Teacher Profile

Profile

I'm a certified teacher committed to providing a solid education and instilling music appreciation in students of all ages. I love providing well-rounded learning experiences to students by varying activities and creatively covering the important techniques of the instruments that I teach. I have the ability to tailor lessons to meet my students' diverse needs and meet them at their level, all the while ensuring constant positive progress.

I have developed exceptional communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills to cultivate strong relationships with parents and pupils.

Teaching Strategies

I employ the following strategies in teaching:

  1. Technology integration. For instance, I use notation software to create flashcards and share them with students for their use. Students send me recordings of their progress in between their sessions.
  2. Multi-sensory lessons. We do a variety of activities that engage all the student's senses to help them learn more and appreciate music.
  3. Performance enhancement. I inspire thoughtfulness and creativity in performances to bring out the best from every pupil
  4. Lesson planning. I create individualized lesson plans for each lesson that considers each student's strengths.
  5. Positive comments. I avoid negative comments that may make my pupil's efforts look inadequate.
  6. Student motivation. I always motivate my students by sincerely rewarding their efforts with positive comments and honest grades.
  7. Inquiry-based learning. I use open and closed questions to keep the students alert throughout the lesson and to be sure that we are moving together.
  8. Performance-based technique reinforcement. I use performance pieces to reinforce the skills and techniques learned during the lessons.
  9. Patience. Without this, I wouldn't be writing anything here.

These and more teaching skills have made my lessons productive and my students enjoy their lessons.

Education

I have a Diploma in Music from Kenyatta University. My main instruments during the course were piano and classical guitar.

I have grade 8 in ABRSM Music Theory. The course involves harmony, composition, arrangement, and analysis.

I have a certificate in Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE).

I have also done various short courses:

  1. Choral conducting at Kenya Conservatoire of Music - 2016
  2. Fundamentals of conducting Music Ensembles at Coursera - 2018
  3. Becoming a Better Music Teacher at Futurelearn - 2021

 

 

Josiah Birai

Music teacher

Kenya Conservatoire of Music

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