I absolutely love my small rural town community. I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up in a town that values the arts. Not just music, but theatre and dance as well, and in particular, the success of our growing community theatre program.
For the past two months, I've had the honor and privilege of working as the orchestra director for Ellington Community Theatre's summer production of The Music Man. It was such a wonderful experience; this show includes some of the best songs that I've heard in a Broadway show, and I feel so lucky to have been able to get to know this musical and conduct the pit orchestra performances. It's incredibly well written both narratively and musically. I don't think there's a more perfect show for community theatre than this one; it is entertaining, funny, thoughtful, and romantic, but at its heart, it's a story about how the joy of music can bring a community together.
It's about a town whose citizens are so stubborn that, as they say,"can stand touching noses for a week at a time and never see eye to eye," but as soon as they hear the promise of a band in town, all of that stubbornness begins to melt away. Men who used to argue amongst themselves begin to sing together. Women stop gossiping and turn to dancing instead. A boy who is too shy to leave the house or speak to his own family because of his speech impediment gains the confidence to speak, sing, and make friends because of his excitement of learning to play music. And even though Harold Hill started out as a greedy salesman and never intended to make the band a reality, the newfound strength and pride of the River City community makes it happen and transforms the town forever.
Music builds community. That's ultimately the goal that I'm striving for as I begin teaching (while I hope to be a bit more knowledgeable and qualified than Harold Hill when teaching children how to play music!) It's all about bringing the excitement of the arts to a community and using it to bring the entire town together.
And this show did just that. It is just incredibly heartwarming to see so many people from the community - those I went to high school with, their siblings, neighbors from down the street, friends of my parents, and the teachers who have had such an important influence in my life - all working together to create art and tell a story. And most importantly, having fun! It's been less than a week since we closed, and the cast is already excited to return to the stage next year. It's that kind of spirit that I love about this community, and I really hope that I'll have the chance to be a part of this wonderful program again next summer. ♫
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Monday, May 16, 2016
Just Play
Home for the summer now, and honestly, I could not have asked for a better semester. I've grown so close to my friends and learned so much that I was actually sad to leave.
But one of the most important things that I kept getting reminded of this past year goes along with something I wrote about back in January: so many of us forget why we're in music.
You're in music school. Yes, it's school, but look around you: as a music major, you spend 12 hours a day (sometimes more) surrounded by other people who sing and play instruments at a college level, and want to get better at performing just as much as you do. So why are you not taking advantage of this?! Find a friend who's sitting out in the hall, go on IMSLP, print out a duet, and read it! Play duets, trios, quartets....transpose parts if you have to, but just get out your instruments and play something. Most likely, you'll never be in an environment like this again, so use this opportunity to make the most of it.
Or, just improvise something! We need more of that in our music programs. The ability to improvise shows a real level of creativity, musicality and understanding that many college programs don't stress as much as they should, and it has so many benefits - listening improves, intonation improves, internal rhythm improves, expression improves...and it's tons of fun! You make friends while becoming a better musician. Isn't that why you're here? So when you have a spare 15 minutes, take advantage of where you are and just make music.♫
But one of the most important things that I kept getting reminded of this past year goes along with something I wrote about back in January: so many of us forget why we're in music.
You're in music school. Yes, it's school, but look around you: as a music major, you spend 12 hours a day (sometimes more) surrounded by other people who sing and play instruments at a college level, and want to get better at performing just as much as you do. So why are you not taking advantage of this?! Find a friend who's sitting out in the hall, go on IMSLP, print out a duet, and read it! Play duets, trios, quartets....transpose parts if you have to, but just get out your instruments and play something. Most likely, you'll never be in an environment like this again, so use this opportunity to make the most of it.
Or, just improvise something! We need more of that in our music programs. The ability to improvise shows a real level of creativity, musicality and understanding that many college programs don't stress as much as they should, and it has so many benefits - listening improves, intonation improves, internal rhythm improves, expression improves...and it's tons of fun! You make friends while becoming a better musician. Isn't that why you're here? So when you have a spare 15 minutes, take advantage of where you are and just make music.♫
Friday, February 12, 2016
For the Sake of Learning
Heads up, education majors! This is super important!
About two weeks ago, I attended a lecture (hosted by GIML) by Dr. Dina Alexander on "Inspiring Intrinsically-Motivated Students," at RIC. I honestly feel like it changed how I am going to look at teaching and assessment forever.
Dr. Alexander's presentation was really fascinating! The information was well-organized, well-presented, and addressed on one of the biggest challenges that teachers face: getting students motivated to learn.
Getting students motivated in music class seems like a no-brainer, but for some reason, many students still are not. If you're in band or chorus: shouldn't you enjoy practicing? Music is fun, right? So why don't the majority of students practice?
It's been awhile since I took my educational psychology class, but it's starting to come back to me now. Just to catch you up if you're not familiar with these terms:
Extrinsic motivation: students are motivated by external factors, such as working towards a material reward or avoiding punishment
Intrinsic motivation: students are motivated by internal factors, such as the joy of doing a task or the drive to improve one's skills
Dr. Alexander explained that psychologists have done experiments to see how the two different types of motivation affect student performance. Here's one that she explained that stuck out to me:
Dr. Alexander explained that according to the Self-determination Theory of Intrinsic Motivation, people are naturally curious and intrinsically motivated, but we will become extrinsically motivated when rewards are involved. By attaching a reward for completing a task, it makes the task seem undesirable, and decreases the value of the task that we are asked to do in the first place. For example: if you practice clarinet for 15 minutes, you can watch TV. That is actually sending the message, "practicing is not as fun as watching TV, so get the boring task out of the way first!"
She also explained that grades can become a reward, which results in students becoming extrinsically motivated to practice. They are motivated to get an A for doing the minimum work instead of aiming to improve their playing...I already knew that I would hate giving grades, but now I'm going to hate giving them even more. And since teachers are usually required to give grades for music class, we need to find ways of grading that don't diminish students' desire to learn.
The takeaway: Dr. Alexander gave an alternative scenario in which students are intrinsically motivated to improve. Her suggestions: Do not diminish the value of learning (or practicing) by giving a reward. The joy of learning music is a reward all on its own! Give students the opportunity to discover that joy themselves. Show your genuine interest in their progress and improvement over time instead of emphasizing interest in their grades, and they will be much more likely to see practicing and making music as enjoyable rather than a chore. That motivation will make a significant difference in their performance in the long run.
This workshop really opened my eyes to issues of motivation and grading, and I definitely feel like I'll be using this information to design my classroom grading policies if I have to create one when I start teaching. After all, since the goal of music education is to help students discover a love of music, we should do everything that we can to help them make that discovery. ♫
About two weeks ago, I attended a lecture (hosted by GIML) by Dr. Dina Alexander on "Inspiring Intrinsically-Motivated Students," at RIC. I honestly feel like it changed how I am going to look at teaching and assessment forever.
Dr. Alexander's presentation was really fascinating! The information was well-organized, well-presented, and addressed on one of the biggest challenges that teachers face: getting students motivated to learn.
Getting students motivated in music class seems like a no-brainer, but for some reason, many students still are not. If you're in band or chorus: shouldn't you enjoy practicing? Music is fun, right? So why don't the majority of students practice?
It's been awhile since I took my educational psychology class, but it's starting to come back to me now. Just to catch you up if you're not familiar with these terms:
Extrinsic motivation: students are motivated by external factors, such as working towards a material reward or avoiding punishment
Intrinsic motivation: students are motivated by internal factors, such as the joy of doing a task or the drive to improve one's skills
Dr. Alexander explained that psychologists have done experiments to see how the two different types of motivation affect student performance. Here's one that she explained that stuck out to me:
A group of children was divided into two groups, each child in a separate room. Each was told that they would be testing out puzzles for a toy company. One group was told to complete as many puzzles as they could. The other group was told that for each puzzle they completed, they would be given a cash reward (for example, $1 per puzzle). The purpose of the experiment was to see which children (paid or unpaid) would be more interested in completing the puzzles.
Which completed more?
After the allotted time had passed, an adult came into the room and told the child that their time was up; the adult said they had to leave the room for a few minutes, but would return shortly. After leaving and observing the child through the window, the psychologists found that the children who were given a cash reward (extrinsically motivated) stopped working on the puzzles and did something else for the few minutes they were alone. However, the children who were not paid (intrinsically motivated) continued to work on the puzzles even after they were told they no longer needed to!
How does that make any sense? Shouldn't the students who were given a reward be more motivated to complete the task?
Dr. Alexander explained that according to the Self-determination Theory of Intrinsic Motivation, people are naturally curious and intrinsically motivated, but we will become extrinsically motivated when rewards are involved. By attaching a reward for completing a task, it makes the task seem undesirable, and decreases the value of the task that we are asked to do in the first place. For example: if you practice clarinet for 15 minutes, you can watch TV. That is actually sending the message, "practicing is not as fun as watching TV, so get the boring task out of the way first!"
Wow. I never thought of it like that.
She also explained that grades can become a reward, which results in students becoming extrinsically motivated to practice. They are motivated to get an A for doing the minimum work instead of aiming to improve their playing...I already knew that I would hate giving grades, but now I'm going to hate giving them even more. And since teachers are usually required to give grades for music class, we need to find ways of grading that don't diminish students' desire to learn.
The takeaway: Dr. Alexander gave an alternative scenario in which students are intrinsically motivated to improve. Her suggestions: Do not diminish the value of learning (or practicing) by giving a reward. The joy of learning music is a reward all on its own! Give students the opportunity to discover that joy themselves. Show your genuine interest in their progress and improvement over time instead of emphasizing interest in their grades, and they will be much more likely to see practicing and making music as enjoyable rather than a chore. That motivation will make a significant difference in their performance in the long run.
This workshop really opened my eyes to issues of motivation and grading, and I definitely feel like I'll be using this information to design my classroom grading policies if I have to create one when I start teaching. After all, since the goal of music education is to help students discover a love of music, we should do everything that we can to help them make that discovery. ♫
Monday, January 18, 2016
...And we're back
Hello and welcome back!
I moved back into my dorm today...time to go back to school for the spring semester.
But I'm actually very excited about this one! Even though it promises to be busier than ever, I keep reminding myself that I'm in school for music. I'm going to be a music teacher. I get to do music all day. How much fun is that?!
I think a lot of times we get stuck in the mindset of "this is school" and "I can't wait to graduate," but if we chose to go to school for music, we must have loved it enough to make that choice. Shouldn't we want to go to rehearsal? Shouldn't we want to learn new instruments? Shouldn't we want to make music all day? Shouldn't we want to learn about the theory and history behind it all?
I think the same could be said for any student, regardless of major. Let's not forget about why we wanted to study what we are studying. Let's reignite our interest, and let school become less of a chore and more of an opportunity.
Best wishes for a great spring semester! Don't forget to have fun! ♫
(Image: http://cdn.designrfix.com/)
I moved back into my dorm today...time to go back to school for the spring semester.
But I'm actually very excited about this one! Even though it promises to be busier than ever, I keep reminding myself that I'm in school for music. I'm going to be a music teacher. I get to do music all day. How much fun is that?!
I think a lot of times we get stuck in the mindset of "this is school" and "I can't wait to graduate," but if we chose to go to school for music, we must have loved it enough to make that choice. Shouldn't we want to go to rehearsal? Shouldn't we want to learn new instruments? Shouldn't we want to make music all day? Shouldn't we want to learn about the theory and history behind it all?
I think the same could be said for any student, regardless of major. Let's not forget about why we wanted to study what we are studying. Let's reignite our interest, and let school become less of a chore and more of an opportunity.
Best wishes for a great spring semester! Don't forget to have fun! ♫
(Image: http://cdn.designrfix.com/)
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