What an insightful and powerful workshop put on by Dr. Stauffer. Not only did this workshop explore the creative concepts on how to introduce music to children in a fun and creative manner, but it also demonstrated how these activities helped the students development in other school subjects.
My favourite activity was “Kangaroos” because I experienced connecting music to patterns, in particular mathematics. I am aware of the theoretical connections between music and math, but this was the first time I had seen a school-based activity that introduced the connection. I see this as having great potential to prevent the barriers that seem to build up in children in regard to learning math, and music.
Dr. Stauffer’s visualizations were also powerful. Visualizations for all people are an accepted strategy for calming oneself, and promoting mental wellness. Guided visualizations in music class will potentially empower them to generalize this skill for additional applications.
My enduring understanding from this workshop was the importance of music educators having the ability to facilitate within their classrooms. Educators must provide guidance through their purposeful direction of students, and understand that children’s creative talent won’t evolve if they are always told what to do. This was a valuable opportunity to experience specific activities that educators can use in their classrooms. As the adage goes “I hear, I forget - I see, I remember - I do, I understand” - this workshop brought me understanding of the theory that has been discussed in our class through articles.
Leslie Dawe- Lecture
This short, yet informative, lecture by Leslie Dawe affirmed her commitment to music education through the lens that is described in her article Fumbling Towards Vulnerability: Moving Out of the Familiar for Music Education’s Sake. Leslie is clearly a passionate music educator. It is hard to belief that she has gained so much experience and knowledge in five years. In this brief time she has established a powerful voice in the music educator community, by challenging “old ways” in a respectful, yet firm manner. Leslie’s positivity was very apparent in her lecture. She credited the support of her like minded colleagues as an important factor in giving her a strong voice in reshaping music education. Regardless of how she is doing it, Leslie is paving the way for a long due shift in the way music is taught.
Bob Wood- Music Technology Lecture
A fascinating lecture by Dr. Bob Wood. As a former Digital Audio Arts major at The University of Lethbridge, I am a big promoter in using technology in a music classroom. He taught us the basic principles of MIDI and showed us programs that could be very effective in any music classroom. I enjoyed the idea of Stockholm based company Soundscape. It is an online digital audio workstation where you can create and edit music online, and then share it with multiple people with an account on any computer, I refer it as Google Docs, but for music.
It is essential to teach students different music technology concepts. For composition, it helps to learn different composition programs such as Finale and Musescore; this helps keep your arrangements more organized and provides features like playback so that you can hear your pieces instantly. Where music technology tends to be useful are programs like Garageband and Soundscape where you have an instrument, orchestra, and sound effects all at your fingertips, playing a vital role teaching collaboration, harmony, and rhythm. What most music programs in schools lack is the creative process of music. Music technology is a natural alternative to explore the creative process. With different loops, sounds, and instrument, all with perfect pitch, it is easier for the user to experiment and learn the creative process. Even with the rise of Chromebooks, Ipads are still present in most schools, and I hope as our curriculum is changing, music technology will be more present in the music curriculum.
A Reflection On A Music Class At St. George Catholic Elementary On Monday, October 30, I had the opportunity to visit a grade 4 music class at St. George Catholic Elementary school. During this class the students sang - they did not use musical instruments.
The students were seated in a traditional circle, often used at the Primary-Junior level. The students were in their regular classroom, they sat directly on the floor in an open space near the teacher’s desk.
Despite this plain, and arguably insufficient physical environment, the students were engaged through song and singing games. The games were, however, very intentional choices that promoted the students’ musical development. For example, they were free to choose an ‘instrument’ that they created through using vocal and body percussion sounds. However, there was an intention of rhythmic development, seen through the instructions students’ received to ‘tag’ their classmates to join in at particular points.
This was an interesting and worthwhile view into conducting a meaningful music class where students were invited to create their own music.