Music Ed Ideas

“OK, teachers (newbies and veterans alike): How far in advance do you plan at the beginning of...

seezit — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 08:29:48 -0700

“OK, teachers (newbies and veterans alike): How far in advance do you plan at the beginning of school? I know there is going to be a lot of adaptation, figuring out pacing, and of course the uncertainty of what the students actually already know. I’m thinking 2-3 weeks of plans? How detailed do you make your plans? Do you need to show them to your superiors, or are they just for you? What information do you include?”

I’ve found that the classes you think you’re going to teach can sometimes change without notice and plans go out the window. This year, I’m planning for three middle school bands, two high school bands, and a guitar class. With the classes for beginners, I can plan further in advance. They follow a method book, and I’ll add supplemental materials as necessary, probably having them start to read actual literature later in the first semester.

For the upper grades at a new school, I have no idea where they are, but I can plan for where they need to be by the end of the year. At this point, I’m planning on following the Salem-Keizer scope and sequence for band to set benchmarks for the students. From there, I will develop assessments to find out where the students are and set short term goals that will work towards those overarching benchmarks. Especially with small schools, it can be a daily challenge to figure out how to help students who need more help while still pushing students who need a greater challenge.

After having that plan in place for the entire year with benchmarks set and the calendar in place, I’ll be working on specific lesson plans for the first week or two. The biggest thing, especially that first week, that first day, will to put classroom procedures in place and practice those with the students. Having that structure early on will make for a less-stress filled year both for me and my students.

I think a good place to start would be Disney movies. They've always been great about pulling music from different cultures for their movies, particularly Caribbean styles for The Little Mermaid, Cajun styles for Princess and the Frog, etc.

seezit — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 08:38:22 -0700

Re: Music Appreciation...What if you did a "Popular Music through the Decades" from the turn of the 20th century to today. You can look at what was popular and how it reflected the history of the U.S. at that time . I teach U.S. history 1 and 2 and incorporate as much music as possible because it's something my middle schoolers always relate to. I hope that helps!

seezit — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 08:38:18 -0700

Middle School Music Appreciation. . .?

seezit — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 13:24:04 -0700

The school that I’m teaching at in the coming year wants to start having a music elective. This is something they’ve never done before, so there is no previous years’ material to draw from.

There are a couple directions I’ve thought about taking the class: music from cultural perspectives, music from a historic perspective, music from a theory analysis perspective.

Anyone have suggestions for such a class?

STOP! Look! Listen! for Effective [Band] Rehearsals

seezit — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:02:06 -0800

STOP! Look! Listen! for Effective [Band] Rehearsals:

ejf882:

By establishing an opening routine, you will save valuable time and achieve important ensemble focus. It will take practice, but students of any level can make this happen. It can even become a game, especially for younger groups, to see how quickly they can become completely silent. By starting your rehearsal this way, you will notice an increase in productive rehearsal time…

Good tips for effective ensemble rehearsals. I will be starting my 3-5th grade choir this Thursday and want to be 100 PERCENT PREPARED AND EXCITED! So I’m using some of these exercises (which aren’t necessarily specific to band!) that will ensure students are focusing on ME, the conductor, and nothing/no one else.

Crossing my fingers this goes over well!

Helpful Hints for Listening

seezit — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 16:04:05 -0800

ongakusensei:

Give them something to listen for in the piece

Ask them to sing it back

Timbre recognition, form, pitch direction, rhythm discrimination, expressivity, or texture

Prepare them for it

Ask questions about the piece

Extend upon the listening

Make it apply to other topics

Use listening maps

Age appropriate

Level appropriate

Get the students involved in an activity of some sort

Music as my life: Helpful Hints for Playing

seezit — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 08:03:06 -0800

Music as my life: Helpful Hints for Playing:

ongakusensei:

If they can chant it, they can play it

If they can tap or pat it on their bodies, they can play it

Use fingers first, then sticks of mallets, then balls of mallets

Be as non-verbal as possible

“Don’t touch the instruments until I say so”

“You get what you get, so don’t pitch a fit.”

Don’t…

Helpful Hints for Moving

seezit — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:04:06 -0800

ongakusensei:

If you can chant it, you can dance it

Reinforce/teach musical concepts

Can teach rhythm, form, on-beat, off-beat, etc etc

Age appropriate

Level appropriate

Give them something to listen for

Move without touching anyone

Listen before moving

Think before moving

Use easier, well known models, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”

Should be personal to each student

Listen, respond, chant/pat, chant and step, step internalize

Choreography can be used

How to Properly Roast Your Duck: Music Education: Two Sides of the Same Coin

seezit — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 08:03:05 -0800

How to Properly Roast Your Duck: Music Education: Two Sides of the Same Coin:

roastduckie:

Critics often question the need for music education in the public school curriculum. They cast doubts on the value added by an arts program. There are many benefits of music education in regards to the other core subjects, but the most important facet of the performing arts is the development of…

musicteachertalk: “Singing Valentines” is positively the best...

seezit — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:04:05 -0800

musicteachertalk:

“Singing Valentines” is positively the best fundraiser I could imagine. Here’s a picture of the whiteboard showing all of the groups, all of the class periods, and all of the classrooms we had to deliver performances.

Some great things about it…

It’s educational. Students write and perform their own a cappella arrangements of pop songs. Each group (17 this year, each 3-8 students) of students is 90% self-directed. I only stepped in at the end to give a few suggestions and/or the final OK.

It’s a matter of pride. I could never dream of so many students being this excited about their triple trio at Solo & Ensemble (Frankly, I don’t blame them). Students are already talking about what song they’re going to arrange in the first week of school.

It’s great PR for the choir department. We’re lucky to have it part of our school culture … the culmination of our Midwinter Spirit Week, always the Friday closest to Valentine’s Day. About 80% of the faculty allow us to interrupt their classes to sing. About 30% love them and don’t even plan any other lessons for the day! For our school, it happens right before students start selecting schedules, and I get several students asking me about choir auditions every year because they want to be part of Singing Valentines.

It’s the only fundraiser we ever need. We broke the record of valentines sold/delivered this year again … all among students, staff, and family. The overhead is small.

Some things that allow us to do it…

It’s an 18-year tradition at my school, woven into the fabric of our culture, accepted by almost all of the teachers.

Incredibly supportive administration. Principals love it, and secretaries even help out with the scheduling.

I teach a lot of “harmonizing by ear” in my choirs. The freshman’s first concert always includes a song to which they’ve figured out harmonies in class. We spend a couple days talking about various pop harmony methods every year, and it really does wonders for students’ confidence in composing/arranging/improvising

Two INSANE weeks auditioning, organizing teachers’ schedules, scheduling students to perform, and constant problem solving (This teacher only wants them delivered 1st hour; the next teacher can do hours 2-4, but only for the first 15 minutes; etc.)

So Happy Valentine’s Day to all the music teachers out there. If you’re absolutely done with cheese log/chocolate/pizza sales, car washes, and sing-a-thons, give Singing Valentines a try!

Interview advice needed!

seezit — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:02:06 -0800

music-teacher-in-training:

I’ve got a phone interview tomorrow for a general elementary teaching job. I hate hate hate talking on the phone, especially for interviews, because of how much information I get from people based on body language. Anyone have any advice for interviewing for a teaching job or for conducting a brilliant phone interview?

Music as my life: Movement in an elementary classroom

seezit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:04:06 -0800

Music as my life: Movement in an elementary classroom:

ongakusensei:

For Reading & Teaching Music in an Elementary Classroom, we have to do a section on movement. Movement can be anything from hand gestures to dancing. On Friday, we have to present group projects of things we would teach the students. My group was given 5th grade, which means more structured…

thecostumepartyisover: I have been doing work with the national...

seezit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:03:05 -0800

thecostumepartyisover:

I have been doing work with the national anthem this week… Showed this to my fifth graders today as a sort of “how NOT to do it.” Bright rawwwrrrs? Hilarious.

It actually started a great dialogue about how the anthem should be performed. Many of my students saw the humor in the sketch, but they also admitted that they’d seen someone do (in real life) some of the quirky things shown here. In general, the students agreed that the song is better when it’s done plainly, with confidence, and with the right words. Also, one needs to be brave when performing it. “B to the R to the A to the V to the E.”

SparrowLetters: Teaching jazz guitar tips?

seezit — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:03:05 -0800

SparrowLetters: Teaching jazz guitar tips?:

sparrowletters:

Hey so I have a favor to ask…

So I have played acoustic guitar in my high school worship band for 2 years, since then I’ve played a bit but I’m sad to say my guitar has gotten dusty since I’ve started college (music college ironically…)

In 2 weeks, I am will be part of a program that gives music…

The Dreaming Tree: Seezit here is a friend from college who was kind enough to share her...

seezit — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:02:06 -0800

The Dreaming Tree: Seezit here is a friend from college who was kind enough to share her...:

hajna:

Seezit here is a friend from college who was kind enough to share her notes from a session at the OMEA convention in January, and I’d like to follow suit.

This session is a little hard to share since I don’t have video or audio, but it was the best one I went to, so I’ll try to explain as…

Colorado student quits high school choir over Islamic song praising 'Allah'

seezit — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:04:05 -0800

Colorado student quits high school choir over Islamic song praising 'Allah':

straightj23:

A college professor of mine once said to me, “Choosing pieces for your students to play or sing will forever be the toughest decision you will ever make as a music educator.” This is especially true for public school music teachers. Not only do we have to worry about our group’s abilities both as individuals and as a collective group. Not only do we have to worry about the price of the piece itself, and how that will effect our already thin music boosters budget. Many music directors cannot pick any song for their students to play or sing without being accused of pushing some kind of radical agenda. As a musician, I have seen this happen many a time.

“Zikr” by A.R. Rahman is a piece friends of mine back at college sang in Men’s Glee Club. As a member of both the Glee Club and Collegiate Chorale while a student, I had the pleasure of singing many of Rahman’s pieces. He is an incredibly gifted composer and educator. This piece, as Rahman points out, is not meant to be an Islamic worship song. However, that was not enough for this Colorado student who respectfully disagreed with singing it, and ultimately quit the group.

I have very mixed feelings over this. On one hand, I admire the student’s courage to stand up for his beliefs. The education environment students face nowadays is oppressive in many ways. Students of all ages are often afraid of expressing their beliefs out of fear they will be character assassinated by their peers or by their teachers. In most of these cases, it is the parents that come to their child’s rescue. Not in this case. The student himself stands by his beliefs, and for that, I have the utmost respect for him.

On the other hand, I still find him incredibly mistaken to deprive himself of this experience. Not only is “Zikr” a beautiful song. It is also challenging, and singing it has technical benefits that the students will learn from. It is also educational considering its cultural meaning. To quote Rahman, “While I respect his decision for opting out, this incident is an example of why we need further cultural education through music.”

I could not have said it better myself.

Trolling All Music Teachers ???

seezit — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:02:05 -0800

therolodex:

Hey. Music teachers.

Any really great ideas for a half-hour Kindergarten class (and also a half-hour K sub-plan)? I am tired of “readiness” activities, but I KNOW that the Ks (at least where mine are at) won’t be able to handle any sort of literacy activities until MAYBE June (to prepare them for first grade). So I am looking for good movement activities/fingerplays/playparties/simple songs/songtales that you have used and would recommend.

Help a teacher out!

meeshroblog: This is awesome! Perhaps a fun general music class...

seezit — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:03:06 -0800

meeshroblog:

This is awesome!

Perhaps a fun general music class idea. I wish I knew how they did this.

Where I found the video. This is not mine, and I cannot understand what the conductor says at the beginning.

How to Draw a Canon

seezit — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:04:06 -0800

How to Draw a Canon:

Great visual representation of the canon

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

seezit — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:02:05 -0800

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra:

My cooperating teacher did this program with her 5th graders every year and ended the unit with a field trip to see the local symphony perform pieces they had talked about in class (Portland Symphony, education day concert). Great unit!

ejf882:

Learn about the instruments of the orchestra by going on an “instrument safari”! Carnegie Hall’s website has a fun, interactive game to have your students play to learn about different instrument families. I’m doing this with 2nd grade…will probably take the rest of the month (I see each group every three days).