Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.

I demonstrated this standard in my first practicum by addressing sections of instruments and working their sections alone to improve their execution. During these exercises, I would go from instrument to instrument to listen to them and make sure that they were playing the part correctly. I would also check fingerings across the section to check for mistakes.

I have demonstrated this standard in my second practicum by creating a project geared towards the students’ interests and therefore setting them up for success. I checked in regularly with each student during this time to make sure that each group project was on track. When one student could not access filming equipment, I went to the library and signed out in their name an old camera. Because I cared about the success of all my students, I did not let this quiet student who did not ask for help fail this assignment. In addition, when it seemed as though this student would not be able to figure out the video editing software on his own, I spent my lunch hour watching a youtube how-to video with him to help him figure out how to use the software. This student, who had submitted very little work for this class with the previous teacher, did not fail to hand in any of my assignments because I followed up on them and often took them from him rather than relying on him to put them in the basket. I wanted to ensure his success, and he was known for forgetting to hand things in, so I made sure to follow up with this student regularly.

One example of how I have demonstrated this in my final practicing is my second grade 8 class. With half a dozen IEPs and a lot of anxiety in the room, I have done my best to not only encourage students, but also to slow the pace of the initial parts of music class. I focused a lot on basics, finding the beat, clapping rhythms, and listening to popular and favored songs (such as Disney) in order to gently bring these students out of their comfort zones. In addition, most of the IEPs had something with regards to organization on them, so my coaching teacher and I had the idea to have in-class portfolios that hold the students’ class belongings as well as hold all their assignments to date. This way, we can use the portfolio, the final concert project, and the interview as a way to not only more holistically assess the students but to triangulate our assessment more effectively while simultaneously taking the pressure off the students to stay organized. This class has come such a long way. Almost all of them are more comfortable now with the idea of music, performing in a concert, and coming to class.