Artifact Reflection #2
Title of Artifact: Theory 2 at Pioneer Summer Music Camp
Date Experienced Completed: Summer of 2007
Description of Artifact:
Every year I am a counselor for Pioneer Summer Music Camp, held on
the UW-P campus. Not only am I in charge of watching the kids every minute
of everyday, but I also have other responsibilities. I get to help run choir
rehearsal, and help organize fun social events. Another one of my
responsibilities is teaching music theory 2.
Every student takes a simple placement test, and is placed by ability in
one of the classes. The children coming in have every variety of skill level and
performance. Theory 2 is for those students who do not know much music
theory, but know at least a little. I teach them time signatures (the beat/rate at
which something is played), note value (how long a note gets in relation to the
time signature), and how both are dependant on each other. My artifact is the
worksheets I use to help teach this class. We have five days to teach what we
want to get across, and time signatures can be very tricky for beginning
students. I feel these handouts make learning quicker, and easier for the young
student.
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
I believe this artifact best aligns with Standard Two: Development-
teachers know how children grow. I understand that children taking this class
have all had a very broad range of previous instruction. They are a variety of
ages, and performance ability. With this in mind, you have to teach so that
everyone will get something from it. My goal was to have the students walk
away at the end of the week with the confidence to understand, and be able to
analyze, any piece with different time signatures they may come across. I have
this goal for them because the key to reading music is understanding the beats,
and the rhythms in the measure. If a student can read a time signature, they are
one step closer to being able to read the rhythms. When a student can read
rhythms accurately, they will more than likely succeed in music. When I set the
goal of having them understand time signatures, I am setting them up for
success! And isn’t that what we want for all our kids?
These handouts make it easy for students of any ability level to
understand the concept of time, and what time signatures mean. Not only that,
but it gives the children a visual representation of what the musical concept is
trying to portray. We learn that all students have different ways of learning. By
having this picture for them to follow, I am appealing to the visual learners, as
well as auditory learners. The next step, for the kinesthetic learners, would be
having the students clap and count the rhythms and how they differ. By using
this one handout, I can appeal to all the different ways children receive and
process information. By relating it with pictures, and breaking it down,
hopefully they will be ale to hold onto this information longer, and carry into
their own performance abilities. Sometimes the students don’t realize just how
much math is involved in music! The pictures make a chart to follow, when
words are sometimes harder to explain this concept. Now, with this clear-cut
picture, they will be able to not only help themselves, but also will be able to
access and help each other learn the concept.
University Wisconsin Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill,
Disposition Statement Alignment:
My artifact aligns with KD1.b-Demonstrates knowledge of students. I
feel this because I understand that all children learn differently, and I feel my
artifact can be used to fit all their needs. No matter what their background is, no
matter what culture they come from, if they are taking music, they can
understand this. Music is the universal language. Once you learn how each
child learns, it is only a matter of giving information that way. I am truly
fortunate in music to be able to teach the same lesson in every different way.
There aren’t too many modifications that have to be made to adjust to each
student. Whether it is explaining with lecture, writing it out, or actually
clapping/playing/singing it, the students can walk away knowing something
they didn’t before this lesson was taught.
This alignment is one of my favorites because it means you have to learn
your students. They aren’t just a name or a number. They each have their own
interests. They each have their own way of taking the information you give, and
applying it to what they know. By having to know each child’s learning
capability, you have to know the child! I completely advocate knowing as
much as you can about the child. The more you know, the more you can relate
information to them. This way, learning is personal. Learning is fun. Learning is
something they can carry with them forever.
What I Learned from This Experience:
I learned that no matter what background a student comes from, when
you are teaching a new musical concept to everyone, the playing field seems
more level. So many of the children freak out when they hear they will be
taking music theory. I feel that by handing out these worksheets for everyone to
follow along, they are more apt to not only pay attention, but also grasp the
concept. By taking this music concept, and drawing it out, the student can grasp
what it means. So much of music is emotion, and a deep understanding of
something that can’t be explained. By actually making a formula for
understanding “musical time” the students can feel more confident in their
counting and playing abilities!
What I Learned About Myself as a Prospective Teacher:
I learned that I really can teach complex concepts to young students. I
worked hard trying to figure out a way to teach time signatures, knowing that
most of these students have never been exposed to what it really means. When I
came up with making a work sheet, I knew I had to make it simple, and by
making it the way I did, any new student can look at it, and understand it. I
learned I really was paying attention in my music theory classes throughout
college :)
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