Music Teaching as a Profession Blog: October 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

Readings #8: Whitcomb

MUSIC 23241: MUSIC TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, Assistant Professor

Kent State University School of Music

Fall, 2011

CRN: 200910 – Section number: 001 – Class Days: TR 7:45a – 8:35 am - Classroom: SOM E202

Office: Band Office - 330.672.2965 - Telephone: 330.672.2965 (Kent Campus) - E-mail: mneiman@kent.edu

Office Hours: TR 9:00 – 9:55 am (Additional hours available by appointment)

BlackBoard and Text Readings

Submitted by: Ryan Critchfield

Submitted for: Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, lecturer

Date: October 28, 2011

Whitcomb, Rachel . May 1999. Writing rubrics for the music classroom.

Music educators journal, Volume 9, Pages 26-32.

Summary of the Article: This article brings up the importance of writing in an educational setting. Using the national standards is a very important aspect when teaching music, and an music educator needs to have more of a background than only music. They need some language arts experience so that they can have their students write for their class, and learn through a rubric that lays out the information that they can learn. Rubrics are simply a set of guidelines for a student to follow for an assignment, and often times have the scores and point values on the rubric and corresponding performance grades.

Whitcomb says that when you compare and contrast a rubric between a music assignment and an English assignment, the structures are very similar. You can approach music like any other academic subject with the rubric, and although the techniques you use to teach it are different, the goals are similar, and the student can learn easier. The music educator should have their material written out before handing out the assignment, so as to have full control over the discussion in the class.

Personal statements: This article was very interesting, because it was one of the first one to compare music to another subject area. Most other articles have insisted that music is a completely unique field, and although I agree with that partially, it can be combined with another subject or have other aspects added to the lesson to make it easier to teach to the students. I also know the importance of a rubric for an assignment. Although I had no plans of not making a rubric for my students, I was unsure of how to make one, how to structure it so that it can be effective, etc. etc. Because of this article, I now have a good background for how to make one and how to make an effective one.

Readings #8: Hill

MUSIC 23241: MUSIC TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, Assistant Professor

Kent State University School of Music

Fall, 2011

CRN: 200910 – Section number: 001 – Class Days: TR 7:45a – 8:35 am - Classroom: SOM E202

Office: Band Office - 330.672.2965 - Telephone: 330.672.2965 (Kent Campus) - E-mail: mneiman@kent.edu

Office Hours: TR 9:00 – 9:55 am (Additional hours available by appointment)

BlackBoard and Text Readings

Submitted by: Ryan Critchfield

Submitted for: Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, lecturer

Date: October 28, 2011

Hill, Cheryl Frazes. September 2008. A portfolio model for educators.

Music educators journal, Volume 95, Issue 1 Pages 61-72.

Summary of the Article: Hills article describes to the reader what a portfolio is, how to create one, what to put in and leave out, and how to create one specifically designed to serve the music educator. She begins by explaining that a portfolio is a collection of present and past works of the person. It is supposed to show what the individual has accomplished over the years, and how they have developed in their profession. Portfolios developed because of a lack of effectiveness within the education system, and if a school would be able to see a resume/portfolio before they hire the teacher, they can compare and make sure they get the best of the best. Standards were later developed so that prospective teachers would have a base line on what they should be able to present to a school.

There are basically three different types of portfolios; learning, assessment and employment portfolios. The purpose of the learning portfolio is more of a personal progress book to see how you have developed and grown, and could be used to assess what still needs to be developed in the future. An assessment portfolio is used by a teacher to “assess progress to a fixed point” (pg. 63). It uses what would be considered standards in the profession to judge the progress made to that point, and allowes the teacher to assess (big surprise) their progress to that point. An employment portfolio, like the learning portfolio, is used to show a prospective employer your achievements and your development to that point. It should include past employers, skills and is basically a very extensive resume.

Personal statements: This article was a great read. I have a basic resume created for employment, but the other two kinds have not occurred to me. I am glad the idea to create a progress portfolio and an assessment portfolio was introduced to me before I left college. I would be very interested to know where I will be at in three or five or ten years from now. It would also be helpful just from an organizational standpoint. I would be able to have basically my entire professional life in order and able to present it to anyone who is interested in my employment. The key with that is just to make sure I have something worth presenting.

Readings #8: Byo

MUSIC 23241: MUSIC TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, Assistant Professor

Kent State University School of Music

Fall, 2011

CRN: 200910 – Section number: 001 – Class Days: TR 7:45a – 8:35 am - Classroom: SOM E202

Office: Band Office - 330.672.2965 - Telephone: 330.672.2965 (Kent Campus) - E-mail: mneiman@kent.edu

Office Hours: TR 9:00 – 9:55 am (Additional hours available by appointment)

BlackBoard and Text Readings

Submitted by: Ryan Critchfield

Submitted for: Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, lecturer

Date: October 28, 2011

Byo, James L. 2001. Designing substantive playing tests- a model.

Music educators journal, Pages 39-44.

Summary of the Article: In Byo’s article, he lays out the groundwork to create successful playing tests. He states that an instructor’s goal should be “what do I want my student’s to sound like, act like and think like?” (Pg. 39). By structuring your lessons correctly, you will be able to teach your students not just how to respond to notes on a page, but how to interpret a song or piece. If a conductor judges the progress of the ensemble, they will not make any real progress with the individual students in becoming quality performers. An instructor needs to know what an accomplished learner sounds like in a choral setting.

In order for a student to interpret a musical style, Byo suggests taking a piece of a specific style and easy difficulty, and having several students sight read the piece and interpret a musical style. As the student’s listen to themselves, their peers and other similar styled pieces, the individual will be able to interpret it correctly over time. For instrumental testing, Byo has several testing sheets and methods for scoring students. He even tested these at different locations and different ensembles, and provides a framework for a twelve week testing cycle with the students.

Personal statements: This article was very interesting on how Byo approaches teaching a student a feeling for musicality and interpretation. With this article, I agreed with some of his opinions and techniques, and disagreed with some others. I think that his technique with sight-reading and interpretation is ingenious, and I think that it can help a student develop techniques and an ear for interpretation. Also his idea for running through an entire ensemble in just two rehearsals using a recording device an someone constantly on deck is a very effective technique, and I remember it being used both in high school, and in college level classes. Overall, I found this article very helpful, and I may use some of his points in my rehearsals in the future.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Readings#5: Campbell

MUSIC 23241: MUSIC TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, Assistant Professor

Kent State University School of Music

Fall, 2011

CRN: 200910 – Section number: 001 – Class Days: TR 7:45a – 8:35 am - Classroom: SOM E202

Office: Band Office - 330.672.2965 - Telephone: 330.672.2965 (Kent Campus) - E-mail: mneiman@kent.edu

Office Hours: TR 9:00 – 9:55 am (Additional hours available by appointment)

BlackBoard and Text Readings

Submitted by: Ryan Critchfield

Submitted for: Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, lecturer

Date: October 6, 2011

Campbell, Patricia S. 2008. Chapter 5: Music in “your local”.

Music and teacher: an orientation to music education, Pages 86-103.

Summary of the Article: In the fifth chapter of her book, Campbell discusses the impact of schools on their local communities, and even points out that the school is a community itself. They are sources of local activity, and offer a wide variety of options and groups to be a part of. She follows the programs of three different schools; Jackson high school, Daniel Webster middle school, and Maplewood elementary. She goes into extensive detail to make sure that each schools local community is shown, and how similar and different each is from the other.

At Jackson high school, the local community is, as Campbell describes, “rough around the edges” (Pg. 88). There are 1,800 students from seven different middle schools, and about twelve percent will not graduate. It is known for its gang activity, and its strong music program. There are three full time teachers, and each one of them is very familiar and knowledgeable about the best way to make the music program run at such a prestigious way that it has. At the middle school, only the music program is similar to Jackson. Three out of four families have a musical instrument, and almost 70 percent of the students are enrolled in the music program. At Maplewood elementary school, which was voted number one neighborhood elementary school, the principal held his ground on keeping a music program from people who wanted it to be replaced. The students are taught by one teacher, who has a wide variety of age appropriate musical instruments and materials, and the classes offer singing, dancing, playing and the absolute basics of the profession.

Personal statements: It was interesting to read this chapter, because I got three good looks of three real schools, all with good, functioning music programs, even if the communities around it were not the best. This shows to me the importance of the community within the school, or the “local” that the school can provide. At the end, it also talked about how a music program can grow if the community around it is involved, and a program can reach any height in time, though the exact opposite can happen if the community values around it are ignored, and students have no interest in it. This is an important concept to know, because you do not want to be the one to destroy a music program by doing things your own way. You want it to grow, to have something the students can attach themselves to. And the best way to do that is show them something they are familiar with through the community they grew up with.

Readings #5: Doty

MUSIC 23241: MUSIC TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, Assistant Professor

Kent State University School of Music

Fall, 2011

CRN: 200910 – Section number: 001 – Class Days: TR 7:45a – 8:35 am - Classroom: SOM E202

Office: Band Office - 330.672.2965 - Telephone: 330.672.2965 (Kent Campus) - E-mail: mneiman@kent.edu

Office Hours: TR 9:00 – 9:55 am (Additional hours available by appointment)

BlackBoard and Text Readings

Submitted by: Ryan Critchfield

Submitted for: Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, lecturer

Date: October 6, 2011

Doty, Amy. November 2004. Using the Ohio standards: easier than you might think.

TRIAD, Volume Number 72, Issue Number 2, Pages 45-46.

Summary of the Article: Doty, like Hayslett, focuses her article on the standards of education. She mentions that the standards only outline what a student should learn, not necessarily what methods to use to teach those standards. This gives teachers a lot of flexibility in the classroom. She says that the standards are important to there is a consistent framework to go about teaching, and this helps as students learn from year to year. The five standards she talks about are; historical, cultural and social contexts, creative expression and communication, analyzing and responding, valuing the arts/aesthetic reflection and connections, relationships and applications of the art.

In order to teach the contexts of the art, teachers focus on time periods, composers and other categories so that everything they teach is organized in some relevant way. With the expression, she points out that as musicians, we are artists. As artists, we should strive to express not the music we see on the page, but the emotion the composer is trying to instill through the piece or song. This should be taken in small steps, and is developed slowly over time. She has many other suggestions on teaching each standard, and emphasizes the importance of each one.

Personal statements: I got a better idea of what the standards are in this article, and even more ideas on what to do with them along with the last article. I love performing and expression of the art, so I especially agreed with teaching how to express music, because it is not always very easy to do. Usually, in order for them to know what to express, they need some background on what they are playing, so teaching the context of the piece is also extremely important. Now, taking into account that not every student is going to be as passionate about the art as others or yourself, you need to take small steps to see what they are capable of learning without pushing them over the edge. Hopefully, they will at least be able to learn the value of the arts through teaching the background and expression of music, which in itself will teach the value of the arts to the students. If they want to go deeper into the music, that will teach them how to analyze the art, and they will learn how to apply it to their lives, if they choose to do so. Basically, I think one thing can lead to another with these values, whether it is consciously or subconsciously. I think a good, effective teacher who is able to motivate his or her students to learn to express the music will be able to teach all five standards without the student fully realizing it.