by: Chad Criswell
Many current music educators grew up in a time when being in a set was just about playing music concert next. Personally I can not remember ever making a worksheet or any real work on the theory of music while in high school. It seemed that all I had to do to get an "A" was coming to my lessons, play in concerts, and otherwise to stay of trouble. Waited outside the practice but was not enforced. I did not realize until many years later that this teaching method I had installed for years of mediocrity and frustration.
The primary effect of giving a student an A for doing very little work produces much the same effect we see in society where people become dependent on the right program. Being given something for nothing mine slowly a person's motivation and softens his personal initiative. In the classroom this translates into music production to a standstill musician who has no driving force to improve their musical abilities. For many years I had to wonder why the members of my group did not improve the way I felt they should. Finally concluded that it was my fault for not pushing hard enough. Had fallen back into the footsteps of my mentor and had been putting out the easy to my students no matter what he truly deserved.
qualifying rule of thumb that used in other classes should also be used in classroom music. This rule of thumb indicates that an A should be reserved for the excellent work while the CA is given for work that is just half. "If you take this rule and applied it to your students, would get the same degree that you gave in your last report card? How they came to win the A you received? Was it just to show up to class or going on that I learned was true, verifiable?
The day I realized my mistake and began to require more work from my students all seemed to blossom almost overnight. I began to require two hours of home practice each week, weekly worksheets theory and mandatory private lessons or group sectionals. For the next concert and see a difference. By the end of the third quarter the new requirements for the storage of the scale had been jumped in my lap jazz bands and pep in the best groups he had ever driven. The attitudes of my students are also changing. Realized that improved and that their hard work indeed paid off. This in turn made them more interested in the implementation and made that desire even more practice.
Perhaps the most important of all, require more of my students also requested more than me as a teacher. I began to read educational journals again, determined to improve as a conductor and teacher. I started writing about my experiences to help people improve and learn from my mistakes. These simple things breathed new life into a career that was on the verge of being consumed by apathy. I love teaching again, and it's all because I finally broke free of the bonds to be mediocre band director. If you care for your students and want to come to love and appreciate music as much as you do, never again give away a A. easy.
|
About the Author Chad
Criswell is made of the music educator of Iowa He receives a Web site specifically dedicated to education issues of interest to music students, parents, and teachers located at http:// www.musicedmagic.com . He is also the editor of music appreciation for the site http:// Suite101.com of information located at http:// musicappreciation.suite101.com .
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment