Module 5 Thanks for the Support

I wanted to thank you all for your ideas in advocacy efforts. I had many new ideas that helped get my advocacy plans and much support and gave me ideas  for my plans that music in preschool was a good plan. The many of the ideas to keep music incorporated into the classroom has helped and the encouragement I had from making instruments that I used and staying focused on the task. I enjoyed really getting the time to know you all through your advocacy plans and how you all helped me.
                                                                                                       Darlene

Blog 4 Support

   This is our last step before we all take the challenge of making our presentations heard. The one thing we all want is for our voice to be heard for the children we all are teaching, and will be teaching in the future.   In my research I found more about how music works for other countries and how other countries are way ahead of us because of it. I think finding research and how things work for advocacy plan we are planning are the most important point on why our advocacy plan for early childhood should be considered. I think I finally am beginning to learn how to persuade by research efforts.

   I had many challenges especially catching up this week and last week so that I would be ready to get my presentation done on time. I spent my Holiday weekend researching for the PowerPoint I put together week by week. Since I never know wjhat full time schedule i am on it has been tough. I started with a PowerPoint to begin with to show my mentor what I was going to do. She really liked my ideas of PowerPoint so we continued working with the research that I did.  I think that there are other ways to present but this is what I started with so we decided to go with it.

   I will also show them the instruments that the school I went to for a musical presentation, for the kids made instruments from the materials I gave them.. I think that having a lot of support from other teacher’s on information was very helpful was very important in getting the presentation done.   I will then be copying it for all to take home so they may look through information and maybe add more to it.

   I am only about a quarter of the way done editing my PowerPoint again. So I am copying it for you if you would like to see some of what I did.

    I have it all together and if anyone sees any more information that they could help with, I will go to see the mentor again this week.  So any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

     Yes I am nervous when getting up in front of people, but even the biggest artist in music and TV get nervous before performances. I have learned that once I get up there I start feeling comfortable with the people.

                                                                                                               Darlene Tschopp

Hi,  Robert asked me to post this  so everyone could see, it is not me with my students, but it is me singing at a night club  and I had someone take two minute video to get a job I never really got.  But voice has gotten stronger, and I am really getting more comfortable with myself at this club I sing at. It is on friday's and People really seem to be enjoying it.  http://www.youtube.com/user/deztiny11/videos
so if you click the link you will have acess to it.
                                                                                       Darlene 

My Advocacy Journey Module 3

I am so inspired for this advocacy effort, I have such spirit; that I know that my voice may be the one to sing children’s song. They will hear my voice and that it will finally go through the barriers of the silenced subjects. My only hope is that my advocacy efforts with stand all scrutiny of anyone who wants to take away from our children again. I am so intoxicated with emotion. I simply have misread some of the efforts and had to reorganize my mindset. This journey that I am taking has been a tough one thus far. I am advocating something that is inbred in my heart. And when you see the next thing I am writing you may see part of my interest in the musical aspect. I am writing a song about the struggles of advocating for children in schools. My advocacy efforts are to keep Music alive in the schools. Not just the Music, but a subject that will no longer be silenced if proper steps are taken. This is a beginning and at the end of my advocacy plan I will hope to have a plan and maybe have help in organizing a better plan and song.

This is a tough fight to begin,



This is a big step and road to be on,



In order to be on this journey,



For this advocacy not be gone,



I’m going to need a lot of guidance,



Cause my target is to be the one,



To be the one to help them make it,



To be the one that cares,



But I want them to know that I do,



So this is my journey that I bare.

                                                            

Darlene Tschopp

As most of you will know I will have a poem in the” Stars of Your Heart”  from the  Poetry Movement It will be on sale after July at  “ Barnes and Noble” and” Amazon.com”. I usually write songs lyrics but they are always inspiring me for different things in my life.

This is a start to my new advocacy plan that I set out a few weeks ago to reorganize in my mind.  My new focus for the children is to be able to have the opportunity to learn about music and have more skills to help them learn other subjects. Because I love music and love to teach children

o What inspires and excites you most about your advocacy plan and being an advocate?

My inspiration and passion about music and passion for teaching to have brought me to this advocacy plan. I picked and am trying to keep Music education alive. I want the children that will live longer than me to lead this world with much knowledge and have the experiences to get them ahead in their lives. My advocacy inspiration will also lead my goals in early childhood and teaching young children music.

o What challenges and/or anxieties do you feel related to engaging in the advocacy efforts you have targeted?

       

   I am not very good at reading minds, but I am good at discussing the situations that will be.

But I am real good at persuading others in life situation, as to help them solve minor problems that are in their lives. The efforts that I have are very passionate and making sure I have a clear understanding of how I can get this one done and present it well to my mentor.  I have learned that in life there are no easy rides, I just will have to keep going. Not many really do that, they give up. I want to show children this need, to keep going for your goals and passion like I do.



I am finding it hard to really gain any real insights from certain teachers that they have no real understanding like the mentor and I do. They do not seem to see the path of music, and they think that music is just a fun thing for the children to do. They have not yet and or had any background in finding the learning aspects of music education. The most attention I get is from the families and mothers who say that they want to see it more implemented in earlier years.

o What do you believe will be most effective in helping you overcome any challenging emotions you may be feeling with regard to presenting and implementing your Advocacy Action Plan?

The challenge I face is that I must stay on task of my focus. I feel that I have it down, and then I have to change it because I see there is something wrong. I am having serious problems keeping my focus plan. I seem to have to change it because it doesn’t look right. My advocacy plan I am writing to many of the journal article writers in hopes and hoping someone can help me stay on task with this. So far haven’t had any write back.

o How can you encourage others in their advocacy efforts, and how can others encourage you?

I can encourage others to stick with their passion to advocate for children, and stick to their own energy efforts, without being discouraged by any misconceptions that others have. I would be great in helping them learn to open up their minds to learn more about their subject they are advocating. But I would like others to inspire me on staying on my focus and task, and keep me with a more open mind so that I can bring out the best of what I already know.



Darlene Tschopp

Once a Month Musical Treat

As part of my short term goal to keep music alive in the preschools, I am once a month taking a trip to a school, that I asked if they wanted someone to come once a month to play and help children gain musical experience in their education. This center I worked at before, and did some of my field studies at.

 As always come in with grocery bags for soiled cloths and diapers.  I greeted them all and the teachers prepared them for the program. I said to them” I was going to go out to my car and bring it in, so when I come in they all had to be quiet, so I can show them and explain to them what it was.” They were all quiet till they saw the guitar case. I had to tell Britney to wait to speak till I get it out. She knew already what it was. I asked her after getting the guitar out what it was she said” a guitar”. And Olivia said “what “I asked Olivia “what does a guitar do” she said” It sings”. I asked if anyone knew what a guitar did. Britney says “My sister plays with it” The children saw the other bag and cricket says to me" what is in your bag"? I pulled one out and told her” this one is called a maraca”. I gave her that one and began giving each one an instrument they were all maracas, drums, and tambourines. I showed them how each worked.

All the infants came in as they were all bouncing to the music as with all the kids. They had all sat and listened and then danced with all the movement songs. What a special time for all the children. They enjoyed it and kept asking if we can bring it out later again. I said I will bring it back with me in a couple of weeks.

I walked into the practice for their Spring Concert

It was my first day, and the Children from 4th Grade to  7th grade were in Chior practice. The voiices were all great, and the teacher that was with them was Miss Hoff. I felt as if the room sounded angelic. and there were some individual voices heard from different parts they had. One girl stood out the whole time. her voice carried and had a nice tone, and you could tell that she had some training in the past. The others were great too they also sounded well rehearsed. 
later I saw a post from a friend telling how beautiful the chior sounded in the Spring Concert.
I thought it was so nice to hear. The Children really did a great job if there was a post like that.

My New Fine Arts Education Blog

My new blogs for EdU412 will have an emphasis on Fine Arts programs and the need to keep them in the private schools and bring more Fine arts programs to Early Childhood Education.

Hello all Friends and Colleagues,

    My Name Is Darlene Tschopp, and I have been in all aspects of Early Childhood Education and I tend to be thrown into Preschool music.  As I was working a Center in 1998, I was a 3 year old teacher at A Childs World Education Centers in Newtown PA. I began my journey as they noticed me through my voice, and was interested; they said the children love your voice. I then began bringing my guitar there, for I had no way of bringing a piano and I was still learning songs on the guitar at the time. I had training in guitar but was newer to the guitar than the piano. I had learned in my late teens to play both instrument and decided to take on Jazz guitar at the local Community College in Philadelphia PA.   I was bringing the guitar once a week for the children. The children loved it. I became a Music teacher for Preschoolers there, and at their two other centers.

   I never heard of preschool music before, so I had to come up with a way to teach rhythm and notes. I wrote a song and a book called” My Musical friends”. I did everything experimental, as I was not familiar with how Children could learn. I began by making puppets that resembled the clefs and the notes only using a face to help the children identify with the staff.  I noticed the change in the children immediately following that year. They began doing activities with their teachers and really getting involved in science and all kinds of learning activities that the teacher gave them. 

   I realized that this was their first experience in Early Learning of music and notes and that they were able to calm down with the interactions of their teachers and friends. They were really able to learn some interesting things, while bringing their own ideas to the classrooms as well. The Children could not wait for their music day. I would be in the halls carrying my bag, guitar, and instruments for the day. I would be asked then," Are you coming to our room today?  ". The excitement was outstanding from the students I had. In 2002, the kindergarten class and I wrote a song for the troops as I experimented on another level of teaching them to write lyrics and I would write the music to it. They were seen on CBS news that day. That was so exciting my first TV debut.  I never wanted to do another TV debut again 

   I wanted to introduce you to my topic of advocacy interest in order to give you all an idea why Fine Arts has been so crucial in advocating.  Why should schools to keep Fine Arts alive?

    I was laid off from the center after teaching there for almost 7 years, as other teachers were cut too.  Although this was a private center, I see this being a problem in the school districts, and private schools of elementary schools too.  I want to bring about the new information that has been founds and new programs that have been found for Fine Arts programs in America.