Related to Chapter 14 (R/D6), what are some ways the ideas/concepts/principles discussed in this chapter could be applied in your professional work? Do you see opportunities where these ideas could help you or your students?
As is the case in many classes, performance is what it judged, not improvement. Sometimes people can look at improvement as a way to feel good, but ultimately it is the final product that is evaluated. I felt that was stated rather strongly in the reading. "Hard work, great knowledge, and strong motivation without valued accomplishment is unworthy performance." I would imagine that if a student works hard and has good knowledge, he/she would perform well, but I guess isn't always the case.
There are a couple of concepts in figure 14.1 that I can appreciate in what I look for in my teaching, one with the environment, the other with each individual student. With the student, I think that most teachers look at their individual knowledge, and look at their motivation, but I honestly didn't think so much about their capacity. This is where it is important in lesson planning to somehow individualize the plans for multiple students to maximize their learning to achieve capacity. The systematic approach shown in figure 14.2 I believe can be effectively used for planning, particularly in dealing with the gap between the desired and the actual performance.
To put this into practical sense for my music classes, I think that I need to find the high end of the potential of my students, and then to analyze how close they are to that potential. Once I have figured out their shortcomings, I need to implement ways to fix them, and then to re-evaluate to see if the gap has closed. In my middle school orchestra of 16 students, I think that this is doable...with my high school choirs of 60-75 students will be rather tough. I can make a good analsis on the group and their performance as a whole, but I wonder how best to individualize it.
As described above under Option 1, profile the podcast(s) you chose to subscribe and listen to (you do not have to do this if you choose Option 2)
What added value might podcasting have in your professional setting (company, school, etc.)?
The podcast that I chose to post is about alternative music education for the students that don't desire to sing or play any instruments, but still wish to learn about applicable music. The music industry is two-fold, there are some that perform, there are many more that produce/compose. Unfortunately, there are very few options for quality learning in that second category in our K-12 schooling. I know that in some of our bigger schools, they offer these types of classes, but it isn't in mine as of now. One of the big issues with orchestra/band/and choir is the lack of composition (I think that this is one of the most important skills that people can use when they get out of school and have a desire to work in the field of music). A lot of emphasis is placed on performance, which isn't bad, but too often composition is left out because of its difficulty, and the lack of technological resources. This podcast tackles that issue, along with the issue of offering quality music education to those not a part of a performing group.
Podcasting is an effective way to listen to a lecture, and I think that it can be a good way to introduce a topic, or to enhance one already covered. I find that many students struggle at the beginning of units as they may not understand all of the terms or concepts (they shouldn't know them all...if they did, we wouldn't teach it!!!), and it can cause some unproductive lessons. I could see myself assigning students to listen/watch a podcast to get their feet wet, and then for them to have a better understanding of the topic coming into the unit. Once again, the podcast cannot replace the teaching, but it certainly can support.
7 comments:
I am seeing more in the elementary level that we are starting to look more at the growth made in the students from when they started to where they are not. We are a very test driven society and assessments are sometimes thought of as teh end. I find myself stuggling at times adapting pieces of the curriculum to the higher and lower end students. I want to challenge and then for those who are unable I want them to have success with what we are learning as well. You sure do walk a tight rope as a teacher!
I really agree that its important to individualize but that its really tough thing to do. As a spedial educator I only hav 9 students but they have some very different ability levels and they are a variety of ages. When planning group activities it makes it hard to find ways to incorparate all of the students and keep them all interested with material they understand. Its easy just to break them up and work with them individually but of course I can not and don't want to do this all the time. I imagine that this is something all teachers stuggle with which such a wide variety of students in our classrooms.
Tony Vitto
I agree. I think that podcasts are a great way to introduce a subject.
Students enjoy watching movies etc. and podcasts are short and to the point; which is something else that students enjoy.
I like the fact that you said your classes are based on the final performance but that you hadn't realized (I don't think that was the word) that students could practice and work hard and still not give a good performance.
It reminds me that in my office for example, some people are good at writing speeches, some at giving them and a few at both :)
One area that I didn't quite see eye to eye with was how important the book found "performance" to be. In many classes growth can be more important, especially in our one size fits all approach. With 75 kids in a class, there is no way to assess the capacity of each student and to design an individual plan to them to reach their capacity. I see that with most classes where an "art" is taught, we must always look for improvement verses performance. As a woodworker A student may try to sand a board, and do it successfully. That performance may have shown an ability but I also relize that it would be difficult to assess because although they may sanded the board, a person can always improve their technique. I find this true as a musician as well. I may perform a song, but at the same time it is very subjective as to wether I was succesful in my performance. I feel that no matter what I could do, it could always be better. I guess the "performance" aspect of the book made me feel that it lent itself more to math where 2 + 2 =4, it always will and a student cannot perform that any better, therefor its not subjective.
One area that I didn't quite see eye to eye with was how important the book found "performance" to be. In many classes growth can be more important, especially in our one size fits all approach. With 75 kids in a class, there is no way to assess the capacity of each student and to design an individual plan to them to reach their capacity. I see that with most classes where an "art" is taught, we must always look for improvement verses performance. As a woodworker A student may try to sand a board, and do it successfully. That performance may have shown an ability but I also relize that it would be difficult to assess because although they may sanded the board, a person can always improve their technique. I find this true as a musician as well. I may perform a song, but at the same time it is very subjective as to wether I was succesful in my performance. I feel that no matter what I could do, it could always be better. I guess the "performance" aspect of the book made me feel that it lent itself more to math where 2 + 2 =4, it always will and a student cannot perform that any better, therefor its not subjective.
If the same post is from Carolyn above, that was done on my wife's account... I didn't know she had signed herself in.
In the elementary setting teachers are recognizing the growth of students all the time. Unfortuneately, the grading system doesn't maek note of the growth of a person. As we focus more on state standards as achievment, it is difficult to document the progress one has made. We often say in first grade, " I wish they (next grade level teacher)could see where they started and where they are now! I feel it is true that some kids reach a capacity (developmentally) and can say "my cup is full".
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