Week 4: Compare and Contrast

The realm of education is made up of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary settings. In Education, interdisciplinary could refer to the different subjects being taught and offered in a school. The Elementary school I intern at offers each subject required to be taught, as well as extra subjects such as Music and Orchestra, and extra-curricular subjects such as Karate or sports. Music is one of the many interdisciplinary roles at the school.
The multidisciplinary comes in the general classroom, outside the extra subjects and activities. Here is where one teacher is teaching many different subjects in one classroom (math, science, reading, writing, etc.). The general education classroom is multidisciplinary for this reason.
The music classroom I am located in operates in more of an interdisciplinary manner. Aimee Vining is teaching her students different instruments, songs, and dances from around the world.
The organizational structure of the school is ordinary, like most schools. The Principal, Vice Principal, and Guidance counselor are all the ones to contact if things go wrong. The Principal is the one primarily in charge. The teachers are the next in line. If Aimee is having trouble with one of the students, first she'll contact their teacher, then the Principal/ Vice/ Counselor, and then their Parents. Depending on the severity of the incident, one or more may be contacted. In school, communication is very important.

Cute Story

One of the Kindergartners had a very serious concern when she came into Ms. Vining's class not too long ago. Walking up to her music teacher, she tugged on her pants to gain her attention. "Ms. Vining..." she said.
Ms. Vining bent over to be at her level and asked, "yes?".
This little girl then put both hands on Ms. Vining's cheeks, scrunching her face together to be sure she had her fullest attention, and in a very serious tone said, "WE HAVE TO DO THE PENGUIN DANCE."

hahaha
So, they did the pengiun dance that day. :)

About Me

My name is Sarah Hill, I'm 22 years old, and live with the love of my life. My internship is set at Johnson Elementary school, in Ms. Aimee Vining's Music classroom. Aimee is a great mentor, and has already explained a lot to me of what she does and the better ways to go about teaching. My concentrations in BIS are Music and Education. Very fun. :)
I chose Music, because it has always been a dominant force in my life. I think it's one of the greatest of the arts- fun, important, and interesting. Being involved in different bands and orchestras has given me the chance to meet a lot of people. I chose Education as my second concentration because of the value I place in it. Quality education is one of the most important things we can give children. I love the experience of working with kids. They are very fun and view the world in a completely different way. We can learn a lot from them and from our younger selves.

I know I will be learning a lot from my applied study site. Aimee seems like a great teacher, and I'm excited to work with her. I hope to learn better classroom management skills, so that it comes second nature, and I can focus more on the lessons I'll teach. Personally, I hope to figure out what exactly I would like to teach (music verses a grade level). So far, the responsibilities I have accomplished at the school are slim. I've been observing her classes to get a feel for her routine, and I've also been talking with Aimee about various things during her prep hour and outside of class to prepare myself. I will eventually be conducting lessons and helping Aimee with bigger tasks once I get the hang of things. I think this experience will give me a better taste on teaching. The responsibilities that will be given to me throughout the semester are directly related to what I have been studying these last four years; subjects such as music, teaching music, classroom management, child development, etc. I hope to use these skills to someday teach in an elementary school. After graduation, I hope to move onto a master's program and gain my teaching certification. It is the type of work I hope to be doing for a long time, and hopefully start in the near future. I'm not sure if it's what I want to do forever, but I feel that it is a step in the right direction.

First Blog

I think this is going to be start of something interesting. :) I've blogged before, but it was a few years ago. It was full of silly questionnaires and random occurrences, and it wasn't class or school related at all. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot of funny stories, because kids are great in that way of being unpredictable and silly. I'm excited to start my internship. I'll be in an Elementary music classroom. I'm interested to see if I will like it enough to teach Elementary music, or become a regular, one-grade teacher. I think it will be the latter, but we will see.

See you on the flip side.