Experience Summary
My experience as a teacher and instructor has been centered around my experience as a musician. Learning how to play and read music drastically helped me in school in all of my other subject areas. I knew early on that I would continue to play music and also that I would want to stay involved with music in some way. I earned a degree in music education in 2001 and although I didn't begin my public school teaching experiences until 2003 I began teaching private lessons and tutoring other students while still in high school. I have been fortunate enough to have had studied with some outstanding instructors and mentors throughout my career before, during and after college. While I enjoy playing music professionally, teaching has always provided me with a different and often times much more rewarding experience that I always enjoy very much. The arts, humanities, psychology, grammar and English are all areas that I would like to assist other students with - and music as well!
Teaching Style
One of the things I enjoy most about teaching is seeing the progression of young students as they grow as humans and as learners. Knowing that I actually had something do with their successes at this particular time in their lives makes me feel really good about what I do. My teaching style is one that is usually calm and laid back. I always try to understand BEFORE I'm understood. Always restating their questions, and being willing to talk about things other than school every now and then helps them to become comfortable with me. In order to be effective, I have to be approachable. As a music teacher and band director, organization has always been key. Students can expect me to know right away whether they practiced or studied throughout the week or just the night before the lesson. I teach students to own their successes as well as any other outcomes. They have the ability and I simply show them how to use their own skills to get what they want out of life.