WelcomeI'm glad you decided to stop by!My name is Davina Miaw and I am a senior music education major on flute with a minor in honors interdisciplinary studies at James Madison University. I'm originally from Centreville, Virginia, but I currently call Harrisonburg, Virginia my home. You're most likely to find me in bed reading a good book, baking sweets in the kitchen, or spending time with friends and family.
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My Thoughts on Teaching
My desire to become a teacher stemmed from dreams of making lasting impacts on the community around me. At six years old, I wrote that I wanted to “help kids learn new things.” Over time this simple wish of mine has developed into not only wanting to help students learn, but to also engage as enlightened citizens with the world around them through interdisciplinary means. Being a teacher can be difficult, but I believe the challenges are worth it when a student finally understands a concept they were struggling with. That "light bulb moment" when a learner is excited, curious, and takes pride in their self is one of my favorite parts of teaching. During my college career, I’ve realized my love for teaching students who come from lower socioeconomic status homes and diverse cultural backgrounds. My goal after college is to teach overseas to provide music making experiences for students who would not otherwise have the opportunity due to lack of resources.
I hope my future classroom is one that provides an open, welcoming environment for all my students. As the teacher, I will help facilitate learning in the classroom, but ultimately, I want my students to initiate questions and engage in experimentation in and through music. I will set guidelines and parameters, but my students should feel open to express themselves, participate in active learning, and engage in insightful discussion and reflection. I want my students to be active participants in the community; this means that we will learn about local issues in our area and ways we can partner with community organizations to help, whether that means performing music or lifting boxes. The content of my class will include playing fun and informative repertoire in addition to activities that connect what they are learning in other class subjects to music; I want my students to reflect on the activities they do and create experiences to further their knowledge. While I am not omniscient on ethics and societal values, I hope to teach them about what our society values and then help spur on questions about these values and help them develop their own opinions about them. They should know what they believe and be challenged to explain why; this can be done by doing the same thing with defining qualities of what makes music good and then transferred to community values. In the end, my classroom will be about students learning the joys of music and life; while they may not come out being the next Mozart, I hope that I will have equipped them with tools and support to be active leaders full of integrity in their community.
I hope my future classroom is one that provides an open, welcoming environment for all my students. As the teacher, I will help facilitate learning in the classroom, but ultimately, I want my students to initiate questions and engage in experimentation in and through music. I will set guidelines and parameters, but my students should feel open to express themselves, participate in active learning, and engage in insightful discussion and reflection. I want my students to be active participants in the community; this means that we will learn about local issues in our area and ways we can partner with community organizations to help, whether that means performing music or lifting boxes. The content of my class will include playing fun and informative repertoire in addition to activities that connect what they are learning in other class subjects to music; I want my students to reflect on the activities they do and create experiences to further their knowledge. While I am not omniscient on ethics and societal values, I hope to teach them about what our society values and then help spur on questions about these values and help them develop their own opinions about them. They should know what they believe and be challenged to explain why; this can be done by doing the same thing with defining qualities of what makes music good and then transferred to community values. In the end, my classroom will be about students learning the joys of music and life; while they may not come out being the next Mozart, I hope that I will have equipped them with tools and support to be active leaders full of integrity in their community.
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