Read pp.23-31, from the chapter “What to Teach” Robert Duke’s Intelligent Music Teaching: Please post 1 blog post by midnight on 9/23
and 2 discussion posts on our Student Teaching Blog by midnight on 9/25 about
an idea you found particularly interesting or helpful.
I thought this chapter was a good challenge to me. I never really thought too deeply about the aspect of cognitive psychology in teaching/learning. You can say that you know how to do a certain technique, but do you really know it to the point that you can teach someone else. It really sheds a different light on teaching for me. Another aspect that I was challenged by was that fact that we as teachers need to differentiate between the “what” goals and the “how” goals. It is very important for us to know exactly how we want to get to the goals we want to achieve with our students….so yes, detailed lesson plans are important!!!
ReplyDeleteI liked what you said about the "what' and "how" goals. As teachers, that end goal needs to be always before us. Whether we're teaching a lesson or preparing for a lesson, that end goal must be present.
DeleteThe concept that really drove home with me was on the last page of our reading. Information means nothing without skills to back it up. I can teach and teach my students to do something, but unless they are consistently playing it in and out of the lesson it will never take root and change their skill level. I need to have my students practice more in the lesson! I also have really been looking for some good ways to encourage my students to practice. I have one student who consistently practices every day of the week, but most of my other students get maybe three or four days in a week.
ReplyDeleteI liked that part of the chapter too. I've experienced that in my own playing. Sometimes, I know what needs to be done, but my hands don't know what to do. Have you tried the 75 day club with the students who don't practice regularly?
DeleteYes I have tried something like that, but not exactly that tactic. I am wondering if having a specific place where they can track their own practicing progress would help.
DeleteI agree with your point of teaching how to practice in the lesson. I too need to find better ways to help my students practice.
DeleteThis chapter is a great reminder as I start a new semester of lessons and planning. The idea of precision in language really comes into play in lesson plans. But precision in lesson plans requires that teachers know what their long-term, end goal is. Having this end goal will help the teacher break down all the components of the goal and create activities and tasks that will help the student be successful in accomplishing that end goal. Duke put it this way, "The far-reaching goals remain the same from the first day of instruction to the time when the student reaches the highest levels of artistic musicianship. In this sense, the goals in the lesson plan never change, regardless of the skill or experience level of the students you're teaching. Only the contexts in which the goals are taught (i.e., the activities, the music) change over time."
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about how far-reaching goals are. It seems really easy to go into janitor made during lessons.
DeleteSo true!
DeleteI thought this was an interesting chapter. I liked Duke's distinction between declarative and procedural learning. This seems like a particularly helpful distinction in the field of music teaching. A list of facts does a violin student not much good, but having the student practice in the lesson does. Procedural instruction demands how, not just what.
ReplyDeleteDuke ordered his chapters very well. His "precision in language and thought" chapter takes on a new meaning when he starts discussing what to teach. General statement don't help students know what to "work on" like precise language.
You have hit on one of the main points to my way of thinking. It is not only true of student's practicing. If My view is fuzzy, my teaching will be haphazard!
DeleteI really appreciated Duke’s distinction between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge. I believe most students after studying a certain discipline can spit out the right answers when asked of them. The important part is the actual execution of that discipline. It kind of ties in with his example of teaching piano in the previous chapter we read. Just telling a student facts about pianos and piano playing doesn’t mean the student can actually play the piano. I think this is especially challenging for us as teachers. We have to be able to articulate not only the goal we want our student to achieve, but also how that goal is achieved. I can’t just tell my student “play O come little children with good tone.” What does that mean? Any child told to do this in the lesson will most likely nod, say ok, and play again just as they had before. We have to be able to describe in detailed descriptors what this actually looks like and be able to convey those somewhat intangible ideas to our students.
ReplyDeleteI loved what you said about how we need to explain how to practice in the lesson. I definitely have been at the place where I just nod and agree with the teacher concerning what I need to practice. I definitely am a supporter of having the student playing in the lesson so we as teachers know that our students have understood what we want them to practice for the week. As a teacher, I need to make sure that I am being clear about describing to my students what I expect of them.
DeleteThat's a good point about the distinction between declarative and procedural knowledge. It seems like knowing how to give precise instruction that is grounded in long-term goals takes a lot of planning and practice on the part of the teacher.
DeleteYes this is definitely something I am going to be working on with my student this year. One thing I don't understand is is there ever a time we are to abandon certain goals we have for our students if they are still not accomplishing them within a certain amount of time? How do i know when this point is?
DeleteExcellent musing, Heather! I think different goals ebb and flow in terms of importance due to interest, circumstances, managing student success and frustration, student needs....
DeleteI really liked your comments! I was wondering though how does one explain concepts like good tone? Is that something we can tell them in words or is it something that we guide in a certain direction for them to find out on their own how to produce good tone? How do teacher decide when to keep giving instruction and when to let the students experiment and learn more solidly for themselves?
ReplyDeleteSuch an abstract concept I think is best described in terms of very physical and or tangible concepts. Mr. Rosove talks about a smooth even tone as spreading peanut butter or icing a cake. I think this is usually a very effective method for me! (esp if food is involved!)
DeleteUse of word pictures and analogies is a very powerful tool for this.
DeleteOne thing that I loved about this chapter is how Duke put what musicians do. “…these behaviors can be performed by musicians at all levels of experience and expertise.” It’s encouraging to know that even the professional musicians in the Chicago Symphony have to do fundamental practicing like those kids who are in book 2! I was really challenged though about his quote about teaching. “To teach well, we must understand intimately and deeply the principles of our discipline and we must be able to articulate those principles clearly and precisely.” It is so important for us to know how to communicate well. It’s interesting to think of how much is done when we practice. For example, there are so many steps to putting your violin up that we don’t even think about sometimes!!! It’s important to know how to break down what we know so that we can be a more effective teacher.
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts Steph. I especially liked your first comments - it is important to let your students know that, for instance, even the Chicago Symphony players have to loosen and tighten their bows. When we say things like that we are helping the student get a vision for what they could become as a violinist.
DeleteYour right about some of our disciplines being so natural through practice that we don't think about them. This is one reason why it is important for us as teachers to jump back to the beginning. Because in doing this, we aren't making the assumption that a student knows something that they may not know.
DeleteAnother neat and encouraging thing about this truth is that this is central to the idea that we can teach a child not just how to play the instrument, but how to think and feel things as a violinist from a y
DeleteOops... From a young age!
DeleteI really loved seeing the outlines and reading everything on them. It is so important to know what we want our students to do and what "good playing looks like." Though we don't lay it out for our students this way it is still very important that we let them know what "good playing" looks like. Don't just tell them what to do, but make sure they understand what it takes to get from here to there.
ReplyDeleteHaving the outlines really helps you as a teacher know what you need to teach your students. You can't communicate effectively, unless you know where you want to end up.
DeleteI like what you said at the end. Making sure that our students know how to get to a certain point is important. It reinforces the fact that we need to teach our students how to practice.
DeleteI found the "Social Behavior in Music Settings" interesting. Sometimes, we take it for granted that our students know what to do when they come into a lesson. But even simple things like entering the lesson room appropiately need to be taught. As I read this part of the chapter, I thought of one of my students, who came into their lesson and opened their violin case while still holding it by the handle. This incident provided an excellent opportunity to teach how and when we open a violin case. But it also showed that something I had taken for granted needed to be taught.
ReplyDeleteYou brought out an interesting point, Melody. Behavior needs to be taught when certain incidents arise. I never thought about teaching behavior even when our students open their instruments wrong.
DeleteLearning behavior is sometimes a reason parents have their kids even start music lesson. They want their children to benefit from a structured environment and the discipline of practicing something. The teacher is the one who defines the lesson environment and helps the child learn.
DeleteThe thing that stood out to me most in this chapter was Dukes term "with-it-ness." The constant evaluation and assessment of the student's learning and comprehension is probably my weakest point as a teacher. I am often so committed to my lesson plan I have a hard time straying from it in order to accommodate a struggling student. I need to be more attentive and flexible in my teaching.
ReplyDeleteWith-it-ness is a great word. It really encapsulates the idea of a teacher engaging students and knowing how to best help them develop.
DeleteI like how Duke focusses assessment on the component skills for the instrument. He said instruction should always be based on what musicians do. This makes evaluation much narrower and more concrete. I also like how he put posture components first like Kreitman does.
ReplyDelete