General Music Lesson Reflection

So I taught ten minutes of my general music lesson today. It was on harmony for 8th grade. My basic idea was to take the students' previous knowledge of scales and apply that to explore harmony. I wanted to be playing and creating music as soon as possible. I also wanted to not flood them with information, but rely on their ears and asking questions about what they were playing.

First of all, I was very glad that I had them on instruments quickly. I loved starting with singing, but the transition to instruments was clunky, as I had anticipated. I didn't like that I hadn't connected the singing much to harmony. The purpose was to just get the music-making started, but I needed a stronger connection to the subject.

Speaking of which, I could have made it clearer. When writing the lesson plan, I was thinking that I would have had plenty of time to make the objective clearer and connect everything to the subject. I feel that the students may have gotten lost, but seeing as how it was meant to be only a 10 minute snapshot of the lesson, I am happy with what we could accomplish. I was trying not to talk too much, but I think I talked too much anyway.

In terms of how much I covered, I think I had too many concepts built in, but at the same time that I didn't get far enough. When I wrote this plan, I assumed that the terms scale, interval, and the actual numbers of the scale would not be new to my students. If this was a totally new concept, I definitely flooded my students with too much information is such a short amount of time. However, as I was leading the class, I found myself continually throwing out more and more concepts. So I'm not sure how I will change my plan concerning this yet. Before this lesson is taught, some stronger foundation is needed for sure.

I had the opportunity to teach this exact same lesson to my students today. It was a class of 5th - 8th grade students. I think it went well, aside from some behavior problems. I did not have enough keyboards, but I got through the lesson much more slowly than I had thought. Actually, I couldn't make it through all the way because it took longer to have everyone play through the examples. I expected that when writing the lesson plan. I explained less, and the students played more. That makes me think that the reason I went through so many concepts during my example 10 minute snapshot was party because the musicians knew better how to do what I was asking.

I think I should have had the students playing more and talking more about what they were playing. Maybe the best way to do this is to introduce a song that the students know and can play already. That was my thinking with playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Twinkle Twinkle" in the lesson. Maybe I need to get to that sooner. My feeling now is to just work on the simpler steps of playing the scale and harmonies on top of it more.

The biggest thing I can improve on is to get students feedback constantly. To assess, I was simply listening and watching students as best as I could. Since it was the beginning of the first harmony lesson, I was not overly concerned with how well the students were doing. I was trying to make sure every students was participating and trying to play what we were working on together. As the lesson goes on, I wanted to have students paired up on one instrument to play through the examples together, but wasn't thinking that I'd get that far in 10 minutes. The idea with that is to hear less students to better assess, but still not put one students on the spot.

Another thing I should do is talk less and try to get the students to play and especially describe what they are playing more. I jumped to the next thing too quickly. I think it was mostly because of the graduate students acting as 8th graders playing everything so well. I tend to do this in my other classes, though, too. I need to give my students more time to digest what they are hearing.

I am happy that it seemed like a fun enjoyable lesson. Since it was the first 10 minutes, I'm not too concerned with the ambiguity of it. I want to bring it back in to focus on the objective of harmony, but don't want to force it. I guess what I'm saying is that I need to slow down, but also be more clear in the point that I need to hit along the way. In some sense that could mean that I'd move faster, but mostly I just want to help the students experience the music and give them the tools to understand what they are playing.

Finally, I had a lot of fun. My classmates were great. We didn't get nearly as far as I had wanted, but I think it's alright. In the end I think I need to slow down anyway, but still get the students doing more.

Blog Prompt #6

Should we have to rely on parents and fundraising to run a modern BOJC program?

I don't think we should have to rely on fundraising. There should be funds to support every music program. There should be no question that music education is important. The benefits of music are profound and limitless. I believe it's part of our responsibilities as music teachers to make it clear to our students and the rest of our schools that music is important.

As for parents, just like every other subject, we need their support. Without parents, what the students learn in school could be forgotten. Especially in a beginning musician, parents are needed to encourage, support, and sometimes enforce proper practice. Without practice, very little progress can be made.

So, in short it's a complicated answer. We need parents, but we shouldn't need to fundraise.

Blog Prompt #5

To keep it simple, technology has made music education easier, more fun, and much more accessible. I'm excited to see where technology can take us. Below are some of the best tech you can find to help you teach music.

1. Youtube.com  I think at this point everyone knows what youtube is. Not everyone knows of it's full potential. It's an indispensable resource of music, documentaries, music covers, instrument tutorials, song tutorials, instrument methods, and even background information on different artists and performing groups around the world.

2. Musictheory.net This is lesser-known site that I've used many times in the past and found it extremely helpful. It's a free site with music theory lessons and exercises. It includes sight-reading, aural training, keyboard and fretboard memorization, and even chord and interval identification (visually and aurally). It's a great resource for reinforcing learning or even being the backbone of learning theory.

3. Garageband This software is pretty famous by now. It's a tool for creating music, with or without an instrument. With hundreds of built-in instruments and an easy-to-learn interface, Garageband is the best place to start creating music without any solid music theory knowledge. While any type of music can be created, I feel that electronic music is the easiest to jump into with this. With instruments, the possibilities expand greatly and there are even lessons available on some common instruments.

4. MIDI keyboard, MIDID controllers, and synthesizers, such as this, this, and this have made music creation so much more exciting, easy, and affordable. Some plug directly into a computer and create sound through software like Garageband, while others create sounds on their own. The possibilities are endless.

4. iPad iPads are expensive, but amazingly versatile. They come with Garageband preloaded, so they can function as instruments or as a music creation suite. They can be used to explore all online resources as well. They can be used as a differentiation tool, or for students doing more advanced projects. The possibilities are endless with iPads. A quick look in the app store will reveal thousands of apps that can be used in the classroom to increase learning.

There are many more amazing pieces of music technology. Many are being created every day. These are just a few that I believe are amazing resources for music teachers.

Blog Prompt #4

I just read Alfie Kohn's "The Trouble with Rubrics." I agree, but not fully. I think rubrics are wonderful tools for trying to visualize what can be achieved and what type of learning the teacher wants to facilitate in his/her classroom. However, I think it's a terrible idea to grade based on rubrics alone. There are plenty of problems with this. 

Even more than this, rubrics can limit learning somewhat. Especially for the students that strive to achieve more, once they hit the highest point of the rubric they may lose motivation. Rubrics should never be the only way to gauge learning. It shouldn't be the list of achievements that students strive for.

It's in the teachers hands to look at rubrics but not rely on them. They are a good starting point for what to strive for. A good teacher will always know, though, that every student is different. What may come easily for some could be very difficult for others. Grading is always unfair if everyone is seen as the same. 

I believe the best way to teach is to use rubrics as a basic guide for where to go. After that, it's up to the teacher to know every kid. From that point, the teacher would constantly tailor his/her expectations for that student. The main factor for grading would then be what the student accomplished. 

Every student is different, and in a big class it is very difficult to know every kid. However, it's very important to have a connection with every single child you are responsible for and try to reach them at the level they are at to raise them up.

When assessing in a band, choir, orchestra, or jazz, I think it doesn't need to be complicated. The students should have an idea of what they should strive to achieve. A rubric gives this. But, it would be too much to ask for many students to attain the highest levels on all points. That doesn't mean they should get bad grades.

It should be considered how hard they worked and how far they have come. The assignment may be played terribly, but for certain students it could be a giant accomplishment. 

This reminds me of poem by Taylor Mali, "What Teacher's Make." In particular I was reminded of this line:

I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor
and an A-­‐ feel like a slap in the face.

Now in this example one student got a good grade and the other a bad grade, but notice how the students handle it. It's not about the grades, but the accomplishment. Sure the teacher might have used a rubric. As I said, I don't think it's a bad thing to start with, but this teacher has raised these children to be proud of their accomplishments and work hard to achieve more.

It speaks about the power a teacher can have in every child's life. Each child is different and has different struggles. If a teacher can grade based on a rubric but also keeping in mind what each student has to go through I believe fair grades can be given.

Blog Prompt #3

- Should music educators be experts in jazz or American folk music?

I believe that all music educators should be experts in jazz and American folk music. While I think that music educators should be experts or at least very knowledgable in all styles of music, it is quite a lot to ask of someone to reach that level. Even just becoming an expert in one of these is a gigantic task. Regardless, I think it's important.

Jazz and American folk music are essential genres for every music student to experience in the classroom because they are both great styles of music. More than that, they are American. As such, it behooves us to be experts to allow are students to experience them fully.

Jazz is an art form that is concerned most with creation and improvisation. This is critical to any creative pursuit. This is how we create beauty as humans.

American folk music is where we come from musically. It's important to know and understand it because it still shapes the way we make music today.

- What American songs should all students know?

This list could go on forever. There are so many lists I could follow, but I will keep my list to 10 songs for simplicity. This list is not exhaustive, but I feel that these 10 songs are the ones that students should be most familiar with when concerning American songs. There is no particular order, but I feel that most American musical creations can be experienced through these songs.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Blowin' in the Wind

The Star-Spangled Banner

I Got Rhythm

Hound Dog

My Girl

Rapper's Delight

Sing, Sing, Sing

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Take Five

Teaching trumpet?

I have never played trumpet or any wind-reliant instrument. That's why when I was assigned to teach an example 5 minute trumpet lesson I was at a total loss. I scoured the Internet for resources and asked friends that played what I should do. It was overwhelming. It was supposed to be only a 5 minute lesson, but it was just too much for me.

How could I teach something that I have no idea how to do?

After a while I decided to just jump in and do what I could.

...

So it went well. We didn't have nearly enough time to create sounds. I was trying to rush through to get to the actual sound making because I feel that it's important to get beginners creating music as quickly as possible.

I tried to talk as little as possible to listen to what the student was saying. I felt that the student understand what we were planning to accomplish in the lesson. He was ehtusiastic and knew a lot about the trumpet already.

We were only able to take the trumpet out and learn how to hold it. We also covered how to control the valves. I was hoping to get to blowing through the mouthpiece, putting the trumpet together, and making actual notes. None of that happened.

I've never had an experience like this when I was in primary and secondary school, so I do not have an experience to compare this to. I was teaching what I thought would be the very first lesson and although I felt that I rushed, I still stuck to what I wanted to cover.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought. I was worried about my lack of knowledge, but it wasn't a problem at all. It went by quickly and it was actually fun to try and help a beginner through it.

I've always wanted to learn how to play trumpet. Maybe this is the motivation to get me to take the leap. It would only help me to know the basics of as many instruments as possible.

Blog Prompt #2

Reading an article by a professor recently, "Creating Musical Flexibility Through the Ensemble" by Brandt Schneider, has left me inspired. The type of music program presented in the article is something quite amazing to strive for. In my own school, it would be quite difficult, as I feel I've only been able to really teach music this year. We don't have the commonly found band instruments like trumpet or clarinet. We have ukuleles. 

Ukuleles are amazing little things. They are limited, but I love them and the kids love them. We've been able to do a lot, but we are still a ways off from achieving true musicianship. 

I loved the narrative presented here about taking musicians from this place of just getting by and playing what's on the page to truly experiencing all that can be done. I agreed with every point on discipline, technique, theory, and composition. They are things that should always be included in a music education. I appreciated the list provided as well on how it was done.

It starts with a problem and presents a perfect solution. I will definitely be using these ideas in my classroom. Ultimately it will help me create good musicians. How will I know when I have created good musicians?

In a nutshell, I'll know if they can do what the kids in this article could do.

Beyond that I believe good musicians can be caught always learning and always challenging themselves to improve. Even if the scale practice assigned is giving you trouble, in my eyes you're a good musician for not giving up on your craft.