I promised my creative drama class...

that I would write my blog about that class this week.  Creative Drama class is an enrichment class.  The students who are in there are put in there in a random way, and they go through a rotation through the year, from drumming class to my class and then to other enrichment classes as well.  The students in the class this quarter are all boys.  There are twenty-four of them.  They would not have chosen to be in a creative drama class if they had been asked what they wanted to learn.  No- these boys are more interested in hockey, in video games, in outdoor activities, in hunting, fishing and the like.  However, I have known these young men since last winter, so they have learned that I take the course and my work with it very seriously, even though I can have fun too.  I have taught them about the growth mindset, about resilience, grit and determination, and they have shown this throughout the quarter.

This class is all about speaking and listening skills.  We have spent a great deal of time working on speaking alone in front of the class.  They began by reading poems that they had chosen.  For example, there were poems about sports, hockey, lacrosse and soccer.  There were poems about animals and insects as well.  I enjoyed listening to the students and helping them to put more expression into their reading.  We discussed how this might help them later on.  One person said, "It could help us if we had to give a toast at a wedding. " "or a speech at a funeral" someone added.."or if we were to ask someone to marry.."  I loved that one, of course.  They thought about how they could use this skill when they were talking to a class if they became teachers, administrators, heads of companies.

The next speaking and listening work we did was to create a story together, "fortunately, unfortunately"- You sit in a circle, and the first person begins the story and then says, "fortunately.." and adds something that happened that would be fortunate, then the next person adds an "unfortunately" situation, and so forth.  We played other interesting games, and then began to work on monologues.  Now we are working on taking a subject: your room, your family, your favorite sport, your possible career path, your first experience doing something, something you are knowledgeable about, and I give them the subject as they are approaching their audience, and they have to speak about that subject for one minute extemporaneously.  We will add more time as they get better at it, and I will give them more difficult and complex themes as they get more schooled in this exercise.

At the end, they will have had a lot of experience with speaking and listening, and if they ever decide to get involved in theater or drama clubs, or anything of this kind, they will have my class and their work in this class to fall back on.  Talk to you all next time!  Enjoy your winter break!

My Dear Companion - Writing Across the Curriculum- Letters

This week in general music class we are discussing two important subjects:   Tonic, and  Loss.  The Appalachian folk song "My Dear Companion" can be found in our general music books, and we have been practicing our sight reading with this haunting but simple melody.  We learned some vocabulary while we were practicing this sight reading.  For example, the key signatures are symbols at the beginning of the piece that show what sharps and flats are being used.  This also tells us what "Do" is.

We can then identify the scale and the key and finally what the "tonic" is.  We had a discussion about the word "Tonic".  Many students knew it as a drink.  Yes, it used to be a drink that would make you feel better, in other words, you would feel more like yourself after you drank it, it was a drink with medicinal qualities.  It also means that place that you believe makes you feel like you are home, a tonic, a good place where you feel well.  So- does that not translate to the musical definition of "tonic"?  Why, of course.  The Tonic in music is the first and last note of the scale.  It is the note of the scale that is also called the "home tone" and it is often the first and last note of the song.  We begin and end at "home".  We begin at the tonic, and we spend many phrases trying to return to the tonic.  We also connected the "tonic" discussion back to the idea that when we compose music, we often start on the tonic note as well.  This helps the ear of the listener get situated before you go elsewhere and listen to new, unfamiliar material.  We are happy to begin at the "home tone" or "tonic" and we are even happier upon our return to it.  All folk songs begin and end that way, no matter what key they are in.

 We move the discussion from the "tonic" to the idea of what the song is about.  "Oh have you seen my dear companion, for she was all this world to me, I hear she's gone to some far country, and that she cares no more for me."  We decided this could be about someone breaking up, it could be about someone moving away, it could also be that someone has passed away and has gone to "a far country", which could be a euphemism for one's final resting place.  We discussed the next line, "I wish I were some swallow flying, I'd fly to a high and lonesome place."  The question I ask is, "why"?  Because, they say, "when you are really sad you don't want to be around anyone else.  When you cry, it makes other people uncomfortable, so it is best to stay alone."  And then- how do we make connections between music and our own experiences in life, our own "interpersonal interactions" as the Maine visual and performing arts standard says?  Ah- not easy.  The assignment is to write a letter to a person you know or knew, someone you argued with, or someone who died, or someone who moved away..describe your relationship, describe your memories, describe the music you might have shared.  This is a complicated and emotional assignment, but it also works on how to write a letter, how to compose and articulate ideas and memories, and it also is just about reading and writing across the curriculum.   The letters begin with Dear..and end with sincerely, fondly, etc.. I grew up writing letters, but these children did not.  So- it is, if nothing else, a history lesson, a way that music connects with social studies, with our interpersonal relationships, and how it connects with writing, to me an essential part of our teaching.

Learning Targets Reflection

I have always utilized learning targets in my classroom, just to organize my thoughts.  I have always wanted to know where I am going with a particular idea when I begin to think about creating a lesson plan.  We learned this technique when we studied curriculum development and from the beginning when teaching our subject matter.  We called them teaching objectives at that point, and we created them from the national standards for music at that time.  They were important to all of us, because they were like signposts to tell us where we were going with our class, and to help us organize our work with the students, as well as create assessments that directly related to our objectives and that related to the larger standards.  The national and state standards were the final destinations, and the learning objectives were the small waystations along the journey.

There is a sense that we are re-defining these learning objectives, and now, of course they are not called teaching objectives anymore.  But with the change of verbiage, also comes a slight change in both focus and purpose, both of which are inspirational and thought-provoking.  The teaching objectives are now learning targets, and they are always written as "I can" statements.  This is not just a change in vernacular, but a change in focus and responsibility as well.  The students are now responsible for their own learning because the statements are always on the board, they are always on our rubrics and on our assignments, and because we begin and end our lessons with them each day. They are also more responsible now, though, because the statements are not, "Students will" but instead, "I can"- who is "I"?  Students need to read those statements, and be aware that the targets are now their choice to focus themselves, their choice to meet and/or exceed, their choice to work on alone or in groups.  It is their learning, it is not our teaching that brings them to the next level of Bloom's taxonomy, or to the next target along the way.  The learning target world has shifted us from the "teacher" role to the "facilitator" role, and as that has always been my philosophy of education, I am refreshed by this particular technique, this particular focus, this very constant overall structure of teaching.

From...

Learning Targets on Parade
Susan M. Brookhart and Connie M. Moss 

A learning target describes, in language students can understand, what students will learn in today's lesson. That description can be accomplished through words, pictures, demonstrations, or other experiences;; it doesn't have to be in an "I can" statement. A learning target should

1. Describe for students exactly what they're going to learn by the end of the day's lesson.
   
2. Be in language students can understand.
   
3. Be stated from the point of view of a student who has yet to master the knowledge or skill that's the focus of the
   day's lesson.
   
4. Be embodied in a performance of understanding—what the students will do, make, say, or write during the
   lesson—that translates the description into action. A performance of understanding shows students what the
   learning target looks like, helps them get there, and provides evidence of how well they're doing.
   
5. Include student look fors (sometimes called criteria for success) in terms that describe mastery of the learning
   target rather than in terms of a score or grade. 
   

I question the word "parade" however...a parade suggests a schmorgasbord of many, many man-made things...is this not a very specific and related way of writing, reading, relating, learning, and studying, not a schmorgasbord? Hmmmm...let's talk!!!

Skyler's Visit

Today is a lonely day for most allied arts teachers.  It is conference time at York Middle School and the parents are arriving all day long with their children for student-led conferences.  The students talk about their accomplishments over the last few months, and they speak about their struggles, challenges and successes in school.  It is too much to schedule in the music part of their lives during these student-led conferences, so if they have time they come by and visit, but on a more informal basis.  I understand the importance of time for the core subjects, but it would be great if I was able to be a part of the whole experience.  It is complicated though, and I understand completely why it is done this way, but now I hope you will read my blog so you know what has been going on this week during music.

Our former student, Skyler, came to spend the day with us in the music department.  He is a singer/songwriter who grew up in York, took guitar lessons from a local musician, went to YMS and YHS, and had his first experiences as a performer playing guitar as accompaniment to my choruses, as well as composing songs on the playground, and then singing his own compositions in high school during their Cafe Paloozas.  He has since studied music, singing and composition at Berklee College of Music, and has toured his over 400 songs all over the US.  He has opened for such bands as the Goo Goo dolls,  The Band Perry, Daughtry, and the Plain White Tees.  He is having his cd release party at the Music Hall Loft this weekend, and I just purchased four of the last ten tickets available.  I am excited to hear him with his band, and have my family experience his joy and talent!

The students were enthralled with his performance.  He played some of his own music, plus he played some Taylor Swift songs, "always great to have a little tswizzle in the afternoon" he quipped,  Beatles songs, and "Home" by Phillip Phillips which the students sang along with.  He shared the story of "Stephanie", and then sang this catchy, fun, romantic song..that turns out has been used in a  "Supercuts" commercial.  "Got free haircuts for a year! Hey..they get expensive!" he laughed.  He answered hours worth of questions about his life, and living on the road, and writing music, and learning to sing.  He is a very open, friendly and accessible person as well as being an excellent performer.

 It was a thrill for me, because I remember him well as a York Middle School student, always enthusiastic about life, always loving music, always learning and thinking and passionate about history and literature.  I was impressed also with our students' questions.  "What is the most important thing you have learned while being on the road?" someone asked.  "Who are your greatest influences?" someone else from my class asked.  "What is the favorite song of yours that you have ever written?" My students were focused, interested in all Skyler had to offer, and it was a very productive and wonderful experience for all of us.  I look forward to the show this weekend, and hope to see some of the York Middle School students there as well!

Check out Skyler's website: Skyler's website

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, talk to you next week!

MIND, BODY, SPIRIT

BEFORE I BEGIN MY BLOG I WANT TO RECOMMEND TO PARENTS WHO READ THIS TO COME VISIT ME DURING CONFERENCES.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE A CONFERENCE WITH ME JUST EMAIL OR CALL ME.  I HOPE YOU CAN COME SEE ME AND LOOK AT ALL THE WORK YOUR CHILDREN HAVE DONE THIS PAST QUARTER IN MUSIC.

                                        MIND, BODY, SPIRIT IN LEARNING TARGETS

Yesterday I had a wonderful time with my classes teaching a song "Farewell to Tarwathie" which relates to the history of whaling in Scotland, and in America as well.   I love teaching a lesson that hits several learning targets head on, and relates to many national standards for music.  The learning targets on the whiteboard are, "I can sing a song with correct notes and rhythms with a group", I can talk about the history of the song, (analyze art forms)" and "I can conduct in 3/4 time with a group."  At the beginning of each class, I direct the students first to the "Do now" and then after a few minutes to the learning targets.  I began to explain them a little bit yesterday morning, and realized in the middle of my explanation, wow, these targets work symbiotically together!  I told my students that "I can talk about the history of the song" uses their MIND and makes them relate history and culture to music.  "I can conduct in 3/4 time with a group" hits the BODY part of learning, because conducting is a very physical activity that uses your whole body, plus your mind too, because you have to count and remember where to direct your arms in which direction.  Finally, "I can sing a song with correct rhythms and notes with a group" hits the mind and SPIRIT part of this idea, because you are connected to your breathing, your emotions and your thoughts together when singing the song.

 It was a wonderful realization to have, and it is important to note this for many reasons.  First of all, how many other classes can you say that you are expressing mind, body and spirit parts of yourself? Second of all, how often in music are you touching on all these parts?  In fact, most of the time!  We sing often, we dance and move often, and we are always using our thoughts, minds, creative problem solving skills, as well as collaboration with others almost every day in music class.  It is essential to see this, to note this, to remember this, when so many schools are looking to find more time for the "core" and are ready to dispense with music and the other arts in the classroom.  Can we just remember that music hits the "CORE" and also hits the "coeur" (heart), as well as teaches skills that are not offered in any other time of the day or week.

 I leave you with this link to my favorite version of the song which includes the beautiful songs of the whales as accompaniment to the song.. Link to Farewell to Tarwathie by Judy Collins

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

KEEP YOUR LIGHT SHINING

YOUR MIND, BODY, SPIRIT WORKING

COME SING A SONG DURING CONFERENCE TIME NEXT WEEK! 

Boston Museum of Science Trip

Last Thursday our entire sixth grade class took the train down to Boston on the Downeaster (Link to the Downeaster)  and had an incredible experience at the Museum of Science!
 Museum of Science website

Last year it was a glimmer in the eye of the science teacher at York Middle School, and soon after that the team that he was working with organized a trip for an overnight there.  I was fortunate enough to be part of that team so I was invited to go on this trip.  The music teacher on a field trip to the science museum? You might ask?  May I just be the one of the many people to say that there are a lot of connections between science and music, just to begin with the physics of sound!  How about the behavioral transformational effects that music has on all of us?  How about how we make instruments and figure out pitch with strings or glasses of water, for example?  Just for starters!  In any case, I also work with a sixth grade advisory, so I was also invited because of the team-building aspect of the trip.  It was such a positive experience last year, that this year the entire sixth grade decided to go.

There was a great deal of preparation and planning that went into the trip, and I would like to publicly thank all the 6th grade teachers for all the work they did to make the trip go smoothly.  I think the students were very excited about spending the night under the dinosaurs, or in the hall of human life, and this was a great experience.  Yes, the floor is hard, and yes, you stay up past your bedtime, (activities go until midnight!!) but this is a trip that no one will ever forget!!  It is great to have the run of the museum in the evening, with hardly anyone else there.  It is fabulous to be able to see the newest IMAX presentation, "The South Pacific" was full of beautiful panoramic views of coral reefs, animals, fish, the wonderful people who live there.   There was a fascinating story of one boy and his experience on a boat studying the turtles and the coral reefs and how to take care of them and save them.  The Planetarium show was very entertaining, and the lightning show is always extremely exciting!  The presenters really know children and know how to keep them engaged, watching,  asking and answering questions.  I especially enjoyed the presentation on the oversized Newton's Cradle, because growing up I had one of those at my desk in my room, and I never knew what it was called, nor had I ever learned why it works the way it does!

The best part for me is seeing the faces of the children as they experience the museum in this unique way.  Their expectant faces on the way into all the exhibits, their curious expressions as they begin to try new things, and learn new ideas, and their exhaustion and giddiness as they finally settle down at the end of the night in their sleeping bags together as groups.  I loved being with the whole sixth grade, and I was impressed at their excellent behavior and ability to stay focused and learning the whole evening and through the next day.  They always asked great questions, and had a lot of the answers when the museum presenters asked an assembled group of several schools.  These students know their science standards, for sure!!

 I want to thank all the parents who were willing to help and to all those who chaperoned, and I would also like to thank the administration for being so supportive this year and last year with this field trip.  I hope it becomes a regular annual event, but no matter what, I know my students in a different way than ever before, and we will always have this trip to remember!  Everyone knows now, that Ms. Frank has no trouble falling asleep anywhere!

Have a great week talk to you all next week, take care, and write if you have any reactions to this blog!

I CAN REFLECT...

ON FRIDAY, the portal will open.  There has been a great deal of buzz around the new grading system, and the mastery connect portal being open this coming Friday.  I am excited about this, because once it opens, the anxiety will be gone, and we will just be answering questions about what certain things mean or why a student received a yellow instead of a green square and so forth.  Let me be the millionth person to say, however, that I don't think this is what education is about anyway.  It is not about green squares or yellow squares, it is not about what a teacher "gave" a student as a grade.  It is more about what a student can say that he or she took away from a class, what a person gained from being with that teacher in that class for that time period.   Let me illustrate this..

My sixth grade students just received ipads to use during the school day.  At first, it was very exciting for them, they were distracted by the need to download every new game or app or this or that.  When students calmed down a bit, and teachers got a handle on the guidelines for this, the ipad became just another tool to be used in the classroom.  So- I took the opportunity to use the ipad as a way for my students to write and reflect on their experiences in my classes this quarter.  I have stopped complaining now about how distracting the ipads are, because I am happy to say that students in sixth grade at York Middle School write more and share more when given the opportunity to write on ipads instead of with pencil and paper.  They also write more when they know they are sending it to you or "sharing" it with you via google docs and they are encouraged by this process, which they are more familiar with than any other at this point.

 It was a great experience for me, especially because I have been changing the way I do many things, and I have also been teaching a brand new class this quarter.  My enrichment class is a creative drama class, and it is very different from any class I have taught in a long time, since the beginning of my career, so I was a tentative about it.  Well, it turns out, students enjoyed it, they learned some new skills, and they worked together cooperatively.

So- I leave you with a few reflections from students about their first quarter in music and what they learned from their enrichment class this quarter.  Hope you enjoy the reflections..I know I do!

 This is what I liked about our first quarter of          

                               Music

      I liked that we got to do the operas it was fun being able to create a story on what we wanted to write about. Also about the operas it was fun creating pictures to go with your story . Next I liked being able to use the piano lab to play and write our songs. Also I liked when we got to draw a picture to go with what we were learning about. Everything was pretty good but, I didn't like to sing.

    In my experience of enrichment was good. We got to play a lot of games. I liked how we had to write a poem and share it. I liked sharing the poems especially the scary story's. At first I thought it would not be fun but it is fun.

    My favorite part of enrichment was the games. I liked all of the games that we played. My favorite game was

Telephone. I also liked the game where we had to talk for a minute about a question non-stop. I also liked the family dinner game not the thanksgiving one the Christmas one.

My favorite creative drama game I've played this quarter is definitely two headed monster or family diner or the game were you write down a sentence and fold the paper in half and pass it the next person so they can draw the picture of what they thing the sentence is about then pass it to the next person so they can write a sentence about what they thing the picture is and so on. I also loved doing all the voice exercises and it fun because you learn how to talk in front of a group of people.

But I was pretty upset at how people played family dinner because people wouldn't take the game seriously and people were trying to be funny when they were acting stupid.

My experience for this quarter in enrichment is I had a lot of fun in the activities we did, like the family dinner activity, or that fun mirror activity. I also enjoyed the times when Mrs Frank did those speaking activities, like when we had to say " Toy Boat" and stuff. I learned a lot during this quarter, and even though it was tough, I liked that Mrs Frank made us read poems or story's to the class, because I'm sure that it will help me in my future life to speak in front of groups. I've also gotten to know a lot of the people in my class here, so that was a great experience also. In shorter terms, I have learned a lot about people in my class, and how to speak in front of people, which is important in life.

One of my favorite activities during this quarter of enrichment, was definitely the family dinner activity. It was so funny to see how people reacted to their roles! I must say, however, I was kind of disappointed when people wouldn't take their roles seriously. Another great activity was " Two Headed Monster", because it was a great lesson to learn that what you wanted to say could be changed by another person saying something else, so it was a good lesson to learn that people think different. Also, I liked that the learning was in a way that was fun! My final favorite activity was probably the mirror activity, even though I didn't feel there was meant to have a lot of learning parts to it, but it was a fun activity all the same.

     Well my experience in this enrichment was not the best I'd say. I didn't really want to be in it. But after a while it was sorta fun not too much though. But altogether it was a good experience. Even if I didn't like it too much.

   My favorite activity was the family dinner game. It was loud we'll semi loud but it was a nice loud like most thanksgiving dinners my family have. It was also fun being the servers because everyone was ordering outrageous things. But I guessed that's how rich family's are. All in all I think that it was one of the better games.

Q:2 Even though it is the only enrichment I've ever had I bet it will be the best.

My favorite activity was the game were you had to switch chairs with the other person a you had to trust them because if they pretended to switch than you would be stuck in the middle a have no seat.it was very fun play that.my other favorite was the game when you had to try to mirror image what they were doing. It was better when you went slow so the other person coul tell what you were doing.

Q:1 My experience in this class was great.

Bye, bye Enrichment students, see you in music this quarter, but enjoy the other enrichment classes! Thank you for making my first experience with middle school creative drama class a good one! Remember to speak loud and convincingly and use all the techniques I taught you from now on!!

THE END OF QUARTER ONE

We create arbitrary timelines and stopping points so that we can assess ourselves and our students. Teachers, students and parents stress about where we "should" be in terms of our standards, our teaching, our progress.  Teachers have been handed standards in complicated language to share and impart to our students.  Often we have to translate them so that we can understand these standards, and "unpack" them, as the term goes for our families.  Sometimes it seems that the joy of learning is being obfuscated by the stress of deadlines, the complications of assessing so many standards, and the hyper-focus on student achievement, shown by test results more than by anything else that students accomplish.

I am here today to say that even with all of these stresses and complications, my students in the sixth grade at York Middle School have ACCOMPLISHED A GREAT DEAL in quarter one!   Students have learned to sing several songs, they have learned to compose and perform rhythm compositions by themselves. They have interpreted and discussed music by the infamous and prodigious Mozart, and they have written their very own opera stories!  This week they completed their songs with lyrics that match the melodies they wrote, and designed stage sets and costumes for their characters and stories.  Finally, at the end of last week and this week, they have been sharing their ideas and summarizing their stories for the class, and the class has been using their listening and feedback skills to create a supportive and wonderful audience for these students.  It never ceases to amaze me how many skills these sixth graders actually have, and how many skills they are continuing to hone while they work on these projects.  I have only assessed half the standards that are shown on my mastery connect trackers and curriculum maps, but I have every intention of assessing the rest of those standards, and re-assessing some of the other ones that I have looked at and worked on only once so far this year.

I am so happy to be working with these children who are hard-working, focused, work well together, and are cooperative and are not worried to be handed a piece of music back to them to make corrections and re-write.  I want to thank the parents for the opportunity to work with such fabulous students, and I want to thank the York Schools for having given me the opportunity over twenty years ago to work with middle school students.

 I learn new things every class, every day, every arbitrary timeline, every year!!

 Have a spooky and fun Halloween everyone!  and thanks for reading my blog!!

Meets V. Exceeds

Some of my best ideas for blogs come from my discussions in the car with my carpool partner on the way to school.  This morning we discussed the difference between what Exceeds means to us and what Meets means to us when assessing projects and assignments.  We agreed completely on many thoughts.  The first one is that with standards based assessments students are allowed to re-do assessments until they have met the standard.  Our question was, can they re-do the assessment if they have already met the standard and are asking to receive an "Exceeds" instead?  My carpool partner had the experience that really spoke to this question.  Students had created posters, had been assessed on them, and they were displayed on the walls outside the classroom.  Someone asked, how did that person get an exceeds?  And when the ideas were shown that were the reason for the exceeds, the student wanted to add those same things to their poster.  Is that fair?  Is that right?  Is that really an exceeds?  It got to the point that we had to DEFINE EXCEEDS!!

Exceeds is going to look different depending on the project or assignment you are working on.  Each teacher has created, (as I have) scoring guides which explain what a meets looks like and what an exceeds looks like for each project or test or assessment.  If a student has already passed an assignment in,  and has already been assessed on this assignment, there are certain specific times when continuing to go deeper into a subject or project might result in a higher grade, or an "exceeds". An example from music might be if a student wrote a song for his/her opera and decided to continue writing more songs and even learned how to write connecting music between songs, or "recitative" which is sung dialogue that is more like speech.  If a student just added to their original song, that would not be an "exceeds".  You have to go way beyond, not just a little bit beyond, but way beyond.

The idea of "exceeds" means that you are thinking at a higher, more sophisticated level than what is expected of that grade or age group.  If a student put more work into it and it resulted in a more sophisticated and complex product than what was considered meeting the standard, then that would be an exceeds.  The point of this blog is clear and obvious.  The target is there, the standard is there. If someone is creating a solution or a product that goes WAY beyond the standard and the target, then it should or can be considered an exceeds.  Most students will receive a "meets" for most assignments.  Exceeds should be considered a rare distinction.

Finally, as I have said before, these distinctions cannot be compared with the old system of A's, B's, C's and so forth.  An exceeds is not an A.  A Meets is not a B.  An Exceeds is an assignment or project that went way beyond the original learning target and standard.  Meets means what it says, you met the standard and you hit the target, you can move on.  Progressing means just that, you are in the direction of the target and standard, keep at it, and you will make it!

                                                Olive all prepared for her first day of school
                                                        and meeting all the learning targets!

Inside the Box

Today is October 16, 2014.  I have spent the last week just trying to teach students how to write a simple melody.  The problem is not that the students cannot understand how to create a treble clef on staff paper, create 4/4 time.  It is not that they don't understand how to compose notes that show contour, and a little bit of repetition and contrast.  I know they can utilize quarter notes, half notes, whole notes, double eighth notes and their corresponding rests.  The problem is not that they are having trouble composing a simple melody, it is that they want their song to be so much more complicated than it has to be!  They do not yet have the skills to write complicated pieces of music.  You cannot build a car before you know how to build a bicycle, for example.  You can't multiply if you can't add!   I was struggling with this, and then I came upon a quotation from the famous dancer, Twyla Tharp, which perfectly explains my predicament.

 "You have to be capable of thinking inside the box first, before you can think outside the box."  

So- The interpretation of this quotation became our discussion at the beginning of class yesterday and this morning.  I asked the students to explain the meaning of the quote first, then how it would apply to their current situation.  I finally got through to them, and it has had very exciting results!  Now they can complete the original assignment within the time given.  They can write 32 measures, and also create lyrics for those measures.  But the best part is, they will be able to play their songs as well, because they kept it simple enough to do so!

I have given my students a wonderful short list of instructions to complete their song for their opera.  They now just have to do each one of the things on that list, and they will be successful.  For everyone's convenience, here is a replica of the list:

                                      TEN STEPS TO A SONG FOR YOUR OPERA
1.  FIND A PIECE OF STAFF PAPER.

2.  DRAW A TREBLE CLEF AT THE BEGINNING OF IT.

3.  DRAW 4/4 TIME.  FOUR BEATS IN A MEASURE AND QUARTER NOTE EQUALS ONE.

4.  USE C SCALE NOTES: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, NO SHARPS OR FLATS.

5.  USE QUARTER NOTES, HALF NOTES, DOUBLE EIGHTH NOTES, WHOLE NOTES, AND THEIR CORRESPONDING RESTS.  

6.  USE MEASURE LINES EVERY FOUR BEATS.

7.    CREATE UNITY AND CONTRAST BY REPEATING EIGHT MEASURES AND CREATING A SECTION THAT DOESN'T REPEAT.

8.  USE A CONTOUR THAT GOES UP AND DOWN SMOOTHLY.

9.   ONE NOTE PER SYLLABLE FOR YOUR LYRICS UNDERNEATH YOUR NOTES.

10.   AT LEAST 32 MEASURES FOR A COMPLETE SONG.  

DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO!!  ENJOY YOUR COMPOSITION AND KEEP ON PRACTICING YOUR MUSIC AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS!  DON'T CREATE ART, JUST CREATE SOMETHING!  SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK!  

Movement and Music

Recently, I had dinner with a friend and she asked me what kinds of things I do in music class.  That day I had just worked on one of my favorite lessons in class, teaching my sixth grade students about contour, unity and contrast.  I use a song "Put on a Happy Face" which is a standard Broadway song and I teach them how the melody paints the meaning of the lyrics.  They learn that contour means "the shape of a musical phrase" and they can see that the beginning of the song is the shape of a frown, that turns upside down at the end of the song.  The other words, unity and contrast, are shown by how certain parts of the melody are repeated, and other parts are not.  A song cannot be interesting if it is too repetitive, but it also cannot be remembered or appreciated if there is no sense of unity or repetition in the song.  

We learn a hand jive, and we dance, to demonstrate the meaning of all three of these concepts, unity, contrast, and contour.  My friend asked, "Why do you dance in music class?" It hit me in a strange way.  I always danced in music class when I was a child.  I always danced anyway.  The answer, however, is more than, "I dance with the students because I did as a child, or because I can."  It turns out, children NEED to move more than they do these days, and this is a chance to do that.  

Children, as it turns out, "NEED to experience what we call “rapid vestibular (balance) input” on a daily basis. In other words, they need to go upside down, spin in circles, and roll down hills. They need authentic play experiences that get them moving in all different directions in order to stimulate the little hair cells found in the vestibular complex (located in the inner ear). If children do this on a regular basis and for a significant amount of time, then (and only then) will they experience the necessary changes needed to effectively develop the balance system–leading to better attention and learning in the classroom." (Angela Hanscom) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/07/the-right-and-surprisingly-wrong-ways-to-get-kids-to

-sit-still-in-class/

 I no longer have as much time with my music students as I used to have, but I will not sacrifice the singing and dance portion of my curriculum no matter what, and it is more than because it feels good to me and to them and is fun for me and for them (which is also true).  It turns out, we are sacrificing our children's health and well-being so that they will have more academic time to learn all they need to to compete in this ever-changing world.  That means, that for a little time each day, (or at least four days a week) it is essential that they can move and shake and dance, and sing and use their bodies in myriad ways.  We have drumming, creative dramatics, gym, music, band, strings and recess for our other opportunities to get this type of play experience, which is wonderful.  Let's also just remember that the core learning will be sacrificed no matter what, if we don't allow our students to get this essential experience of rearranging their balance on a daily basis.  They will be more focused and be able to learn more efficiently, if they are also allowed to jump around, climb up things, go upside down, and roll around on the floor at least a half hour a day!  I know I still love to go upside down, even at my age! So..-Now that you have read this blog, go do a somersault and roll down a hill on this sunny, summer-like fall day! Enjoy!! 

Parts of the Opera Story

Today I begin a new "DO NOW" with my sixth grade general music students.  I am asking them to define these words: "Setting", Character, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, and Resolution.  If they know what they mean, then they can write a viable opera story that will meet expectations for the project.  We have talked about all this before, but I am not sure that we are all on the same page.

So- this blog is for everyone looking for a definition for each one of these components of an opera story.  (Or any story, really)- The setting is the place and time where the action will take place.  Be sure that it is a place you are willing to be in for a long time.  If you don't care about the place and time, then your listeners and readers won't care either, and won't be intrigued by your story.

  The characters make an opera, as you probably have gathered at this point.  You need to have at least three characters, and they should have different types of singing voices- tenor is the male higher voice, baritone or bass are the lower ones, and the female voices are soprano and mezzo and alto.  If they all have the same type of voice, you won't have contrast!  When they sing together, they will also sing in harmony, which is always exciting and pleasing to the audience.  They must have interesting personalities that are complex, and not one-sided or easy to understand at first sight.  Take the example of the Queen of the Night.  She and her gang of people help to kill the serpent for the prince Tamino, and she has a beautiful and kind and thoughtful daughter, and yet, she is angry and spiteful and full of vengeance!  Not so easy to understand right away, not bad at first, but maybe not a good person in the end, and not happy, anyway-

 The conflict is the problem that will cause the rising action to take place.  The rising action is what will continue to happen while the conflict is going on, the climax is the biggest and most exciting moment in the opera and you cannot get there too quickly or the opera will fall flat, so will a story if that is what you are writing.

Finally, the resolution is what will happen at the end, and the characters will be changed forever, as Louis is in my opera story, as Susannah is at the end of my opera story, because they have found each other and can find happiness and joy where there has always been just grit and hard work.  Keep grit and hard work with your writing, and you will be changed as well.  Life is art, art is life.  Think on that, my artistic blog fans, and keep up the good writing and reading and listening!  Ach ich fuhls!

Mastery Connect

We are all learning to use Mastery Connect, the new program for standards-based learning.  It is a challenge and a breath of fresh air.  It is a challenge because you cannot teach or assess the way you always have for so many years.  You cannot think in the same way as you used to about grades, and what they mean.  In fact, it is a great deal like learning a new language.  If you really want to learn a new language, it is essential that you learn NOT to translate from the old language to the new language.

You cannot give a test that has scores from 1-100 and then translate that into progressing, mastery and exceeds, because you will not be thinking in a standards-based way about learning.  Instead, it becomes about the grade, yet again, and it is even worse, because students believe that the numbers are not well-representing the "grade".  It has never been about the grade, it is about the learning!  It has become about the grade for so many years, and so we are very accustomed to seeing numbers and letters for our grading, and we are also used to taking what we know and relating it to something new.

 This is not the way to understand standards-based learning or assessment.  We must forget about what we know, forget about 1-100, A,B,C,D, F, and instead, think, what do I want my students to learn?  What do the students know about what they are learning?  Have they learned it?  If they have, they get a mastery level recorded in the program.  Have they learned some of it?  Then, they are "progressing".  If they have learned it, then they get to move on.  That is what learning is supposed to be about, moving on, getting better at something, going onto a higher, more complex level.  If they haven't learned it, then they get to try again, they get to find another way into it, they get to have more chances to learn it in different ways.

All of a sudden, it is about learning, not about the grade they got.  And that, is a breath of fresh air!  If they learn to sing a song, or learn to play a song on the piano, then they can perform it, and then they get to learn a harder song, or learn how to compose a song, or learn how to analyze music, because they can read the notes.  This "new" way of teaching and assessing is the way we learn things when we are small children.  If we practice talking, we get good at talking, and we are able to move onto more and more complex ways of communicating with everyone around us. Did we get grades then?   If we practice walking, we get good at walking and we move onto other more complex ways of moving.  Did we get grades then?  Of course not.  We got feedback, maybe, and that is important, and we got the satisfaction of knowing we were getting good at something, and we continued to receive feedback all along the way, to help us get better at all of our skills.  It is just as good a way to share information about learning as it ever was, and in fact, it is more descriptive, more thoughtful, more directed, clearer, gentler to children and parents, and more compassionate and less judgmental as well.  Carry on, and keep getting smarter and more skilled all the way along!

MY FAVORITE QUOTATION ABOUT TEACHING

TODAY I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU MY FAVORITE QUOTATION ABOUT TEACHING. When I moved classrooms last year, I misplaced it, as it was on my wall for many years, and I had to take it down when I moved.  I have just re-found it, and I plan to re-copy it and place it behind my desk as a reminder.  When I first began teaching, and while I was raising my children, Haim Ginott was a huge educational philosopher and one of my many gurus for teaching and as a parent.  This quotation just says it all, and shares everything I want to say about the beginning of school.  It is just as relevant now as when it was written so many years ago:

I have come to the frightening conclusion I am the decisive element in the classroom.  It is my personal approach that creates the climate.  It is my daily mood that makes the weather.  As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.  I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.  I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.  

In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized."  Haim G. Ginott

I re-dedicate myself to this canon, I want to help my students enjoy life, and learning.  I want them to see how far they can go by challenging them, but making it appear effortless at the same time.  I hope for all my students that they see my classroom as an exciting, but safe environment, a place that is joyous, and more than anything else, I wish to be an instrument of inspiration that will carry them through their day.  A tall order, but I will challenge myself every day to reach it.  I know as an example, they will challenge themselves as well.  Have a great week, and happy Wednesday to all!

Second Week of School

I have a new way of teaching general music that began last winter.  I share the same time periods with the gym and health teacher, for fifth and sixth grade.  Last year we realized that if we have students every other week for two quarters, we will actually see them more, if we factor in tlts and enrichment classes and extra time after school and recess time.  It was wonderful last year to have fifth graders for two quarters, and this year we are trying it with sixth graders.

 Essentially, we have two first days of school, because of this.  Therefore, I had Jaguars last week, and this week I have begun the first week with the Leopard team.  I had a great time sharing my story and song with this team, because I had done it several times by the time I got to them.  The weather has been a great deal cooler and drier this week than it was last week, so the students are not so uncomfortable in the building.  We have gotten a lot accomplished, in other words.

We all composed a sixteen measure rhythm composition and performed it for the class.  I have put the scoring guide on my webpage, if it helps to look at it, but everyone remembered how to compose and play their compositions.  I have created all my trackers in masteryconnect, and have assessed the students using this new system.  The wonderful part is that even if they all were not successful, they are able to try as many times as they need to to get to a mastery level for the project.

                                                   My granddaughter getting ready for school!

First day of school 2014-2015

Yesterday was the first day of school for the 2014-2015 school year.  I was a little bit nervous, as I am every year, about the first day going well.  I am always worried that my technology won't work when I need it to, that I will not find all my students in the correct place, and that I won't be able to remember what I wanted to say to my students on the first day of school!  I know you all wanted to hear that, as I still remember how nervous I was as a student on the first day of school, it just never changes, does it?

I wanted to write about sharing my opera story and my song with the class, as it relates to my work this summer and to the other blog posts I have written so far.  I began the classes, as I always do, with a review of the habits of work and learning and of an overview of the class for the term.  I wanted my students to remember that they will have music for four days of one week, and then they will have gym for the next week, and then they will come back to music, and so forth, all the way until January.
After the "Do Now" project, which took them half of the period, and led to a discussion of what they remember from last year, and what they would like to learn in music, I talked to them about my summer work.  I explained that after next week, they too will be writing an opera story.  They too, will eventually write a song, and they too, will be sharing some form of this with the class in the weeks to come.  I spoke a little too fast, as I always do while sharing my story, but I enjoyed sharing my work with the kids, as I have not ever really done, and I felt like I received some good feedback from them.  They understood better what I might be looking for, and I also gave them the option of beginning with the idea of a place where dreams come true.  In my story, the place is a cafe where dreams come true.  They could begin with a deserted island where dreams come true, they could begin with a planet, a playground, a middle school classroom, whatever they wanted.  They could also write their story about something completely different, as long as there are 4 or more characters, there is a plot and a subplot and some twists and turns of the tales.  Good luck to all this year, I will be trying to write an update every week, on a subject that has to do with work here in General Music, hope you enjoy it!  Be sure to send feedback if you wish!  Happy trails!

Susannah's Aria from the opera story:  The Cafe Where Dreams Come True.  July 22, 2014

July 16, 2014-  Reflection on Reading and Writing For K-5th

Good morning blogging fans.  Today's blog continues my reflections on work I did for the summer institute.  I am hoping that many people will read my blog, especially other teachers and administrators and will pursue the classes at Summer Institute next summer because of my enthusiasm and passion for the classes I took.  My first blog was about GAFE Peak summit.  This blog is about the first two days of the summer institute at YMS.  I took a class on reading and writing for Kindergarten-fifth grade, and I was the only person who was not a classroom teacher in the class.  The teachers were very helpful, and patient with all of us, and helped us to see the importance of using mentor texts to help students learn to read and to write.  It may have seemed funny for a music teacher to take a reading and writing course, however, it is very clear that reading and writing is a huge part of music class!  I have students write about music all the time, and often they write creatively about music.  Often music is a jumping off point for a poem, or a story or a reflection.  I can see if my students at YMS have their own blogs, they could have a music section and write about music that thrills them on their blogs for all their peers to read.  Kids seem to enjoy blogging and I can now see how it can be a fun and informative way to communicate with my students about music.

My favorite part of the class about reading and writing was about the mentor texts.  I chose one, An Angel for Seymour Solomon, to use in my music class.  The story is a picture book about a man who has moved to a hotel in New York City from his home in Indiana.  He has a certain sadness about him all the time because he misses his life, his home, and the surroundings he loved in Indiana.  The light is different, the sounds are different, his lifestyle is very different, and he is struggling to transition to this new life.  He finds a diner that is warm and inviting one day, and he starts going there each day for a meal.  He gets to know the guy who runs it who greets him each day when he comes in.  This diner and the relationship he makes with Angel, the diner owner, changes his whole perspective on the world.  I would like to use this in advisory to talk about how your attitude can change with the help of the kindness of others.  I would also like my music students to use it as a starting off point for their opera stories, if they need a subject to write about.  I always tell them to write about something they know about, and something that they are passionate about.  What makes you happy?  What makes you think?  What is a challenge for you?  But sometimes these questions are overwhelming and don't help them at all!

My thought was to take the story's diner, "a place where dreams come true" and use it as an idea for my students if they need it for their opera story.  Can you tell me about a place where dreams come true.  A cafe, a diner, a restaurant, a playground, a school, any place that interests you, where dreams come true!  I decided to take that idea myself, and test it out!  I have written my own opera plot, which was a big challenge and great fun!  The more I write, the more I want to write.  This is a thought that I want to share with all my music students.  The more you write, the easier it gets.  If you run a lot, it gets easier to run, right?  If you play a lot of video games, you get better at video games and they are easier right?  If you play a lot of soccer, that gets easier too, right?  Well, clearly, I can attest, that the more you write, the easier that gets as well.  And, just for the record, it is pretty clear, that the more you practice your instrument, like your band instrument for Mr. Neel and Ms. Etter, your singing for Ms. Etter or for me, or if you practice playing the piano and writing music for the piano, that gets easier too!

It was a challenge to write this opera story, because I created characters at first that I may not have actually been able to connect with, as I didn't know very much about their experiences.  I created a character at first who had returned from Iraq after his tour of duty.  As I began to flesh out this character, I realized I knew nothing about this experience, and although I could have perhaps researched this topic at length, it would not have sounded as organic as the characters I replaced this one with.  I wanted my students to know that I have learned first hand how it feels to write yourself into a corner and not know how to find your way out.  I therefore, rethought the idea completely, revised my original characters, and changed their connections to the other characters as well.  I am pleased with how it came out, but you need to know that writing, although a wonderful challenge in this world, is not always easy, even for someone who does it all the time, and is an adult, who has a great deal of experience with it!

That brings me to my last point about reading and writing!  It connects very well to music.  We speak of literacy with reading and writing and students becoming literate at different rates, and with different styles of learning.  That is something that connects perfectly with music literacy.  I have tried several ways to have students understand how to read music, but there are so many ways to teach it, so many ways to reach into the different styles of learning, and now with this class, I can see even more ways to do it.  I can translate some of the ideas I learned from Reading and Writing for k-5 into ideas that could help students to read notes, clefs, sharps, flats, rhythms, and key signatures.  I need to break it down to the simplest parts, and begin again and again, and give them as many chances as they need to hit those learning targets.  I look forward to their continued success with these subjects and my new techniques that I want to use with them this fall.  My opera story is now on my webpage, you can download it and read it, as well as the lucidchart I used to chart it out with my ideas before I wrote it out.  Google has it all right there, and it is very accessible, intuitive and easy to use.

 The last part of this project will be the recording of the song that I am writing, which is also an exemplar for my students.  They will also write a song for one of their characters in their opera story, so I wanted to show them one as well.  I have not finished the song, but I will do that before the week is over.  I hope you enjoyed reading this entry and this reflection about two days of Reading and Writing for K-5th grade.

July 14, 2014- GAFE PEAK SUMMIT Summer Institute

This is my first blog in all the time I have been writing, which is a long time.  That sounds a little strange, but you need to know that I love to write, and I write in a journal, longhand, every morning.  However, this is a new experience for me.  I did not grow up in the social media age.  I did not grow up with everyone reading my facebook page, and watching my life flow across the internet.  Therefore, writing this post is something I will need to get accustomed to over time.  I might sound, at first, slightly awkward, or perhaps a little stilted, like the first time you find yourself with a group of people you don't know.  I might not know what to say, even though I have been saying a great deal for years.  Therefore, I apologize if my first blog is like one's first pancake, a little scorched on one side, a little over done on the other side, the heat not quite just right.  I hope to get more attuned and begin enjoying this experience as time goes on.

I have a specific subject to tackle, even though it may have sounded at first like I was just thinking out loud.  I took a very intense two day GAFE peak session after school let out this year, and part of my assignment for the summer is to practice all that I have learned about at this educational conference.  I hope my students will read my blog, and respond to it, and write about their educational experiences as well.  I love Google apps and google everything, for many reasons.  I want to reflect, first, on this, and then, on my last several hours of work that I have been doing, to combine the two sessions that I took, gafe peak, and Reading and Writing for k-5.

I love google apps for education because everything is right at your fingertips and it is all connected.  I never thought having a youtube channel, having a blog, having a webpage, and managing my email would be this easy and simple.  I have not come to technology quickly, but I have been a steady student all the way along.  I just assumed that it would always be a challenge.  Now, I am always looking for more of a challenge to keep me learning!  I love that!  This is what learning is supposed to be all about.  It is supposed to be fun, and it is supposed to be about thinking, and responding, and playing, workshopping, and collaborating.  That is what google apps is for me.  So many different ways to share your work, so many different ways to communicate with others, and work with others, and all using the same format?? All I can say is wow, and thank you, thank you, and thank you again.

  I think all the teachers that we had at the conference were wonderful, because they got you going on even the simplest things, and didn't ever make you feel as if you should have been further along, you are supposed to be where you are, and you can take it anywhere next, and then next and then next..do you know what I mean?  They were great examples of excellent teachers.  I not only learned about how to use these apps in my classroom, and how to use them to support my teaching, but I studied how to be a better teacher as well:   patient, enthusiastic, fun, and engaging all the time!!

  I would also like to add that the way the conference was organized was fantastic.  There were many choices of what to take, and they organized it so that if you had never done something before, you could learn with the beginners, if you were more experienced, you could learn with more experienced people and so forth.  I think we all come to new challenges and new information and new languages with different skill sets, and it is so important for everyone to see the different learning styles and work with them.  We were lucky to have several spots for these different classes, two or three different labs, as well as the wildcat room for larger groups and presentations.  I was thrilled to be a part of it, and let me tell you, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend part of my summer doing this..but now I want to take a class every summer, and have independent time to write, and blog, and work on youtube videos.

Which gets me to my next challenge.  The other two day conference I went to was about reading and writing for students no matter what you teach on a regular basis.  Almost all the teachers in the class were classroom teachers, so I brought a unique perspective, being a music teacher.  I am going to end this first blog, here, as I believe the Reading and Writing project that I have been working on should be a separate reflection.  Let me just say, I want to thank the GAFE peak organizers, especially Eric Lawson and Barbara Maling, as they spearheaded this conference and made it so accessible, even at the last minute for all our constituents.  I also was very impressed with the Keynote speaker, he was engaging, helpful, available after the talk, and really gave us a great perspective on all this technology stuff.  Sometimes I get a little scared by it, but most of the time I am pretty excited about it.  I will give you another reflection about my final project for reading and writing class at a slightly later date, until then, Long Live GAFE!!!