Post One

Welcome to my blog and inquiry project! I am excited to explore this topic and share my journey with you. 


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About Me

Hi everyone, my name is Brittany R. Raymond, and I'm beginning my senior year at the University of New Mexico. I'm currently studying secondary education with dual teaching endorsements in language arts and music.

I was born in Albuquerque, and spent the first few years of my life living off of Broadway. Tragically, I've never been to the "Broadway" everyone thinks about, but that's another story. I currently live in Edgewood, which is about forty minutes east of Albuquerque.

I began studying the violin when I was four years old, joined a choir at six, private voice lessons at eight, added the harp at eleven, began taking piano lessons at thirteen, and experimented with woodwinds and percussion briefly towards the end of my high school experience. I also recently added the guitar to my repertoire. Music became my outlet at a young age; it gave me an element of control over the world and a way to express my emotions. To the outward eye, I was a rebellious, inattentive child; in reality, I was struggling to learn with ADHD. Music became an area of passion and a kind of therapy for me. I firmly believe that music reaches corners words cannot; music gives a voice to the things that transcend words.

Last August, I launched a music department at Villa Santa Maria, a residential community and treatment center for children with Reactive Attachment Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Music changed my life and world; I felt it was important for these children to have an opportunity to express themselves through song.

Reading is my other outlet, and I am passionate about sharing my love of words with others. I long to pass a love of literature to each of my students, and give them the skills they need to succeed.

I have always been interested in how music influences other learning, and how it can be used in tandem with core content. In elementary school, my mom set my math multiplication tables to familiar tunes; I was taught ditties to learn grammatical rules. These songs helped me master content, and have stuck with me over the years.

Professional Goals

I am a very goal-driven person. At the moment, my primary goal is to graduate with my degree in Secondary Education next May. Upon my graduation, I intend to work for Albuquerque Public Schools while exploring the possibility of further education. If I can acquire a sufficient scholarship, I will likely pursue my M.A. in Special Education from UNM.

One of my passions in the language arts classroom is Young Adult (YA) literature. I will work to build my classroom and YA implementation. I will also seek to collaborate with my fellow teachers, and increase presence of relevant YA material in the language arts classroom. I firmly believe that students are passionate about learning when they feel a connection to the material; I will work to build a student-centered program during my years of teaching. 

I also love to write, and intend to work towards a YA publication for use in my own classroom in the next five years.


Resource

The following link, from Luther College, includes significant research and defense of using music as a tool for teaching literacy. 


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