Write a reply of at least 250 words for each post. Each reply must incorporate at least 1 scholarly citation in Turabian format. Please use examples and personal experiences (college-level choral music) that correlate to the post and topic.
Post 1
My primary instrument as an undergraduate was French Horn. In graduate school, my focus was on choral conducting. Most of my professional experience was not related to French Horn, though I would play occasionally in duties related to my roles and also in graduate school. 
In this week’s reading, I have identified habit 5, “A Effective Teacher Is Constantly Practicing.”1 This is the habit I need to improve to be a more effective music teacher. All of my experience as a music teacher has been teaching Introduction to Music, Music Appreciation, or conducting a chorus. I need to bone up on my performance skills with my primary instrument.
All through junior high school, high school, college, and graduate school, I used a school owned horn. After that, I would occasionally borrow a horn when I needed one. It was not until 2017 when I was gifted a horn by a close family friend I had helped get back into playing later in life by giving her some lessons. After she passed, her children decided to gift her horn to me. 
I began looking for the right opportunity to start playing again, and then in 2020 that was all postponed due to the COVID pandemic. This past year, I happened to meet someone at work who plays in the Austin Philharmonic Orchestra. It is all all volunteer, non-auditioned group. I sat in on a rehearsal and also attended their holiday performance. I knew that this was how I wanted to start playing again.
This spring I performed for the first time with the group. I plan to continue to play with them as I have already been exposed to orchestral music I had never performed before. It is a great opportunity for growth and development. I expect that I will participate with the group for as long as I am in the area and physically able to play.
Post 2
I am always evaluating and reflecting upon my teaching, from when I started working as a music teacher until the current day. It has been clear to me lately that I can grow the most in terms of how I am staying current with the approaches and methods of music education. It is important that I am not stagnant or trapped in the past with my teaching approach. During the first days of the pandemic, I was especially challenged to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing learning environment for my students. We all experienced a vast amount of changes during this time. I was forced to teach music online to children from age four to twelve. I was required to learn new computer programs and become more fluent in computer and technological skills. This experienced caused me to be aware of how I regularly need to modify and adapt my teaching approach, and not just during a time of lock downs because of a pandemic.
Currently, I am finding the need to adapt more rapidly to behavioral challenges in my school. Students are still feeling the effects of learning loss and stagnant development due to the pandemic.[1] The current students in my school exhibit behavior that is below the expectation for their age and knowledge that is below grade level in multiple subjects. The amount of students that have academic and behavioral challenges is at an unprecedented level in my school, and the majority of these issues have become worse as the year has progressed. I am constantly modifying lessons to better fit the student needs. I hope to be more successful in this area and find the balance between the “catching up” for certain students as well as raising the bar for the children who meet or exceed expectations. Additionally, this will help with managing the classes of over thirty students in grades K-5 in my school. I hope to be more successful!