Today I had the unique opportunity to redo my 10 minute lesson. We were all given the option of changing our lesson how ever we wanted (or we could keep it the same) for the second run through. The point was to take the knowledge we gained from the first experience and use it to improve our ability to deliver a lesson.
I chose to keep some of the aspects of my lesson (the activity) but develop the procedure and make the lesson more well rounded. While I wouldn't say it went perfectly, as I still made mistakes and there was certainly more ways I could have improved, I think I reached my goal of improvement. This time around I have a better imitation to the lesson and I stated the objective to the students early on, both aspects I had left out the first time around. I then moved into the activity which involved a "passing the beat" telephone like game. Once again I gave the students the directions and checked for understanding. When I realized that I had an odd number of students, three of them volunteered to sit out which I allowed them to do, and I really wish I hadn't. I could've and should've found another way that they could assist or still participate in the lesson, after all, that's what I would have to do in real life. I think the order of the game flowed more than the last time but I made a mistake in the first round when I forgot to tell the students the meter and number of mesaures, something I told them I would give them. In spite of this, the students were almost all able to figure it out and once I realized the mistake I corrected myself on every other "round". I also think I should have come up with more simple rhythms, some of them were a little tricky.
Overall, I am really glad I got to do this and I'm even more glad that I got to watch my classmates get up and do this. I go to school with a lot of really good future music educators and it was cool to see how everyone taught, differently but effectively. It certainly gave me ideas and helped me to grow. Thank you to all of my peers for a great semester. It's been a pleasure working with and getting to know you. I can't wait to call you colleagues.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Building an Audience
As music educators, how can be build an audience? Should we worry about building one, or does it happen naturally?
I remember, when I was a student at CCSU, every music major was required to attend a specific number of concerts throughout each semester. This was a way to ensure that every performance had a audience and every person supported, heard, and saw their peers and mentors perform. A simple structure that "killed two birds with one stone" so to speak where everyone benefited. The down side to this? Any music major knows that their major is just about the busiest one imaginable. We take anywhere from 8-12 classes a semester, rehearse, practice, perform, and sometimes even work. When every minute of every day is accounted for, it makes taking an hour or two to attend a concert a frustrating task at times. As much as I always enjoyed a good concert, I'll be the first to admit that if this requirement had not been in place, I probably would not have attended half as many concerts during my undergrad as I did and not due to lack of interest but rather lack of time.
Why do I bring this up? Not to complain about having to attend concerts that I loved going to. Not to advertise the h*ll that music majors go through. But rather, to make the point that everyone is busy.
That is the reality of the world we live in. We have our jobs, our families, our relationships, our studies, and the very little and precious "us" time that we cling to for dear life and the fact is, the lives of our fantasy audience members is just as important to them as ours is to us. So how do we make taking the time to attend a public school concert a priority? We want our kids to perform for a good size audience. We want their families, their teachers, and the community to want to see and hear them perform. But with life always getting in the way, how can we build our audience?
For one thing, we advertise! A lot! We build up the music, we build up our students, we build up incentives. We make our concert the place to be. We schedule them at a convenient time and place, we make the admission free, maybe we even sell things during intermission. We impress upon student's families and our colleagues how much we appreciate their attendance and we work to make every concert an enjoyable experience that people want to come back to and one that our students are proud of.
The truth is, we can't guarantee an audience- no one can. But what we can do, is understand that life is busy and do our best to get our concerts put on the list of priority.
I remember, when I was a student at CCSU, every music major was required to attend a specific number of concerts throughout each semester. This was a way to ensure that every performance had a audience and every person supported, heard, and saw their peers and mentors perform. A simple structure that "killed two birds with one stone" so to speak where everyone benefited. The down side to this? Any music major knows that their major is just about the busiest one imaginable. We take anywhere from 8-12 classes a semester, rehearse, practice, perform, and sometimes even work. When every minute of every day is accounted for, it makes taking an hour or two to attend a concert a frustrating task at times. As much as I always enjoyed a good concert, I'll be the first to admit that if this requirement had not been in place, I probably would not have attended half as many concerts during my undergrad as I did and not due to lack of interest but rather lack of time.
Why do I bring this up? Not to complain about having to attend concerts that I loved going to. Not to advertise the h*ll that music majors go through. But rather, to make the point that everyone is busy.
That is the reality of the world we live in. We have our jobs, our families, our relationships, our studies, and the very little and precious "us" time that we cling to for dear life and the fact is, the lives of our fantasy audience members is just as important to them as ours is to us. So how do we make taking the time to attend a public school concert a priority? We want our kids to perform for a good size audience. We want their families, their teachers, and the community to want to see and hear them perform. But with life always getting in the way, how can we build our audience?
For one thing, we advertise! A lot! We build up the music, we build up our students, we build up incentives. We make our concert the place to be. We schedule them at a convenient time and place, we make the admission free, maybe we even sell things during intermission. We impress upon student's families and our colleagues how much we appreciate their attendance and we work to make every concert an enjoyable experience that people want to come back to and one that our students are proud of.
The truth is, we can't guarantee an audience- no one can. But what we can do, is understand that life is busy and do our best to get our concerts put on the list of priority.
Monday, April 11, 2016
10 Minutes of General Music Instruction- A Reflection
Today in my secondary methods class I had the opportunity to get up a teach 10 minutes of the 3 day lesson that I had written on "rhythm". For my 10 minutes I decided that I wanted to have the students do an activity that used their knowledge of rhythms in compound meter.
Overall, I think I had a good lesson planned but I could have executed it better than I did. While I think I was confident and clear in my instructions, I made two noticeable mistakes. The first mistake was not having a clear on the objective of the lesson. The point was to have students recognize, memorize, perform, and write rhythms that they had been practicing in compound meter. I think that if I had done a few things even slightly differently the objective would have been more clear and there would have been a better understanding among the students as to what they were doing. I should have set more restrictions on the lesson, this was my second mistake. I originally told the class that it was going to be common rhythms in compound meter but I wasn't going to tell them the time signature or the number of measures. After a minute I realized that this was too challenging and they would be more successful with a little more information. I then told them that the rhythms would be in 6/8 time and two measures long. By narrowing down the objective like this, the students were quickly more engaged and successful.
I think I planned a good activity that when put in the right context is really good for helping students put their knowledge to practical use. I just need to be more clear, in both my own head as well as the way I explain to the students, about what I specifically want to accomplish and how it's going to happen.
Overall, I think I had a good lesson planned but I could have executed it better than I did. While I think I was confident and clear in my instructions, I made two noticeable mistakes. The first mistake was not having a clear on the objective of the lesson. The point was to have students recognize, memorize, perform, and write rhythms that they had been practicing in compound meter. I think that if I had done a few things even slightly differently the objective would have been more clear and there would have been a better understanding among the students as to what they were doing. I should have set more restrictions on the lesson, this was my second mistake. I originally told the class that it was going to be common rhythms in compound meter but I wasn't going to tell them the time signature or the number of measures. After a minute I realized that this was too challenging and they would be more successful with a little more information. I then told them that the rhythms would be in 6/8 time and two measures long. By narrowing down the objective like this, the students were quickly more engaged and successful.
I think I planned a good activity that when put in the right context is really good for helping students put their knowledge to practical use. I just need to be more clear, in both my own head as well as the way I explain to the students, about what I specifically want to accomplish and how it's going to happen.
Creating A Love Of Music
I once had a college professor who compared teaching music to Santa Claus. Yes, you read that correctly; Santa Claus.
On the morning of my first day of leadership camp, my college band director asked me to close my eyes and try to remember what it was like when I was a little kid and I still believed Santa was real. She encouraged me to recapture that feeling of pure magic. That feeling of safety, hope, trust and love. The sense of security that whatever I wanted, Santa had the power to deliver no matter how hard or impossible it seemed. That feeling that there's someone out there who you can trust to lead you. That, she said, is how a music teacher should make their students feel about music.
She then went on to explain that we all start off innocent and willing to believe that music is magical in it's ability to take us to a unique place where no one else and nothing else can go, just like a child believing in Santa. Then when we get a little older, we eventually realize that Santa isn't real. He's not an all-knowing mystical figure, but rather represented by a real person made of flesh and bone. And while we are a little disappointed, we still feel that sense of gratitude towards the person (or people) working tirelessly to make us believe. And then some day, if we are blessed enough to be given the chance, we become Santa Claus so that we may create those feelings; that sense of magic, for someone else.
We have all felt the feelings that a music teacher gave us. That person instilled in us a passion and a love that runs so deep that we rise above and become that person for someone else. I believe that this, the ability to instill a deep love of music in our students, is our primary job as music educators. The only question is: how do we do this?
A few weeks ago, I watched the movie August Rush, the story of a young musical prodigy orphan (August) who uses his gift of music as a tool to find his parent. Throughout his journey he meets people of all ages, ethnicity, backgrounds, and performance abilities that impact him as both a person and as a musician. What each one of these people have in common is their love for music and the unique way in which they use it to express themselves. From each of these people, August takes a piece of their love of music and uses it to enhance his own love of music while it simultaneously leads him one step closer to his parents who are both musicians.
This film is powerful to me in many ways. For one, it is the compelling story of a beautiful child searching for his parents and his purpose. For another, it is a fair tale set to real life circumstances. But it also shows the power of music and it's ability to touch anyone and everyone who comes into contact with it. It shows it's power to move us, and create a humane side of us we otherwise may not have known.
I think that this is how we instill a love of music in our students: by loving it ourselves and letting that love guide our teachings. We do it by giving them something, even one little piece, of that magic that was created for us; a piece that they can take with them and keep forever until they are blessed enough to pass it along to someone else.
On the morning of my first day of leadership camp, my college band director asked me to close my eyes and try to remember what it was like when I was a little kid and I still believed Santa was real. She encouraged me to recapture that feeling of pure magic. That feeling of safety, hope, trust and love. The sense of security that whatever I wanted, Santa had the power to deliver no matter how hard or impossible it seemed. That feeling that there's someone out there who you can trust to lead you. That, she said, is how a music teacher should make their students feel about music.
She then went on to explain that we all start off innocent and willing to believe that music is magical in it's ability to take us to a unique place where no one else and nothing else can go, just like a child believing in Santa. Then when we get a little older, we eventually realize that Santa isn't real. He's not an all-knowing mystical figure, but rather represented by a real person made of flesh and bone. And while we are a little disappointed, we still feel that sense of gratitude towards the person (or people) working tirelessly to make us believe. And then some day, if we are blessed enough to be given the chance, we become Santa Claus so that we may create those feelings; that sense of magic, for someone else.
We have all felt the feelings that a music teacher gave us. That person instilled in us a passion and a love that runs so deep that we rise above and become that person for someone else. I believe that this, the ability to instill a deep love of music in our students, is our primary job as music educators. The only question is: how do we do this?
A few weeks ago, I watched the movie August Rush, the story of a young musical prodigy orphan (August) who uses his gift of music as a tool to find his parent. Throughout his journey he meets people of all ages, ethnicity, backgrounds, and performance abilities that impact him as both a person and as a musician. What each one of these people have in common is their love for music and the unique way in which they use it to express themselves. From each of these people, August takes a piece of their love of music and uses it to enhance his own love of music while it simultaneously leads him one step closer to his parents who are both musicians.
This film is powerful to me in many ways. For one, it is the compelling story of a beautiful child searching for his parents and his purpose. For another, it is a fair tale set to real life circumstances. But it also shows the power of music and it's ability to touch anyone and everyone who comes into contact with it. It shows it's power to move us, and create a humane side of us we otherwise may not have known.
I think that this is how we instill a love of music in our students: by loving it ourselves and letting that love guide our teachings. We do it by giving them something, even one little piece, of that magic that was created for us; a piece that they can take with them and keep forever until they are blessed enough to pass it along to someone else.
"Music is all around us, all we have to do is listen." - August Rush
Monday, March 28, 2016
Should we have to rely on parents and fundraising to run a modern BOJC program?
In a perfect world, there would always be more than enough school funds to support a music program and any opportunities that a music teacher can successfully set up to enrich their student's musical education. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. We all know that we need to advocate to others that music
education is important and should always be well funded. But the reality
is that music is still often looked at as an "extra", a "special" and not
something that is absolutely necessary.
A few things that a BOJC (Band, Orchestra, Jazz, Chorus) program should have budgeted money for includes:
A few of the "extra opportunities" that a BOJC (Band, Orchestra, Jazz, Chorus) program might need fund raised money for include:
So we should not have to rely on parents for fund raising but we should be prepared to enlist their help when needed.
A few things that a BOJC (Band, Orchestra, Jazz, Chorus) program should have budgeted money for includes:
- Instruments
- Percussion equipment
- Music
- Marching band uniforms
- Color guard uniforms/equipment
- Banners and flags
A few of the "extra opportunities" that a BOJC (Band, Orchestra, Jazz, Chorus) program might need fund raised money for include:
- Field Trips
- Competitions/festivals
- Clinics
- Guest conductors, composers, performers
- Commissioning anew piece
- Work shops
- Traveling performance opportunities
So we should not have to rely on parents for fund raising but we should be prepared to enlist their help when needed.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Using Technology in the Music Classroom
Today, the use of technology plays a huge
role in all of our lives. It has changed the way that we communicate, access
information, solve problems, and educate both children and ourselves. The use
of technology in the classroom is becoming more and more essential to education
all the time. Even in the music classroom, this is no exception.
Kids nowadays are use to having endless resources at their fingertips, that they can call upon at any given time. With this in mind, we (music educators) need our teaching to reflect this, so that it is both useful and of interest to our students. When used correctly, technology can be a invaluable tool to help us do our jobs better, and help students learn better. From online sights like Youtube and Notefliht to garage band, to finale; from recording equipment to electric keyboards to midi systems; from iphones to mac computers, technology has ingrained itself into our curriculum.
That being said, is becoming more and more necessary all the time to "get on board" with technology. We must learn to embrace it and become familiar with the ways it can be used to enhance our lessons. Technology could be used for many purposes in our classrooms including writing their own composition, share music, listen to recordings from top musicians or even the local band that played the same piece. Have them record themselves practicing or making music in groups. Record rehearsals and play it back to them so they can hear what they sounds like and then have them critique. Make a recording of the accompaniment to the chorus pieces on an electric piano and then have the students sing along, freeing you to walk around and assists/assess or even conduct. The list of possibilities goes on and on. Decades ago, when music education was new to our public school systems those teaches did not have access to anything that we do now. The children we teach come from a different world than when we were in school and we must make the most of those new found opportunities to improve our craft and enhance their education.
In nearly every classroom I enter I see consistent use technology. It's all around us, it’s just up to every teacher how they want to use it, and they can all use. I think it’s clear that the more technology based our society becomes, the more technology based education will become. It is likely that technology will continue to grow exponentially overtime, and so we must always be ready and able to adapt and utilize whatever is available to us, to ensure that future generations of students always receive the best education possible.
For more information and ideas on how to incorporate technology into your music classroom, please see some of the following links below:
http://www.nafme.org/everyday-education-teaching-music-in-the-age-of-technology/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ireal-pro-music-book-play/id298206806?mt=8
http://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/
https://www.noteflight.com/login
http://brandtschneider.blogspot.com/2015/06/final-project.html
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/The-Valleys-Alive-with-the-Sound-of-iPads-150943055.html
Kids nowadays are use to having endless resources at their fingertips, that they can call upon at any given time. With this in mind, we (music educators) need our teaching to reflect this, so that it is both useful and of interest to our students. When used correctly, technology can be a invaluable tool to help us do our jobs better, and help students learn better. From online sights like Youtube and Notefliht to garage band, to finale; from recording equipment to electric keyboards to midi systems; from iphones to mac computers, technology has ingrained itself into our curriculum.
That being said, is becoming more and more necessary all the time to "get on board" with technology. We must learn to embrace it and become familiar with the ways it can be used to enhance our lessons. Technology could be used for many purposes in our classrooms including writing their own composition, share music, listen to recordings from top musicians or even the local band that played the same piece. Have them record themselves practicing or making music in groups. Record rehearsals and play it back to them so they can hear what they sounds like and then have them critique. Make a recording of the accompaniment to the chorus pieces on an electric piano and then have the students sing along, freeing you to walk around and assists/assess or even conduct. The list of possibilities goes on and on. Decades ago, when music education was new to our public school systems those teaches did not have access to anything that we do now. The children we teach come from a different world than when we were in school and we must make the most of those new found opportunities to improve our craft and enhance their education.
In nearly every classroom I enter I see consistent use technology. It's all around us, it’s just up to every teacher how they want to use it, and they can all use. I think it’s clear that the more technology based our society becomes, the more technology based education will become. It is likely that technology will continue to grow exponentially overtime, and so we must always be ready and able to adapt and utilize whatever is available to us, to ensure that future generations of students always receive the best education possible.
For more information and ideas on how to incorporate technology into your music classroom, please see some of the following links below:
http://www.nafme.org/everyday-education-teaching-music-in-the-age-of-technology/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ireal-pro-music-book-play/id298206806?mt=8
http://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/
https://www.noteflight.com/login
http://brandtschneider.blogspot.com/2015/06/final-project.html
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/The-Valleys-Alive-with-the-Sound-of-iPads-150943055.html
Monday, March 7, 2016
Rubrics: The double edged sword
Rubrics are a double edged sword. On one hand they are useful tools that give guidance to teachers and students alike; on the other, they standardize learning and expectations in a world where everyone's learning style is unique.
In his article, The Trouble With Rubrics, Alfie Kohn discusses the various problems with using rubrics as a means of assessment in the classroom. He argues that rubrics strip away a student's ability to be creative and both enjoy and understand the process of what they are learning. He states that "showing that students whose attention is relentlessly focused on how well they’re doing [the students] often become less engaged with what they’re doing" and therefore they become unable to function unless every requirement is spelt out for them. While I both understand and admittedly agree with the points being made, I'm not sure it's quite that simple.
Throughout my own education I have encountered rubrics at nearly every turn; even now as a graduate student I am frequently given a rubric as a means of understanding what I am being graded on. However, according to Kohn, rubrics, while being an easy tool to justify a grade, are actually more hurtful in education than they are helpful.
In his article he writes, "Rubrics are, above all, a tool to promote standardization, to turn teachers into grading machines or at least allow them to pretend that what they’re doing is exact and objective." I admittedly agree with this, but only to a degree. I think he's right in saying that rubrics are a way of setting standards in an attempt to give a fair grade that can be defended against something concrete. On the other hand, I don't believe than meaningful learning can be or should be something that is standardized or measurable. But then this begs the question:
How do we fairly assess students without measuring them up against a rubric?
Alfie Kohn's article, while factual and persuasive, fails to really answer that question. The truth is, I'm not so sure if there even is an answer.
With music especially, it's difficult to assign a grade to a student without knowing exactly what merits each grade. How do we put a letter or number grade on a persons effort, practice, enthusiasm, or interest? In a math class it's no big deal; did the student get the problem correct or not? It's all very neat and tidy but how do we know that a student isn't playing a passage well simply because they aren't trying (practicing)? Could the problem be that they don't fully understand how to play it and have been practicing it wrong? Are they distracted today by something else going on? Are the nervous about playing in front of us, or their peers, or an audience? I don't see the harm in letting students know what they are being graded on.
I have always thought rubrics were a good idea, and I think under the right circumstances, they still are. A rubric doesn't have to be as confining as Kuhn is making it out to be. If nothing else, it can serve as guidelines that allow both students and teachers to fully understand what is expect so that no bias can creep in unintentionally. As long a rubric of not the only form of criteria but one of several and doesn't drive the instruction, I think it's a tool that should be utilized; especially in the music classroom where assessment can be trickier than other academic settings.
In his article, The Trouble With Rubrics, Alfie Kohn discusses the various problems with using rubrics as a means of assessment in the classroom. He argues that rubrics strip away a student's ability to be creative and both enjoy and understand the process of what they are learning. He states that "showing that students whose attention is relentlessly focused on how well they’re doing [the students] often become less engaged with what they’re doing" and therefore they become unable to function unless every requirement is spelt out for them. While I both understand and admittedly agree with the points being made, I'm not sure it's quite that simple.
Throughout my own education I have encountered rubrics at nearly every turn; even now as a graduate student I am frequently given a rubric as a means of understanding what I am being graded on. However, according to Kohn, rubrics, while being an easy tool to justify a grade, are actually more hurtful in education than they are helpful.
In his article he writes, "Rubrics are, above all, a tool to promote standardization, to turn teachers into grading machines or at least allow them to pretend that what they’re doing is exact and objective." I admittedly agree with this, but only to a degree. I think he's right in saying that rubrics are a way of setting standards in an attempt to give a fair grade that can be defended against something concrete. On the other hand, I don't believe than meaningful learning can be or should be something that is standardized or measurable. But then this begs the question:
How do we fairly assess students without measuring them up against a rubric?
Alfie Kohn's article, while factual and persuasive, fails to really answer that question. The truth is, I'm not so sure if there even is an answer.
With music especially, it's difficult to assign a grade to a student without knowing exactly what merits each grade. How do we put a letter or number grade on a persons effort, practice, enthusiasm, or interest? In a math class it's no big deal; did the student get the problem correct or not? It's all very neat and tidy but how do we know that a student isn't playing a passage well simply because they aren't trying (practicing)? Could the problem be that they don't fully understand how to play it and have been practicing it wrong? Are they distracted today by something else going on? Are the nervous about playing in front of us, or their peers, or an audience? I don't see the harm in letting students know what they are being graded on.
I have always thought rubrics were a good idea, and I think under the right circumstances, they still are. A rubric doesn't have to be as confining as Kuhn is making it out to be. If nothing else, it can serve as guidelines that allow both students and teachers to fully understand what is expect so that no bias can creep in unintentionally. As long a rubric of not the only form of criteria but one of several and doesn't drive the instruction, I think it's a tool that should be utilized; especially in the music classroom where assessment can be trickier than other academic settings.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)