"My name is Mr. Garcia. I've been a Music Teacher for NISD for 15 years. I've enjoyed a fulfilling career of giving young children an opportunity to express themselves through music. In music class, we teach three main pedagogies. The more prominent pedagogy is Kodaly, which uses songs from a child's own culture to teach them the fundamental concepts of music through singing. The second pedagogy is called Orff, which uses both pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments to teach young children the importance of rhythm. The last pedagogy we use is called Dalcroze, which employs the use of structured movement (or dance) to teach a student the importance that music plays in one's culture. The main goal is not to create rock stars, but to teach students the importance that music plays in one's culture, in addition to all the other aspects of culture (art, food, dance, language etc.). In addition we offer extracurriculars such as choir, for students who have a particular passion or excel in music. When a child enters Kindergarten and graduates from 5th grade many years later, they would've learned to work as a valued team member, sing with good intonation, read and play rhythms on various percussion instruments, play a simple wind instrument, learn about cultures through music from around the world, and share valuable items."
