Group items tagged

he First Principle of my Solfa choir workshops is to ‘Use the Ear to Train the Eye’: we

never separate the look of something on the page or on the blackboard from the sound of something they already know how to do.

After this happens, I then am very strict in applying the Second Principle of my Solfa choir workshops: ‘Stop While You Are Ahead’.

Adding one more concept on top of this one – for example modulation to the relative minor, or even to the (!warning!) so-called ‘flat keys’ can immediately burst the delicate bubble of achievement and understanding.

Third Principal: ‘Be Kind, but Apply the Second Principle’. While it can be difficult to curb my own enthusiasm for my subject and my happiness at having conveyed something that leads to interesting questions, I do try to restrict myself to giving only very brief answers to further theoretical questions before closing these conversations and moving on to something else that is practical and that I know my students can do.

Other researchers have found that novice adolescent musicians tend to exhibit inconsistent practice habits. Rohwer and Polk (2006) categorized the practice tendencies of students as holistic/noncorrective, holistic/corrective, analytic/reactive, or analytic/proactive. They described analytic practicers as those who were prone to remediate sections of their music both proactively and reactively, and they found that these students made significantly more gains than did the holistic practicers. Barry (1990, 1992) focused on the use of structured practice time and supervision in middle school instrumental students and found that the students were significantly more able to prepare a musical etude when practice was carefully structured and supervised. Like McPherson and Renwick (2001), Barry found that students who engaged in unstructured practice tended to play their music faster, use a metronome less, use fewer mental practice strategies, and self-assessed less than those who engaged in structured and supervised practice.

Barry and Hallam (2002) argue that this is because novices who have not yet developed strong aural schemata are often unaware of their own errors, whereas more capable musicians are more aware of their strengths and weaknesses.

The ability to self-regulate, or self-teach, is a learned skill requiring individuals to make a number of decisions related to goal setting, self-efficacy, attention, strategy use, and assessment.

In order for teachers to improve the way in which they teach their students to practice, it seems apparent that they must first understand the ways in which their students think during practice.

retrospective think aloud protocol. Ericsson and Simon (1993) describe this method of data collection as a process in which subjects are asked to describe their thoughts immediately after performing a given task.

Though they stated that they knew which pieces needed work, they did not have a specific idea of what aspects of the music needed work.

When students encountered difficulty, they reacted in one of three ways. First, although each student exhibited different levels of tolerance for frustration, at some point they each demonstrated the tendency to move on to a new activity when something began to cause frustration.

Second, students would retreat to easier passages when things became too difficult.

Finally, student ability to maintain focus over the span of the practice period also affected motivation.

Although the ability to maintain attention and self-efficacy may be beyond a teacher's realm of direct influence because of the unique personalities of the children, it appears that teachers can improve student motivation by providing students goals for improvement rather than simply recording practice time.

The ability to clearly define goals that are specific, proximal (short term), and moderately challenging is a major component of effective practice (

The factors influencing the use of practice strategies can be broken down into three categories: strategy repertoire, appropriate use, and motivation. Using the metaphor of having a "practice toolbox," students need to have a number of tools from which to draw on, but they also need the knowledge and skill to use them appropriately and the motivation and self-discipline to make the effort to take the tools out of the box.

Educational leaders commonly emphasize the importance of teaching students how to critically think and learn on their own. Musical practice is an important way in which music teachers can provide their students with these opportunities.

It seems to follow that helping instrumental music students develop self-regulation would result in improved ensembles and more efficient rehearsals. Methods for teaching practice skills to middle school and high school students must be developed through continued research and best practice in order to develop independent musicians.

If you current/ former students were asked to describe your teaching style, what adjectives would they use?

there needs to be some enthusiasm and energy to accompany your knowledge.

I'm looking for a certain level of organization that is necessary for effective teaching. I'm looking for organization and thoughtfulness in your answers that shows me a certain deliberateness to organize/ plan/ reflect to go along with your passion and creativity.

Ask good questions in the interview yourself!

I like this question better than "what will my schedule be like?" because it suggests that you're wanting to know how much time you'll have with each class to cover everything, rather than wondering what your workload will be like.

What curricular / professional development resources and equipment / space can I expect to have available to me in this position?

What are the extracurricular/ performance expectations?

used, but the cultural context in which it is placed as well. Often meanings are lost because of cu

tural boundaries which do not allow such ideas to persist. As Porter (1987) argues, misunderstandings between language educators often evolve because of such differing cu

eologies, and cultural boundaries which limit expression.

western culturally acceptable methods must be examined before proceeding as they may be inappropriate teaching methods

o not share all of our cultural paradigms.”

Language is used to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties. Different ideas stem from differing language use within one’s culture and the whole intertwining of these relationships start at one’s birth.

It is not until the child is exposed to their surroundings that they become individuals in and of their cultural group.

rom birth, the child’s life, opinions, and language are shaped by what it comes in contact with.

Hantrais (1989) puts forth the idea that culture is the beliefs and practices governing the life of a society for which a particular language is the vehicle of expression.

he understanding of a culture and its people can be enhanced by the knowledge of their language

As Sapir-Whorf argues, different thoughts are brought about by the use of different forms o