Category Archives: Uncategorized

Grading Classroom Behaviors

In a high school classroom, it is becoming exceedingly difficult to objectively grade classroom behaviors as administrators would like us to since the music classroom is not as “cut and dry” as the other subjects. So, my cooperating teacher and I further developed the Standard Based Daily Rehearsal Rubric. A rubric that students can use for self-evaluation and teachers can use for student evaluation. It is incredibly specific with Musicianship, Attentiveness, Preparedness, and Attitude categories.

Daily Rehearsal Rubric

Download as a PDF: standardbaseddailyrehearsalrubric

Using Technology

I love utilizing technology in the classroom. Whether this means a Smart Board activity, using Noteflight to build visuals for warm-ups, or finding a YouTube video to either use an audio example of a piece or finding an accompaniment to a piece. I am proficient in the following technologies:

  • Google Suite (Sites, Drive, Drawings, Classroom)
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher)
  • Photoshop
  • WordPress
  • Noteflight and Finale
  • Smart Board Notebook
  • MusicTheory.net and Sight-reading Factory

Additionally, I have helped peers and colleagues learn and understand the technologies as well in order to better incorporate technology in their classroom.

To me, technology is necessary for this century’s classroom and therefore there is no reason not to organically integrate it into each lesson. This can be done through a posted agenda, visuals for warm-ups, and excerpts of music in Smart Notebook to make notes. However, technology doesn’t have to stop at teacher actions.

However, technology doesn’t have to stop at teacher actions. Students can fill out their concert reflection on Google Forms and submit them, as well as other work finished through Google Suite, onto Google Classroom. Google Classroom serves as a virtual dropbox for you students whereas the teacher you can post announcements and assignments, as well as make comments on student work and grade them.

In this year’s classroom, there is absolutely no reason for students’ technology to sit idly by while their hands are itching to use it.

Mystery Melody Monday

In Concert Choir (all freshman and first-year choir students) we were having difficulties engaging students in sight-reading (what educator doesn’t). I saw on Facebook a post about how a teacher put a familiar tune on the board and students had to guess what the melody was without making a sound. At first, I was suspicious about the students’ engagement, but after introducing the activity, they loved it!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Dictate 4 to 8 measures of a familiar melody.
  2. Give a time limit for answers
  3. Have students write down their guess and their name

We had the students who guessed correctly earn a certain number of points depending on the difficulty of the tune. Then, we had a leaderboard on the whiteboard. This was not worth a grade, but a way to gamify the classroom and further engage our students in sight-reading!