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About Mrs. Schaden

1500 Western Ave.
 Geneva, IL 60134
 Phone: 630-463-3500

Biography

Geneva 304 Staff
Ms. Shelbi Schaden is a 2014 graduate of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in K-12 Music Education. Throughout her undergraduate years, Mrs. Schaden held a variety of leadership positions such as Secretary of the Collegiate National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Board, Web Tech “Guru” for Women’s Chorale, and Vice President for Concert Winds.

During her freshman year of college, Mrs. Schaden stumbled upon an inexpensive orange ukulele, and have since been known for her use of the ukulele in K-5 general music. In October of 2014, Mrs. Schaden presented her clinic entitled “All Uke Can Do: Enhancing General Music Through The Ukulele” at the South Dakota 2014 NAfME Conference & the 2015 NAfME National In-Service Conference. In August of 2015, NAfME featured her article about her 4-step instructional sequence to teaching the ukulele on their Music in a Minuet Blog. The link to that article can be located here. Currently she is contracted to write her first K-5 ukulele songbook with Heritage Music Publishing set to be released in 2020-21.

Though Mrs. Schaden has a deep seeded passion for the ukulele, she also has a passion for technology integration in the classroom. She received her Masters of Arts in Educational Technology from Aurora University, in Aurora, Illinois, in May of 2017. While pursuing her Masters in Ed Tech, she has presented clinics at North Central College’s 2015 & 2016 Technology in Education Conference entitled “Technology: Making It Practical”. She is now currently pursuing her second Masters in Curriculum & Instruction through Olivet Nazarene University. 

Besides loving her job as an elementary music teacher, she also loves being a wife and mother. Her favorite moments are when she is able to come home to her husband (Brandon), son (Francis b. 2018), and daughter (Sarah b. 2020), and gets to share all the fun things she got to teach her students during the day.

Mrs. Schaden teaches K-5 General Music & 5th Grade Choir at Western Avenue Elementary School located in Geneva, Illinois. Teaching at Western since Fall of 2014, Mrs. Schaden is forever grateful for the experiences she has already had and for the experiences yet to come!

Mission

My mission as an educator is to use music education as a tool to encourage all those who I encounter to express their thoughts, emotions, and feelings in a safe way.

Vision

My vision is a world in which no one is ridiculed or judged for their musical ability and taste, but instead appreciated and respected for their differences.

Values

  • Openness: I value openness that helps build the community within the classroom. Only when the music classroom feels like a safe place do students really tap into who they are musically.
  • Communication: I value communication that supports students’ in there development of decision-making. When my students and I open that dialogue in the music classroom, the students find more value in their learning.
  • Creativity: I value creativity because it is the source of music and music education. Facilitating an environment of creativity allows for students to take the musical concepts and incorporate it into each of their lives in a unique way that has the ability to stay with them forever.

Beliefs

  • Students have a right to express what they want to learn within their education, no matter what age.
  • Even at a young age, students have the ability and desire to create and express their individuality within the learning environment.
  • At the end of the day, their elementary music experience should be FUN!

Mrs. Schaden's Ukulele Website

Youtube Channel