Standard 6: Communication. The teacher uses effective verbal and nonverbal communication techniques as well as instructional media and technology to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
Rationale 6: This module was designed for Level 3 students (4th and 5th grade) in completion of their assessment pieces for demonstrating proficiency in the music composition (literacy) and music connections standards. Students has previously studied the lives and compositions of 4 famous composers (as listed in the infographic) in connection to their compositional techniques and musical influence. With this information serving as background knowledge and inspiration, students could then use the Blackboard 9 Learning Management System module to find research information to inquire about another composer that they could connect their life to and complete a writing assessment demonstrating biographical information about the composer as well as their personal connection and musical impact. Along with the writing assessment, students were able to create their own musical composition that demonstrated a compositional technique of one of the 4 major composers they had previously studied in class. Students were able to use technology to either record themselves playing a classroom instrument live using this technique or use the Garage Band application and instrument options to demonstrate the compositional technique. This coursework/assessment took place in the second trimester of the 2013-2014 school year.
This coursework/assessment and infographic were a very large turning point in my instruction this past year. With a shift in thinking toward student personalization and demonstration of proficiency around these standards, I challenged myself to do these a bit differently than I had done in previous years of teaching. Embracing the awesome power of technology and something that many students find hard to connect to their current lives (studying dead and sometimes irrelevant composers), I was able to communicate to my students information and feedback unlike before. Students were able to make meaningful connections to composers they may have never even known existed and create new compositions based on “old” techniques that exceeded expectations. Using docutopus to distribute writing pieces and give feedback was exhilarating and the use of the Google Docs and comments allowed constant communication and feedback to occur with over 160 students. The impact on student learning was incredible as I saw amazing examples of student inquiry, collaboration, and connection to learning extend beyond our music classroom on a daily basis.
KSD
6.K.4 The teacher recognizes the importance of nonverbal, verbal and media communication techniques.
Within the evidence examples you can clearly see my communication of the learning goals/targets and expectations as well as individualized feedback and comments for the students on their progress. While these are written pieces students are able to draw from them the needed information to make progress and continue their work. To meet the learning preferences of all my students I have found a variety of communication strategies (written feedback, posting learning goals and rubrics, visual aids and graphics, audio and video links and examples) to be the most effective and easily accessible for students both during our class time and outside of our set class time.
6.S.5 The teacher knows how to use a variety of media communication tools, including audio visual aids and computers, to enrich learning opportunities.
The variety of media tools is very evident in this example, not only through the use of the Blackboard 9 Learning Management System but also in the specific pieces linked and listed on the platform as well as the demonstration of individual student comments/feedback shown. Especially in the area of music, having students access authentic and quality audio and visual examples of performers/performances is something I strive to include and have done so in this evidence example through the links provided. Along with the information and feedback examples, I found the infographic to be an extremely valuable component of communication of information to students as it was used and referenced the most out of all the pieces during the learning experience.
6.D.2 The teacher values many ways in which people seek to communicate and encourages many modes of communication in the classroom.
Knowing that my students are “digital natives” I found it extremely important to communicate electronically on this project using the comment feature in Google documents. Students were able to see my feedback and comments in their daily journal and adjust their work time accordingly for the next session. While communication through technology was definitely not the only form during these lessons, the technology was extremely valuable and useful as I was able to seamlessly interact and help facilitate 164 writing and student composition projects.
Standard 6: Communication. The teacher uses effective verbal and nonverbal communication techniques as well as instructional media and technology to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
Evidence 6: BB9 coursework (Composer Connections) and Composer Infographic
Rationale 6: This module was designed for Level 3 students (4th and 5th grade) in completion of their assessment pieces for demonstrating proficiency in the music composition (literacy) and music connections standards. Students has previously studied the lives and compositions of 4 famous composers (as listed in the infographic) in connection to their compositional techniques and musical influence. With this information serving as background knowledge and inspiration, students could then use the Blackboard 9 Learning Management System module to find research information to inquire about another composer that they could connect their life to and complete a writing assessment demonstrating biographical information about the composer as well as their personal connection and musical impact. Along with the writing assessment, students were able to create their own musical composition that demonstrated a compositional technique of one of the 4 major composers they had previously studied in class. Students were able to use technology to either record themselves playing a classroom instrument live using this technique or use the Garage Band application and instrument options to demonstrate the compositional technique. This coursework/assessment took place in the second trimester of the 2013-2014 school year.
This coursework/assessment and infographic were a very large turning point in my instruction this past year. With a shift in thinking toward student personalization and demonstration of proficiency around these standards, I challenged myself to do these a bit differently than I had done in previous years of teaching. Embracing the awesome power of technology and something that many students find hard to connect to their current lives (studying dead and sometimes irrelevant composers), I was able to communicate to my students information and feedback unlike before. Students were able to make meaningful connections to composers they may have never even known existed and create new compositions based on “old” techniques that exceeded expectations. Using docutopus to distribute writing pieces and give feedback was exhilarating and the use of the Google Docs and comments allowed constant communication and feedback to occur with over 160 students. The impact on student learning was incredible as I saw amazing examples of student inquiry, collaboration, and connection to learning extend beyond our music classroom on a daily basis.
KSD
6.K.4 The teacher recognizes the importance of nonverbal, verbal and media communication techniques.
Within the evidence examples you can clearly see my communication of the learning goals/targets and expectations as well as individualized feedback and comments for the students on their progress. While these are written pieces students are able to draw from them the needed information to make progress and continue their work. To meet the learning preferences of all my students I have found a variety of communication strategies (written feedback, posting learning goals and rubrics, visual aids and graphics, audio and video links and examples) to be the most effective and easily accessible for students both during our class time and outside of our set class time.
6.S.5 The teacher knows how to use a variety of media communication tools, including audio visual aids and computers, to enrich learning opportunities.
The variety of media tools is very evident in this example, not only through the use of the Blackboard 9 Learning Management System but also in the specific pieces linked and listed on the platform as well as the demonstration of individual student comments/feedback shown. Especially in the area of music, having students access authentic and quality audio and visual examples of performers/performances is something I strive to include and have done so in this evidence example through the links provided. Along with the information and feedback examples, I found the infographic to be an extremely valuable component of communication of information to students as it was used and referenced the most out of all the pieces during the learning experience.
6.D.2 The teacher values many ways in which people seek to communicate and encourages many modes of communication in the classroom.
Knowing that my students are “digital natives” I found it extremely important to communicate electronically on this project using the comment feature in Google documents. Students were able to see my feedback and comments in their daily journal and adjust their work time accordingly for the next session. While communication through technology was definitely not the only form during these lessons, the technology was extremely valuable and useful as I was able to seamlessly interact and help facilitate 164 writing and student composition projects.