The goal of the MUED 371 (Beginning Methods and Materials for Instrumental Methods) Leadership Project was to “work in a group to collaboratively plan, implement, and evaluate an innovative beginning instrumental music experience in the community that is grounded in participatory music making and learning”. Throughout the past few semesters, I have realized my desire to teach internationally. I thought that the best way to get experience understanding people from different cultures during my time here at JMU was to interact more with the international students on campus. During Student Org Night, I reached out to the Bridges International Club at JMU. Bridges International’s goal is to “bridge the gap between international and American students by connecting socially and spiritually”. When I got connected with them, I asked them about the possibility of doing a music making night with them, and they happily agreed to talk and brainstorm ideas. The first step of the process was to get in contact with the organization; Dr. Stringham had us draft a letter to the main contact, which he then edited to help us make it more professional. Through this I learned to be specific in what I asked and clear in stating what I needed the organization to do. Below is a draft of the email with corrections. However, because the organization was student run, we ended up contacting one another through text messages because it was easier. When designing our experience, we had to consider time constraints, amount of people attending the event, language barriers, access to materials, and religious and cultural considerations. Below is our original lesson plan and an experience design that we wrote after the event .The event consisted of teaching the students the Thankfulness Song in Veggie Tales on ukuleles, bucket drums, and Orff instruments, and then having them write their own song in small groups. The experience I designed with my peers was informed by course content through the research I have been doing this past semester on multicultural music education. After reading a lot of books and scholarly articles, I’ve found ways to be a culturally responsive teacher and learned about some of the expectations about culture laid out by NAfME and the Virginia Standards of Learning. Amy Lewis, a doctoral student at Michigan State University, also guest presented at JMU this past semester and I learned how to be listening and loving, values stemming from Black Lives Matter, when trying to understand those from a different cultural background. We applied some of the tools on modalities and winding forward/back by having different colors on the slides for different chords (adaptation), and allowed students to choose what instrument group they felt comfortable with (pacing-some were easier than others to pick up). We also winded forward/back by giving them a variety of strumming patterns to choose from and options of notes/patterns to play on the Orff instruments. A huge element we incorporated in the night was improvisation and composition by allowing them to create their own song, but giving them parameters of what chords they could use and what theme for their song to use. As a teacher, I thought it was cool seeing this event finally come together and for all the hard work beforehand to come to fruition. Trying to line up six MUED students’ schedules to get work done was frustrating at times, but there was so much laughter and experimentation that it was worth it. I also thought it was cool as a teacher to see a group of people from a variety of backgrounds come together and just make music. It was important for me to be flexible because international students tend take their own time schedules and usually run late, but also to recognize that this is very much a cultural thing. Lastly, I think self-evaluation at the end of the event was key for me as a teacher. I knew that overall it went well, but I recognized that there were things that could have gone better (scaffolding of teaching instruments or placing the loud bucket drums in a separate room) for the students to have a more fruitful learning experience. I was happy to have established this connection with Bridges International and hope to do another event with them soon! This Leadership Portfolio Project was to design a unit curricula to help students learn how to use ukuleles to make music and explore music to develop empathy and cultural competence based on our practicum placement setting. The following is the unit curricula containing standards, goals, and assessments that Kathleen Gibson, Sophia Kadi, and I wrote. Through this process of creating this curricula, I learned the importance of being specific when identifying standards and developing "I can" statements in a way that produces good evidence. I learned that this process takes time and lots of critical thinking to ensure that what I am assessing and asking for as evidence aligns with what my lesson plans and activities are. There must be continuity between lessons and assessments. I enjoyed writing goals and separating them into knowledges, skills, understanding, and transfer because it helped me better understand what my students were demonstrating when they accomplished certain tasks. Creating curricula right now is difficult, long, and hard, but hopefully overtime it becomes easier as I learn how to be more specific and intentional in my activities and assessment. Link to Google Document of Curricula Our assignment is to choose a song that we believe a student at our engagement placement would enjoy and reasonably be able to learn on the ukulele. Brief Description: The Creative Co-Op is a co-operative homeschool group that meets in Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, VA. They “support the education of [their] children by providing instruction in art, music, physical education, practical skills and academically enriching classes by utilizing the many talents brought by our teaching mothers and fathers”. I chose the song, “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers; this song is was written by Withers because he wanted to express the sentiment of neighbors helping each other out that he grew up with living in a West VA coal mining town. I believe that the learners at the Creative Co-Op would enjoy this song because it is relatively simple, has a catchy tune, and there are motions and phrases you can shout out between lines of the song that are fun. It may not be an explicitly Christian song, but it has Christian values of loving one another embedded into it. I think it would bring them out of their traditional hymns and contemporary Christian music a little bit and would expose them to a slightly different kind of music and culture. Copyright Information:
Ukulele Tabs What Could You Learn Through This Song?Here are some items that students can learn through playing “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. These standards are from the Virginia Music Standards of Learning. Performance-Based 6.2 The student will perform a varied repertoire of music, including 1. demonstrating acceptable performance behaviors; 3. singing or playing music in unison and simple harmony For this standard, I would assess students progress by seeing if they could sing the chorus of the song while playing, then the first verse, and then the whole entire piece. While they are learning the lyrics, I would see if they slowly increase their tempo to play it at the same speed as the recording. Students would develop deeper musical skills on how to replicate a recording they have heard by singing and playing it on the ukulele. MG.8 The student will demonstrate preparatory instrumental basics and playing procedures, including 1. identification of the parts of the instrument; 2. procedures for care of the instrument; 3. proper playing posture and instrument position; 4. proper left-hand and right-hand positions; and 5. tuning of the instrument, with and without an electronic tuner. As students interact with their ukuleles, they will eventually learn how to hold it and what is comfortable and correct hand positions through self-discovery, feedback of teacher and peers, and watching others who have had experience. They will also learn the string names and understand tuning in order to play the correct chords to sing the song. Students will develop deeper knowledge on intonation through experimentation with tuning and understanding the importance of hand position in relation to physical care of self when playing. Music Theory/Literacy MG.1 The student will echo, read, and notate music, including 2. using chord charts; 3. using guitar (ukulele) tablature; and 4. singing lines selected from music being studied I could make specific and assessable progress towards this standard by having students learn the different chords in “Lean on Me” using chord charts, as well as having them play the melody using tablature. I would teach students how to read chord charts and tablature through an example, and then let them figure out how to play the rest of the piece based on that experience. I could engage a learner in developing deeper musical skills by having them play in groups and allowing them to explore where the different chord changes are located, rather than just giving it to them. Music History and Cultural Context MG.17 The student will explore historical and cultural aspects of music by 1. identifying the cultures, musical styles, composers, and historical periods associated with the music literature being studied; 2. describing ways in which culture and technology influence the development of instruments, instrumental music, and instrumental music styles; 3. describing the relationship of instrumental music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge; 5. describing ethical standards as applied to the use of social media and copyrighted materials; and 6. demonstrating concert etiquette as an active listener. I could have students research the background of the songwriter and his thoughts while he wrote the piece (based off of one of his interviews), and then the students could have a group discussion of how this related to the time period and the culture. I would help facilitate discussion and see if students pursue thinking about more difficult questions and conversations. I could engage the learners in deeper musical knowledge about African American culture and the biases around the time that Bill Withers wrote this piece and ask them questions that are analogous to events going on today. Analysis, Evaluation, and Critique MG.18 The student will analyze and evaluate music by 1. describing the importance of cultural influences and historical context for the interpretation of works of music; 2. describing and interpreting works of music, using inquiry skills and music terminology; 3. describing accepted criteria used for evaluating works of music; 4. describing performances of music, using music terminology; and 5. describing accepted criteria used for critiquing musical performances of self and others I could have students practice giving feedback on the different performances they hear of “Lean on Me” and ask them for reasons why they critiqued the piece the way they did. Then I could have them discuss how reviewers back then and reviewers today would critique the song and why they believe so. This would help prepare them to give feedback to each other on their own performances of “Lean on Me”. Through lots of discussion, I could engage a learner in developing critical thinking skills and thinking through what the songwriter wanted to express and convey when he wrote the song. Aesthetics MG.19 The student will investigate aesthetic concepts related to music by 2. describing aesthetic criteria used for determining the quality of a work of music or importance of a musical style; 3. identifying reasons for preferences among works of music, using music terminology; and 4. identifying ways in which music evokes sensory, emotional, and intellectual responses, including ways in which music can be persuasive. I would have students respond to “Lean on Me” in different ways, such as through choreography, a video reflection, or a drawing, to help identify how the music evokes different responses. They could write their own opinion short answers on the quality of the music based on what they have heard and discussed. I would want to see growth and depth in their responses as time continued when learning this piece. I could help engage a learner in developing deeper knowledge by having them write their own song after learning “Lean on Me” based on the ideas that the songwriter had in mind for conveying. This would help them develop the skill of creating responses in listeners through music; they would be able to understand how Withers does that with his song, and also they could then learn how to do so by themselves with their own music. Song Slides Note: School name has been changed to maintain confidentiality. Cayenne Music Night is an event created to expose the elementary school students of Cayenne ES to different kinds of music and allow them to play with it outside of their regular class. Students, along with their parents, can come to enjoy a fun night of music making with the help of activities designed by JMU Music Education Students. For Cayenne Music Night, my partner, Theresa Perez, and I designed and led a musical experience for Kindergarten students based on National Core Art Anchor Standard #8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work. The first step of designing our experience for Cayenne Music Night was planning the activity we wanted to do that would help the students understand what it means to interpret intent and meaning in artistic work. After brainstorming and collaborating with Theresa, we developed a one paragraph description of what we wanted (see below). Of course, this description was rough around the edges and included more activities than we actually did that night. Dr. Stringham commented on description and had us choose more appropriate wording for the setting and the audience; some words that he pointed out were associating major with happy and sad with minor. His comments made me realize the importance of choosing my words wisely to accurately reflect what I am trying to accomplish. After the description, we made a rough draft of handout (see below) that we wanted to give the students and their parents so that they could remember what we did, understand the importance and reasoning behind the activity, and have activities to take home if they wanted to replicate it. Again, Dr. Stringham gave us comments and said that our paper was not that family friendly and easily accessible to read for parents and kids. It made sense once I looked at it again; our handout looked more like a college assignment than a fun worksheet with pictures that I would give a child. Then we turned in our final draft of the handout (see below) which included colorful pictures, fun fonts, and words that were not as dense and convoluted as before. We also created a video of how we thought the experience would go and what we expected the students to do. Here is a picture of our materials all set up that night! Our engagements were successful in that the kindergarten students were eager to play with our activity and see how pressing the buttons produced different loops of music. The kids were also willing to answer our questions about what they felt when they heard each song, how it related to the picture, and which loop they thought fit with the picture the best. Sometimes is would take more encouragement and persistence for them to answer, but for on other occasions the child would be ecstatic to talk about it. One thing I quickly realized when working with this age was I had to be more specific and guiding with the questions I asked to help the students reach the point where they understood emotions and could articulate it. It meant giving them options of “Did you feel happy or sad?” rather than “How did you feel?” (more open ended). It was cool that I knew some of the children’s names because I had been helping out in a kindergarten classroom in Keister this past semester. It gave me a connection to them and helped me start conversations more easily; it was also fun and interesting to meet their parents and get a glimpse into their background.
One challenge that was especially prominent when it came to meaningful engagement with students and their families was the language barrier. Cayenne Elementary School has such a diverse environment, so when I was giving handouts to parents and trying to explain, some of them would nod and say yes, but I did not know if they actually understood what I was explaining or were just saying yes because they did not have any other method to communicate with me. And if the case was that they did not understand me, the handout would probably not be important to them because they could not even read it! Another challenge was that the parents of the kindergarten students stood off to the sides of the room while the children played. I was wondering why no handouts were being taken initially, and then I realized I had to go initiate a conversation and give the handout to the parents because the kindergarten students were not going to take them. It made me sad that the parents were not playing with their children; maybe this was because they wanted the student to learn and enjoy without them or in a classroom setting they are used to the teacher teaching and themselves sitting on the sidelines. However, some parents were really engaged with the material and came and asked questions. If I had to revise my experience, I would use more laptops so that all the pictures could be more spread out, accessible, and available to more people at one time. I would also create a more complex program so that it would be possible to press one button and have a list of songs to switch through, rather than a separate button per song. Doing this would help eliminate the confusion of all the chords. I also would like to come prepared with better instruction and questions; for example, I would have the students just touch the metal of the alligator clip to the aluminum foil rather than having them hold it in one hand and touch it with the other because they did not seem to grasp the concept. Lastly, I would create an experience where the students and parents can interact together. I want the parents to be engaged with their students’ learning so that they can take it home and help foster growth because the home is extremely important in supporting a child’s learning. Note: The name of the teacher and school have been changed to maintain confidentiality. Below are my thoughts and reflections after observing a Piano I Class taught at Hawthorne High School by Kapil Luce: I was intrigued when I first came in to observe for practicum and was directed to a classroom upstairs that was not in the music hallway. When I walked into the room, I almost thought I was in the wrong place because it was completely silent; the only thing that helped me was the fact that the classroom was full of electronic keyboards. As Mr. Luce explained his teaching style of using a sound board and headphones and the reasoning behind it (giving private, individual feedback to all students), I could understand why he ran the piano class the way he did. I respect and am interested in having the ability for students to learn at their own pace and have simple checkpoints that allow them to learn the concepts necessary, but I do miss the face-to-face interaction that the technology was impacting. For a music classroom to be completely silent seems wrong to me—music should be heard and reverberate through a room. Music can be a fun group experience, and the headphones created an environment where these interactions were lessened. I did appreciate that he had a sticker chart and gave out candy and fruit snacks as little incentives for students when they reached a certain point. I also liked that he had times where the students could show off what they had been working on in recitals, both individually and as a group. The concept behind his group recital piece was rather cool because it allowed them to use a real piano, instead of a keyboard, and had them all play different parts of it (ex. Keys, plucking strings, tapping with different instruments on piano, etc.). The collaboration and interaction involved in that made me excited for all the possibilities music creates. The classroom itself in the high school was rather sad and seemed like being enclosed in an asylum, bad fluorescent lighting included. I wish that schools were designed and decorated so that they can be creative and exciting hubs of learning, rather than solitary cells were words and ideas are dictated to students. It seemed like Mr. Luce used most of the class period doing his own separate planning for other classes, unless a student asked his to listen to them complete a checkpoint. I think it’s so sad that he’s missing out on an opportunity for them to learn music through personable interactions with him. He did allow the students a 10 minute break halfway through the class, but I think the only reason the students felt so comfortable to talk about life around him was because they had taken or were currently taking a different class with him. It makes me wonder if there is a way for him to outreach to students who are not already taking another music course already. Overall, I was extremely impressed with how smoothly the class was run and how independent the students were, but I was disheartened by the fact that the room was completely silent and how the joy that music brings seemed to be sucked out of that class. Note: The name of the school and teacher have been changed to maintain confidentiality. Below are my thoughts and reflections after observing a Music Tech Class for sixth graders taught at High Point Middle School by Elbert Conrad: I was extremely impressed by how smoothly Mr. Conrad ran his classroom—he related well to the students and was funny and engaging. This was my first time seeing a music technology course and I was glad it was this one. He synthesized everything they had learned in a way that was easily understood, built upon their knowledge through the online tutorial, and then had them begin reconstructing their knowledge by creating their own musical track using Auxy. He also excelled at basic classroom management skills; he had a signal for them to be quiet and was firm and reasonable when it came to the classroom noise level. Overall, it was a very pedagogically sound lesson. I was surprised that Mr. Conrad taught all the music classes (musical theatre, band, choir, orchestra, music technology) at High Point Middle School. That’s a lot of skills to know how to teach and I would not feel adequate teaching all those things! Since he did teach all the music courses, all the music materials were in one classroom. I am used to the choir and band/orchestra having two rooms, so it seemed to constrain the space having choir risers and music stands with chairs in the same room. I did appreciate how colorful and well decorated the classroom was—it gave the room a welcoming feeling and made it be a place the students would like coming back to. Mr. Conrad was creative in varying the activities he did in one lesson, which kept the students engaged. It also was a mixture of him talking, the students responding, and the students doing their own work silently, which ended up being a good balance. I had never seen a listening log done before, but I liked the idea that it was a simple activity that only took 10 minutes, but allowed the students to be exposed to different kinds of music and critically think and articulate their thoughts about the song. I also love playing Kahoot, and was glad to see it being used in a music classroom in an effective way. I think that depending on the questions asked, it can be difficult to have a productive Kahoot; however, he had questions that reinforced the material they had learned and it was a fun and effective Kahoot. Lastly, I was amazed by how he used technology to his advantage. A lot of times I think it can be a hindrance to learning, especially when there are glitches. However, it seemed like he always had a backup plan if the technology did not work, which happened, and smoothly continued with the lesson. He had the students independently worked, which helped them take charge of their own learning, and then he reviewed with them to ensure that the main topics he wanted them to understand were highlighted. I was also glad that he used project-based assessment so that the students felt free enough to make mistakes and create a product that they enjoyed, rather than just adhering to a rubric. I thoroughly enjoyed his lesson and would love to ask him more questions on how he built such a great curriculum! Note: The name of the school and teacher have been changed to maintain confidentiality. Below are my thoughts and reflections after observing a second grade general music class taught at Chuckatuck Elementary School by Mirka Kelly: This course that I observed, general music for second graders, was most similar to a music course that I had grown up taking out of the three practicum observations that we did. However, I do not remember most of what I did in second grade, so while it did seem similar, I’ll never actually remember if it actually was something we did when I was in elementary school. The first thing that I noticed when walking into the classroom was how colorful and friendly it was—this built a welcoming atmosphere and made the room seem happy and lively. I also loved how there were baby blue ukuleles all along the wall of the room! When the students walked in, they knew exactly what to do and where to sit. She had developed a system of assigning each student a letter on the circular mat and it worked so smoothly. They had a new student in the class and she quickly got him adjusted to what they did each class. When she taught, I was impressed by how she subtly incorporated assessment into the necessary activities they did, like taking attendance. She had her iPad out to take attendance, but also had them match pitch and sing that they were here when she sung their names. It was a simple way to assess if they could match pitch or not. She also had a good, balanced amount of group learning and assessment, as well as individual assessment. After taking attendance (individual assessment), she reinforced their knowledge of dynamics with a group story that included using egg shakers and a singing game (group learning), and then had then individually play dynamics on the djembe (individual assessment). All these activities provided a variety of ways for students to learn the same concept of dynamics. She also used popsicle sticks that had letters of the alphabet written on them to provide a fair way to call on all the students. Popsicle sticks can be a hassle for teachers because it takes time to write all the students’ names on them, but by using alphabet letters, she saved a lot of time and made the tool more of a help than a hindrance. She had a very kind, gentle, and mother-like personality, and it worked for the students. She got them excited about music even though she wasn’t high energy all the time. It made me wonder and appreciate how she was able to put her own personality into her teaching style. She was still herself and did not have to change her personality because of how she taught; rather, she incorporated it into her teaching and it gave her a style that was unique to her. I appreciated that because it makes me more confident that I can still be myself and teach like me, but also use the different ideas and techniques from my peers at JMU to become a better teacher. At the end of the lesson when we went up to talk to her, she said that she graduated as a performance major, but then decided to teach. This was comforting to hear that you can’t really make a “wrong” choice in life, you simply take a detour until you are on the path you need and want to be on. I am the kind of leader who is quieter and persistent, with my main goal being to lead by example rather than saying nice platitudes and not following through. By setting high standards for myself now, I am training myself to maintain these expectations in my future classroom. I want to be a person who my students can look up to and see as someone who is applying their lessons to themselves.
Currently, I have a lot of ideas flowing through my brain about music making experiences and last year I got to bring one specific Makey Makey music making experience to life. It started out as an idea on the possibilities of experiences that I could produce using different technologies (http://davinamiaw.weebly.com/leadership/reflect-on-uses-and-potential-uses-for-scratch-and-makey-makey-like-tech), which then became “Draw Your Own Music” (http://davinamiaw.weebly.com/engagement/draw-your-own-markers-tutorial). My partner, Erica Unroe, and I even made a tutorial on how to reproduce the project, which we hope to share with other educators. Since beginning my time here at JMU, I’ve allowed myself to think more creatively. In my freshman year of college, I learned there is no limit to what I can do; I simply have to think of ideas, talk about them, and seek out the right resources to help guide me. By the time I begin student teaching, my hope is that I will combine charisma with leading by example; I want to demonstrate more passion and fervor for music so that my students will be see why I love music and teaching it. To get to this point requires practice; I will need to develop lesson plans and practice teaching them to my peers and then to younger students. I can participate in conferences to share my experiences and research, as well as volunteer or create a program in the Harrisonburg community that teaches music. For the past two weeks in MUS150, we have been exploring the technologies Scratch and Makey-Makey. Jesse gave us two prompts to choose from and design an experience from that using the two technologies listed before. My partner, Erica, and I initially chose the prompt for the child with a disability, but by the end of our creation realized that our experience could have easily fit for either prompt. We decided to do the prompt for the child with limited movement abilities because we thought it would be interesting to design an experience for a child with disabilities since we had never thought of encountering a situation like that before. The prompt shaped our thinking and acting because we knew we had to create something that would be easy for them to use, as well as easy for them to figure out how to use because the experience could not have notation. We had to break down the project to its raw materials to make this as easy and flexible for the child to use. In the end, we created a piano/xylophone looking instrument with a hodge-podge of materials that could be used with Makey-Makey. Jesse gave us the idea to look up easy Makey Makey piano on Scratch, which we did, and that spurred our ideas that came later. We wanted something that was easy to use and was fun to look at. We thought that using larger objects for lower sounds and smaller objects for higher sounds would give the student a better connection of what keys to press and how to figure out the instrument more easily. We connected each object to a different wire that could be connected to Makey-Makey, then used the Scratch program to allow us to connect the different notes on the piano to different objects. We had difficulty connecting the Makey-Makey device to the keyboard initially, so we confronted this challenge by asking Jesse for help. We also struggled with figuring out how to produce a sound by connecting wires to objects. After some random experimenting and looking at the instruction manual, we figured out that you had to be holding the wire that was connected to earth and then touching the objects that were connected to other buttons on the Makey-Makey to produce the sound wanted.
In a listening-based experience with middle school general music students, I could have them listen to a popular pop song and break down the different parts of the song. To make it even more interesting and challenging, I could also choose a remix of the same popular pop song and break down those parts of it. They would have to break it down by hearing the different instruments and loops and assigning each instrumental or musical part to a certain object. The project would force them to listen to the piece, hear each part, and then use Scratch and Makey-Makey to produce that same sound by touching an object that reminds them of that sound quality. With a non-formal community music making group with members from diverse populations, I could have them be more interactive and communicative by putting them in groups and making them create their own melodies. With Makey-Makey and Scratch, they could either make an instrument, like a piano, out of household objects, that plays certain chords at once by clicking a single button, or they could draw a picture that has different loops depending on which area of the picture is pressed. This experience allows people of all different interests and abilities to join in to create music and learn about what sounds good together. With an honors ensemble in a performance situation, we could use Makey-Makey and Scratch to produce the interesting sounds required for a piece without actually having the instrument if we are limited on resources or we could add creative loops and extra noises to add to the performance. If resources are limited, such as not being able to find enough Whirlies or tuned wineglasses for a piece, they could explore and discover how to use Makey-Makey and Scratch, to program these sounds by pressing simple objects like pots or pans. You could also have students learn to create loops that could be pressed with their foot to create a back drop for them to play to if it was an honors jazz ensemble. The original experience’s main goal was to provide a way for students to learn how to use DAWs to create music, and learn how harmonies and technology work together in the everyday music they listen to. They would learn this by choosing their own song from a given topic and then working in small groups to put together loops and their own voices in a DAW software. In order for students to learn this skill, they would need access to computers with the DAW software installed, as well as already have a good background knowledge in vocal technique to sing the harmonies and melodies.
My thoughts on remixing this experience would be to engage a younger demographic who have certain disabilities. Music therapy is becoming more common in helping children with disabilities and I think it would be cool to incorporate more innovative technology in treatment, rather than just traditional methods. The society that these kids live in is becoming increasingly technology based, so I think that incorporating music along with current technologies that the children interact with on a daily basis would be exciting and helpful for them. The remixed experience would still include learning about DAWs and how they work, but the child may not necessarily be the one fully using the software or know how it works technically. The process of how the software will be projected onto a screen, explained, and demonstrated, but it is simply to give a visual aspect to show the child what they are creating and how it’s being done since they may or may not be the ones fully using the software depending on their capabilities. I would continue to give each student a topic, but instead of a giving them a song, I would have them arrange a song to a given movie scene and try to convey different emotions. This allows for the student to be even more engaged and attentive. The leader would work with an individual student and help them to record different sounds they create with instruments and objects. They would facilitate the learning experience by asking questions about what emotion they want to convey and what their thought process is behind using certain instruments. The leader would also help convert the sound recordings so that the participants can press different buttons on Novation to create and choose their own loops of sound. It would look like the student is playing different instruments, then recording them, and then sound like a combination of all the sounds they have recorded in whatever order they desire to create an interesting arrangement to fit the movie scene. This experience is very much interactive and conversational so that the child can learn more about music and feel capable of creating their own song. The job of the leader is to facilitate this by putting together the loops and recording the song in order to make it easier for the child to develop their arrangement. My remixed experience is geared towards elementary children with disabilities, physical or mental. It would be provided on a weekly basis in a room with lots of space for a small group of kids as a kind of music therapy. My hope would be that for each child, there would be an individual teacher so that the student can have the proper attention necessary to ensure a fulfilling experience. I would need computers with recording capabilities and a DAW software installed on it, along with a device such as Novation that can play recorded loops through the push of a button. Also instruments that can be easily played or fun objects that can make sounds, like keys, would be helpful for the children to play and record. In order to lead this experience, I would need to know how to work with special needs children and how to encourage them in the proper manner. I would also need to know how to use the computer to record sounds, how to input those sounds into Novation, how to use DAW software to loop, and how to project the computer screen I am using to show what I am doing with the DAW software in real time. A potential barrier would be to keep their attention and help them remain active because they could get easily bored or distracted if the task at hand does not interest them. Since they are kids with disabilities, their attention tends to wander. To combat this I would make sure something is always being done. I would ensure that there are plenty of instruments that they can play with that we can record and I would keep asking them questions that help expand their musical knowledge like, “What are you hearing?” and “How does this make you feel and what instruments are causing this emotion?”. My hope for the participants is that they would be engaged and when they get home, they would excitedly share with their parents what they did. My hope is that they are made aware of DAWs and the interesting things you can do with them, even if they may not understand the technical aspects of the software. I hope to give them music as an another outlet that they can enjoy and help them realize that they are capable of creating music and arranging their own loops and pieces. Giving them the “I can do it” attitude is so important for these kids who may feel like they are not capable of certain things other kids can do because of their disability. In the end, my hope is that the participants increase or develop a strong love for music. I would assess the experience by asking myself and each other teacher to fill out an evaluation form of questions that ask how they thought it went, the response of the child, and whether or not the child was able to create their own song. I would also ask the parents to fill out an evaluation of how their child reacted or shared their experience when they returned home and to have a conversation with their child about what they enjoyed or disliked about the experience. Then after looking at all these evaluations, if the child enjoyed the experience and learned something I would say it was a successful experience. |
Davina MiawOn this page, I will present examples of my leadership through videos, lesson plans, and reflections. Archives
December 2019
Categories |