Tip 45 - Be an Advocate!

We are, as arts educators, afraid of our programs being put on the chopping block of budget cuts. How do you ensure that you are safe...or better protected?

In our music seminar this last week we met with Leon Kuehner a retired band director for Hampton, Iowa. He is an At-Large member of the Executive Board of the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education (IAAE). He shared that we need to advocate for ourselves and our programs by doing a few things:

1. Create allies - We need to be in close relations with our fellow visual arts teachers, other music teachers, drama teachers, physical education, and others. You probably notice that these are (in the elementary setting) the "specials". We are the extra co-curricular courses in which students get to show a different side of themselves. We need to share interest in all areas and create allies through involvement and support of these other disciplines.

2. Be informed! - we need to constantly be informed of the business of the school. Leon suggested that we don't only keep ourselves informed, but inform others. Schedule a time to sit in on a school board meeting. We need to share our progress with the board and the community - this keeps the program's name out there.

3. Schedule time to speak with your principal - and not when something is wrong. If one only sees the principal when something is wrong then your visits are associated with negative thoughts. By scheduling a time one can share the good things that the program is doing. This reminds them of what's all going on - end with a thank you for your time. Build rapport!

Lastly, Leon shared a special for first year teachers. The IAAE wants to give you money! They will assist you with paying for conferences, professional development, pay for your sub when you're gone for these events, and many others. Attached in this entry is a link for the IAAE. Check this out and keep on keeping on!

http://www.iowaalliance4artsed.org/index.html

Contest - Dignity and Grace

Solo and Small Ensemble contest is a process that many high school musicians go through - whether they be instrumental or vocal. We as teachers need to decide how we prepare our students to do their best. In the Enhancing the Professional Practice of Music Teachers by Paul G. Young he urges teachers to show dignity and grace when it comes time for contest. We prepare our students, but in what ways? We pummel through the music like there's no tomorrow, teaching technique, posture, language, and many other things; there's another step. We need to teach students how to judge themselves. Attached you will find the IHSMA (Iowa High School Music Association Adjudication forms for solo and small ensemble contest. These are guidelines that I believe the students need to be aware of.

Students should see these forms a couple weeks before contest in order to create a mental checklist of things to improve or maintain. Students that participation in solo and small ensemble should also be adjudicating their peers. This can create a third party aspect between the teacher, performer and audience. The audience member can grade the peer on the attached form and give comments to hopefully improve the performer's playing.

Another thing to teach our students is how to accept their rating. Students that get a I should be happy, but not go completely crazy over getting it. If they remain humble this will promote a kinder learning environment with the other students that don't fare so well. In other words no major bragging or putting down of others. Students should realize that the rating is merely an opinion. Students stress over getting a II instead of a I, but they should definitely take a look at the point values. The student may have been very close and that could instill a better sense of achievement.

Lastly, teachers should use these forms to shape their teaching. Like always you will pick what you agree with and throw away what you don't, but remember your student is your responsibility. You should see growth from year to year and this is reinforced by having solo and small ensemble contest.

http://www.ihsma.org/solo_small_ensemble.shtml Click here for the adjudication forms.

Starting a 5th Grader

Here at AP when Fifth Graders get ready to start band - the students are brought in a large group to view a couple videos and get a primer to instrumental music. The second stop is to have the individual 5th grade classes come in and take a musical survey. This survey is accompanied by a video that asks students whether pitches are higher or lower, or the same than the previous one played, the same for rhythm and other related topics. I graded the surveys and now smaller groups have come in to test instrument mouth pieces. There is definitely some excitement - and definitely there is some dislike. We had students that were asked if they were going to get braces, have any other sorts of dental work, and what they ultimately would like to try. Students received information packets for their parents. The information given out gave the 2 parent days that instruments can be purchased. One night will be Reimans and another West - both music stores. Mr. Winkey has 10 minutes time lots set up so he can meet with the parents and discuss options. It is stressed that students (families) rent instruments before making a full investment of a brand new instrument.

More to come about those nights - in 2 weeks.

Brazil

My 5th graders and getting a unique experience! We are doing a Passport Unit - or we are traveling the world through music. This past week we went to Brazil. In my General Music Methods class I along with a friend were told to come up with a unit related to a country/culture. So I recycled a lesson on Brazil Carnaval. Attached you will find the link I used. I found that you have to give a primer with this video. Students will see women clad in almost swimsuit like outfits and sometime the immature students will giggle and snicker. I addressed that right away, sharing that it was a culture and we are not to make fun. Anyway the video was showed and questions were asked at the end. "What did you see, why is Carnaval so important to the culture, what makes up Carnaval?". The students were then told to get up and I taught them how to samba - like many of the performers in the video. If you would like the specific ways I taught them just ask. At the end of the dance I had everyone sit down. The students received an assignment... They were asked to create a float for our Carnaval and they will be posted in our classroom - pictures to follow.

Here's the link for the Carnaval Documentary - I showed about the first 6 to 7 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3mYDwRTALo

Interdependence

I have found for success of a music department everyone needs to realize that we depend on each other for participants and audience members. Mr. Winkey and Ms. Weichers stress that their students should check out the opposite ensemble for interest at the least. I have seen this in other departments - instrumentalists tend to have better grasps on rhythms and singers have a hold on the pitches and intonation that way. I've also found that individuals may have a preference on an instrument type, but no one instrument is more important. At the collegiate level we often seen a divide between strings, voice, winds, and keyboard - definitely not the case at AP. These teachers build the camaraderie with their students across that board and that is so very important.

The teachers support each other in endeavors and ask where they are able to assist. That is crucial to retaining students and building on their program. What are you thoughts?

What kind of parent?

I've been having some trouble with behavior in my middle school choirs - especially boys and especially 6th grade. Today I had two students who are friends in the period following chorus. One boy had been singing wonderfully - doing his solfege signs and using his falsetto voice. The other was screwing around and not following directions at all. In the following class they were sitting next to each other and I commented that the one student was singing beautifully and doing the hand signs. I then asked the other student what was going on. He was friends with a guy who liked chorus and everyone around him was doing their work. He responded that his mom made him join chorus.

That's my round about way of asking - Which kind of parent do we want to be? To have on our side? I look at the situation. If the student doesn't want to be in something he/she probably won't give it their all if being forced to. These students seem to create an atmosphere that doesn't facilitate good learning for anyone. Who is truly suffering here? Students that are forced to do an activity actually seem to lose respect for it. I struck up a deal with the student - give me what you can without disrupting and I will make it as fun as possible. I feel this will improve the messing around and will keep the others focused. More to follow halfway through the semester.

Chair Placement

Chair placement can always be an issue - parents can complain about where their children is placed in an instrumental ensemble. Mr. Winkey at AP fixed this problem. The students are placed by where they are at in their lesson books. Students can work ahead to sit higher in their section.

Doing this creates a few options:

1. Students have a friendly competition. Students can see where the others are in their book (only if shared student to student) and the practice harder to get above or at the same level as the other student.

2. For your ensemble - the students who are further in their books are generally have a better grasp on skills and concepts. In addition students will generally set higher in the section where they will play the notes addressed in the books.

3. The motivation to work ahead takes place. Students realized this fall that others had passed them over the summer. This can keep students working during their summer breaks to maintain or excel in their band.

These are great options that Mr. Winkey has seen and we will continue to see improvement quarter to quarter.

Thurs 8/24/11 - Teaching w/o warning

Today my day started with high school marching band. The AP Marching Band is a growing program and they are preparing with a spy themed show for contest in Fort Dodge. The band's set includes "Secret Agent Man", "Mission Impossible", "James Bond", and ending with "Soul Bossa Nova". The students are increasing the number of drill movements year by year and this year seems promising.

When I returned to Aplington Middle School I joined the chorus. Ms. Weichers asked me on the spot if I could teach the solfege hand signs. Having no inhibition I decided why not. I realized how easy or how hard this could be if I showed I was totally prepared, but with that in mind I jumped in. My job became easy and we sang a whole scale in a progression - making connections between intervals etc. Also I had some trouble makers in my back row, so I moved them to the front row and had the group show the hand signs to the class. They shut down rather fast and worked as a group with the rest of the class.

The 6th grade exploratory was a class on Baroque music specifically one Bach and the organ today. Two things that I was very passionate about. Mr. Winkey shares that enthusiasm and I get to continue that tomorrow by showing slides of photos specific to the time/locations and composers discussed. I also hope to make the connections between Bach's Cello Prelude and Secrets by One Republic. Also there is a funk version of Toccata and Fugue in D minor that will be shared.

7/8 Chorus is taught here by Mr. Wessel. He only comes over for this chorus and starts by teaching the Opus Music. Selections this year are challenging especially for the girls. The pieces are rather dissonant and in Latin. This is normally the first language the students are exposed to and they will learn them as a choir. The men are singing Ritterchor favorites "The Awakening" and the "Prayer of the Children". I find it rather interesting that the lowest the students could sing in once piece would be a low G. This is so challenging when half the male voices haven't matured to hit those pitches.

To conclude - more solfege is on the way and there will be more updates coming soon.

Word Walls in Music Education - AP

Today is only the third day of classes! The initiative at Aplington-Parkersburg is to have students become better spellers without having a spelling class. Every class has been requested to use what is called a Word Wall. These will show key words to further the students' vocabulary and give them a place to review at all times.

Our goal in the music classroom is to put terms that are relevant. I currently observe and will soon teach the Exploratory class here in Mr. Winkey's band room. The course gives a music history lesson for 9 weeks (one quarter). We are starting in the Baroque period, focusing on Bach and Handel. Words are added to this wall for testing purposes and a constant reminder of how to spell these words/what context they can be used. We plan on using these in our 5th - 8th grade bands and continue from there with musical terms. We hope to build better musicians, by introducing them to vocabulary and keeping it consistent across the board.

In Ms. Weichers' general music courses we will have word walls dedicated to dynamic and tempo vocabulary. Students will learn these terms in the general lesson through a series of movements, songs, stories etc. I plan to continue with constant reminders and maybe jingles that will help the students spell.

*Written assessment will take place in our music courses for sure, ensuring that students are learning these terms and using them correctly.

The AP School District has a dedicated group of invested teachers. Every class will have word walls that relate to their specific fields. Hopefully spelling scores will improve to the ITBS and MAPs testing. More to follow.