Chapter 15 questions to consider

Chapter 15 questions to consider

     Turn to p. 559 in Ormrod’s text. Now, imagine that you are meeting with Ingrid’s grandmother today to explain her scores on the recent standardized achievement test pictured at the bottom of p. 559. What will you tell her about Ingrid’s performance? her strengths? her weaknesses? 

 

     If grandmother asks you what she could be doing at home to help strengthen Ingrid’s skills, what will you suggest?

     The first thing that I would explain is the areas in which Ingrid is doing well.  These areas are Reading Comprehension, where she placed in the 92nd percentile, Science, 90th percentile, and Social Studies, 84th percentile.  I would explain that compared to other students, Ingrid is performing well above average in these subject areas. Then I would go on to explain the areas that Ingrid is doing lesser in, such as Spelling, Math Computation, and Math Concepts.  I would explain that these are the areas that Ingrid could use the most improvement.  

     If the grandmother asks what she can do to help at home, I would first insist that if she is reading with Ingrid, or somehow engaging Ingrid in Science in History, to keep up this type of activity, as it is showing excellent results.  I would recommend working with Ingrid on spelling by involving writing and spelling with reading activities, or possibly through word games like Scrabble.  Perhaps ask Ingrid how she thinks an interesting word would be spelled if it is heard in conversation.  Getting Ingrid to write and spell more often will certainly help with spelling in school.  As for Math, it may seem difficult to incorporate math into daily life once the student exceeds basic math in school.  It is best to try to relate the math problems to a real life situation as often as possible.  If Ingrid is just trying to remember how to solve a problem, but does not understand why the problem is solved in this way, it would be very difficult to remember the steps involved in solving the problem.  If it is possible, it would be beneficial to relate the math problems to physical things.  For example, when solving an algebra problem such as 4x+3=23, it could be related that 23 is the total number of apples in a barrel, 3 were already in the barrel, and 4 people added the same number of apples to the barrel, how many apples did each person add?  Instead of thinking "do the opposite of the sign, so minus 3 from both sides, then the opposite of the 4 which is multiplying the x, so I have to divide both sides by 4 and the answer is 5,"  it could be more easily thought of as "23 apples in the barrel, 3 were already there so 20 apples were added by 4 people, that means each person brought 5 apples."  I feel that the barrier between memorizing steps and understanding the process is what keeps most children from being successful at math.  If the grandmother could relate math problems to physical situations, it might help Ingrid understand the math problems, and not just follow a memorized set of steps.

chapter 14 questions to consider

Chapter 14 questions to consider

     Think of a lesson plan from your licensure area (feel free to use the same topic you used for Chapter 6, 9 & 10). Knowing that assessment is an integral part of teaching, explain at least four informal and formal assessments that you will use in your lesson plan to provide you with feedback and involve the students in assessing their own learning.

      Consider norm referenced assessment and criterion referenced assessment. Are there advantages to both? Are their disadvantages?

     In the music world, assessing students can be somewhat difficult.  Formal assessment is difficult, because what is being assessed can vary from teacher to teacher.  The skill levels of players within the ensemble will vary greatly.  Some students will be naturally talented and pick up playing an instrument quickly and easily.  Some will take private lessons, and be grade levels above their peers.  On the other end of the spectrum, some students will not be able to hear the music as well, and will make mistakes and not even notice.  The question is how do you grade these students fairly?  A naturally good musician, who listens to good musicians, will naturally develop a better tone quality than players who don't have the ear for playing their instrument.  It would be unfair to grade a student poorly based on how good of a player they are, so I feel that improvement is a good way to gauge a students grade for the class.  This requires getting to know how each student plays when they begin playing in your ensemble.  At the high school level, it is necessary to keep in touch with the middle school director, and know which students practice regularly, and which students don't play their horn outside of rehearsal.  
     One way of assessing the students formally is through chair auditions.  The students should be notified well ahead of the audition what material will be required for the audition.  Many auditions consist of scales, a prepared piece, and a sight reading piece.  This is a good way to gauge whether the students have prepared and practicing or not.  Any student, whether a good musician or not, can learn their scales with practice, so these are a good way to see basic practice habits.  The prepared piece is an excellent way to gauge a player's musicianship, as this piece is prepared by the student ahead of time, to the best of their ability.  The prepared piece should sound well known to the student, and if the student is playing the prepared piece as if it is the first time they are viewing it, it is obvious that the student is not practicing outside of rehearsals.  The sight reading portion is a good way to see a student's basic understanding of music.  A student who really understands how music is written, will do a good job on the sight reading portion.  Most bands have a chair audition near the beginning of every semester.
     Other ways of formally assessing your students include requiring the students to play pieces of the music for you, written exams covering topics discussed in class, or Smart Music tests.  Smart Music is a software program that allows a player to play an exercise into the computer, and the computer records them so they can listen to themselves, and gives them feedback on notes and rhythms that they may have missed.  Smart Music has most of the common method books included on the software, and many of the popular band pieces can be downloaded.  Smart Music can be used from home, and sent to the director through email.
     Some informal ways to assess students include asking questions and student input during class and moving around the ensemble during rehearsal to listen to individuals.  Asking questions is a good way to keep students focused on the rehearsal, and keep them listening.  Listening is a very important part of band class, and many students do not develop this skill until the college level, because band directors often just tell the students what to fix and adjust and the students just play their music.  If the students are asked to listen to other sections and provide feedback, the students are more likely to listen when they are playing as well.  Getting the students to listen outside of their stand and blend with the rest of the ensemble makes the music improve much more quickly.  When asking questions, it is possible to assess how much the students are truly understanding.  Moving around the rehearsal is also a good idea because individual students can be heard more easily.  Also, if the director stands on the podium the entire rehearsal and calls commands from there, a "barrier" between the director and students forms, and behavior issues can arise, especially from the back of the classroom (low brass and percussion).  If the director moves around the rehearsal area, the students are much more likely to pay attention and remain on task during the rehearsal, as well as the teacher benefiting from listening to individual players. 

     As far as norm and criterion referenced assessments are considered, both have their highlights in certain education areas.  For example, a criterion referenced assessment can work well in subjective areas such as English, Art, or Music.  I believe this because having a criteria to make sure certain aspects are obtained helps prevent bias and opinionated grading.  Though this can never be completely avoided in areas without concrete questions and answers, a criteria can help.  Norm referenced assessment works well in areas with concrete answers, such as Math or Science.  If most students at a certain grade level have a certain comprehension of math skills, a student can be compared and placed as above, at, or below grade level.  A criteria would not work well when grading a math test, being as how no matter the scenario, two more than two is always going to four.  Also, norm based grading is difficult in areas like Art and Music because the levels of talent and skill vary so greatly between students.
      

Chapter 13 Questions to Consider

Chapter 13 Questions to Consider
     How will you create a learning environment that is conducive for learning?

     Now consider your CSEL case study.  Develop a full continuum of responses for dealing with the misbehavior of your case (ignoring through dealing with serious and repetitive infractions).

     I would like to create a learning environment that is conducive for learning in several ways.  First of all, being a future band teacher, the band room needs to be organized and neat.  If the band room is a mess, it is possible that the mess around the room can interfere with rehearsal.  If the percussion area is not neatly organized, then it is likely that percussionists will have difficulty finding auxiliary instruments that are not often used.  Having the percussion area organized avoids the situation of ""Percussion, why is nobody playing the finger cymbal part?"  "We can't find the finger cymbals, we had them last week but now they are gone.""  A moment like this can bring a rehearsal to an immediate standstill.  The instrument storage areas also need to be kept clean and organized.  If the instrument storage areas are messy, it is more likely that an instrument will somehow get damaged or become unplayable in some way, whether someone trips and drops it, or if it just isn't maintained.  Any time a student's instrument spends in the repair shop, is time that the student is not getting any better.

     Also, the types of posters around the room can really add to the learning environment.  I feel that it is good to have posters featuring famous performers and performing groups, to help with the intrinsic motivation mentioned in the last blog post.  Poster and flyers from college bands are also a great idea, as many of the senior band members will be looking forward to playing at the collegiate level, and the more info the director can provide on different colleges, the more informed decision a student can make.  Many of the college band programs will send flyers about their program, including performance and audition dates.

     It is also important to keep a board with current events on it.  This board should include what pieces will be rehearsed during each day's rehearsal.  This not only benefits the students, who can get their music ready before the director tells them what to play and the percussion can get their instruments in position and ready, but also the director, as a layout for the rehearsal.  Often times, a director will get bogged down trying to rehearse one section that isn't as good as it could be, but ends up running out of time before getting to other parts.  Listing the rehearsal order on the board can help this problem and keep rehearsal moving.  Another good idea for the board is to include upcoming events.  If a nearby college or other performing group is putting on a concert, post it so the students can attend.  Many students want to attend concerts when they know they are happening.  Hearing performing groups is a big part of improving musicianship.

     In the band classroom, the rules are usually set in stone at the beginning of the semester through the band handbook.  This is given to students and covers everything the student should know or be required to know for the class.  The band handbook is sent home with the students at the beginning of the school year and is to be signed by student and parent, stating that they understand the rules and consequences of the band program.  The band handbook has been a part of band for as long as band has been a part of school.  All disciplinary acts should be defined and labeled with a consequence, and no exemptions should be made unless stated in the handbook.  This usually only applies to major issues, such as missing a performance.  As far as matters of daily misbehaving, it is difficult to manage with a larger ensemble.  In most circumstances, other band members will tell another band member to stop talking or goofing around, because these band members want to get better and need every member of the band participating.  I find that telling the student to stop talking and pay attention is efficient for most band students, but on occasion more drastic measures must be taken.  From observation in my field experience classes, the director may ask a student who is not paying attention to repeat the last instruction.  During one observation, a student actually got into an argument with the director, to which the director sent the student to his office to calm down.  After class, the student apologized and talked through the issue with the director.  I feel that overall, the action required depends on the student.  Some students just need a glance to straighten up, while some require removal from the rehearsal.  In most circumstances, the students in the band choose to be in band because they enjoy it, and will pay attention because they desire to improve. 

Ch. 11 Questions to consider

Chapter 11 Questions to consider.

     How might you enhance motivation and affect in your students using the theories of motivation? 
     Which theories of motivation are most helpful and instructive for you?

     Motivation is an extremely important part of being a band director.  In order for students to improve on their instruments, they need to practice.  No student will practice if he or she is not motivated to get better.  I find that with my students, intrinsic motivation is the key.  The trick is getting the students to become self-motivated.  I have found that playing recordings of professional players and ensembles, makes the player realize how good someone can be on their instrument, while giving them a goal to reach for.  With music, players usually want to be as good as possible, but many don't know what "good" actually sounds like.  If the best player a student has ever heard is the student they sit next to in rehearsal, they have nothing to reach for, but if the student regularly listens to a professional, then they realize how much work it requires to reach that level.
     Extrinsic motivation can also be used, but is only successful if the student already has the intrinsic motivation to receive the extrinsic motivation.  This may sound confusing at first read, but with explanation it makes perfect sense.  An example of extrinsic motivation in the band world could be making the All State tryouts, or making first chair of their section and getting to play solos.  The reason this only works if the student already has the intrinsic motivation is because a student who is not self-motivated to get better, will not appreciate or feel rewarded for making an All-State group or sitting first chair in their section.  A student who is not self-motivated will most likely not even audition for All-State, nor care that such a thing even exists.  As far as being the first chair player in their section, meaning the top player in their band on their instrument for those reading who were never in band or orchestra, a student who is not already intrinsically motivated may view this role as a burden instead of a reward.  A player desiring to be excellent well feel rewarded when asked to play a solo, whereas an unmotivated player will intimidated.  In this sense, something that is extrinsic motivation, is only so to those who are intrinsically motivated.  I feel that giving the students a specific goal or standard, such as playing recordings of great players, is the best way to get the intrinsic motivation going.
     With regards to theories from the chapter, the Sociocultural theories seem to be most in common with my viewpoint here.  The book states that "many aspects of motivation are the result of social and cultural factors, such as the norms for behavior..." and to me, this relates to the fact that many musicians, once they hear an excellent player, have an idea and goal as to how they should sound when playing.  For example, a trumpet player who listens to recordings of the New York Philharmonic, will hear Phil Smith, the principle trumpet, and think "That is what a trumpet should sound like, so I should try my best to sound like that."  In other cultures, many instruments are played differently, and so the way a student should play is very influenced by where they live and who they listen to.