Zargablog

In an elementary music classroom, we do not have to give grades other than S for satisfactory, N for needs improvement, and I for incomplete.  How do we grade/assess in music?

Elementary music has elements of play in it therefore using informal assessment for group participation is a consideration.  We open class with a simple game to set the tone of the class but also to provide an entry point to the lesson.  Perhaps we are rehearsing a body movement or practicing setting the pulse or rhythm.   Watching students for the rehearsal of particular skills is a formative assessment and can help the teacher figure out how much background might be needed to teach the lesson.  Students are sometimes more reserved or embarrassed to participate in the game or activity.  The teacher needs to identify the lack of participation as

Each grading term, I can look at what the county curriculum guides recommend that each music student should be learning.  Again, it is helpful to do some formative assessment first.  I would build my plans based on basic musicianship skills:  pulse, beat, matching pitches.  As the year goes on, I can help students develop their skills and add more to their skills set.

Some of the assessments I can use in music are not just about performance.  For example, I can teach students to write down rhythms they hear.  I can play a rhythm and ask them to write it down.  I can also show them a rhythm and they can tell me what that rhythm says.

When the students are putting together a song, I can create a rubric of the things I am looking for when they perform.  In fact, I have often had the kids brainstorm before we get started so they know what expectations they also have.  Sometimes they do not realize that they think something should go easily or that they are working on different parts.  Having them understand their own expectations and mine helps.

In terms of individual grading, I list several basic musicianship skills that will be graded during each term.  Each student has a notebook or portfolio with rubrics for the skills.  They also keep written work in there.  This serves as a place to track their work and their skills.  At any time a parent, teacher, or administrator can look at this notebook to see how a student is doing.

I can also put our daily, weekly, monthly objectives on a bulletin board (required in PWC schools).  On my classroom web page, I can post the objectives, rubrics, and recordings of the various classes.  Parents, students, teachers, and administrators will have access to this information.

While music naturally lends itself to performance and authentic testing, I think the path to the performance is more important, particularly in elementary music.  Throughout the year, there will be opportunities for public performance.  The grading of such a performance is pass/fail:  You showed up and did it.  The performance should be the celebration of the students’ hard work.  It is the practicing of the skills and rehearsing where the assessment belongs.  If we (the class) do our job well in the practicing, then the performance should not seem like a test.

As students become proficient in their skills and perhaps take on learning an instrument, they will face more real-life assessments:  auditions to gain entrance into elite programs, specialty groups, camps, or programs.  I do not believe that testing very young students in this manner is necessary- especially since mastery of music can take years.  In contrast, for example, middle school band students can audition for district band auditions.  They are asked to play two (of 9) scales, one chromatic scale over the range of their instrument, a piece they have time to prepare (everyone gets the same piece) and a piece of music that they must sight read (never been seen before).  Assessments in school can reflect this experience and use similar elements that help prepare students for these types of auditions.

Some theory or historical information can be tested through the use of a written test or quiz as we use in objective testing.  Students could fill in blanks or they can take multiple choice tests.

I will also add that PWC schools are moving to something called Baldrige.  At the beginning of the year, students must figure out what they consider to be a Quality student/musician.  These attributes are posted.  I would use their own ideas as part of what they are graded on.  If my classes feel that a Quality student/musician is sharing, takes care of equipment, or listens to directions, then we can agree that these things are important enough to be considered part of our behavior element of our grading.

How would you differentiate instruction for these very different students?

Our classrooms in PWC are inclusive and therefore, teachers must accommodate all learners. I really like the INCLUDE strategy found on page 480.

Identify the environmental, curricular, and instructional demands
Note the students’ learning strengths and needs.
Check for potential areas of student success.
Look for potential problem areas.
Use information gathered to brainstorm instructional adaptations.
Decide which adaptations to try.
Evaluate student progress.

I would also ask other teachers who may have had a history with some of these students about what strategies may have been successful with some of the students, especially for those students who have no IEP. Students with IEP will already have several strategies in place.

As a music specialist, I would expect that the regular classroom teachers would share information with me as necessary, especially since I won’t see the students but once on a rotation.

I would keep my expectations for everyone in the class as high as I could appropriately. I would also try to make sure everyone felt included. I would also try to listen to what my students tell me.

Do different philosophies of teaching provide different answers to this question?

I would imagine that a student-centered approach of constructivism would be very good with differentiation in a classroom. Since assessments are ongoing, the teacher can see if the strategies are working and can make whatever adjustments necessary.

Ultimately, no matter what philosophy one has, a good teacher will be working toward educating all students. The paths may look different but the outcome should be that all students are learning.

How will you grade work if you have successfully differentiated instruction?
I would hopefully have several things to base grades on: portfolios, tests, class participation, and in-class work. I would offer several forms of assessment because some students might be able to show me what they know in various ways. I would also like to think that I could grade on an individual’s progress but in this age of constant standardized testing, I am concerned that such assessment would be shadowed by test scores.
I know this question deals with something out of my content area so I’d like to address some of what I’ve done. As an elementary music specialist, I get to see all the kids. Sometimes in assessing their knowledge of rhythm, I would do group activities. It provided a safe environment where no one was singled out. But when I needed to assess on an individual basis, I took the last 10 minutes of class to allow the students to write rhythms down. I would go child to child and ask them to tell me what they were writing. I was able to really see if they understood. At that point, it was easy to remediate for that student. I’d break down the rhythm components for them and build it back up.
If I were a music teacher in secondary schools, there is a natural sorting that occurs, whether or not it is “fair.” Nearly all students could be part of a beginning instrumental music program. But after a couple of years, students are sorted into levels. They must audition and pass the class requirements to be a member of the group. It becomes more exclusive. Years ago, I had a private flute student who was identified as GT but she had a lot of trouble learning music in the traditional ways we teach it. She understood the theory of music but could not put it in practice when playing her scales. It was evident that her muscle memory and the patterns her fingers needed to know just wasn’t there. She could reconstruct anything as far as telling me what was supposed to happen, but demonstrating it was another problem. I’d found out that while she was gifted, she had some developmental delays that would sometimes show up in strange places. So as far as music was concerned, her band teacher had to grade her on the performance of the scales and because she had no IEP, performance was the sole objective. I worked with this girl every lesson day to help her establish finger patterns. It literally took her 3 years but she finally did master them. I always thought the band teacher could have provided this student with a written assessment but after a certain point, band in high school is a performance class. Incidentally, this student is a lawyer now and was interviewed by Princeton, William and Mary, and UVA as a senior. She went to UVA.

http://voicethread.com/share/757968/

In Prince William County, we use Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. http://www.olweus.org/public/index.page

We are trained to remember to S.T.O.P.

S- Stand close to the victim
T- Tell the bully about the behavior
O- Offer ideas to he bystanders
P- Plan follow-up action

Schools have administrators who can be brought in to help a situation. Teachers are reminded that doing nothing about a situation tacitly implies that bullying is OK. Some detail about the program can be found here: http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/ncrj/Assets/Adobe_Acrobat_Files/bullying_fact_sheet.pdf

a) How do you handle the situation? First, I talk to the victim. I will get information from him/her and do what I can to make this person feel safe: try giving them coping skills, talk to their parents, etc… According to Woolfolk (p. 442), jointly defining the conflict, reversing perspectives, invent agreements will help. Ideally preventing bullying in the first place is what we want to do. But if the situation is already too far gone, then addressing each person and helping them find a solution is important.

b) Who should be involved? The victim, the bully/bullies, parents of all children involved, and other teachers who need to be the “eyes” and “ears” in the hallways and in other classrooms.

c) What would you do about the verbal homophobic insults? I would first talk to the victim. Then I would ask the teacher of the bullies to address the issue. Ideally, we should be working together to provide a safe environment for our children. We should be sure that we model the appropriate behavior as well.

d) What would you do if the bullies were in your classes? If they were in my class, I would discuss it with them. I would define the behavior and tell them why it is not appropriate. I would ask them to reflect on the situation and find a solution. They would also have to apologize to the victim as well.

e) What would you do if the bullies and victim were girls? I do not think I would do anything different.

This is where my climate assignment is found:

http://www.slideshare.net/LisaZargarpur/the-music-exploratorium

Web site evaluation

It is evident that simply looking at a site just for the name of the site or going through a list of sites one may find in a search will not necessarily help students or teachers find quality sites.  In looking at the three Martin Luther King Jr. examples, my assumption of what I should find in the first was completely wrong.   The suffix .org is not a guarantee that the site is authentically educational, correct, or even legitimate.  Second, just using some of the tools for evaluation leave the first site lacking in authenticity, reliability, and objectivity.

The second site clearly intends on using King’s legacy to do more work and more importantly, sell books, tapes, and DVD’s.  It may contain very good information about King, but it is developing workshops and leadership conferences.

The third site is the best of the three for students and teachers to look for information about King’s life, his writings and speeches, and commentary from his contemporaries.  Lesson plans are available.  It appears that the articles are written form authorities who knew King or people who have studied him and his legacy.  The information’s reliability is documented and referenced throughout the site.  Much of what is archived on this site is King’s own words.

The site I plan on using with my music students is http://listeningadventures.carnegiehall.org/ypgto/index.aspx

It is an adventure about musical instruments based on Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.  The web site provides an overview of the entire orchestra with all of the instruments.  Information provided includes instrument families (why they are grouped in the family to begin with), how the instruments are played, their range, how they fit in the family, and how those instruments play together.  Then the students can go through the adventure and see if the knowledge they have is enough to help them find all the clues and make their way through the adventure.   Along the way, they can reference the ‘manual’ to help them make educated guesses.  The musical examples are from Britten’s work.

Web site evaluations can help students learn how to test the veracity of a site.   Giving students the scaffolding to learn this evaluation process will ultimately help them take charge of their own learning.

a) How would you arouse student curiosity and interest about the topics and tasks in the workbooks?

My first idea is to take the objectives out of the workbooks and have the students begin to create their own workbooks. Given no budget for décor, posters, etc…, I would find ways for students to create their own posters for the classroom. As they begin work, we might establish some kind of framework for where the class seems to be, either using a mind map or perhaps KWL. I’d explain that it is important to know what we don’t know so we have a good idea of where we are headed.

b) How would you establish the value of learning this material?
I believe that the students should be responsible for creating a product for themselves and for the class. I would emphasize the path or journey to knowledge itself, rather than specific performance goals. (In yoga there is a saying: It is a yoga practice, nota yoga perfect).

c) How would you handle the difficulty level of the texts?

This sounds like a place to work on mastery goals. I might have students work in groups together and help each other sort out the information and what it might mean. They could form a classroom corporation and rewrite the different parts of the book, make posters, presentations, and write their own exams or create portfolios.

d) What do you need to know about motivation to solve these problems? Understanding that there are intrinsic and extrinsic motivators is important. Understanding how the attribution theory works in people: understand the locus, stability, and controllability. (Woolfolk, 389).

e) What do you need to know about your students in order to motivate them? I would want to know their interests and hobbies. There may be a way to tie in what they like to already do into our lessons. They could take ownership of their learning process in meaningful ways.

Research indicates that teachers typically have a high sense of efficacy as they work through their teacher training programs, but that their self-efficacy for teaching decreases the first couple of years in the classroom before climbing back up.

Why is that?

This happens when they have fewer models in front of them or they have found that perhaps not all problems are so easily “solvable” and may experience some discouragement over that.

- Given what you now know about the sources of self-efficacy (mastery, vicarious, social persuasion, physiological/affective states), what can you do now to better prepare yourself for the classroom experience?

I can make sure I have peer models to talk to and reflect with. I can write down my successes and review them. I can also save student work that shows the success of my lessons. I can also make sure I take workshops that may renew my interest in an area or may help me learn new teaching strategies.

- What would a highly efficacious teacher look like?

One who is excited about their content area, who is willing to try alternative ideas to reach students, one who feels comfortable talking with peers for ideas and help sorting out how things go, and one who possibly has the support of someone for a little ‘lift’ when they feel less self-efficacy.

- How would they interact with students? Parents? School administration?

The teacher might emphasize encouragement and help students break down large tasks into smaller ones. They can model and find peer models but also provide rubrics and strategies for students to help them self-regulate. The teachers can also provide parents with specific examples of other work to show parents. They can talk to parents about modeling what they want or expect from their children. In the school in general, teachers can build good relationships between teachers, appreciate diversity within a school, and communicate effectively.

1.a. Ms. Rinaldi is effectively using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory. She prepares the classroom for the students so that they can clearly see what materials they need and she makes sure that there are enough for all the children. She draws in their attention by explaining that there will be a prize for the child who does the best job on the activity she has planned. She is enthusiastic in her presentation and has all the materials set up for the activity. She models the steps for the project, tells them the exact expectations for the project (so that they know how to tell if they’ve done their best work), and she has made a reminder of the steps on cards for the kids to see in case they cannot remember the steps. She also uses a student to model the steps showing vicarious experience. Ms. Rinaldi has provided herself as a model, a child as a model, and a card for the students to refer to.
b. “Seeing and hearing are also forms of observation.” (Woolfolk, 353-354). When the students watched a video, Ms. Rinaldi was providing a form of symbolic modeling. However, students respond to their peers very well and if she were to ask a student to model a particular behavior, finger over the lip for example, it may be a more effective lesson. Symbolic models can be a good way to introduce something to a group of students.
c. Reinforcers will help students connect positive behavior and positive rewards or consequences. (Woolfolk, 354). It is consistent with social cognitive theory because it is part of social persuasion.
d. Ms. Rinaldi works very hard to help develop self -efficacy in her students. She provides opportunity for social persuasion (by noticing when a student made a ‘good choice’) and vicarious experiences (watching peers go through steps). This is important because people need to have the ability to learn where it can be self-initiated and self-regulated. (Woolfolk, 357).
e. One student has trouble because she feels like she is bad at cutting and gluing. Ms. Renaldi has the girl ask herself some questions as she goes through the steps. Later the same girl models respectful behavior and Ms. Renaldi notices it. This self-regulatory suggestion helps the student complete the task. Also, the students remember where to place their completed work based on what they did the day before.
2. a. Ms. Renaldi uses modeling, vicarious experiences, and social persuasion to help the students work. She seems effective in helping the students complete their work and do it according to her instructions.
b. Mastery experience build on past success or failure. A teacher can ask students to remember a time when they experienced a particular success. Students can be reminded about how that felt, how it worked, etc… Vicarious models work when a student sees a peer accomplishing a task. Teachers can ask a peer to be an example. In my music class, I used this to demonstrate a dance. It worked well with the 5th graders to see a peer do the dance with me first. Social persuasion is a message from others. It could be in form of a pep talk. Teachers can encourage students with praise or supportive comments.
3. a. Ms. Renaldi gains student attention by being excited about the task and informing them that the best student will receive a reward for the best work. The children are all engaged and interested in the activity.
b. Ms. Renaldi explains, shows, and also put a visual representation on cards for the kids to follow directions.
Executive Control
Sensory memory→ working memory→long-term memory
c. Long-term memory uses explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) memory. In those systems, many images are stored. Teachers can make sure that students have various visual representations to help memory as well as get ample time to practice using the new information.
d. Ms. Renaldi helps students who forget by showing them the cards she made of the steps and by giving the students phrases to help remind them of those steps. She can provide mnemonics to help students remember. Mnemonics are useful because the picture or the phrase a student chooses can help them remember more information’s behind the word.
4. a. According to Piaget, the children are in the preoperational stage. The children are using signs and symbols to help them remember the steps to complete the assignment.
b. Since the children are young, some of the teaching that Ms. Rinaldi does comes out of Piaget’s theory. She gives the instructions in words and also demonstrates it to them. She also created some visual aids to help them on their own at their tables.
c. Ms. Rinaldi uses scaffolding by guiding students when they need the help. She reminds students of what the steps are in the project. She also encourages one student to self-talk through the activity. These are effective with the children because it helps them finish their task on their own.

In the TV show, Royal Pains, the doctor, Hank Lawson finds himself the concierge doctor of the rich in the Hamptons.  He makes house calls to his rich clients but also helps anyone in need of assistance.  The premise of the medical issues in this program is that a rich client, seeking privacy, calls Dr. Lawson who comes immediately and evaluates the problem.  Hank shows his expertise by evaluating the ailment/condition and talking to the patient or his PA about it.  He outlines the potential problems, what tests are necessarily, what steps should be taken, and how he will do these things.  When met with a roadblock, he usually thinks through the situation and applies solutions based on sound medical practice and best options in the given situation.  He also maintains a code of ethics and when faced with conflicts in it, do his best to map it out to find a solution.

Teachers can do many things to create effective learning environments.  They can provide students with complex learning tasks.  Instead of rote teaching or present students with ‘skill drills,’ they should use the world outside school as a model for how to solve problems.  Teachers can help students find solutions to problems where they may need to figure out how to solve bigger problems by breaking them down into smaller parts.  They can help students with finding resources and how to use them. (Woolfolk, 315).

Teachers can help students in collaboration efforts and help students consider different perspectives.  Students also benefit from revisiting material.  As younger students, they can be introduced to the material.  As they grow they can look at these ideas again and delve more deeply into them.   (Woolfolk, 315).

Teachers can also help their students by making students responsible for their learning.  The teacher, as a model, can help students through coaching and providing feedback.  They can help students reflect on their own learning and encourage students to explore new ways to apply their knowledge.

Like Dr. Hank, teachers can look at each situation and assess how they can use those moments.  Are students getting stuck on part of the process?  Can the teacher see what that part is and help guide students out of that?  Can the teacher facilitate discussion and help student express and explore ideas more meaningfully?

Dr. Hank usually finds a simple, elegant solution to the problems he faces.  For him, there are moments of reflection after the crisis is over (goes over the coulda, woulda, shouldas).  Teachers also can reflect in the moment and after as well and they can encourage students to reflect as well.