About
Music Teacher
- City: Cleveland, OH
- Email: angelabk2588@gmail.com
- Degree: Bachelor of Music
- Years Teaching:
I fell in love with making music while attending Lakewood City Schools in Lakewood, Ohio. Learning to play the flute in 5th Grade was difficult for me, and I received some extra help from my band teacher. This teacher’s dedication and exuberance made me feel valued, so I continued to play. While in high school, I decided I wanted to teach music. I had wanted to be a teacher since 2nd grade, and teaching music allowed me to combine my passions for music and teaching.
I broadened my horizons while majoring in Music Education at Cleveland State University. I continued to play my flute in band and take flute lessons. I began singing in choir and taking voice lessons as well. The combination of flute, voice and methods classes for woodwind, brass, percussion and string instruments has exposed me to teaching many classroom instruments.
Each chapter of my journey has enabled me to grow as an educator and collaborator. After graduating Cum Laude from Cleveland State, I spent a year as a substitute teacher through the North Coast Shared Services Alliance in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties. Each job provided an opportunity to fuse music and core education while challenging me to improve my classroom management skills. My first full-time music teaching job was at St. Peter School in Lorain, Ohio where I taught K-8 General Music and 5-8 Band. During that time, I organized two concerts: a Christmas Concert featuring 1st-3rd grade choirs and an 8th grade bucket drumming ensemble, and a Spring Concert showcasing Kindergarten, 4th grade and Band. The next step of my teaching journey empowered me to broaden my horizons even further. I taught middle school general music and choir as well as high school guitar at Parma Community High School. My general music classes enabled students to play a variety of instruments while my guitar classes emphasized a holistic learning approach. For 2 years, I taught elementary music at Andrews Osborne Academy. I organized multiple band and choir concerts a year, and introduced students to new instruments. I am currently teaching at Fairview Park Early Education Center.
Philosophy
Creativity, collaboration, and community are elements that students will use for the rest of their lives. Music teaches these elements in an essential way.
Each of these skills are presented in a unique environment in music class, allowing students to translate them to their life beyond the school walls. Music teaches us to think creatively and problem solve, skills that are invaluable in today's world. Students learn how to work together and fashion innovative ideas. which are valuable skills in the workplace. My teaching emphasizes these skills. For example, students create short fables and musical themes to accompany them during my Peter and the wolf unit. Units like these emphasize interdisciplinary learning, project based learning, collaboration and creativity.
My curriculum emphasizes the tenets of Music Learning Theory, or that music is learned as any other language. We learn to imitate and speak before we learn to read and write. Developing students listening abilities before they learn to read music gives them the skills they need to read, perform, and compose music. Many music methodologies and philosophies emphasize this outlook, including the SongWorks methodology I describe below.
What does this look like?
In my music classes, students experience music in a multitude of ways including singing, playing instruments, moving and compositing. For example:
- Elementary General Music
- 'Story plop,' or I sing the song and ask students questions about it
- I sing the song and the students tap steady beat
- We sing the song together
- Choose an element for study such as rhythm:
- Follow the steady beat and rhythm with a pointer
- The rest of the class sings the song
- Build the rhythmic notation together
- Beginning Band
- Students begin their musical journey using the sound before symbol approach, outlined in Music Learning Theory
- Emphasis on goal-setting and developing listening skills
- Middle School Music
- Hands-on experience with a variety of instruments
- Bucket drumming
- Orff Instruments
- Composition using Garage Band
- Importance of music in everyday life and its connections to other disciplines
Music provides a fusion of creative critical thinking, collaboration and listening in a way that other subjects do not. I consider it my mission as a teacher to help students discover why music is important and how it can help them.
Skills
An educator with a unique repertoire (bars indicate years of experience)
Resume
Click HERE for a printer-friendly version of my resume.
Summary
Angela Kadow
Innovative and collaborative music teacher with 8+ years of experience teaching children musical principles and various life-enriching skills, such as teamwork and creative thinking.
- Cleveland, OH
- angelabk2588@gmail.com
Education
Bachelor of Music
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
Music Education, Cum Laude
Certification
Teaching Certificate - Credential # 21998369
2021 - 2026
5 Year Professional Multi Age (P-12) License - Music
Teaching Certificate - Credential # 21228920
2016 - 2021
4 Year Ohio Resident Educator License - Multi-Age (P-12) Music
(Extended for one year due to COVID-19)
Professional Affiliations
The National Association for Music Education (NAFME)
Member
Ohio Music Education Association
Member
Professional Experience
Preschool Teacher
2025 - present
Fairview Park Early Education Center, Fairview Park, OH
- Lead teacher in a five-star Step Up to Quality facility
- Planning engaging hands-on lessons for 3 and 4 year-olds using Creative curriculum
- Enriching daily instruction with music lessons
Music Teacher
2022 - 2024
Andrews Osborne Academy, Willoughby, OH
- Teaching preschool-fifth grade general music emphasizing tenets of Music Learning Theory and student creativity
- Instructing lower and middle school instrumental ensembles allowing students to play and create music they are interested in, including contemporary and traditional pieces
- Design lessons for and teach small groups to emphasize personalized learning
- Plan, prepare students for, and execute 2-3 choir and ensemble performances per year
- Create engaging learning experiences for a culturally and intellectually diverse student body that emphasize inclusivity and creativity
Music Teacher
2021 - 2022
Olmsted Falls City Schools, Olmsted Falls, OH
- Teaching 1st–3rd grade elementary general music at Falls-Lenox primary
- Designed slide backgrounds, audio and visual for multiple interactive Bitmoji Classrooms
- Coordinating school wide 2nd and 3rd grade concerts
Music Teacher
2019 - 2021
Lorain City Schools, Lorain, OH
- Teaching Preschool-5th Grade General Music at Palm and Admiral King Elementary Schools
- Created units of study emphasizing music fundamentals and various music genres
- Designed slide backgrounds, audio and video for multiple interactive music Bitmoji Classrooms
- Utilized a variety of methodologies including SongWorks, Orff and Quaver
- Coordinated a Preschool-5th Holiday Concert at Palm Elementary in Dec. 2019
Portfolio
Below is a sample of my Bitmoji Classrooms and lesson plans. Place your cursor over the images and click the blue button that appears to open each lesson.
Letters of Recommendation
To view the full letters, click on the icons just below the excerpts.
NOTE: my maiden name was Bottiglier, and I was not yet married at the time that some of these letters were written.
Angela’s musical content knowledge is excellent, and she planned thorough well thought out lessons for her classes, using a variety of instruments, slideshows she put together, and more... Her report cards reflected detailed understanding of each student and, as a strong writer, her comments were thoughtful and insightful.
Theresa Frisbie
Lower School Director, Andrews Osborne Academy
Mrs. Kadow also prepared 2nd and 3rd graders this year for music performances. This was a large undertaking that involved not only ensuring that the students were musically prepared to perform, but also working out the operations and logistics of putting on a concert for parents in the High School auditorium... Mrs. Kadow has a can-do attitude and is patient, conscientious, organized, and forward-thinking.
Lisa M. Williams
Principal, Falls-Lenox Primary School
Angela’s education philosophy focuses on 3 core elements – Creativity, Community and Collaboration. I can attest that these are not just ideals to Angela but a way that she represents herself, even to her coworkers.
