Bryan Van Pelt's bportfolio

EDU 6600 Initial Reflection             A crucial element to the success of a school is whether or not teachers are pushing themselves forward with new learning and understanding of best practice.  If teachers remain static, the student’s needs will never be met as the world is constantly changing.  This evolving world asks teachers to continuously reflect on what they do and if it is effective in the classroom.  It takes the leadership of certain individuals to help instill change and progress teachers forward.  In the chapter, “Exploring New Approaches to Teacher Leadership for School Improvement”, Smylie, Conley, and Marks detail three models of distributive leadership.  These models are summarized as follows: Leadership is the performance of key tasks, regardless of who is in leadership roles Leadership is a school-wide organization of power and resources Leadership is a sort of...

Course Goals / Program Standards :             Teacher Leadership Standard #6: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of inclusive practice as it relates to engaging with parents and community members. Prior Thoughts: As a Teacher Leadership student not intending on enrolling in the principle certification route, I was skeptical on the usefulness of this course.   Why would I need to learn about the details of engaging with the surrounding community when I teach music?   Aren’t those broader issues for administrators?   My teacher training thus far has only focused on the classroom practice and not on the broader community of the school.   This course shed light on the importance of not only engaging with the community but taking steps to understand and acknowledge the space in which you work. Reflection:             Four main ide...

Course goals/Program Standards:  Standard #9:  evaluate and use effective curriculum design Prior Thoughts:         Prior to this course I had two main thoughts.  First, I knew I had a lack of comprehensive unit planning, specifically in the middle school area.  My training and coursework thus far in my career did not prepare me for middle school general music, something that is uncommon. I have been designing the curriculums in a “trial by fire” method and relying on student feedback to implement necessary changes.  Second, I reflected on my assessment methods and realized I rely too heavily on a couple of assessments.  My methods are not diverse enough to ensure all students have an opportunity to display their learning in a manner that suits them.  Reflection: Through completion of EDU6524 I have gained new perspective on curriculum design.  The three big takeaways I will implement within my teaching are as follows...

Course goals:  1) to develop a sense of assessment vocabulary and conversation, and 2) to define and implement a strong understanding of sound classroom assessment practice and experiences within an authentic classroom context. Teacher Leadership Standard: Standard 11: Utilize formative and summative assessment in a standards-based environment Response : Prior to EDU 6613 I knew my assessment practices needed some adjustments.  The school in which I work, already uses standards-based grading, and we have received quality instruction prior to implementation, on how best practice principles regarding this assessment style however I still did not feel confident in the ways I assessed students.  Even though the two areas of weakness come before and after the assessment, these two areas of improvement are apart of the larger assessment field.  These two areas are: 1) Communicating learning expectations to students. 2) Giving effective feedback in d...

The work and focus of this course was under Domain IV:           1. Examine research in improving teaching including the selection, implementation, and evaluation of instructional strategies, and,            2. To facilitate the collection, analysis, and use of classroom-and school-based data to improve instruction. Below are my thoughts, reflections, and main takeaways for how I will move forward on the path to become a better music educator. 1 . Selection, implementation, and evaluation of instructional strategies:           Throughout this course I was exposed to many unique instructional methods, all serving a different purpose or student learning style.  Prior to this course I was closed minded on what does and does not apply to elementary music classes.  However after completing the readings, lectures, and assignments I can firmly say my view on instructional methods has chan...

After taking the quiz and reading chapter 1 of the text I am already starting to see areas of my leadership that need improving.   My score on the quiz was a 25 out of 50, which puts me right in the middle.   One of quality of the Diminisher that showed up was the “know-it-all”.   According to this quiz my vision and directions might be too narrow, not leaving enough room for others to think for themselves and explore other options.   This is something that I would agree with when reflecting on my practice.   As mentioned in the quiz results, it is difficult to not follow “popular leadership” advice and simply prescribe instructions for people, something that I find myself doing.   As described by the Investor, giving ownership to individuals so they can grow is a much more mature form of leadership, one that allows others to grow, rather than simply being cogs in a machine.   Another area of weakness was the Liberator.   Acco...

For our final assignment I created a poster regarding the basics of copyright and piracy.  As ISTE4 relates to moral and ethical actions on the internet, I immediately think of copyright and sharing music between peers.  As the internet is such a prominent part of student's lives, most do not fully grasp the rules and regulations regarding the content that they find online.  This poster's goal is to provide a basic overview of the main ideas regarding copyright, piracy and the sharing of media.  This poster is aimed at students in middle school and parents of those children.  Parents could gain useful information from both embedded videos, particularly the one that shares websites that stream music legally.  https://edu.glogster.com/glog/copyright-and-downloads/2hfdhq8cdhp