INTASC Standard #4
Multiple Instructional Strategies
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
[Headings for INTASC standards are taken from - Campbell, D.M. et al. (1997). How to develop a professional portfolio: A manual
When considering instructional strategies, there are some instructional practices that are effective no matter what setting, both musical and non-musical. Among these general teaching strategies are the concept of whole-part-whole, the effectiveness of modeling, repetition and review, and observation of student understanding. Whole-part-whole facilitates student learning in that it presents material in a way conducive to information retention. It introduces material, explores it and then puts the information back together in a concluding and reinforcing way. This simulates how students learn and is effective with any information. Modeling is an excellent tool in that it is more efficient than trying to explain what you would like student to do. It also has the added benefit that it increases students’ respect for you as well as their willingness to participate in class activities. Repetition and review are integral parts of teaching as they also facilitate student learning by helping student retain information through reinforcement. Lastly, teachers need to constantly observe student behavior to assess how students are learning and retaining information.
The use of a variety of instructional strategies is highly beneficial to meaningful learning that is exciting and engaging. In instrumental music education, the traditional model is, generally, monotonous and authoritarian. Through incorporating alternative rehearsal strategies such as the blitzkrieg rehearsal, silent rehearsal, pod rehearsal and scramble rehearsal, we provide opportunities for variety in meaningful instruction and a well-rounded rehearsal strategy.
There are also opportunities in instrumental music education to change the traditional model further. Especially in jazz education, there are many opportunities for teachers to step back and take a more constructivist approach to education. By allowing students to play a more active role in their learning, they will be more invested in their education and will have a more meaningful experience. Also, approaching instruction in all instrumental music education settings from a problem-based learning approach will help to create variety in meaningful instruction for students and foster the development of problem solving skills and critical thinking.
The understanding of the different instruments, voice types and the pedagogy behind teaching each one is vital for teacher effectiveness. In order to help students develop performance skills, we as teachers must have an understanding of how their instrument works, what its role in an ensemble is and how to teach that instrument in the most effective and efficient way. We, as teachers, need to know how to employ the ideals of comprehensive musicianship to help a student progress as a performer.
The use of a variety of instructional strategies is highly beneficial to meaningful learning that is exciting and engaging. In instrumental music education, the traditional model is, generally, monotonous and authoritarian. Through incorporating alternative rehearsal strategies such as the blitzkrieg rehearsal, silent rehearsal, pod rehearsal and scramble rehearsal, we provide opportunities for variety in meaningful instruction and a well-rounded rehearsal strategy.
There are also opportunities in instrumental music education to change the traditional model further. Especially in jazz education, there are many opportunities for teachers to step back and take a more constructivist approach to education. By allowing students to play a more active role in their learning, they will be more invested in their education and will have a more meaningful experience. Also, approaching instruction in all instrumental music education settings from a problem-based learning approach will help to create variety in meaningful instruction for students and foster the development of problem solving skills and critical thinking.
The understanding of the different instruments, voice types and the pedagogy behind teaching each one is vital for teacher effectiveness. In order to help students develop performance skills, we as teachers must have an understanding of how their instrument works, what its role in an ensemble is and how to teach that instrument in the most effective and efficient way. We, as teachers, need to know how to employ the ideals of comprehensive musicianship to help a student progress as a performer.
Artifact 1- Procedure from a Jazz Improvisation Lesson
This artifact is the procedure section from a Jazz Improvisation Lesson that I completed during my Practicum Field Teaching experience. I was asked to develop an innovative lesson to help the students to build an improvisation vocabulary as well as supplement their knowledge of jazz in general. This artifact demonstrates the variety of strategies that I employ to help students grow in performance, critical thinking and problem solving of jazz and jazz improvisation.
Artifact 2- Repertoire Analysis Project
Artifact 2 is a Repertoire Analysis Project, an assignment that I completed as part of the coursework for my Elementary General Music Methods course. In this assignment we were asked to analyze a piece of music from the elementary general music repertoire in depth and consider the musical and non-musical considerations of the song. This project demonstrates my understanding of the considerations for using singing as an instructional strategy in elementary general music. I will use this project in the future as a guide to how I should conduct this sort of analysis in my own classroom to choose appropriate repertoire for my learners.