this year but has worked in the same position she is in

now for 24 years. This meant that she knew the flow of the school year, all the responsibilities,

deadlines, and dates like the back of her hand. After she caught me up on what would be coming

in the next few weeks it became apparent that if I was going to direct a piece in my time there I

was going to have to get started right away. So, the next day I got on the stand in front of both

the bands for the first time. I got on the podium in front of the kids every single day from then on

whether it was the first half of the 40-minute period or it was the second half. I especially

struggled in the beginning of my time with time management. If I was the one to start the time

and I was supposed to stop 15 minutes before the end, I would often go way past the time I was

supposed to, and my CT would just let me go until I realized. I usually didn’t notice until about 1
minutes before the end of class. As the semester continued on primary points of improvement,

according to my CT were eye contact and connection with the students, in addition to a generally

increased listening ability to all the parts. A later concept that emerged for my improvement was

accurate and concise explanation of what needed to be fixed. I realized that things simply

sounding bad was not a reason enough for students to make changes. Being clear about what was

right, what was wrong, and then how to fix it was a critiquing method I had to spend time

developing and will continue to develop for the foreseeable future.

Throughout my time at the high school, I spent daily time on the podium in front of both

of the bands, but a majority of my teaching day was devoted to lessons that students signed up

for. I was amazing with the amount of accountability that my CT’s students held themselves to.

If they were confused or needed help, they found time to come in separately and improve. If she

asked a whole section to find a day to come in for a sectional, they would all gather at the end of

class and almost always find one that worked for everyone in the section. This kind of self-

driven musicianship showing at the high school level is really impressive and I think primarily

shows students want to improve themselves individually and know that the teacher is there to

help them do that.

As my time closed at the high school I directed my pieces with the band at the concert

and experienced a whole new type of performance. Rather than being the performer/musician I

was in front of them and hopefully leading them to success. The concert showed me that music

teachers don’t just need to know the content, they also need to be incredibly organized

individuals who can fix problems quickly and keep things running. The night of the concert,

even though everything was laid out and rehearsed two to three times, instruments still broke,

music was missing, and students were not dressed correctly. I was finding lost mallets under
cabinets, fixing tuba valves, and quickly printing copies of music in between groups. The amount

of energy and excitement I received from those kids while we performed made it all worth the

effort.

After my 8 weeks at the high school, I moved down the road a few blocks to the

elementary school. This area is one that was highly unfamiliar with, and my new CT pushed me

in many ways. One of the biggest was shifting my musical focus, and especially pedagogy, to the

voice rather than instruments. Helping children find their singing voice, and more importantly, a

joy for music became my new goal and achieving that was a challenge for me. I often found

myself having lots of fun with the kids, but retroactively their music abilities were lacking and

unrefined after my time with them. Having a male singing voice being the model for children

singing presents many challenges. This concept was the one that I felt I was doing the most

research and trying different things in an attempt to overcome them. Many times, after I would

sing a song to be echoed by the kids, their echo would lack pitch and would rather be a low

grumble chant. With time things got better but it caused me to fear singing for them from time to

time.

My elementary cooperating teacher put me into things almost as fast as my first one. On

the first day I was mimicking lessons that were done with one class to the next one. This gave me

confidence because I knew what she was choosing to do had reasoning behind it and allowed me

to just focus on my delivery. Integrating classroom management into delivery was my biggest

personal challenge at the elementary. When I was moving along in a lesson and suddenly two

students begin rolling all over each other, the time it took for me to get them settled would make

me complete loose what I was doing which would then usually cause the class to lose focus.
Keeping things going while addressing problems in the classroom was the biggest lesson that I

gained from my time at the elementary school.

My goal during this experience for knowledge of self as an individual was, “During this

experience, I will learn the names of all the students in the concert and symphonic band and

begin learning individual things about each to show them that my relationship with them goes

beyond just seeing them in band every day. I believe that recognizing students for who they are

is a large part of building relationships.” I gauged and monitored my ability to do this formally

by having two separate time throughout the semester which I started class by trying to name all

of the students. The first time was pretty rough, and I was only able to remember the kids who

were either in jazz band or who had come in for many lesson with me. Through really purposeful

week to week conversations with kids on my last day I was able to remember 64 of the 68

students in the symphonic band which I felt was satisfactory and setting this as a goal definitely

helped me to connect with a much larger majority of the kids then if I just let the names

passively enter my memory.

My goal for knowledge of the learner was, “During this experience, I will begin to

develop a knowledge of where students should be at in each grade level, and how to pick pieces

so that it is in their zone of proximal development allowing them to stretch their abilities while

not being unrealistic.” I feel as though I didn’t have as much control in the pieces that I picked

for students as I was hoping I would, but my CT did this herself too which helped me reach the

goal. In particular, the work I did with the younger band was a great example of students having

the ability to reach the goal of a piece, but in the beginning showing that they needed that

scaffolding to understand anything that was put in front of them. This was exemplified in my

time frequently re-explaining and modeling how to read 6/8 time them. In the conversations that
I had my CT about the students’ abilities she said they met close to where she felt they could

have gotten to and I used many of her tricks along to way to help achieve that.

My goal for knowledge of content was, “During this experience, I will learn and then

apply the South Dakota standards for music education.” Especially at the elementary level I

began to understand and apply all of the standards. The school I was at was on an improvement

plan for lesson planning and had provided all of the teachers with a paid subscription to

planbook. By importing all of the standards into planbook I was able to access them much more

easily as I was planning and check each off as I met them within my lesson plans. This was

helped a lot by the fac that the report cards at this school are not grade based, but standard based.

I can statement such as, “I can sing with others” were made from the actual standards in kid-

friendly language. Then students are assessed in these areas from a 1-3 based on their

proficiency. So, if I didn’t cover and assess one of the standards it would have shown in their

report cards heavily.

My goal for knowledge of pedagogy was, “During this experience, I will implement my

recently learned knowledge of classroom manage and apply it daily in my interactions with

music classes.” The elementary school was primarily where my classroom management abilities

were tested. My cooperating teacher had a few systems in place for positive reinforcement and

indication of how students were doing, but she also encouraged me to implement one of my own

for when I was teaching the students. I decided to implement a system that affected their rewards

system previously implemented. I found students were often louder and more disruptive when I

was the instructor, so I used a timer and set boundaries of how long I had to wait for them to stop

talking and listen. If they reached 15 seconds on the time they lost one point which meant they
could not work towards points for a free day. If it reached 25 seconds they lost any possibility for

an individual reward at the next class period. It never moved beyond needing a second level.

Lastly, my goal for knowledge of self as a teacher and member of the learning

community was, “During this experience, I will begin connecting and getting to know non-

English speaking students that I interact with weekly in the Watertown school district. Though

this can be challenging and uncomfortable, I know that trying to make those connections will

help me grow as an teacher.” I originally wrote this goal because of how many ELL students I

knew were at the high school, but I later learned that I would interact with very few of them, and

the ones that I did ending up moving away in the first week of my time there. Instead, the

elementary became the place I was exposed to English language learners. In the elementary

setting these students are primarily immersed within the regular classroom with little time

outside to learn in their own language fully. Instead, the teaching use many complimentary

instruction techniques that help students understand instructions without even needing to

understand what is being said. We also frequently implemented sentence bookends and sentence

fragments to help students begin filling in blanks of individual words without having to create

full sentences all the time. This exposure with no paraprofessional aid in the music classroom

required me to show much more accurately what I wanted kids to do through my modeling

techniques rather than my language. Which I thought was awesome because music is a universal

language that can be shared with all of the kids.