Last weekend I attended a music education conference in Winnipeg. One of the presenters at this conference was Dr. G. Foote. I attended two of his sessions and came away with a lot of applicable information. During his one session on the rhythm section he discussed an application called Drum School. This app is seemingly the perfect tool to help students learn the drums. Drum School is a database of different grooves, practice techniques and exercises, instructional videos on various beats and techniques, and it only costs $5.99!! Drum School allows students to learn how to play the drums through both recordings and notation. When learning individual grooves the app allows you to isolate the different limbs, add a bassline, and even control the tempo that the recordings are being played at. This was one of the tools that Dr. Foote had explained in order to get all of us attending the session to learn how to teach the rhythm section instruments as well as learn how to play them.
On the way back home from the conference my car pool stopped by a music store to pick up an instrument that had been in for repair. I began to talk to one of the men who was working at the store about playing a rhythm section instrument. He told me about this wicked deal that they had on for basses and I almost took him up on the offer. The only thing that kept me from buying the bass was the fact that I knew that it would be an impulsive buy based on what I had heard from Dr. Foote earlier that day. So I ended up going home with no new bass but simply with a desire to one day pick up the bass if for no other reason than to be able to play on the weekly worship team.
After having a couple days between the present and this conference, I am wondering if I made the right decision in not taking that deal on the bass. I have made it a rule that if anything costs a significant amount of money, or if there is a large decision to be made in my life, that I must sleep on it for at least one night before making the decision. In the past this rule has always proven beneficial, however, since this experience I have began wondering if this mentality will one day hinder me. If one day I will be faced with a decision that may seem as though it is not urgent but then ends up being exactly that. I haven't arrived at an answer on that one just yet. For the time being, I am quite happy with my reflective and contemplative approach to important decisions but this experience has brought a little bit of suspicion into my thoughts. This is the beginning of a lesson for sure but I haven't quite yet arrived at a conclusion yet.
Lesson for this week: Drum School is a really cool application and I should take up a rhythm section instrument.
On my way home from school today I accidentally dropped my back pack on my driveway when pulling it out of the car. I initially had no concern for the bag's well-being as this was not the first time that this has happened. However, my panic level suddenly spiked as soon as I remembered that my computer was in my backpack!! So I scooped up my bag and rushed into my house to make sure that my computer was alright after its tumble. Luckily it was.
For that period of time between realizing that my computer was in my bag to being able to check the state the my computer, I was imagining pulling out two halves of my used-to-be computer. My mind then raced to all of those assignments that I had started, those files that I had saved, and especially the notes that I had taken to help me on my midterm and I worried about my inability to access these files. Although my computer turned out fine I realized how it was necessary to be able to access my files from different computers.
The fabled excuse of a dog eating one's homework may be replaced by a simple excuse about how one dropped their computer on the ground. This made me realize that I need to really use file sharing applications like Dropbox, Google Drive, or even a website. Even with my students I should use this type of technology. These file sharing applications could allow me access to each student's project and I can see how much they have done on any given assignment at any point in time. This may give me some great feedback as to how my students are thinking and how I can help guide their thinking better. Plus, by using file sharing applications we can keep files from years ago and pull them up on any computer (old, new, home, or school). These applications would not only limit excuses of not finishing homework but they could increase class-time efficiency by helping out with the summative assessment during, and between, classes.
Even though I was fine this time I really would have been out of luck had my computer been damaged. Not only would I be unable to afford a new one but I would have to rebuild any resources that I had started to accumulate, restart any projects that I had done work on, and lose notes on discussions that I probably will not have the privilege of having ever again.
Lesson for the week: Take preventative measures in protecting important files because you never know when something unexpected might happen. Also, make assignments accessible from multiple computers.
Over the past two months I have really been thinking about the different ways that students learn. I have even had the great experience of being a middle years band clinician for students who are learning how to play their first instrument. These clinics gave me the opportunity to try a number of different techniques with students to see what makes and keeps students engaged, to learn how to develop a friendly and respectful atmosphere, to learn how to adapt very quickly to different class dynamics, to evaluate and understand what the needs of the students are, and countless other things. I had two goals in these clinics: 1) to meet the standard that had been set by the music teacher who had hired us clinicians and 2) to teach concepts and songs in an aural, visual, and kinesthetic way. My second goal was initiated to test a hypothesis that I had developed myself- I really don't believe that students have a specific learning type in which they learn best in. I most certainly think that by using all of the different learning styles any student will better understand the content simply because they will be able to relate to the content on a higher level or in a different way.
I recently saw a video clip about a school that had incorporated the arts into every class. In this clip there was a lot of advocating for the use of the arts in our classrooms. By incorporating the arts in the program this school had lowered its dropout rate, raised the literacy and numeracy of the students, improved their special education program, and made the teachers happier to teach tin the school. Yes, I agree the arts are great. However, I truly believe that the increase in the effectiveness of this school's education is simply because the teachers began to engage students by providing the students with more channels that they can relate to the course content through. In the video, when John Ceschini says, "[the arts] give us ways to engage kids, to get them involved, to have them be a part of what we want them to be a part of, which is learning the curriculum." he is sharing a dream of finding a way to reach all kids no matter what the circumstance are. The arts were able to provide many more channels for these students and this is why I believe that the arts belong in non-arts classes- they give an opportunity for students to engage in a wide range of ways.
Here is the referenced video
It's interesting that we don't usually see things the other way around though. I have heard very little about incorporating the sciences (or non-arts) in arts classes. I would like to think that this vice versa scenario would actually allow for more channels of relating to the subject material for students. Take for example the idea of using jumping jacks, jogging, or walking to teach a sense of pulse or implementing physical concepts to better understand why fingerings are the way they are and how instruments sound higher and lower although they play on the same clef- these things and many more allow for a better understanding of band instruments and musical concepts. Too often we overlook tools that can be used to help us reach that one student who is having a difficult time relating to the content. Even by just incorporating some kind of recording/mixing/arranging project you can engage more students and activate their learning.
In the end, the clinics that I had done seemed to be in agreement with the beliefs that I had beforehand. I tried to meet the visual, aural, and kinesthetic needs of the students and, although I didn't have the most innovative and effective ideas to try this, this idea seemed to help students relate to the material better. By breaking up the clinic into a cycle of smaller sections that included 5 minutes of visual, then 15 minutes aural and discussion-based, and then 10 minutes kinesthetic, the students seemed more engaged than I think they might have become with a single style of teaching. Some students were even able to put together a few deeper concepts on their own by relating the different areas that we were touching on.
Lesson for the week: We have to give students as many ways to relate to course material as possible whether this be through arts in the sciences or sciences in the arts we must make the effort to reach every student in as many ways as we are able to.
"We got to find a way to reach all kids, every kid no matter what. And the arts do that, they give us ways to engage kids, to get them involved, to have them be a part of what we want them to be a part of, which is learning the curriculum."
When I started this blog I said that I was striving to become one who was a contributor to the internet and not just a consumer. Yesterday I finally felt like I contributed something to the internet- I posted my first two YouTube videos. Honestly, YouTube has been this final frontier for me. I think of YouTube as the New York of the modern day- If you wanted to make a name for yourself, New York is where you went. I personally don't think that these videos will net that many views in their lifetime but I just enjoy the fact that I have now become a part of this collaborative community of YouTube. A world in which every video is a window into somebody's life and that they are proud of what they are doing. There's something really cool about finally being a member of that community.
The videos that I posted are a couple conducting practicums that happened this past week. Neither one of them particularly exceptional but I thought that I had to start somewhere. Looking back at all of the old episodes of the YouTube channels that I follow I notice that many of their early videos were less produced and usually at a lower quality of a video. However, if they never started they would have never produced some of the great videos that we have today. These people wanted to do something and went out and did it- conquered challenges that they were sure to have faced.
In whatever way you view YouTube this principle of exploring something that interests you is a great thing to do and an awesome trait to develop in your students. The truth is that not very many of us are truly great when we first start doing something. Take musical instruments for example, yes we can have some aptitude when we first pick up the instrument, but the truth is that we are usually only good compared to the amount of experience that we have- we need to realize this and focus on where we're going. If we only look at where we are we either get caught up in a sense of arrogance or inadequacy- both of which are hindrances in the long-term development of an individual. As people we need to focus on the goal that we are moving towards; as teachers I feel like we should pass this mindset onto our students so they can realize that learning, as well as life, is all about our constant development, celebrating the big and little things, and moving forward every day.
Lesson for the week: Take a chance and explore what interests you. Look to where you're going, celebrate your accomplishments, but do not lose sight of your goal by getting caught up with the immediate.
Last year I found that I would fill up all of these notebooks with countless notes and ridiculous amounts of doodles. Unfortunately I would usually remember the doodles that I drew and not so much the content beside them. This year I have converted to taking notes primarily in word documents. Originally I had avoided this method of taking notes simply because I thought that I would be disconnected from the classroom. However, I am finding many different benefits to this method of note taking.
The reason why I started doing this is that my backpack was getting too heavy with all of the different notebooks that I was hauling everywhere. So I bought two notebooks to test my computer notes against- to see if the benefit of a light backpack is out-weighed by my hypothesized lack of connection to the class. So far I have found that I am not only toting around a lighter backpack but I am also able to write notes down just as fast on my computer as I can on paper (plus I can reformat the information once I have written down a large section of notes). I have also found it much easier to find my notes for every class and also keep track of the homework that I have every night by just checking my computer documents. At the same time I have found that the computer is my eye contact default making me miss more of the classroom discussion than I would like for the most part. I am able to keep up with the content covered but I would have to say that I wish that there was some way to be able to be just as involved in these discussions as I am with pen and paper. Maybe this will come with practice but for the time being I am rather satisfied for the trade off that I am making.
In our lives we often fall into these slumps of complacency. We continue on with the same methods that we have always used because they work well enough. I have been taking notes in the exact same way for as long as I can remember but there are other things that I do that I don't change. For example, every day when I get home from school I always eat a snack. This is a habit that I have established since grade school. Am I always hungry when I come home? No. Do I eat a snack because that is just what I am used to doing? Yeah, I think so. The same thing can happen to our teaching. I am usually pretty decent at public speaking and I am comfortable in doing so. However, I need to be aware that not all students learn best by being talked at. Actually, I would plead the case that this is very far from the illusive "perfect model of teaching". The problem that I have is that this is where my comfort zone is and where I have developed my skill set. Due to a factor other than comfort- that is, my beliefs of an effective classroom- I feel as though I will need to change my default style of teaching. My best solution for this is to try a different method. It is true that it may have its foreseeable downsides but unless one explores the new, one will continue to be static, solidifying one's place in the methods that they have already deemed flawed.
Lesson for the week: Always be open to modifying your methods in search of what works best. It may be true that we cannot attain perfection but by investigating different methods we can get a lot closer than we once were. Note: this applies for much more than simple note taking.
