intasc 7
STANDARD 7: Planning for Instruction
The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.
Standard 7 is all about planning and is an extremely important standard to master. There are various forms of planning that must be considered. Of course, each day's lesson must be planned, but true success come from the teachers who set larger, monthly and yearly plans and goals. An example of a short term goal might be for the class to be able to play the Bb major scale all together by the end of the week. A long term goal might be for every student to be able to play all twelve major skills my the end of the semester. Planning should include goals for a class as a whole, but also for individuals. Some students may require a different ways of teaching which should be planned for if possible. An altered teaching style or approach may be needed for students who do not learn as quickly as others. A balanced approach must then be taken, keeping the slower learns caught up while keeping the quicker learners interested. Procedures of the lesson are also good to plan so a the lesson moves smoothly and there is no wasted time.
Standard 7, planning, is probably my best skill so far. For each lesson I have taught, I start out with a base lesson plan that I think is well thought out and will flow nicely. I then do a mock teaching in front of a mirror to see how my lesson will pan out when it is verbalized. During this practice I revise my plan in whatever way is necessary to make the procedures move smoothly from one to the next. Practicing my teaching many times allows me to be confident that my procedure will not fail me when I teach for real. An area for improvement would be planning for each students individual needs as well as incorporating outside resources to my lesson. It would be possible to have visual aids to supplement my teaching, especially when referencing a concept outside of music. For instance, when I talked about the country that a song comes from, I could have a map ready and pint out where the country is in the world.
Courses that will build by ability to plan are MUSE 150 and 353. Teaching for peers will give me many opportunities to make plans and see how they pan out. Having many attempts at teaching is key because it allows me to take risks in a controlled environment and learn for my mistakes. These classes will prepare me to student teach will of course be the most effective way to learn how to teach. Planing becomes extremely important when working in the real world, so the more real world experience I get the better. This means observing classrooms as well as talking to current teachers and making connections with them. I think a good way to learn about goal setting would be to sit down with a band direct and ask about their own goals for their program. Learning from successful educators is a sure fire way to set myself up for success.
An example of a lesson plan can be found below.
MUSE 375
An important part of this standard is the fact that students are made to draw on previous knowledge and learned skills. This course furthered my development in this standard through the writing of lessons plans, learning about spiral curriculum and the completion of a curriculum project. A spiral curriculum is important to the learning process because it allows the students to be constantly reviewing previously learned material. The curriculum project allowed to me think about how I would create a unit with one overarching theme and present the student with several methods of learning. We can draw on students knowledge of other areas such as history and the humanities to make them developed a broader understanding of music and their personal comprehensive musicianship.
MUSE 351
The curriculum project for this course has allowed me to explore multiple avenues for lesson plans that are both engaging and educational. Perhaps the most crucial element to the project is determining the appropriate grade level of the lesson. The project got me to think about curriculum for each grade level and what musical concepts and goals would be appropriate for them. A provided curriculum guide was use to make these decisions. It is important to view this guide not only for musical skills, but also cross curricular, as lessons may involve reading. The lessons vary in style and content touched on. It is important to understand the skills that each grade can learn, but also what techniques are effective in each grade. For instance, some activities involving more complex motor skills or memorizing long passages may not be effective for 1st graders, but may be well suited for 5th grade. Knowing these difference is important to meet each student's needs. The project got me to be creative and think about the sequence to which I presented material. In this way, the project helped me refine my pedagogical skills and philosophy.
Below is the MUSE 351 Curriculum Project.
MUSE 355
In String Methods we of course discussed the importance of planning and developing an effective and engaging lesson. We also learning about the other various sides to preparing for rehearsal that are outside of the lesson plan. It is first necessary to make sure the rehearsal space is safe, clean, and ready to be rehearsed in. When preparing for class it is important to know how long the class will be. The structure of the lesson may depend on if the school is on a block schedule or not. These more logistical factors are important to not overlook when planning for the day. We also learned that just because many of us may not be string players, that should not stop of from being great string teachers. This course taught me that there are more commonalities between instruments than there are differences and we can use many of the same techniques to teach string instruments that we would for wind instruments. We also talked about the arc and structuring of lessons. Warm ups should be followed be some kind of review, then move on to concert pieces. It is important to end the rehearsal on a high note, such as with a run through of a passage that the ensemble is highly successful at playing.
