In the fall of 2015, as part of my Assessment class, I built an educator profile to reflect on how I planned to alter my teaching strategies to reach English language learners and special education students. After many conversations and hours of reflection, I came to the conclusion that music itself can be the key to engaging these special students in the learning process.

This was a valuable experience for me on my journey to becoming an experienced teacher. Reflecting on who I want to be as an educator is just as important as reflecting on current teaching practices. I want to be the best teacher that I can be for each and every one of my students, so I take the reflection process of teaching very seriously. 

Prior to this assignment, I had not considered music as the answer to engaging all students; until this assignment, I believed that I had to purposefully alter my teaching habits to reach each of my students individually. Now, after spending many hours reflecting on my role as educator, I realize that simply providing students with an opportunity to express themselves in ways that go beyond verbal communication is the best way to get all my students engaged in the learning process.