I have a passion for music that definitely shows when I teach. Other teachers and observers have noted that I appear very comfortable in front of classes and that I share my love of music with students through my teaching methods. This is really my goal; I don’t want students to simply learn information. I want them to learn about music intimately, and I want their experiences in music classes to be significant. I always do my best to communicate my enthusiasm about music so that my students can see how worthwhile it is to study and make music. My high school orchestra director showed his passion in a similar way, so I feel that my teaching style is inspired in large part by my own music education.

This is my second year teaching high school orchestra in the West Windsor-Plainsboro, NJ district. I teach alongside the orchestra director at each of the two district high schools, where my main teaching responsibilities include leading group lessons and teaching the freshman ensemble classes. I've been spending the last few months adjusting to the new hybrid school schedule and exploring different possibilities for graduate study. It has been challenging teaching during the pandemic, and especially challenging coming up with alternatives for my performance-based courses. Since we can't prepare concerts for the time being, we have had to make many adjustments to our lesson plans and to how we organize our classes. One big challenge is teaching while there are students in front of you and students joining via Zoom at the same time! It has been difficult for me and for my students, but I believe that we have been able to make the best of the current situation. I am looking forward to being able to resume some of our normal class activities!

During my time at Princeton, I mentored Trenton high school students through the Trenton Youth Orchestra (TYO). This endeavor served as one of my first teaching experiences and influenced my decision to pursue the Teacher Prep certificate. While at TPP I really enjoyed the afternoon seminars during student teaching! It was eye-opening to hear about my peers' varied student teaching experiences. Overall, I felt like I had lots of support from my classmates, advisers, and professors throughout the entire process.