PROFESSIONAL GOAL STATEMENT

Mrs. Jennifer Bennett

I started my career as an optimistic educator with a belief that every student has the
right to a music education. Some students are bound for the stage with a microphone in
hand while others shine in the classroom quietly creating an original composition.
Regardless of the inherent talent of some, all students should be able to have multiple
experiences in music no matter what. Sixteen years later, I still believe this to be true.
I packed up all of my instruments a few days after my college graduation and headed to
the Western foothills of Maine to find a school district that had been lacking an Instrumental
Music program for eight years. I was excited to have a chance to build an Instrumental
program in a school district. I was also equally terrified knowing that every concert would be
the ultimate communal assessment of my teaching abilities.
We started out with a bang the first school year with 125 students. I taught grades four
through twelve in three separate buildings. I was quite certain I would single handedly drain
the world's reserve of coffee that year. I quickly learned that, in public education, it's not
100% content that you teach like they would have you believe in the idealistic collegiate
music education classes. Instead, I would spend my time flexing between: life lessons,
individual social skills, team building, emotional interpreter, scheduler, and personal
cheerleader, all the while teaching them how to play an instrument, read music, and the
ensemble skills it takes to create a public performance of 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'.
Through the years our Music Program quickly blossomed. We hired 2 more music
teachers to fill the students need, and I found my niche within the High School setting.
Today I teach only grades 9-12 but in many different aspects: Instrumental Music, Vocal
Music, History of Rock & Roll, History of Jazz, History of Classical Music, Music Theory I,
and Music Theory II. All of the classes I teach I have had to invent, since there was no Music
program in place when I started this job, there was no curriculum to follow. I had many
lessons plans from college and I started with those. Researching music curriculum and
methods that were for sale, I found them all lacking in one or many ways. Drawing from the
best and adding to them was the road I chose. Unsatisfied with the ever-changing state
standards and lack of assessments at the state level, has driven me to forge ahead with what I
find to be the best standards for my students performance.
Over the last sixteen years I have learned that the one key ingredient to being a good
Educator is flexibility. In and out of the classroom, being able to accommodate the ever-
changing student processing speeds and professional demands of the day is crucial. I believe
teachers cannot tie themselves down trying to expedite their curriculum, rather, they must
find multiple pathways to deliver it. I believe that building a great curriculum is like building
a great highway system. We must have the country roads, the highway, & even some roads
less traveled throughout the curriculum to fit the differentiated needs of every student.
Contact Information: Bennettj@sad44.org