Music Teacher asked:


Music lovers and enthusiasts have all the rights to learn their chosen musical instrument despite of their impairment, as long as such will not completely forbid them to play such. Various tips and instructional guides are available on the internet and some libraries that will give music teachers the resources to be effective in handling special learners.

Let us say in the case of Andrea Boccelli, a great tenor and musician who was diagnosed with glaucoma and lost his sight at an early age of fourteen; if not for his music teacher, we might not hear his tranquil and heart warming voice. More so, he reached success in music because he had such self-motivation and certain love for music. And these had made it all possible.

Generally speaking, special learners are regarded as those students, who either have cognitive, physical, mental or social abilities and disabilities. These groups of special individuals are faced with different learning challenges. However, through the professional assistance of music teachers and enthusiasts as well as effective and efficient music teachers’ resources, they are able to comprehend, adopt and adjust to such learning situations. Also, acquisition of skills and knowledge has been possible through these resources for music teachers.

Great examples of music teachers’ resources are those from the Internet such as tips and inputs from various music teacher sites, personal experiences of the music lovers and experts themselves, other extensive techniques and methods of music teachers, and some findings from different music researches. When music teachers are in need of such reliable and effective resources, they may adopt any of those mentioned sources and make each a part of their music teaching strategies.

Music teachers’ resources truly come in variation. You may actually choose from different available resources nowadays. However, you have to bear in mind that it takes a lot of analysis and discernment to find out which among those resources would be appropriate and effective for each special learner. Remember that as a music teacher, your role does not end in mere teaching music but most of all, in making them discover their talents and feel that they are treated as typical and average students.

Though it may be quite difficult to deal with special learners, music teachers will then feel and realize that teaching them can be very rewarding. Your time, efforts and hard works will soon pay off especially if you have seen your learners succeed and unleash their music talents and inclinations.

Furthermore, when these special learners tend to appreciate their music teachers, have made them their real mentors, and have considered them as their source of motivation and inspiration, these music educators can proudly say that being one has been a blessing, thus gives them such feelings of fulfillment and self-worth.

For more tips and music teachers’ resources, visit this music teaching website.



ROBIN

Chris Chew asked:


Do you encounter problems hitting high notes confidently when you are singing instead of straining your voice? Do you experience uncomfortable soreness in your throat the next morning after a singing session? Do you know that constant exposure to these common singing problems can very well damage your vocal cords and sometimes permanently, putting your singing career in jeopardy?

The causes of these problems could be that you have developed incorrect singing techniques and habits that could destroy your voice. You have to take responsibility for all that is happening instead of merely giving excuses such as the food you have eaten or the smoky environment where you sing are the causes although these factors do actually to a certain degree influence your singing voice.

What I am saying is that to take full responsibility for your own voice training and in order to do that, you must find a good singing teacher to facilitate that training.

Let me ask you a question. Can you read “Learn How To Swim For Dummies” a million times, but have never stepped into a swimming pool to practice the strokes and voila, you can suddenly swim?

Just like swimming or riding a bicycle, there are many muscles that support the singing voice and incorrect use of them will make your singing suffer. Therefore you must train your singing muscles correctly so that next time, when you sing, good singing muscle support will come habitually, just like muscle memory while riding a bicycle or when you are swimming.

So the first thing you ought to do is to find a good singing teacher. Some of you will be asking at this juncture that how would I know if you are not having a good singing teacher right now. Well, my short answer would be, if that is the case, why is it that you are having the problems uncorrected in the first place? These singing problems would already have been addressed right now by your own singing teacher, isn’t it?

Okay, I have good and bad news for you. First the bad news is that anyone can just call himself a singing teacher and start charging for singing lessons regardless of whether they know what they are doing or not. Since the American Idol series begun, “singing teachers” have sprung up everywhere.

Then again, how do you know if the singing teacher you are choosing is a competent one? This may come as a shocker to you because even if someone gets a singing teacher’s degree from a university, they still may not know what they are doing. I had lessons from a university trained singing teacher that almost destroyed my voice.

So, how do you ascertain that your singing teacher is competent? Well, there is only one way to find out. You have to try their singing lessons for yourself or get a reliable referral from someone who has tried the singing lessons and achieved great results.

The good news is that we live in a free country where you can shop around until you find a singing teacher who delivers the results you want. However it can get quite expensive because good singing teachers don’t come cheap and each time you go to a new singing teacher while in your quest of finding a good one, you will have to pay for your lessons, whether or not the lessons are effective.

Now, here is an obvious tip - Don’t ever pay for a second bad lesson! Keep on looking until you find a teacher who can hand you real positive results.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice if you could have “sample” lessons before putting your money on the table? What if singing teachers aren’t so secretive and self-preserving that they would let you “try out before you buy?”

Well, there are a few very competent teachers who are very confident in what they do that they guarantee their lessons from the first lesson. If you go in for a singing lesson and don’t see some positive results or simply just don’t like their teaching style, they will not charge you–not even for that first lesson. How does that sound?

These are the teachers you should be looking for because if they dare to give such guarantees, then they must be good singing teachers. You can find some of these teachers in the internet.

Now there is a little problem though. Some of these teachers may not be from where you are living. So you may not have access to them.

Well, there is a solution to this problem. Why not look for CD programs by these established singing teachers where you can have your teacher coaching you in the comfort of your own home. You will save a lot of time and money from transportation to paying hourly fees and yet you get first class coaching.

Now that you know how to find a good singing teacher, go and get their lessons and watch your singing career soar to new heights.



CLEMENT

Erik John asked:


 

Early Childhood Education (from birth until age 7 or requires very specialized education, since these are a child\’s formative years. Early childhood education focuses on providing children with the necessary tools for learning as they grow into adulthood. Making certain that young students are physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially mature is crucial for long-term success. Licensing requirements to become a preschool teacher also vary by State. Requirements for public preschool teachers are generally more stringent than those for private preschool teachers. Some States require a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, while others require an associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education, and still others require certification in Early Childhood Education by a nationally recognized authority. The Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, the most common type of certification, requires a mix of classroom training and experience working with children, along with an independent assessment of the teacher’s competence. A certificate such as the CDA may be all that is required for an entry level Early Childhood teaching position.

Requirements to Become an Elementary Teacher

The process for becoming an elementary school teacher begins with finishing high school. The aspiring teacher must then graduate with a degree in elementary education from an accredited university with a bachelor’s degree. While in the process of obtaining a bachelor’s the future teacher most likely will have to spend at least one semester performing a student teaching internship. It is strongly recommended that graduates then enroll in a professional development program which is one year long. This will give one extra experience combining education with teaching hands on. In addition to finishing the requirements to become a teacher dictated by the university, it is required by the State Board of Education that all elementary school teachers complete educational requirements and pass a test which is based on the skills that individual holds in teaching skills, reading, and writing. It is currently recommended that a teacher candidate earn a Master’s Degree in a related education discipline, also.

Requirements to Become a Secondary (High School) Teaching

Becoming a high school teacher begins with similar requirements to become a teacher as those for an elementary school teacher training program. Instead of enrolling in elementary education one would enroll in teaching secondary education, taking the subject to a higher level. The major difference in this is that the future teacher would have to choose a specialty. That is if he/she wanted to be a math or English teacher that would be the specialty. Most students choose to double major in education combined with the subject of specialty.



DARRYL

Edward R asked:


Teachers are often ineffective because they do not understand their students. When teachers and students operate at different frequencies, both get frustrated and unproductivity sets in. Good teachers know what students expect and work sincerely to fulfill students’ needs. They deliberately engage in activities that would build and strengthen their students’ potential. However, many times, communication between them are closed and teachers have no way of knowing what students ‘really’ expect from them. An open communication will help prevent this ill-practice at schools.

DWIGHT

Eric Hines asked:


I can’t imagine a worse scenario for an eager and enthusiastic art student than enrolling in a over crowded art class run by a mediocre art teacher

In short order the student is set up for loss after loss. The basics of drawing and painting either not taught in an easy to duplicate fashion, that the art student can grasp, or very often they are not taught at all!

Quite Frequently the student makes the decision that drawing and painting is just too hard and gives up. The student will incorrectly find the fault with themselves, often with the self generated concept that they do not posses enough natural artistic talent.

Whereas most of the blame usually falls on the shoulders of the student, the true cause falls at the feet of the art instructor and poor instruction.

This is exactly what happened to my wife.

My wife is from Toronto Canada. She originally came to America as a student to study fine art in a university. The instruction was terrible.

Both my wife’s drawing and painting classes were taught entirely on the irresponsible method of “if it feels good go with it.”

Unfortunately my wife could not “feel” her way into learning basics such as capturing light and shadow, how to draw in proportion, the use of color and tone, how to sketch in charcoal, differences in working with oil vs. watercolors.

Needless to say she the only thing that she could “feel” good about was changing her major.

With hundreds of colleges and thousands of private art instruction schools across the country how does one go about picking an art instructor that will teach one how to draw and paint properly?

I was lucky enough to be able to ask Larry Gluck what one should look for when choosing an art school and instructor so one achieves their goal in becoming a better artist.

Larry Gluck is the founder of the world’s largest fine art program.

After 33 years employing hundreds of art instructors and teaching over 3,000+ students every week how to draw and paint this is the advice Larry has in regards to choosing an art teacher…

“Here are a few pointers on what to look for in a fine art teacher. I hope they help in your search for a good drawing and painting instructor.

1. Do you like the teachers work?

It’s important to respect what your teacher does. Now matter how objective he is about his work, he’ll teach you what he knows - and what he knows will be reflected in what he does.

On the other side of the coin, do not judge the instructor only by their artwork. Teaching art is not the same as creating art, and some teachers are very good artists but horrible instructors.

Others don’t have enough intention to help students through the rough spots. Although a teacher much have knowledge and talent to merit teaching his subject, the determination to help you and see that you indeed learn should be his top priority.

2. Does your teacher start with the fundamentals?

A gradual approach is necessary to learning. You start with the most basic fundamentals and continue from there. All to frequently the teacher assumes that you already posses a thorough knowledge of the fundamentals, or worse, the instructor is not familiar with them enough in order to teach them.

Also, some teachers are involved in the arts for such a long period of time that the use of the arts fundamentals are automatic, so much so that they are no longer aware of them. This of course, would be a terrible failure on the part of the teacher - but it does happen.

3. Are you actually improving?

If your art teacher teaches you the fundamental skills, on by one, ensuring you master each one before going to the next, your skills should improve.

If not, something is wrong with the instruction, not with you. A good instructor should be able to break the needed skills down into steps simple enough for you to learn successfully.

4. Are you being treated as an individual?

We all have different strengths and weaknesses. The good art instructor will realize this and treat each art student as an individual. A poor teacher treats everyone the same or has a few favorite students.

5. Is the class overcrowded?

If there are more than ten students with only one instructor, you won’t benefit from what he has to give you.

Since everyone is different in regards to ability and what one is aware of, there has to be a way for you as a student to to receive one-on-one instruction with the instructor.

6. Are you training with people you like?

It helps to learn with people who encourage and support one another, admire each others efforts, and are genuinely pleased to see other’s progress.

It would also help to have friends with whom you can also discuss the art form.

Companionship within the arts causes growth in the artist.

7. Are you pitted against others?

Some teachers feel that competition is needed among students is necessary to spur them on. It isn’t.

Perhaps the teacher will be less bored but it does nothing for students, particularly in the arts.

You should only be competing against your present limitations.

8. Is it a safe environment in which you feel comfortable learning?

You must feel safe and secure in all learning environments.

This is especially true when learning an an art form where the stakes are so high and the intimidation factor can be so great.

If you feel intimidated anyway when you go to class, it’s probably the teachers fault, even if the intimidation comes from other students.

A competent art instructor is in control of the students and is responsible for how they interact with each other in the classroom.

Some instructors intimidate students with an overbearing manner.

Some instructors will set themselves up as a major authority on the subject of art or unattainable examples of artistic talent.

Some favor a few students over others.

If this is occurring, find a new art instructor.

9. Is there criticism without help?

An overly critical teacher can make you give up.

Criticism without instruction on how to improve is hinderance, not a help.

Rather than continually pointing out what is wrong with what you are doing, a good teacher should give you tasks to do.

A student progresses by winning, not loosing. Ask yourself if you feel better since you started the class - better about yourself, your ability, and what you are doing. If not, change teachers.

10. Are you getting individual help?

Maybe her is a piece of information you don’t quite comprehend, or a technique that you just can’t put into application.

Does the teacher take the time to help you? Is the art instructor prompt with the help but patient with handling your question or problem?

Can the instructor get to the root of what ou are having a problem with and help you figure it out?

If not you are wasting your time and money.

If you aren’t getting better and having fun while doing so, your instruction is falling down on one or more of these points.

Review these ten tips and locate exactly what the problem is. If this turns out that you cannot fix this by speaking with your instructor, you will have to find a new teacher.

All art forms appear difficult to a beginner. A good teacher will show you not only that excellence is attainable, but also how.

You may think you cannot do it or feel you do not have enough talent, a good instructor knows that you can and will make sure that you learn to.”



GROVER

take_whats_mine asked:


Many people, not just the government, condemned teachers for wasting a day of education. However, every seems fine with many schools in the UK being closed tomorrow to be used for voting. Surely there are plenty of church halls and community centres that would be available. Seems like a big old double standard to me. Does anyone know why schools are used?

ARMANDO

justmyopinion asked:


I’m doing some research and would like your input. I’m interested in the public’s perceptions of who or what teachers are or should be.

REUBEN