Communication is one of the foundations on which teaching is built. Not matter how much knowledge and musical insight I may possess, it is useless to anyone besides myself if I cannot communicate. Therefore, a knowledge of all forms of communication is important. I need to be able to communicate verbally - my actual speech to the students must be coherent and understandable, as well as be presented in a format that is easily understood by my students. Also, nonverbal communication is vital. Examples of nonverbal communication are nodding, hand gestures, body posture, and facial expressions, all of which have the potential to communicate more than intended. That is why I must be aware of my nonverbal communication. Finally, I must understand an be able to effectively use media - technology - in my classroom. There are two reasons for this: first, all students learn differently and some learn best through different media; secondly, there are some things that are just better to teach through technology. A very basic example would be a CD player; songs could be played for my students on a CD player. Incorporating technology into my teaching will also help the students to become more comfortable with using technology themselves.

All of these aspects of communication must be strong in order to have an ideal learning environment. If I use effective speaking and nonverbal signs that make the students feel comfortable, then they will be more likely to ask questions. Also, if, while teaching, I conduct myself with a good posture and nonverbally (as well as verbally) show that I am interested in the material, then the students will be more likely to be interested in the material too. Utilization of different kinds of media can facilitate interactive learning as well as group learning. However, these can also be done without media, but by me effectively organizing the students into groups for them to learn. The synthesis of all these ideas, as well as many more mentioned throughout this portfolio, will help my students understand and learn music to the best of their abilities.

Microteaching #1: Tideo (October 21, 2004)

• This was my very first microteaching experience. I taught the song Tideo to our class, using the whole-part-whole method.
• Through this experience, I learned a lot. For example, giving a speech is easy, but teaching is not. Interacting with other people while trying to accomplish the goals I set on my lesson plan is very difficult. Also, staying on schedule is hard. I describe in much greater detail my experience in my microteaching reflection.
• My competence of this INTASC principle is demonstrated through this microteaching. In fact, it shows that, at the beginning, I came in without much competency. In this artifact I show some natural and learned ability to speak in front of people and especially to ask effective questions, but otherwise I show that I have a lot of work to do in the future.
• View RealVideo excerpts from my microteaching video. [Note: This video is large (about 20 MB), will take awhile to download, and requires RealPlayer. Click here to download RealPlayer.]

Conducting Experience from MusPe 390 (April 26, 2007)

• I had the opportunity to conduct two movements of Holst's First Suite in Eb. This artifact is of the third movement (March).
• This artifact is an example of at least two different sorts of communication. First, I used explicit verbal communication to describe to the band how certain parts of the piece should be played; I also gave verbal instructions when we had to stop. However, I also used very overt nonverbal cues (such as conducting, eye contact, and facial expressions) to communicate while the band was actually playing. It is obvious that I still have room for improvement, but this was the last of five conducting experiences throughout the semester, and it is arguably my best.
• For a further explanation of this experience, view my reflection. The video is large (about 29.5mb) and requires Windows Media Player or a compatible media player to view.

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