Northern State University

Pre-Student Teaching Experience

MUSIC Teacher Work Sample
Spring 2021

Candidate Name: Dylan Unruh

Candidate Phone Number: 605-252-2286

Candidate ID Number: 7500429

Cooperating School(s): Simmons Middle School, Holgate Middle School

Subject/Content Area: Secondary Music

Grade Level(s): 6-12

Date Submitted: 1/23/20

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 Analysis of Focus Students – Case Study
Task V Reflection, Self-Evaluation, and Goals Achievements
 Task I: Professional Goal Setting

Knowledge of Self as an Individual

Goal: During this experience, I will build good relationships with students, but ones that have a
clear line seeing me as an educator/teacher though I may be in close age with some students.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by portraying myself both visually and through my
teaching in a way that shows I should be respected. Making sure that the choices I decide to
make are thought out rather than based on what past teachers have done.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by reflecting on the level of comfort the students convey
while also evaluating if they spoke to me as a teacher or more like another student.

Knowledge of the Learner

Goal: During this experience, I will learn how to notice and take note of the different levels of
progress students make, and through that better tailor the material we cover when working in
lessons individually.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by working with my cooperating teacher and preparing
myself before individual or group work with students, allowing me to understand where the
students are at.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by talking with my cooperating teacher prior to working
with students and asking them if the comments I made were effective to each of their levels of
progress.

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 junior field experience.
 Knowledge of Pedagogy

Goal: During this experience, I will focus primarily on my classroom management skills,
especially larger classes, and evaluate what techniques I can utilize to increase my class
management effectiveness.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by learning how my cooperating teacher manages her
class and by applying the techniques I learn in my courses this semester. Hopefully I will learn
some more in future classes and through a future seminar on the S.T.A.R. system.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by reflecting on how I felt a class went and then asking my
cooperating teacher how it looked from his perspective. Though this process I should be able to
induce how to better my classroom management skills.

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

Goal: During this experience, I will develop relationships throughout the school with more
teachers then just my cooperating music teacher. Including administrative staff and any other
teachers too. Learning to develop professional and cooperative relationships that can be useful
rather than harmful.

Procedure: I will accomplish this goal by introducing myself to as many administrative staff as
I can in the first days. I will try to be as helpful as I can to anyone that asks for my help and
never turn down an opportunity to develop a relationship.

Evaluation: I will evaluate this goal by seeing how many different teachers I met and how
many interactions I had with them throughout my experience.
 Task II: Contextual Information

X middle school is one of two middle schools in the town of Y. There is a total of 34

teachers in the school and 511 students making the student to teacher ratio 15:1. This middle

school is broken into three class grades 6-8 and primarily focuses on the subject of reading,

math, and social studies. In addition to the core classes, they also have opportunities for PE,

FACS, I.T., Health, Spanish, music, and computer classes.

The town of Y has a population of approximately 28,000 and a median age of 35. The

diversity of the town is rated at 85.5% white and the rest of the population being made of

American Indian, Black/African American, Hispanic, or Asian all below 4% each. This lines up

almost exactly in proportions with X middle school where 80% of the students are white and

then the same ethnicities all around 5% or lower with a slightly higher Hispanic population at 6-

7%. Though this level of diversity isn’t very high, but the school still ranks in the top 30% in the

state for diversity at 0.34.

X middle school ranks in at least the top 50% in areas like math, reading, and testing

proficiency, but only a couple points, which would be in line with the education levels of the

teachers at the school. All teachers at the school have at least a bachelor’s degree in their area

and 51% of them have master’s degrees. As for the administrative staff they are so split 50/50

having master’s degrees vs doctorates. Looking into other demographics, though in South

Dakota the post-secondary education rate is skewed towards women, this middle school does not

follow that trend. Both he students and teacher gender ratios are listed at 50/50 male to female.
 In the town of Y, the average household income is $49,471 and has a poverty rate of

14.8%. In relation to those numbers, 58.9% of the population owns houses while the other 41.1%

rent. This is reflected in the free and reduced lunch percentages being 30% and 11%

respectively.

Finding information on public schools through the SD report card website has been made

especially challenging this semester. Most information such as student performance, students’

progress, and English learner’s progress are providing no data at this time due to COVID-19.

This is due to the fact that the state is not currently assessing the school presumably because all

of the educational challenges that are being faced. Any information that is presented is from

2018-2019 (which is not much) I felt would have a chance of misrepresenting the school as any

change in the past year would not be reflected.

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

Lesson Plan 1
Music Education
Teacher Candidate Name: Dylan Unruh

Grade Level: 7th Grade

Subject: Secondary Music Education

Date: 2/24/21

PLAN
STATE STANDARDS

Performing
 Has.MUe.Pr.4.2.a
 Evaluate and critique, using music reading skills, how the structure and context
impact and inform prepared and improvised performances.
LEARNING/BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVE(S)

Students will be able to:

 Identify differences between individuals’ players ability
 Adapt playing to better play as a group
RATIONALE

According to Alfred music group music lessons have many benefits. Working as a group rather
than a individual mainly can aid in reducing performance anxiety. By working in small group
lessons, it allows for some individual instruction but also allows students to continue
developing teamwork skills. More instructional time with students is also boosted this way
which allows more progress to be made. The last benefit with groups lessons is the learning that
students gain from each other progress.

In this lesson I will be working with a group of cello players on a solo that they will all be
performing during this semester. There are some players that are more advanced than other, but
through a process a grouping players and having them assess each other, students will gain a
better understanding of what they can improve themselves. This process will also allow a level
of equity as no matter where each student is at in their development.

Palmer, William A, et al. Alfred's Basic Group Piano Course, Book 1. Alfred Music, 2005.
MATERIALS

none

TECHNOLOGY

none

ACCOMMODATIONS

none

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

 Treat others the way you want to be treated.

 Always do your best.
 Encourage each other and never discourage each other.
 Be prepared.
 Listen and follow instructions.
 Make good decisions.
 Be yourself
 IMPLEMENT
LESSON OPENING (hook)

Begin by playing major scale C and G one octave

 Quarter notes
 Either notes
 Sixteenth notes
 Rhythm exercise based on student’s favorite breakfast food. For example, “I ate waffles
for breakfast” = quarter, quarter, eighth dotted quarter, quarter, half, half..

TEACHING PROCEDURES

 All students will first play the solo intro together all the way through (whole)
 I will aid in helping students identify sections that need the most work (part)
 Student that proposes the change will then demonstrate with one other students of the
teacher’s choice.
 Take turns in pairs attempting the section.
 Re-evaluate or move on to another section
LESSON CLOSING (transition)

By the end of the lesson time all the students, in their groups, will play through the
beginning section of the solo for the group.
 REFLECT
Not included in my reflection video is that I did warm up the whole orchestra the way that I
planned in the opening of my lesson plan and the kids really enjoyed it. Letting them create the
rhythm that they would warm up was a fun way to do something simple effectively. It also
allowed me to begin the class so when we transitioned into the rest of the lesson I did not have
to pass of the torch.

The rest of the lesson also went well, but I adjusted it a lot while trying to achieve the same
final goal of having the students self-assess each other and themselves as the group. It was
apparent to me the moment I began working with the three that I took aside that making them
play on their own wasn’t going to happen because it was a Monday morning, and I am not their
typical teacher either. So, instead I just had them reflect as a group on the piece and make
changes and decisions that way, while also maintaining the whole part whole structure to the
lesson.

Throughout the student’s self-assessment, I did have to help them along and encourage their
choices, but in the end I tried to let them make as many choices as possible, and then at the end
I did a really smart thing and even had the students count us in instead. I heard some really
good thoughts from the kids too on why they needed to work on each sections which makes me
feel like I achieved my primary goal.
 Lesson Plan 2
Music Education
Teacher Candidate Name: Dylan Unruh

Grade Level: 8th and 7th Grade

Subject: Secondary Music Education

Date: 4/9/21

PLAN
STATE STANDARDS

 Responding

HSp.MUe.Re.7.2.a

Analyze passages and understand the way the elements of music are
manipulated
LEARNING/BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVE(S)

Students will be able to:

 Listen for intonation within the group
 Demonstrate a full use of the bow
RATIONALE

According to Michael Allen, Robert Gillespie, and Pamela Tellejohn Hayes in their book
essential elements for strings, when many students begin learning with methods, such as
Suzuki, they are encouraged early on to limit their use of the bow. This is because using the far
ends of the bow are the most difficult part and the early focus should be more about tone and
intonation. But at some stage this must shift, and technique must become a priority. Two things
occur frequently. First, students never learn to use the whole bow and frequently only use a few
inches. Second, students never learn how to move the whole bow in a straight line.

In this lesson I will be reinforcing previous teaching by my cooperating teacher on how

students should be using their bows and students will be demonstrating their own
understandings of the bow. Additionally, students will demonstrate their ability to listen for
intonation and adjust when needed.

Gillespie, R., Allen, M., Hayes, P. T. (2003). Essential Elements for Strings: A Comprehensive

String Method, Cello Book 2. United States: Hal Leonard.
MATERIALS

N/A

TECHNOLOGY

Piano

ACCOMMODATIONS

N/A

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

 Treat others the way you want to be treated.

 Always do your best.
 Encourage each other and never discourage each other.
 Be prepared.
 Listen and follow instructions.
 Make good decisions.
 Be yourself
 IMPLEMENT
LESSON OPENING (hook)

 Begin by identifying what we will be working on specifically in today’s warmup.

TEACHING PROCEDURES

 Ask the class if they know what key their songs are in. Ask around until they get it right
and if they cannot get it then help.
 Once they do know ask them what key we should do our warmup in.
 Begin ascending scale in G major at no specific tempo. Emphasize long bows and listening
for intonation. Maybe even walking up to specific students and adjusting.
 Ascend all the way through scale up and down commenting frequently.
 Now do 4 quarter notes on each note around 96 bpm. Up and down but explain that long
full bows are still possible.
 Now do 4 eighth notes on each note at the same tempo. If bows get two short explain that a
faster bow that is long is better than a short slow bow.

LESSON CLOSING (transition)

 Explain finally why the full bow is important. How great sound comes from its full use
and how it should always be used this way.
REFLECT
I thought that the warmups went great, and I was glad that the students were listening and being
respectful of me leading the room. After my first one with the eighth grade, I asked my
cooperating teacher what I should do better, and she only said to be more concise and clearer
with my instructions. She really liked what we did even if the kids were not perfect, but when
the kids begin the exercise and half of them do one thing and the other half do another it means
that I need to be clearer.

I learned a lot from my element’s presentation in class on how to comment on what students are
doing while they are doing it and how to keep the class going at the same time. In the video I
am leaning in and walking around a bit as we are ascending and descending the scale for this
reason. I would have hoped to get a little more participation from the students, but I am only
their a few hours every couple of weeks, so it is hard to expect that.

In between doing my first warmup and second I decided I wanted to try to do a chordal section
too to emphasize listening for intonation between the sections. It didn’t go very well, especially
from the violins, but as I listened closely in the video, the longer they help the note the more
students begun to adjust and change to make the major chord more sonorous. I thought that the
cellos and basses had a good 5th between the sections, and the third of the chord is where the
trouble came from. I wish I would have taken some more time, but they needed to get to
rehearsing their piece for the concert.
 Task IV: Analysis of Focus Students (Case Study)

Student X at Y middle school impressed me upon my first interactions with him on my

visit to Y middle school. Though many case studies may put emphasis on students with behavior

problems or maybe something else that is negatively affecting them, X was the opposite. What I

was hoping to gain by doing a case study on X was an understanding of what experiences a

student can have that may help them advance in music. When 7th grade orchestra began that day

the whole class had playing tests and my cooperating teacher (CT) gave everyone an opportunity

to get warmed up and run through that day’s test. I began walking around and noticing any

students that needed help with notes or rhythms. As I walked past X though I asked him to play

for him and the combination of his good technique, tone, rhythms, and intonation caught my

attention.

So right before playing tests began I asked my CT about X and she let me know all the

music experience he has been having. She knew that his playing test would go well, so I

suggested that I take him for fifteen minutes to give him a lesson. Throughout this lesson we

looked ahead to some more advanced material and X showed advanced skills in concepts like

key signatures and rhythms that hadn’t been covered 7th grade orchestra. After we finished that

lesson and class I spoke with my CT for some time about what X had been doing in his personal

time to learn music.

From this conversation I learned that X has been taking private piano lesson for 4+ years,

started playing trumpet in band last year, and then had been playing viola since 6th grade too.

Thinking about a combination of those instruments this would allow X to have experience with

three of the most common clefs treble, bass, and alto, in addition to him learning lots about

music both through lip buzzing and finger work. Another interesting part of the conversation was
a few weeks prior his piano teacher had told him that if he did not switch from viola to violin he

wouldn’t progress as a musician and it would actually make him work. This is of course

incorrect and a prestigious mindset that has been around for a while, so my CT got in contact

with X’s parents right away and made sure he did not switch for that reason. Diversification in

music is what can accelerate and boost learning in every way.

I would definitely compare student X’s behavior to that of an honors student, so I did

some looking into ways to affectively challenge honors students to help them advance even

more. Throughout Karin Scager’s article, a professor at Utrecht University, she listed around 17

different ways/goals to have for your honors students before creating curriculum for them. The

two that I found most applicable to X were following his interests and allowing him to make

choices. Some steps to follow students’ interest include making portfolios that contain a

collection of their past work and giving them opportunities to perform/display their talent.

Through doing both of these it allows them to show others their work while also slowly helping

them see how much they have done over time in their own accomplishments. Having students

make their own decisions in music is something I have always been taught, but Karin Scager

points out how it is particularly important for honors students because they can often get stuck in

routines that work for them without deviating and trying new things. By having them

intentionally make choices for themselves while also providing other possibilities, they will

develop a wider range of thought in the future.

Karin Scager, Sanne F. Akkerman, Albert Pilot & Theo Wubbels (2013) How to persuade

honors students to go the extra mile: creating a challenging learning environment, High

Ability Studies, 24:2, 115-134, DOI: 10.1080/13598139.2013.841092
 Task V: Reflection and self-evaluation – Goals

As my third student teaching experience ends I am so appreciative of the bounty of

lessons and experiences that come with each one. Based on what I learned from my last pre-

student teaching experience (PSTE) I had lots of different thoughts and ideas on what I wanted to

try out this time around and this pairing was particularly conducive to this goal. Each school and

each teacher has different approaches, techniques, and schedules which allows for so much

variation and through these I am able to get a full spectrum of what my educational career could

look like in the future. This was especially true this semester as my cooperating teacher (CT) is

the orchestra director at two schools simultaneously.

Being at two schools comes with the obvious which is having double the students, but

even more complicated is she has double the administration which means different rules and

procedures too. On a daily and weekly basis, she has to consider all the different emails and

meetings in relation to these two sets of rules. On one of my first days in the field talking with

my CT about this I asked, “Could two middle schools in the same district really be that

different?” and the answer was absolutely. Both schools had positives and negatives to the way

they chose to do things, but it seems that no system can ever be perfect for everyone.

At the first middle school the administration has been changing a lot recently. The

principal and vice principal have recently changed around the past two year which seems to have

resulted in much less personal involvement with the music program in particular. Surprisingly

enough, on every single day I visited the vice principal was out for the entire day, so I was never

able to meet them at all. As for the principal I made sure to interact with him once each time we

visited the office and he was nice, but when it comes to the actual administration there is a

disconnect between him understanding how running a music program works and the things they
are told to get done. I think this is quite typical, but someday I am hoping to come in contact with

an administrator that may have been a past music educator because I think that would be the

greatest job ever, mainly due to the support and understanding that experience would give them.

The last big difference is that the first school would emphasize sending trouble students down to

the office to deal with them. Whether it was something big or small the office had a very

particular person that would talk to the students and document the situations that went down. At

the second school the administration was completely different and had been in place for what

seemed to be much longer. Whenever there was a problem my CT needed answered the

Principal, and Vice Principal, would happily listen. Additionally, the Principal and Vice

Principal were attached at the hip and are a dynamic duo that tackles situations effectively. They

have a daily routine of walking the entire school which both helps them get a read of what is

always going on and opens them up to short conversations when needed. This is how my CT was

able to quickly resolve a concert scheduling problem with one email and one conversation

without any delay. It was great to see such effective communication go on that benefitted the

music program. With every great practice there is likely to be something that is not perfect and at

the second school it was the way they wanted teachers to deal with conflict in the classroom.

Rather than how at the first school they could send a student down for every little thing, the

second school did not permit teachers sending student down to the office for almost anything.

This became a problem with recurring behavior situations because it was so difficult to get a

students having an episode away from the rest or if two students were having problems with each

other to separate them. Though my CT has been able to get through those moments it is much

more uncomfortable for the other students and can cause a loss of focus on the goals of class.

Through seeing the juxtaposition of how these two administrations handle their schools I have
learned a few important questions to ask when being interviewed for a job in the future.

One thing I always bring up when I talk about my student teaching experiences are the

two main areas that I learn from. The first is the more obvious which is actually teaching and

working with students, but the second (which is almost more fun with the right people) is just

getting to talk, ask questions, and learn from my CT’s experiences. I had three main takeaways

from all my conversations with her. Using the term home to describe parents/guardians to be

more inclusive, the importance of having a good relationship with your co-workers, how much

fun it is to have constant classes all day, but also how important individual lesson can be.

My CT reaches out to home a lot whether it is for behavior issues or related to physical

instrument needs. These times reaching out to home are with varying success, but what I learned

from my CT is the term “home” when describing those that are their technical legal

parent/guardian. Being mislabeled leads to being misunderstood so using “home” as an all-

encompassing term of inclusion is something I am going to continue to do in the future.

I have had a few jobs at this point and all of them have involved working with other

people. Sometimes those relationships can be the reason that people want to quit a job, so when

teachers finally finish up all of the schooling and get a job it is unfortunate when their co-

workers are the reason they leave. During this PSTE experience my CT was constantly

interacting with the other music teachers and can almost never get away because they all share an

office space between the classrooms. The reason this works though is they all have good working

relationships where they communicate and collaborate but still have fun. I saw plenty of

collaborating and communicating because the orchestra usually practices in the theatre, but a

pipe burst, and the entire area was flooded. This meant that orchestra had to find somewhere to

rehearse. On a weekly basis the three teachers would work together to find when they were not
using their rooms so that the orchestra could, and when they weren’t able to do that my CT

would always make something else work. On the other side, I got to see them have a lot of fun

together during my visit during their professional development day. Seeing the three of them

work together to get the training done while also having fun was the reason my CT and I started

having this discussion. Through this I learned there would be no way for the three of them to get

anything done if they were not friends and got along.

My CT works at two schools at the same time so instead of having three ensembles, one

for each grade, she has six ensembles. This meant that rather than having portions of the day

dedicated to lessons or teaching additional classes, she basically spend the second half of her day

doing the first part all over again. When I was able to visit both schools for the entire day I

would have a lot of fun because sometimes the time in between classes is not always needed and

when we were teaching time really flew by. On the other hand, having all of these classes with

no time in between makes it impossible to have individualized lessons with students and there

are a few cases where students really need it, and those students are the ones on the cusp of

quitting because they feel behind and lost. This feeling also keeps them from coming in

after/before school because they think nothing can help them. Through this experience I learned

a lot about how teaching need planning periods in their day both to stay organized, decompress,

and help give additional instruction as needed.

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

experience, I will build good relationships with students, but ones that have a clear line seeing

me as an educator/teacher though I may be in close age with some students.” This has been a

goal since I began teaching in the schools and one of the most important ways I have learned to

do this is how I dress. Building up a wardrobe of business casual clothes can do a lot for making
someone more grown up. Additionally, I did feel like I made the most personable relationships in

school so far. My approach to students was a little more direct but I am getting better at reading

how students feel towards me and using that to choose whether to start a conversation or not. I

also would frequently start the class by discussing something fun and kids would get more

involved each day I visited.

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

notice and take note of the different levels of progress students make, and through that better

tailor the material we cover when working in lessons individually. The more I spend time

teaching the more obvious the skill level of students becomes at first glance. Especially when

you know the instrument they are playing well enough. On my first day I had a great example of

this where I noticed one viola players excelling, the student I wrote my case study about, and I

took him away for 10 minutes for a mini lesson. I also spent plenty of time in between classes

asking about students that I would notice little details about in class. Rarely were my

observations wrong. Then the next time we were in class I would adjust and help individual

students with what I knew they needed based on what I had learned. If I had to sum up the most

common problem it would be violins need chin rests to develop good technique.

My goal for knowledge of content was, “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.” I think that the k-8 SD standards are much more specific than

the 9-12 ones and I really like that. The more that I read them over and over the more that I know

what I am reinforcing when I think up a lesson idea. Additionally, I was starting to take in to

consideration the standards when I was teaching on the fly too. Primarily always thinking if it
was creating, performing, responding, or connecting. Having this in mind first makes it much

easier to match up to specific standards later. I also did more guided reading this time so I had

specific resources such as Suzuki method book passages and other method book based material.

My goal for knowledge of pedagogy was, “During this experience, I will focus primarily

on my classroom management skills, especially larger classes, and evaluate what techniques I

can utilize to increase my class management effectiveness.” This is one area I still have a lot to

learn. I have not had a chance to take classroom management course yet so everything I am

doing is either personal experience or imitation of how my CT manages the class. I find that

generally students would get quiet when I would talk anyways, probably because they did not

know who I was at first so they just behaved in case, but I think if things got out of hand I would

quickly feel out of my bounds. In the future this is the goal that I feel I need to make the most

progress on.

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

community was, “During this experience, I will develop relationships throughout the school

with more teachers then just my cooperating music teacher. Including administrative staff and

any other teachers too. Learning to develop professional and cooperative relationships that can

be useful rather than harmful.” I had a handful of chances at both the schools to talk to

administration. At the first school I was not remembered each time we talked which was

disappointing cause I knew I did not make an impression, but at the second school the Principal

and Vice Principal talked to me each time I visited the office to check in. I am quite impressed

with how they run the school and enjoyed hearing them talk about what they were doing and

what was going on as they patrolled the school daily. It helped that I also went to the first school

I would visit and I had the opportunity to have long conversations with my previous teaching
many years later now. But my most successful connection was with my old middle school

secretary. She is still there after all these years and said one of the most profound and sweet

things when we talked about detention and disciplining kids. I was talking about the one time I

got detention cause my brother made me tarty so many times and I said the sentence, “As I sat in

there I just kept thinking I didn’t belong in there” then the looked at me and said, “None of them

belong in there” What a beautiful mindset. That is a lesson I will ever forget.