4/22/11 - Reflections

The readings and discussions for this week were based on classroom management, and how to implement the national standards into instrumental music education. I appreciated the time we spent in class going over the readings and having a power point presentation on a subject like classroom management. I liked how Dr. Bauer divided classroom management into two parts: 1. Curricular elements and 2. Procedural elements. This helped me to concentrate on which each part meant. There is so much to being an instrumental music teacher, that sometimes it scares me thinking about everything I'll have to do! Just being around Dr. Ciepluch for the past two years, and helping him with his Case ensembles and his Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony groups has made aware of all the "behind-the-scenes" work you have to do to in order to have a successful program. Here at Case, I've learned the most about the different facets of curricular classroom management from my classes, particularly from instrumental methods and from Dr. Ciepluch's seminars on conducting and repertoire. I think I've learned the most about procedural classroom management from my graduate hours. They say that nothing can compensate for experience, and this is why I've benefited so much from working in addition to taking classes. After awhile, setting up for an 80 piece band doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. Neither does all the paperwork that comes with running an ensemble. I know I have a lot to learn from my time in the schools, but I think Case has given me a great head start.

It has been a lot of fun talking about ways that instrumental music instructors can apply the 9 national standards into the classroom. At the end of the day, I have discovered that it isn't all that hard! Of course, my ideas are all simply hypothetical now, I'm sure as a real band director it won't be as easy as I think it will be. But having said this, there really are so many easy opportunities to introduce all nine standards into instrumental music education. While this is true, I really like one of the things that Dr. Bauer said. To paraphrase him, he said that we shouldn't try to "force" a standard onto a certain exercise or activity if it really doesn't fit. This was music to my ears! Sometimes as students and teachers, it can seem like we are trying to put square pegs into round holes, and this really doesn't do any good for anyone. Sometimes I have felt the requirement in certain assignments to get as many standards as I possibly could into a lesson plan or curricular unit. I'm so glad to learn that the world doesn't work this way, and neither should I. As music educators, we need to develop and design lesson plans and curricular units that focus specifically on one or two standards. There may be elements of others that are included in our activities, but it should remain our focus to concentrate on one or two at a time. Otherwise it would be like trying to teach algebra, calculus, geometry, trigonometry, and statistics in the same lesson! No one learns anything!

It has been fun to blog about the readings and class discussions this semester. This is a nice place for me to safely express my honest feelings, ideas, concerns, and opinions. It also gives me another opportunity to learn to write about music education. I also think it is beneficial for you to read them. I'm happy that you care enough about what I think to take the time to go through my blogs every week and come up with thoughtful and educational responses. Thank You. Please know that I value your feedback, and look forward to being the best educator I can be!

4/15/11 - Reflections

I thought that Tammy did a wonderful job this week explaining the readings and leading our class in group discussions about building intonation, rehearsal strategies, and the purposes of auditions and ranking systems. While the chapters addressed all these major issues that instrumental music educators have to deal with, I really enjoy having the forum of the class environment to be able to bounce back ideas off each other, and really talk in-depth about potential problems we might face in the profession. One of these key problems is intonation. What approach should we take to developing our students' ears? Should we make it a visual process as well as an aural process? Or is the visual element damaging in the long-term scheme of things? Are young children too immature and underdeveloped to cognitively understand the differences in sharp vs. flat? These are all wonderful questions for which I don't think there is a definitive answer. There are many opinions on the subject, but I think children should be introduced to intonation at an early age regardless of their ability to hear "in tune" or not. Like other subjects in school, the kids might not grasp everything right away, but exposing them to a complicated concept early on in their careers might spark learning and a long-term interest later on in life.

On Wednesday, we spent a great deal talking about the chapters on auditions and the process of ranking students. I mentioned in class that it is a "hot topic" in many circles right now to totally abolish auditions at even the high school level in favor of a "rotation" system. Now, I love the rotation system, and I think that no matter the skill level, each instrumentalist should have the opportunity to play the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd part in their respective sections. This works particularly well with the Horns and Trumpets, especially if you want you students to get through a concert! But I am NOT a strong advocate of simply doing away with the audition system altogether. I think there are many musical and non-musical benefits for students to experience the rigorous process of the audition. Musically, they are given an opportunity to play music only once for others that will be judging them. Extra-musically speaking, they will learn discipline and the consequences of hard work. Or conversely, they may learn the consequences of not working at all! Either way, this experience can be a positive platform for learning and growth, and we should consider all the benefits of such a process before deciding to throw it out once and for all.

Just a personal note: I was a little surprised that we spent so much time on transposition on Wednesday. Nothing personal, it's just that I've learned this concept over and over and over and over again in middle school, high school, college, theory, conducting, music history, pedagogy, brass methods, woodwind methods, etc... It seems like no teacher wants to be the one to say that they never taught me how to do this. But I will say that it is sad that so many people don't understand something that WE as music educators make so much more difficult than it needs to be. Honestly, transposition made sense to me when I was taught about the concept for the first time in 7th grade. Of course since then I've learned more about it. I'm faster at transposition, I've learned about additional instruments that transpose, and as a conductor, you need to know how to do this automatically. I just don't see why so many people think transposition is so difficult. Calculus is difficult. Quantum physics is difficult. Transposition is tantamount to addition and subtraction.

4/8/11 - Reflections

Assessment is always an interesting subject, especially when one is working in a field that is somewhat subjective. Sure, there are many ways to objectively assess a student's progress: Is he/she practicing? Is the student articulating properly? Is the student playing with a well-supported, mature sound? But there are other areas in instrumental music education that aren't so easy to assess. For example, how would we go about assessing a student on composition or improvisation? Certainly there are standards and benchmarks to observe, but it would be difficult to implement a "grading" system. Now I know that not all assessment is grading. These terms are different, and mean different things. But so much of what comes out of the middle or high school instrumental setting has to do with some sort of formal, summative evaluation. I like the strategies mentioned both by Dr. Bauer on Monday, and in the readings. The readings presented many tools for assessment, as well as reasons for why one might want to use a particular instrument for assessment. I think the only way I will be able to know for sure what really seems to work in my particular situation is to give it time once I have a job teaching in the public schools. There I plan on assessing by trial and error. I will also heavily rely on student feedback. If a particular type of assessment seems to be helping kids, and they also agree that it is helpful, I will probably use it and continue to improve it throughout my career.

I think the more subjective the field, the more need we have to present students with rubrics. I like rubrics. I think they offer much more information to both teacher and student than just a checklist, or rating scale. In saying this, I'm not saying that checklists and rating scales don't have their place in the world - they do. But I am advocating for the use of more highly-detailed rubrics that can provide everyone with the maximum amount of information. Most importantly, this is probably one of the best tools to give students proper feedback. As a student, I always want to know why I got the rating or grade that I did. Younger students are the same way. If they received a lesser grade than they thought that they deserved, it is very helpful to have the reasons written down so the students can pay close attention to the areas on which they need to improve. Checklists and rating scales give far less information, and can cause confusion and even bitterness in some students. Some teachers give grades, but in doing so, fail to actually assess!!! This is when there is the greatest disconnect between the teacher and the student. The student is in the dark, and chances are that the teacher will forget why he or she gave the student the grade or rating they did, especially if they have many students with which to deal. I will try to always be up front with my students so that this type of situation never or rarely occurs. And I will try to use as many rubrics as possible. They are not hard to create, and they serve as an excellent instrument in authentic assessment.

4/1/11 - Reflections

I probably learned the most this week from the readings and from class participation. Tammy gave an EXCELLENT presentation on Monday about an area that I'm kind of clueless about - Communication within the Band Department and throughout the administration. There is so much a band director has to do behind the scenes. If I think about it long and hard enough, it is scary. I think to myself, "I know how to teach music, but I have absolutely no experience in dealing with the day-to-day aspect of being an instrumental music educator." I'm confident that I will be able to do a good job, but I'm always worried that there is something I might forget. I know there is a good chance my first job won't be the head band director of a program, but I still worry that there is a chance that I'll be put into a situation where I'll be a little clueless. First of all, there is so much to think about and do, especially the first year you inherit a program. Is there time to do everything? Probably not. I'm a very detail-oriented person who likes things in a certain order and projects to be handled a certain way. I will have to learn fast how to delegate responsibilities to others, and learn to be happy with the results (knowing that I can come back and change it later if I want). But sometimes the "organizational" and "communication" part of being a band director scares me. Where do I even begin? And how do I do it? These are questions that sometimes keep me up at night!

Chapters 17 and 19 in the book discussed communication and preparing for and executing a concert. Tammy's in-class presentation also hit on these topics, and they brought up a lot of questions. Especially with the economy being what it is right now, I feel like I will be put into a position where I will want to work 80+ hours a week just to ensure that things are running at least on par. I have a certain integrity to want to do things right, and get them done the best way the first time. But will this be possible, especially in my first couple of years? I have a wife, and she is the most important thing to me in my life. Even though my career is my living, my wife is my life. I will want to balance my job so I get to spend quality time with her. This may mean sacrificing some things that I would really like to do, such as organizing every little thing in my office and band room. I think the best thing I can do is learn from those who have gone before me. I need to ask them for advice, and learn certain tricks of the trade to accomplish things that I would otherwise have no idea how to do. At least I have many friends who are band directors. I have to thank Dr. Ciepluch for this, as The Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony has been a terrific environment for me to meet others in the profession. I'm now friends with directors and former directors from all over northeast Ohio. I will look to many of them as leaders when I take my first job.