Today we writeabout extra training resources, with a focus on Senior Tech Tutorials. Successful teachers break out of the box: It may be a self-made box. “Oh I could never do that,” you say to yourself. Perhaps you promised you’d never become the teacher who would let students grade each other (maybe you had a bad experience as a kid). Sometimes the biggest obstacle to growth is us. Have you built a box around your teaching methods? Good teachers know when it’s time to break out of it. Successful teachers are masters of their subject: Good teachers need to know their craft. In addition to the methodology of “teaching”, you need to master your subject area. Learn, learn, and never stop learning. Successful educators stay curious.
Reflect. John Dewey once said, “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience.” Be honest with yourself. Be mindful and make changes in the future. You can model the reflective process for your students as well. Teach them to evaluate. Breathe. Give yourself time. Cut yourself a break. Ask for help. Not everything will go as planned. Tap into your colleagues. Use the resources available to you. Be realistic. Be forgiving. Read extra details at Teacher Toolkit and Resources.
Learning is not only for young people. If you don’t mind doing a bit of browsing there are also have many YouTube video instructors that can offer quick overviews on general computer know-how and specifics such as setting up a Facebook account or doing Skype calls. Using a computer can let you stay informed, share information, organize your schedule, do your banking, find and listen to your favorite music, watch old episodes of your favorite shows and films, the list goes on.Indeed, with all the resources and help available you may find yourself becoming a technical expert sooner than you think.
Showing a senior how easy it is to talk to a friend you haven’t seen in 7 years through Skype, or getting an email back within 10 minutes from a family member, helps them see the importance of technology and what it has to offer. Having them understand that this enhances their social life without needing to leave their house at all. Our goal is to hear them say “Wow!” A good website for senior learning is http://seniortechtutorials.com/.
Music teaching is hot this days, many people try to learn music, for various reasons. There are a few podcasts that focuses on teaching people about music and one of them is The Music Educator by Bill Stevens. Once students begin to enjoy completing tasks, it is a good time to introduce creative projects. Give them a task with no wrong answer, such as a composition project. Perhaps they have been learning about a particular piece or style of music. The next stage in learning is to give them the task of composing their own piece in the same style. Devoting time to creative projects like this is very important when teaching kids music. At its heart, music is not merely theoretical but practical. The best way for your students to learn music is to be immersed in it as much as possible. Learning a foreign language is most effective through visiting the country. So the language of music is best learnt through maximum immersion. Make your music classroom the place for learning this creative language.
Advice of the day for music teachers : Speak with Other Teachers: One of the best things that young teachers can do is to speak with other teachers in the summer prior to the start of school. Veteran teachers have been either in the district or the profession (or both) for awhile so they will have a lot of valuable insight as to what young teachers can expect. Also, young teachers would be smart to build a network of teachers that they can turn to for advice. These networks can consist of local teachers or those that are in the same higher education program.
You can listen to the The Music Educator podcast by using the app from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themusiceducatorpodcast.android.music. You can learn more about Bill Steven by checking his website at https://www.4themusiceducator.com/.