A school classroom is a complex environment. There are many students in a room together and within that group of students their are varying interests, abilities, attitudes, and life circumstances, all of which impact what and how students learn. Imposed on these classrooms of students are expectations that every student can succeed, and every student … Continue reading The Nuts & Bolts of Running a Classroom
Classroom Management
Be Positive: Teaching Kids What they Need To Know Before They Will Learn What You Want To Teach
Perhaps more than teachers of other disciplines, we music teachers tend to be highly critical of ourselves and others. Our main focus in rehearsals is often error detection and correction. We fix mistakes, shape musical phrases, and pretty much spend most of our time turning sonic chaos at the first rehearsal into a splendid musical … Continue reading Be Positive: Teaching Kids What they Need To Know Before They Will Learn What You Want To Teach
Arranging and Expressive Intent
When musicians prepare for a performance, there are countless decisions that are made and problems that are solved. Most often, a composer and an arranger have made many artistic decisions, and indicated them in the score. Dynamics, articulation, tempo and who sings or plays what are all mapped out. Though printed music certainly doesn't play … Continue reading Arranging and Expressive Intent
A New School Year: Getting the Little Things Right
Even though I have students every year they are in my PK3-8 building, the start of a new school year is still filled with excitement and anticipation of good things to come. It is a fresh start for students and teachers, and an opportunity to establish good habits for the entire school year. Early in … Continue reading A New School Year: Getting the Little Things Right
Types of Assessment and Their Uses in Music Education
We music educators sometimes have difficulty assessing our students. There are several reasons for this, including large student loads and limited instructional time, but perhaps one of the most important reasons is that assessment is something we don't fully understand. What purpose should be achieved by using assessment? What kinds of assessments are there, and which … Continue reading Types of Assessment and Their Uses in Music Education
The Real Issue Behind Rewarding Students
Motivation results from knowing what you goal is and finding value or enjoyment in meeting that goal. The less value or enjoyment that is found in a goal, the less motivated a person will be to work at achieving the goal. In such instances, in order for the goal to be met, unrelated incentives need … Continue reading The Real Issue Behind Rewarding Students
Creating A Successful Classroom Culture
With all of the emphasis on testing in schools today, teachers are often forced to give too much attention to what is taught, which is what will be tested, and not enough attention to how to teach, and where to teach. By where to teach, I am referring to the learning environment that teachers and students establish in a classroom. … Continue reading Creating A Successful Classroom Culture
Why Music Rehearsals Are Different from Other Learning Experiences
For the typical American student, class time is spent doing things individually or in small groups. Students are used to activities such as watching and listening to a teacher's presentation, reading aloud or silently, doing a writing assignment, math problems, or science experiments. Although everyone in the class is doing something, the class is not … Continue reading Why Music Rehearsals Are Different from Other Learning Experiences
Teaching About Music The Way We Teach Music
For the most part, music rehearsals have three parts that extend over a period of weeks. The first part is learning how the music is supposed to go, the second part is learning to perform the music correctly, correcting errors where they occur and trying to avoid errors during trials, and the third part is performing it correctly repeatedly … Continue reading Teaching About Music The Way We Teach Music
How Fun Does Music Class Have to Be?
If there is one thing that will make or break a lesson, it is how the teacher gets the class started. Any delay in engaging and capturing students focus will result in a slow start from which it is difficult to recover. Ways to do this have been given different names for different generations. Madeline … Continue reading How Fun Does Music Class Have to Be?
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