Elizabeth Veacock – Music Education Internship

This semester I have had the privilege of interning at Blue Ball Elementary with their music teacher, Lisa Zimmerman. Throughout this experience, I have faced many challenges and a lot of rewarding moments. Watching kids get excited about music is something that has always brought me joy. Being able to experience it first hand and watch how it changes people have been the most rewarding thing for me. Mrs. Zimmerman has been so kind and generous in giving me opportunities to teach or lead an activity, so the kids can get up and moving or try expressing themselves through singing. I have gained a lot of knowledge as to what it takes to be a teacher. There are hours of prep work no matter how much you prepare, there are always extraneous factors that throw a wrench in your plans. I have had so many positive experiences through my internship so far and I am grateful for the opportunity.

In my internship, I have a lot of daily and weekly tasks. I have the privilege of being in music class for part of 3^rd grade and all of 2^nd, and 1^st. Most of my daily tasks include helping set up for each activity. Mrs. Zimmerman has me run the music while she helps teach a movement activity or a song. I really enjoy being able to grade or correct the papers all the grades work on. It reminds me of what music class was like for me while I was at Blue Ball. I also get to take a lot of photos of each of my classes to put on our music bulletin board. I take the pictures and then put the captions on them so everyone passing by can see what we do in music class. Each cycle week, which for Blue Ball is a five-day schedule, I have the opportunity of choosing a lesson for two grades. For both second and first grade, Mrs. Zimmerman has allowed me to select either a game or a song to teach to the kids. Most recently, I was able to introduce new instruments to second grade and teach the first grade a brand-new song to help remember each other’s names. I appreciate the opportunity to lead an activity because it allows me to get an idea of what it will be like to run my own classroom.

Going into my internship, I knew I wanted to go into the music field but, I was not sure which part of the music industry I would want to be in. I have been leaning more towards music composition for the last year yet, after spending some time in this routine I’m finding myself enjoying the education side of music. Although music education is a lot of fun, I do think I still like the idea of going into music composition. I do not know what I will decide in the end because this experience is bringing me so much joy even when I enjoy writing music. Regardless of my field choice in the future, this experience is really helping me think of every part of the music industry and get an idea of what things could be like if I chose music ed.

I have been really blessed to have this opportunity with Mrs. Zimmerman. Through all of it, she has been so helpful and so kind to let me have all the experiences I have each week. From helping with disciplinary issues, to leading activities and helping grade papers. I really take everything I do into consideration for my future. I hope that this continues to be an amazing experience and I cannot wait to see what else comes my way through this.