Hi there! I am Michelle Johnston. My two concentration areas are music and child development. I chose these areas kindof by default. I started out as a music education major for two years. I loved it, but when I was 20 I got married and then pregnant with my first child. Since music was very time consuming, I wanted to find something that would not require as much time at the school. So, since I was having my first child, I figured family studies would be a good area to learn about. To make a long story short, after having my 3rd child, I realized that it would be best if I combined the two areas of music and child development and do the BIS program. So, I have been working on that slowly but surely ever since. These two areas are very reflective of my identity. Child development is a HUGE part of my life right now, having 3 kids, and I have very much enjoyed all of my classes. Music is also a big part of my life. I teach piano to 6 students, and currently love to play the piano, organ, flute, guitar, and lets not forget the recorder:)
I am doing my applied learning at McCarter Elementary School in the music room. I am very excited about this, and I hope to learn more about how children learn in each development stage, and also how to use music to inspire, and uplift children. Academically, I believe it will be a huge learning experience for me to observe all of the things I have learned about in class. Also, I will be able to increase my music ability by using my skills, such as piano and singing each day in class.
So far I have been able to do things all over the spectrum of teaching. While the teacher does the teaching out of the books, I walk around and help students one on one to follow the teacher, or help them if they have questions. I have accompanied songs, helped run the cd player, pass out things, and help with discipline problems. I have also helped with classroom things, such as copying, cutting, laminating and organizing.
This last week I was able to make up a game and present to the kids. I did a music jeapordy game, and it went over really well. The teacher seemed to be impressed and the kids learned and enjoyed it. I taught 4th and 5th graders. It was fun to use a lot of the music skills I have acquired throughout my whole musical college experience.
For now, my future goals are to finish this degree, and then I hope to get a post bacc. degree in education, possibly music education. I LOVE working with the kids, and learning from my mentor, and I think this is a great educational experience for me.
More to come next week after I have some time at the school
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"The true key to happiness in life is to labor for the happiness of others." Heber J. Grant
The Internship
This semester I am interning at McCarter Elementary School in the music classroom. I am excited to use the knowledge I have learned from my two disciplines of child development and music to further my education in interdisciplinary studies. Should be fun!
My family
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About Me
- Michelle Johnston
- I am married to a wonderful man, and we have 3 beautiful children. I am able to do my internship at my two older childrens school, so I am excited about that! My family and I are living in Kansas while my husband attends law school. This is our last year here, and although we love it, we are excited to get back to AZ. I love life, and I love learning. I'm looking forward to this learning experience.
4 comments:
Michelle-
You get the cutest blog award! Your blog background is really nice!It sounds like you are already gaining some great teaching experience in the music classroom. Its nice when teachers let students help out so much right from the start. I am sure that you have your hands full with three kids, school and internship!
Hi, Michelle! My name is Katy Hanchett. I too am studying child development. I was originally in graphic design and then came across child development and was interested since I too will be starting my family soon after I graduate.
That's very admireable that you are continuing with your education even though you have three kids. Many find the challenge too hard and quite so that says a lot about you and your desire.
Your internship at the school sounds like a lot of interaction and fun. That's awesome that you have the opportunity to share your love of music and children with others. I look forward to the rest of your posts.
Hi Michelle! I also agree, your blog is super cute! Your family looks beautiful too! That sounds like a very exciting internship. I too have been doing a lot of copying and organizing as I start out, but I think it will be better with time once we get to know the kids better and become more comfortable with the environment. That's great that you were able to design a jeopardy game for the class already. Was that something you were asked to do? I feel as though I'm still just getting used to my kids that I would not be quite comfortable presenting that to them just yet, so I applaud your accomplishments :)
I am very interested in how music relates to child development. I have heard of playing music for your baby and how it stimulates growth and interest, and I find this very interesting. Will you be writing about your findings in future blogs? For your 302 research, did you focus on this? I would be interested to hear what you found :) Can't wait to read more about your experience :) Good luck and have fun!
I also just realized I did not sign my name, so the previous response was by Mary Whittall :) Oops!
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