Erin M. Grady's ePortfolio

Professional Development & Reflection

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community), and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.

Reflection is, by definition, the process by which a teacher examines her thoughts and performance, and evaluates them to determine what is valuable and what can be changed. This is an extremely important way for a teacher to get to know herself and her tendencies, as well as what practices work most effectively for a given group of students.

Reflection is not simply the passive process of determining what went wrong in a given lesson, but rather the active process of evaluating all that occurs in the course of one's career. In this process, teachers actively seek out that which works well within their philosophical viewpoint, what could work better, and solutions to merge the two. Reflective teachers are able to predict trouble areas before they occur, are able to determine what best to do in any context, and accurately translate their findings into effective classroom procedures.

Reflection also allows an educator to better know herself. It can solidify her teaching philosophy and make her practical applications of it more consistent. It can help her determine what areas of skill as a teacher she has developed enough to play up, and which ones she could stand to improve to make herself more effective. It lets her know which instructional strategies and modes of communication she uses often, and which ones she can neglect.

In short, reflection can benefit each of the other standards, as it offers the best solutions for improvement in a given area.

The process of reflection is greatly aided by engaging in activities for professional development. I am presently a member of MENC, ACDA, and OMEA. In the future, I would like to become a member of TI:ME. In February of 2007, I attended my first music education convention: the OMEA Conference. There, I attended workshops dealing with sight-singing, using a cappella music in choral rehearsals, music technology, early childhood music education, and producing school musicals. I also attended some splendid concerts. I found this experience to be incredibly inspiring, and it motivated me to strive to attain my full potential as a music educator. Since that conference, I have also attended the 2008 OMEA Conference in Cincinnati, the 2009 OMEA Conference in Columbus, and the 2008 MENC National Conference in Milwaukee. At the 2009 OMEA Conference, I also had the opportunity to present my own original research at a peer-reviewed Research Poster Session. The opportunity to share my own ideas and findings with others was just as inspiring, and I hope to be able to present more of my research at different venues in the future.

Professional Development & Reflection Artifacts

Handout on the ASCD (PDF File)
In addition to my own professional memberships, there is a host of educational organizations music educators should be familiar with in order to create curricula in line with standards present in today's society. One of these organizations is the American Society for Curriculum Development, which I researched as a part of my Learning Theories and Curriculum Development graduate class taken in the spring of 2007. This handout shows my understanding of the ASCD and its implications for music educators.

Journal from Introduction to Music Education (PDF File)
This is a journal I kept during my Introduction to Music Education class, taken in the fall of 2002. It shows that I am just beginning the process of learning to reflect by taking concepts and ideas which are new to me, trying to relate them to my past experiences, and attempting to come to new conclusions or to ask new questions.

Poster Presentation of Original Research (PDF File)
Part of professional development is the completion of original research within your field. In the fall of 2007, I designed and implemented an original research study examining the effect of pattern-recognition training on sight-singing in high school choral students. This attachment shows the results of my study as presented in a research poster, which I presented at the 2009 OMEA Conference. The poster was selected after a review process.

Reflection and Adjustment in Lesson Planning (PDF File)
The following lesson plans are excerpts from a unit of study for an AP Music Theory class. In the first highlighted section, I identify an area where students are struggling and come up with a strategy to help them in their learning. In the second highlighted section, I implement the strategy into the following lesson. In the third highlighted section, I reflect on how my adjustments worked.

Reflection on Field Experiences (PDF File)
This document is a reflection of my overall experiences observing and teaching a sixth grade percussion class in the Fall of 2006 for my Instrumental Music Methods class. In it, I explore both the positive things which I learned and the drawbacks to my experience, and think about lessons I can glean from both.

Reflections on my Teaching (PDF File)
As a part of my Spring 2007 Choral Methods class taken at Case Western, I kept an electronic blog in which I reflected on readings, teaching experiences, and observations. This link leads to all those entries in which I reflect upon my own teaching, both in front of my peers and in front of school-aged students.