Artifact 7 (written while student teaching)

Artifact Reflection #7

Title of Artifact: Lesson Plans for All Ages
Date Experienced Completed: Fall 2008

Description of Artifact:
While student teaching at Wisconsin Dells High School and Middle School, I
realized just how many lesson plans teachers have to make every week. My artifact
is two lesson plans I made while student teaching. One lesson was for the 6th grade
beginning band at Spring Hill Middle School. I taught a lesson about time
signatures where we worked on playing in 3/4 time. And one was for the
upperclassmen band, Symphony Band, at Wisconsin Dells High School. I ran a full
band rehearsal where we worked on “Suite in Bb” by Gordon Jacob.

Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
I believe this artifact best aligns with Standard Seven: Instructional Planning. I
aligned it this way because lesson plans are instructional planning!  This standard
talks about knowing the subject, pupils and instructional goals enough to plan
different types of lesson plans. In this artifact, I have two very different lesson plans.
One is for a beginning band, and the other is for the most advanced band. This
really shows not only the diversity of the subject and ages, but also on what the
final instructional goal is. The lesson for the young band focuses on them learning
something generic. Understanding basic musical concepts. While the lesson for the
advanced musicians is something that requires knowledge, practice, and abstract
rhythmic thinking. They are two very different lessons that meet two very different
educational needs.

University Wisconsin Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill,
Disposition Statement Alignment:
My artifact aligns with KSD1.c-Selects Instructional goals. I feel this because
the goals set in these lesson plans are made to be easily assessed. Music teachers
have it very lucky. When students get advanced enough to start to separate into
those who get it, and those who are struggling, band music modifies itself. By
creating different parts (i.e. Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Clarinet 3) students get
challenged to their own ability while still reaching the class goals, and state
standards.
I also feel it aligns with KS1.e-Designs Coherent Instruction because both
lesson plans set goals, and take the proper steps to reaching those instructional
goals. The lessons take into account the age and experience of the students, and
sets goals appropriate to ability and school standards.

What I Learned from This Experience:
I learned a lot about forward planning and organization! You have to be
organized to have full band rehearsal. You have to be able to make progress
everyday, no matter how big or small that progress is. And lessons change! You
don’t have to stick to a lesson to the word. Let the class take you where it needs to
go. If you go further then your lesson plan, that’s great. If you don’t accomplish
everything, hopefully you taught them something else towards your overall goal.
I learned how much you have to know about your students to write lesson
plans. For full band rehearsal, you have to know what sections need the most work.
And for beginning band, you need to know how far they can get in an hour.
And the biggest lesson is time management! You have to get really good at
estimating how long it will take your students to learn something. I found that I
would rather have too much planned, so you always have somewhere to go, rather
than not enough, leaving you scrambling in front of your class. I’m good at pacing
and time filling.

What I Learned About Myself as a Prospective Teacher:
I learned that I have the ability to plan really detailed lesson plans, and execute
them in the allotted amount of time. I learned that I really know my students, and
know their abilities and weaknesses. I made the lessons so that we could start with
something to get their attention, then work on some really tricky passages, and end
it all on a positive note so they leave feeling good about what they have
accomplished. Not all my lesson plans are this detailed, but I found I like to write
as much as I can. I set lots of tasks, but in bitable amounts.