Thursday, October 30, 2014

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!!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

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!




Thursday, October 16, 2014

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!  

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

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!!