Allow for Individual Needs
The key is to motivate students to create new and innovative projects that revolve around music. The projects always offer an “out,” meaning that the student are allowed to come up with a similar project that meets the project’s goal; they can work on a separate project along with the class.
If a student would like to continue working on the previous project, there is an allowance for that as well. There could be as many as ten to twelve different projects going on at the same time with different programs and guidelines. As the student progresses through the curriculum you will see that there are less and less projects per grade. This is the design, for the student to create and work on long-term projects with meaning and purpose. However, there are the students that like simple and varied projects every two or three class periods, there are the “add-on” projects.
At times, you can observe students jumping from station to station watching, listening, and reacting to each other’s projects.
Guide on the Side
I am a “guide on the side,” not a “sage on the stage.” Students love the simple five minutes of direct instruction to the class, then the individual instruction. Technology and the headset setup have allowed me to bond and have deeper relationships with individual students. If a student wants me to listen to his/her composition, they can do it without anyone else listening or even knowing that the student is sharing. Due to the privacy of this, students have opened up to me in ways I could have never imagined. They discuss their personal private matters with me and I like the personalization
I can offer within the music classroom. With the headset setup, they really only interact with the students they choose. Which helps the entire dynamic of the class. Because Sunset Ridge is so small, by the time they reach the fifth grade, they know everyone else’s personal issues and some students have a difficult time with getting along with other students, much like siblings. The setup offers a “time away” during the day to reflect and work. All the students want to do is “work.”
The key is to motivate students to create new and innovative projects that revolve around music. The projects always offer an “out,” meaning that the student are allowed to come up with a similar project that meets the project’s goal; they can work on a separate project along with the class.
If a student would like to continue working on the previous project, there is an allowance for that as well. There could be as many as ten to twelve different projects going on at the same time with different programs and guidelines. As the student progresses through the curriculum you will see that there are less and less projects per grade. This is the design, for the student to create and work on long-term projects with meaning and purpose. However, there are the students that like simple and varied projects every two or three class periods, there are the “add-on” projects.
At times, you can observe students jumping from station to station watching, listening, and reacting to each other’s projects.
Guide on the Side
I am a “guide on the side,” not a “sage on the stage.” Students love the simple five minutes of direct instruction to the class, then the individual instruction. Technology and the headset setup have allowed me to bond and have deeper relationships with individual students. If a student wants me to listen to his/her composition, they can do it without anyone else listening or even knowing that the student is sharing. Due to the privacy of this, students have opened up to me in ways I could have never imagined. They discuss their personal private matters with me and I like the personalization
I can offer within the music classroom. With the headset setup, they really only interact with the students they choose. Which helps the entire dynamic of the class. Because Sunset Ridge is so small, by the time they reach the fifth grade, they know everyone else’s personal issues and some students have a difficult time with getting along with other students, much like siblings. The setup offers a “time away” during the day to reflect and work. All the students want to do is “work.”
