In order to provide the best possible instruction for our students, we must be informed about what they are experiencing as they go through the learning activities we have planned for them. We must know what difficulties individual students are having, what progress each student is making, and what connections the student is making between … Continue reading Using Student Feedback to Improve Instruction
music literacy
Teaching Musical Phrases
From a perceptual perspective, phrase may be the most important musical element that a music educator teaches. While pitch and rhythm are perhaps the most foundational, and while there can be no phrases without pitch and rhythm, people perceive and understand music aurally in groups of sounds, not from individual notes. Even in instances where … Continue reading Teaching Musical Phrases
Perceiving Expression in Music
The authors of the National Core Arts Standards placed a high premium on expressive intent. It is included in Creating; plan and make, and present, Performing; interpret, Responding; interpret, and in the overriding artistic process on connecting. As I have written elsewhere, expressive intent is problematic in that the listener rarely knows for sure what … Continue reading Perceiving Expression in Music
Depth of Learning in Music Classes
One of the challenges school music teachers face is the wide range of grades many of us teach. It is not uncommon for public school music teachers in the United States to teach every student in a school that serves children from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. Many music teachers teach 500-700 students throughout the course … Continue reading Depth of Learning in Music Classes
Music Teaching and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
When I learned Bloom's taxonomy as an undergraduate, I always thought that the arts were short changed. Sure, there was the affective domain, but it just didn't have the depth to it that the cognitive domain had, and the affective domain was often presented as a sort of afterthought. When the taxonomy was revised, this … Continue reading Music Teaching and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
What Is The Purpose of Concerts?
For most if not all school music programs, the performing of concerts is at the core of what music educators and their students have uppermost on their agendas. Music teachers spend a great deal of time planning and rehearsing concert programs, always with the performance in mind. While (hopefully) plenty of musical concepts are being … Continue reading What Is The Purpose of Concerts?
Musical Fractions That Make Sense
The nomenclature for durations we have (except for those who use the quaver family of names) really is not very useful. Whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, and sixteenth note are the terms by which teachers, both of music and of other subjects, connect music to fraction arithmetic. As far as it goes, … Continue reading Musical Fractions That Make Sense
Rubrics Aren’t What They Used To Be
For music teachers assessing students, rubrics are usually the most effective means. Rubrics can be used to assess pretty much anything. That's good for music teachers, because we assess a host of items in our students' performances, ranging from accuracy, to tone and overall musicianship. Aspects of music making that were once thought to be … Continue reading Rubrics Aren’t What They Used To Be
What Is A Learning Objective?
Let's begin with a brief definition, and then go from there. A learning objective is a statement of what a student will know and be able to do after receiving instruction. It is generally not long term, but stated in terms of what will be accomplished at the end of each class meeting. An objective … Continue reading What Is A Learning Objective?
Assessing Student Learning: How To Get At What Really Matters
Yesterday, I met with my professional learning community (PLC) to write an assessment for an instructional unit we had been working on. The unit is for 3rd grade and is a responding to music unit. We wanted to assess students in the areas of selecting and interpreting music to which they listen. We made our … Continue reading Assessing Student Learning: How To Get At What Really Matters
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