Should we rely on parents, fundraisers, and music boosters to fund music programs?

In 2015, the United States Senate passed a bill recognizing music as a core subject. (For more information, please see http://www.nafme.org/senate-passes-every-child-achieves-act-with-music-and-arts-as-core-subjects-in-tact/) If mathematics, the sciences, and language arts are completely financially supported by a school district's budget, then music should be as well. Asking music teachers to fund raise the money needed to purchase new repertoire is like asking a math teacher to fund raise for new math textbooks. Essential supplies, such as piano or keyboard, repertoire, and percussion equipment like timpani and bass drums, should be provided by the school.

Field trips, on the other hand, should be paid for by fundraising and parents. As educational as they may be, field trips are not necessary to the education of students in music or any other subject. Fundraising for field trips, in all subjects, is a great way to teach students about the value of money and personal responsibility.  

Technology and Music Education

Technology such as Quizlet, Musictheory.net and SmartMusic are making it easier for teachers to track the progress of individual students. Previously, a music educator would most likely assess individual progress through playing tests. Done in person, and often with multiple ensembles of fifty students or more, playing tests were near impossible to administer weekly, or even monthly.

Technology offers educators tremendous opportunities for tracking student progress, especially music teachers. The addition of computer labs and laptop carts make it possible for students to study vocabulary and theory on programs like Quizlet and musictheory.net. Once a teacher has taught her students how to practice, SmartMusic reinforces healthy practice habits at home. SmartMusic also allows parents with little music training to understand and monitor exactly what their child should be doing while practicing, such as slowing down tempos and looping. Quizlet, musictheory.net and SmartMusic all have features that allow students to take assessments and send the results to the teacher. This way, the teacher is able to monitor how each student is progressing much faster than traditional playing tests. If used well, these programs allow us to offer more specific feedback to individual students in a timely fashion.

For more ideas about using technology in the music classroom, please read Bradburn's article, Everyday Education - Teaching Music in the Age of Technology.

Choral Warm ups

In our Music in Secondary Education class, we recently worked in groups to design warm-ups for Randall Thompson's Alleluia. One person from each group presented the warm-ups, with the rest of the class acting as the choir. There was a wide range of activities, but all of the groups chose a sequence that focused upon breath and range. The most intriguing practices I noticed are listed below:

1. Warm-ups physically warm up our bodies, but can also be used to put our minds into the a focused state for rehearsal. I think that this is best achieved when the conductor does not speak through warm-ups, and simply demonstrates and motions for the students to repeat the exercise.

2. Motions change the energy of a warm-up. Purposeful hand motions help students visualize the movement of air and the projection of sound that you are trying to achieve.

3. Be careful when beginning range warm-ups. We should begin with descending range patterns, and then go to ascending.

4. Be conscience of ranges. Allow students to drop or jump up an octave, depending upon their own vocal needs. For example, while your altos, tenors, and basses may need F3, there is no point in taking sopranos down to this note. Repertoire will never take them that low and you will simply take them out of their resonance. Instead, allow them to jump up the octave to F4, where they can continue to develop their resonance and warm up the part of the voice they will be using in rehearsal.

Response to Alfie Kohn's The Trouble with Rubrics

In the article, The Trouble with Rubrics, Alfie Kohn writes that rubrics are an inauthentic method of assessment that create grade anxiety for students and limit their creativity. Kohn concludes that assessment cannot serve the purposes of 1) helping students grow holistically, 2) ranking students against each other or 3) providing an extrinsic reward for learning (aka a "good grade") all at the same time. 

Kohn writes "To that extent, more detailed and frequent evaluations of a student’s accomplishments may be downright counterproductive.  As one sixth grader put it, “The whole time I’m writing, I’m not thinking about what I’m saying or how I’m saying it.  I’m worried about what grade the teacher will give me, even if she’s handed out a rubric.  I’m more focused on being correct than on being honest in my writing.”[8] I can relate to this sixth grader because I was always, and still am, very concerned about my grades. When I worked in woodwind repair shop after college, I realized that learning a skill without the fear of a bad grade was wonderful and freeing. I made mistakes, but when I would try to complete the same task a few days later, I would remember the mistake that I made, and learn from it. I wish that we could teach public school students in this way. I think they would experience the joy of learning more frequently and try harder. But this is unrealistic. 

I disagree with Kohn that a rubric is automatically inauthentic. I believe that a well designed rubric can be an tool to record authentic assessment. If a student takes a playing test and the rubric is a checklist of the micro tasks that the student needs to complete in order to play the excerpt well, then it is authentic. The student was graded on how he performed. In a performance based ensemble, the main goal is to acquire the musical knowledge and skills in order to perform well, and you spend the majority of class time playing your instrument. Therefore, you should grade students on elements of their musical performance. 

In a music ensemble, I would use playing tests and effort grades to assess students. Although many schools are now removing effort grades in an attempt to grade students solely on what they know and what they can do, I believe effort grades are very important. An effort grade can be clearly defined by being prepared with all of your materials for class each day, having a positive attitude, and showing respect for your teacher and other students. If a teacher keeps track of these three criteria for each student each day, an effort grade can be given in good conscience.