intasc 5
STANDARD 5: Application of Content
The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.
Not only teaching but applying content is one of the most crucial jobs a teacher has. It is one thing to go over concepts and teach the theory behind and idea, but to actually teach students how to use a concept is of upmost importance. An overarching way to incorporate aspects of a teachers own discipline and and array of other areas is a project. In music, this project could be a school wide musical or concert, where the students are able to not only show off their musical abilities, but incorporate things they have learned from other classes. A project of this scale might be best suited for elementary or middle school age students. Another way teachers can use the standard is by teaching their discipline through multiple lens, to give students an idea about how other cultures think and live. Standard 5 is used properly when a teach successfully weaves together the content of their own field, with what the students already know and are learning elsewhere.
I am in the beginning stages of Standard 5. For my peer teaching lesson I have not been able to focus on global issues yet however I would like to think that I have tried to engage students in some creativity and critical thinking. In my first lesson I concluded with a final performance of the song with dance included. The physical aspect, though it was guided, allowed students to open up and create art with the friends around them. A part of Standard 5 is being able to communicate effectively so that students can learn and translate their learning back to me. I think I have improved my communication skills gradually as the year continues. In my most recent lesson I asked a lot of questions and held a constant dialogue about the content I was teaching. Doing this helped the content show up on the final performance.
To increase my proficiency of Standard 5 I will take classes such as techniques course and secondary music education. All music education courses are important in building my skills. For this standard in particular, it might not be addressed directly because it deals with outside topics. I think I will have to use the classes as an opportunity to grow as a teacher by bringing in outside ideas to the class. In my future teaching opportunities, I will be sure to incorporate content knowledge from other fields to get students to think more critically. Attending professional development conferences would be a great way to get ideas about immersive learning projects, as well as other teaching strategies to weave together multiple disciplines.
MUSE 353
Providing students with the ability to apply their content knowledge is the key to unlocking each student’s personal motivation. It is necessary to find real world connections to the material, without which, students will not buy in to the content. Unfortunately, students are used to doing things or sitting through classes with little hope to ever use the information they are learning. All knowledge is valuable, but it is the instructors job to frame the content in such a way that students are able to see a connection and apply it. In the music class, connections are especially important when teaching abstract terms. It is great if students know the definition to a long list of music terms, but if they do not have the ability to apply their knowledge in the music itself, their full potential can never be fully reached. In practice, this means that each time a new concept is introduced or reviewed, it is necessary to provide a music example. The example should not only be listened to but also performed and analyzed. The more examples of said content is given, the better students will grasp it. Incorporating interdisciplinary themes will better cement the content in the long-term memory of the student, as well as providing them with further reasons why the content is important to learn. Without the desire to learn and the belief that school work has value, students cannot be expected to excel. Through real world connections, a teacher can enrich the lives of their students and make them look at their school work in new ways. The goal should be to make students realize that what they learn in school is important, to make them want to learn more, and to ignite a fire of excitement and a thirst for knowledge in every student. Once students are able to see the value of their work, engaging them in high level thinking activities will be even more beneficial. Students will begin to make connections on their own and see each discipline not as independent entities, but all a part of the interconnected web of human thought and experience.
Below is an example from MUSE 100 that relates to Standard 5.​
MUSE 375
The best way to represent this standard is through comprehensive musicianship. Taking a piece and looking at it not just for the notes on the page, but the story behind the piece and the motivation for its creation is a great way to accomplish the goals of this standard. A major goal of this type of lesson would be to get students to think in more critical and abstract ways. Asking students to think about why a piece was written, or how it makes them feel begins a discussion to relate music to several content areas. Students should learn that music is not just about notes on the page, but its connected to history and the human experience. Using music from different cultures would be a great way to allow students to think outside there own social economic bubble and develop a different world view.
MUSE 355
String Methods taught me that any teaching moment can relate that skills or concept not just to performance, but to the development of a students overall musicianship. Because of the wealth of repertoire available to the orchestra, there are many opportunities to teach students about the historical and contextual background to the piece or composer. A way to unlocked student creativity that many would not think about is the use improvisation. Today, we do not associated string instruments with improvisation but it can be extremely effective way to engage many aspects of a students musicianship. Improvisation is great for development of aural skills. Ear training is one of the best things to do for a student's musicianship. It would be a good idea to have a whole unit on jazz where students learn the history of jazz in America and the role string instruments have within it. Of course, learning to improvise melodies is an amazing skill and provides students to opportunity to be creative and collaborate with their peers.
