YouTube videos

Final Presentation links:

http://youtu.be/NE07An52HJw
http://youtu.be/OClrOybRbOk

Final Presentation Topic

For my final presention I am going to video tape myself and the first grade class I work in doing our morning calender routine. 

Should teachers be paid based on student performance?

In my opinion, I do not feel that teachers pay should be based on their student’s performance.  I feel this way because there are a number of factors that contribute to reasons why some students perform better than others.  That does not mean that teachers are off the hook when it comes to educating the students.  Educators need to continue asking higher level thinking questions in order to keep their students engaged and challenged, even the students that struggle.  Although I feel that teachers pay should not be affected, it wouldn’t hurt to have some time of monitoring system in place for the teachers who repeatedly have lower test scores.

What makes an effective teacher is someone who is empathetic and understanding.  Being a teacher is not just about testing and teaching core subjects.  It involves being there and forming relationships with your students.  An effective teacher incorporated differentiated learning into their lessons in order to thoroughly educate every student.  They allow their students to question and explore and use their critical thinking skills to problem solve.  Finally, an effective teacher is someone who is there to model life’s lessons when no one else is. 

Teachers Unions and Tenure

Yes, I definitely feel that a reform is needed.  The teaching profession requires that teachers be flexible and knowledgeable when it comes to teaching in the 21^st century.  Unfortunately, many of these out-of-date teachers are not keeping up with the times, and because they are protected by tenure, they are not making an effort to get to know these new advances either.  When the students are showing teachers how to run technology equipment, there is a problem.  The question that should be asked is how are students being taught effectively when they are the ones teaching the teachers?!?

Extra-curricular balance

In order to effectively balance extra-curricular activities with our expectations in the elementary classrooms, there needs to be a precedent set on the importance of doing well academically.  Easier said than done…right?!  Setting up high academic expectations is not something one person can take on alone.  It takes a community of parents, educators, coaches, and administrators.  As a teacher, it is important to support the students with their extra-curricular activities; however, students also need to be held accountable when it comes to putting academics first.  Since many children go out for sports because they enjoy the challenge of the game, it is important to challenge them in the classroom as well.

Introduce Instruments..

Third grade is when children should be introduced to  recorders.  This grade/age would be good because of the specifics of finger placement when playing songs.  Although younger children would also be able to “play” different notes just for fun.  Kindergarten children would be able to perform a steady beat on the xylophone, but because of the eye/hand coordination involved with hitting the correct bars, a child in third grade would be best suited.  Rhythm sticks and cymbals can be introduced in kindergarten and up.  Children could perform steady hits with these sticks and cymbals since they are performing on unpitched instruments.  Lastly, kazoos  should be introduced around the ages of 5-7.  Kazoos will help children work on the pitch as they blow into the instrument. 

Carl Orff

Carl Orff was a German composer as well as an educator.  Orff had a distinct approach to music education.  His philosophy was to encourage all children to experience the different levels of music through their own level of understanding.  Children were able to learn in their natural environment of play.  He sought to educate the whole child through experience, exploration, and experiment.  Orff encouraged creativity through the student’s responses to rhythm, melody, and improvisation.  His approach could easily be carried over into the classroom where students could continuously grow through their personal, individual learning needs. 

Sequential learning

Sequential learning is important because it breaks down the information step-by-step.  This process allows learners to take a chunk of information in at a time and process it.  Many times, too much information is given to students all at once and causes confusion.  This leads students to miss certain steps, and therefore the learning becomes disrupted.  Sequential learning better equips students to become effective learners.    

            With rote learning, students process information by repeating something over and over again in order to memorize the information.  This information is kept in your short-term memory and is often difficult to retain at a later date. The process in which rote learning is taught is to provide example-model.  Go line by line, using non-verbal indicative gestures with a steady beat.  Next, break it down.  Then, chunk it down.  Finally, continue to chunk through the entire selection.    

Educational philosophy

My educational philosophy is obviously a work-in-progress as I continue to gain experience in the field of education. It is my goal to have each and every one of my students succeed academically, emotionally and socially all the while meeting national education standards.  I will encourage and empower my students to always do their best with whatever task is assigned, by expressing to them daily that I believe in them.  I will provide a safe, supportive work environment that fosters the development of learning.  I will remain open-minded and flexible in times when the schedule does not go as planned.  Since each student is unique we will celebrate that diversity among us and not ignore it.  Academically, each lesson requires a foundation to begin with; however I will also incorporate many lessons that will call for higher level thinking so that my students will continuously be challenged.  Above all teaching is more than just a job; it is a way of life.  My students will be taught expectations and be expected to act and treat others in that manner.  I will do my best to continuously be a good role-model for my students.  By following my teaching philosophy and the district’s standards, my students will become well-rounded, educated citizens.

Music Therapy

Music therapy is a great asset to those students who struggle with communicating with others.  Not only is it beneficial to students but it is also fun.  Music therapy is often used to foster the development of communication, motor, cognitive, and social abilities in students with special needs. Some of the social benefits are decreased agitation, improved behavior, increased attention, and increased socialization.  By incorporating early interventions to children, reading and literacy skills have improved word recognition, logo identification, print concepts, and pre-writing skills.  Music therapy has improved problem solving social skills in children as young as kindergarteners. 

Special Education today in America

Special Education in America today is a great resource for students with exceptionalities.  This program allows struggling students the opportunity to stay on track with their classroom peers through smaller group interventions.  Personally, I feel that inclusion is a way to give some of these students more individualized attention.  Special education teachers need to be supported and properly trained to make inclusion time effective.  I also feel that removing students from the classroom may seem daunting to some teachers who may want to continue with their lesson, but overall the reason people go into education is to make sure that each and every child that comes through their door, leaves feeling successful and with a sense of belonging.  No matter where or by whom they received their instruction from.  In contrast, some students get put into this program, but not for the right reasons.  Some students struggle when it comes to focusing or motivation.  They truly do not have a learning disability, but the teacher does not always know how to get through to the student.

 As far as educators teaching to differentiated learners, I don’t always feel that happens.  Overall, I believe each teacher has good intentions, it just that many times teachers can get in such a rush with having to teach this and then test that.  Teaching to each student’s learning ability gets pushed to the side.  A huge part of differentiated lessons consist of the teacher being reflective and rechecking on how they could of done something different or going about it another way.  Teaching to each differentiated learner in the classroom is the challenge for every educator.  However, I do feel that an educator could have fun with this task also.  The teacher would always be looking into how he/she could break the lessons apart or how to make it more interesting to the students.  Differentiating instructions would keep the teacher and the students actively engaged.

Compare Bloom's Taxonomy with the Nine National Music Standards

Bloom’s Taxonomy includes the following characteristics: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Creating, and Evaluating.  These concepts are also incorporated into the National Standards for Music Education.  The first standard is singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. This standard requires both remembering (words, melody), and also an understanding of the music.  The second standard is performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. Remembering, understanding, and applying are evident in this standard because students are able to take previously learned knowledge and apply that in knowledge in music.  Creating, which is a higher level thinking skill is expressed into the third standard of improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.  The higher level thinking skill of creating is again used for standard four in composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.  Standard five of reading and notating music incorporates an understanding and applying of what they know.  The sixth standard is listening to, analyzing, and describing music.  This standard applies to Bloom’s higher taxonomy level of Analyzing.  Evaluating music and music performances which is the seventh standard expresses higher level thinking of evaluating.  Standard eight is understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.  This standard incorporates the beginning stages of Bloom’s, but travels up to higher level thinking of evaluating.  Finally, the ninth standard of understanding music in relation to history and culture encompasses higher level thinking in analyzing and also understanding.  Most of these standards require a base to begin with as students are learning.  However, incorporating higher levels of thinking will continue to challenge students and elevate their level of knowledge.

NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR MUSIC EDUCATION

Content Standard: 1: Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music

Content Standard: 2: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Content Standard: 3: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
Content Standard: 4: Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
Content Standard: 5: Reading and notating music
Content Standard: 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Content Standard: 7: Evaluating music and music performances
Content Standard: 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
Content Standard: 9: Understanding music in relation to history and culture

ASSERTION #1

For teachers to help students meet the requirements of the Standards successfully, four things must happen in and for teachers:
(1) They should themselves be competent exemplars of the context and skills they are teaching.  At a minimum, teachers ought to be able to meet the K-12 National Standards.
(2) They should be able to teach from the base of their own knowledge and skills, not merely model or present prefabricated lessons.
(3) They should be able to lead, in the sense of being able to provide content-based guidance to the uninitiated, the beginner, and the advanced student.
(4) They should be able to learn and develop on their own in the primary disciplinary fields associated with their work.

QUESTIONS FOR DECISION MAKERS

§ Are the mission and goals of our undergraduate teacher preparation programs consistent with the aspirations for K-12 achievement inherent in the Standards?

§  How is each competency expressed in the Standards addressed within and across the components of our teacher preparation curriculum for each arts discipline?

§  Is curricular time and weight allocated to courses in the specific arts discipline, general studies, and professional education adequate to achieve the requisite artistic, intellectual, and pedagogical competencies?

§   What expectations do we have for developing competence and capacity for artistic educational leadership in the classroom, with various types of groups, and in the community at large?

§   How should our programs promote, by requirement and example, the “habits of mind”necessary for performance and growth of a teacher?

Response

  Overall, I feel this article touches on how teachers need to be familiar with the content that they teach.  They should be confident with the material and how to execute each lesson.  Teachers should use the textbooks as resources, and not as the curriculum.  They should have teachable moments that consist of skewing off the lesson plan so that each student has a clear understanding of a concept.  Each teacher should be confident in the lessons they are instructing and show ownership over each task.

Wednesday's Terms...

Cognitive learning – is demonstrated by knowledge recall and the intellectual skills: comprehending information, organizing ideas, analyzing and synthesizing.

Cooperative learning – is an approach to organizing classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences.

Eurhythmics – the interpretation in harmonious bodily movements of the rhythm of musical compositions; used to teach musical understanding.

Multiple Intelligence Theory – this theory was developed by Howard Gardner in 1983.  The nine intelligences are verbal-linguistic (word smart), math-logic (number smart), spatial (picture smart), bodily-kinesthetic (body smart), musical (music smart), interpersonal (people smart), intrapersonal (self smart), naturalist (nature smart), and newly added existential (spirit smart). The theory states that individuals differ in the strengths of their intelligences.  By knowing this, educators are able to teach each student better.

Rote learning – a memorization technique based on repetition.

Think-pair-share – a cooperative discussion strategy in which the teacher gives the students a question or topic. The students think about it on their own for a few moments, then form pairs and discuss their individual thoughts. Finally, each pair shares their insights with the rest of the class.

Checking for understanding – process to monitor learning to make sure students possess the skill or information before moving on to a new concept.

Monday's YouTube Video...

The information in this YouTube video is relevant in an elementary classroom because it reminds us that everyone uses music as a way to express themselves.  It can serve as an outlet for young children who are not able to communicate verbally.  Even parents, who cannot carry a tune, will often sing lullabies to their babies. 

Another point to remember in an elementary classroom is that when children are able to put a concept in lyrics, this helps to embed the information into their memory.  Often time’s children are introduced to music at young ages.  Because of this, these children find singing fun and learn to make it their own by making up their own tunes or words. 

Music helps pass down culture and identity to each student in the classroom.  It enables us to get a sense of who we really are.  This video helped me to understand just how big of a communication factor music can be in the lives of children. 

Monday's Assignment and Questions...

What do I know about music?  Music has been very important in my life. When my two children were babies, I would play soothing music to help calm them.  I know that the right song can turn any day around.  When I am cleaning or working out, music helps to keep me motivated.  Music can mean many different things to different people.  Some of the things I would like to learn more about would be how to motivate students to appreciate all genres of music.  Another concept I would like to learn in this class would be how to incorporate music into my lesson plans.

How do you use music in YOUR life?

Throughout high school, I participated in chorus so music has always been something I have enjoyed.  I often listen to music while I am driving and also at home when I clean.  It has also been a way that my children and I bond. We can talk about new music they are listening to and we attend concerts together.

What musical activities and interests did you have as a child?

During my upper elementary years and into high school, I played the clarinet in band.  I was also active in girl’s glee, swing choir, and musicals.  I loved to listen to the radio and buy new CD’s.

Have you observed children at musical play?

I work in a first grade classroom; so many times the teacher I work with will have the students recite songs to help them remember math facts, states, money, etc. 

Are there some musical skills you are able to teach to children more easily than others?

At the first grade level, I have noticed that many students are able to sing along with a tune.  However, some students greatly struggle when it comes to keeping a beat.

What do you think that all children should be able to do, musically, as a result of a MUSICAL education?

As a result of a musical education, I believe that most children should be able to keep a beat and be able to harmonize with one another.  In older elementary grades, students should begin reading musical notes and know how much time each note and rests receives.  Students should also have frequent exposure to all genres of music including classical.  Students should be introduced to the many types of musical instruments. 

Have you ever observed a teacher integrating music into the classroom? Cite examples.

Yes, as I stated above, the first grade teacher does many activities that involve the use of music.  After a long lesson, the teacher may bring up a YouTube video and let the students sing and dance along to the video.  The students always enjoy this time.  She also incorporates music into calendar time for counting out the days of the week and the months of the year.  Our PE teacher uses Just Dance for classes where the kids can sing and dance.  Our third grade teacher uses songs to teach the students state capitals, math facts, and other concepts.

How do you think music can be integrated into the elementary classroom?

Music can be integrated into elementary classrooms by using it as an extension for the core subjects such as language arts, science, math, and social studies.  When students are able to put facts into a song, it helps to enhance their understanding.  I still remember state capitals from a song I was taught in fourth grade.  Music is a common thread among most students.  If I can tap into their interests, I will have motivated and engaged learners. 

How do you think music can be used as an interdisciplinary tool in the elementary classroom?

Music can be used as an interdisciplinary tool as background music during transition time or quiet working time.  Playing soothing music during these times can be comforting to the students.