Teaching

Our students deserve to have an education that is student-centered. For our students to learn, they must be engaged in their own educational process. Having students at the core of their own learning process necessitates their collaboration by allowing them to have a say about what they are learning, how they are learning, and exhibit that learning. I plan to create a collaborative learning environment where students can enhance their learning experience through helping and working with each other. This approach will not only engage students to process and synthesize information and concepts to gain a more complete understanding, it will also create a culturally inclusive classroom community that fosters a sense of belonging and respect.

 

Fifteen years of teaching experience have taught me to apply three principal concepts for students to be better violin players: playing physically at ease, visualizing sound, and playing musically. 

• Holding the violin wrongly can be painful which limits the player’s full abilities. The wrong posture may cause neck, shoulder, and wrist pain that can go worse with time. Students may have a hard time creating music they desire because they have not found their most comfortable balanced posture. Having a good posture is like the surface of a whiteboard where an artist freely converts her ideas into creative arts. 

• Visualizing sound is the next step. Drawing tools like crayons, pencils, and brushes represent the different types of techniques players should be able to use properly. When a player starts distinguishing sound to the point of visualizing it, this means that the player has reached an advanced level of musicality. Hence, having subtleties of sound helps students play as soloists and in ensembles.

• Playing musically conveys emotions and feelings. When players successfully express their emotions through music, the audience appreciates the music. Playing violin should elicit a particular emotional response to the listener. 

My role as a violin teacher is to work with my students to have these concepts met. The purpose of my teaching is to see my students capable of making beautiful music with a greater sense of direction and story. 

Every classroom represents its own unique community. Therefore, as an educator, my role will be to assist and guide each student in developing their own potential and learning styles. I believe that teaching styles must be flexible to support all students. Everybody learns in different ways, and as a teacher, my job is to make those different ways possible.