James Coleman
Entry 4
A successful music classroom is defined by the educator’s ability to be acquainted with content knowledge and utilize a variety of pedagogies to teach musical concepts. Music education can only be fruitful when there is a combination of musical knowledge and educational knowledge.
There are many things that are absolutely critical prerequisites for music education. The teacher must have experience with classroom management, curriculum planning, and setting goals of different types for multiple achievement levels of the ensemble. Planning must be taken seriously otherwise lessons can fall apart and become wasteful at a moment’s notice. So, having a wide base of musical knowledge will help me to provide a coherent, and comprehensive education to all students that come into my classroom.
Certain aspects within musical knowledge that must be readily accessible by the teacher are music theory, aural skills, music history, and how all of these things affect texts presented in the classroom. Creating that connection between all of the aspects of music creates a more coherent music curriculum, which can then be taught utilizing the musical learning theories of Kodaly, Dalcroze, Orff, and many other music theorists. By creating a connection between content and application, I will be completely qualified to teach my students about my content area.
All of the above really came into play once I started my student teaching semester. I noticed that I was constantly using my aural skills and error detection skills in order to listen to my students and adjust during the lessons. When standing on the podium in front of a band, all eyes are on you. It is near impossible to leave a room to grab a book and look something up, so knowledge needs to be easily accessible to the teacher in order to keep a good flow of learning. If you have to stop to look up a certain fingering for a musical instrument then you are wasting precious instruction time that could be used elsewhere. This means that teachers not only have to learn things, but then utilize some form of ongoing practice in order to keep their skills up to snuff. Many things in music are very much of a "use it or lose it" mindset. So, I will have to engage my own musicianship through intentional listening, continued musical performances, and practice in order to always be prepared for what my students may bring to the classroom.
There are many things that are absolutely critical prerequisites for music education. The teacher must have experience with classroom management, curriculum planning, and setting goals of different types for multiple achievement levels of the ensemble. Planning must be taken seriously otherwise lessons can fall apart and become wasteful at a moment’s notice. So, having a wide base of musical knowledge will help me to provide a coherent, and comprehensive education to all students that come into my classroom.
Certain aspects within musical knowledge that must be readily accessible by the teacher are music theory, aural skills, music history, and how all of these things affect texts presented in the classroom. Creating that connection between all of the aspects of music creates a more coherent music curriculum, which can then be taught utilizing the musical learning theories of Kodaly, Dalcroze, Orff, and many other music theorists. By creating a connection between content and application, I will be completely qualified to teach my students about my content area.
All of the above really came into play once I started my student teaching semester. I noticed that I was constantly using my aural skills and error detection skills in order to listen to my students and adjust during the lessons. When standing on the podium in front of a band, all eyes are on you. It is near impossible to leave a room to grab a book and look something up, so knowledge needs to be easily accessible to the teacher in order to keep a good flow of learning. If you have to stop to look up a certain fingering for a musical instrument then you are wasting precious instruction time that could be used elsewhere. This means that teachers not only have to learn things, but then utilize some form of ongoing practice in order to keep their skills up to snuff. Many things in music are very much of a "use it or lose it" mindset. So, I will have to engage my own musicianship through intentional listening, continued musical performances, and practice in order to always be prepared for what my students may bring to the classroom.
Artifact #1
This is a full example of an elementary unit with lesson plans.
elementary_unit.docx | |
File Size: | 1856 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Artifact #2
This is a full example of a secondary unit with band lesson plans.
secondary_unit_-_teachers_guide.docx | |
File Size: | 225 kb |
File Type: | docx |