Halfway Point

• Do you agree with the idea of staying out of assessment when a child's creativity is at stake?
• Would you ever want or need to assess a child's creative ability? How?
• How do you define musical creativity? Is creativity important to your philosophy of music education?

• Which would you be most comfortable teaching and/or assessing: Composition, improvisation, or arrangement?

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A teacher is an enabler; a facilitator and a guide. Once the student leaves the side of the parent at the age of 6, a connection needs to be made with a teacher from a guardian's standpoint. Without this sense of monitorization, I feel the child gets lost, bored, and unfocused. As music educators, connection can come from a variety of angles. 1.) Every student has their own particular form of interpretation or expression. This form of expression keeps the student involved in what's happening at all times. 2.) Enabling the students to be involved with activity from the getgo allows the students a freedom from everyday boredom within the classroom. They're allowed to express themselves how they like artistically. 3.) Music creates a sense of focus that makes every kid try harder and generally focus more. When the monitor becomes lost or tied up with another idea, the students rapidly lose focus or interest.
Creativity could be assigned. Maybe to older children through projects on their own or group work within the classroom. Creativity does not have to be hand fed to the students, but I do believe that the teacher needs to foster a constructive path for students to follow. For instance, I once knew a 3rd grade teacher that had students write poems. One child wrote about daisies, another about a cartoon character. The last child wrote about killing another teacher in the building. Creativity NEEDS a limit for situations like this. (p.s. the child is being allowed to go back to school and the threatened teacher has nothing to do but pray)
I would feel most comfortable teaching improvisation. The summer before my senior year of high school I had the opportunity to attend the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts. The camp featured an hour morning session of free improvisation using the the instrument you came with. At the beginning of the five weeks, the vocalists all looked at each other like (how are we supposed to get creative using bee bops and do doo's??) Little did everyone know that improv was secretly all about being comfortable about exploring limits and understanding the theme. It was an extremely fun time that I would LOVE to share with others.

Numero Cinco

Technology, as great as it is becoming, should be a muted tool for musical assessment. Rhythmical ideas can be assessed without being heard. Choreographed danced moves can be assessed without being heard. Pitches issues can lead to discrepancies and discrepancies lead to inaccurate measures of assessment. Or disaster like this:
I was in a situation in my junior year where I was auditioning for a spot in the Pennsylvania Music Educator Association's Region IV Chorus. At the audition for District Chorus, I had placed 6th. The top 10 advance to Regionals, so I wasn't that worried. Until I got to the audition room. northeastern and central PA do things a little differently in the audition. You need to memorize pretty much have each of the 10 distributed pieces memorized; pitch for pitch, rhythm for rhythm, dynamic for dynamic, etc. Mind you, one has NO idea what song will be selected for the audition. All you know is that of the 10 pieces, you will be asked to sing your voice part on two of the songs. The first 5 students are recorded and at the end of the 8th or 10th student, the judges make sure that they are accurately grading/rating all of the student's performance. For this specific audition, I had the luxury of going 5th (they choose order of audition at random). As the last student being taped, I walked into the room confident in what I knew would be the pieces. I was correct with both of my guesses, so now I felt REALLY confident. The judges (1 male, 2 female) were not familiar to me. They have their backs toward you so that the judging is "objective". No teachers can obviously be on the same voice part in the judging area as the students. Once the pitch is given (yes, a choral audition is given a cappella without any hint of the other voices) (Vygotsky would have a field day...) the assigned teacher sings back the pitch. But what if the teacher has vocal issues? Do you take the teacher's pitch or the one from the pitch pipe? I motioned for the teacher to give the pitch once again. Each student is guided into the room by a not-so-helpful door person, who could be a teacher or a parent from the band or whomever seems responsible enough at the time. I immediately turned to my door person who just happened to be a music teacher and left the room. I begged her to have another teacher give me the pitch, even if it was at another octave because I could not decipher between the teacher's pitch and the pipe and which to take. My claim was overruled and I was told to just go with it. YOU DON'T TELL A FRUSTRATED KID TO JUST GO WITH IT WHEN YOU'VE BEEN PREPARING FOR 4 MONTHS (ROUGHLY 120 DAYS) FOR A STUPID AUDITION! Afterwards, I rallied around several other gentlemen from my voicepart, and before I even got to them, they informed ME that there was an issue with pitches. Apparently, this one teacher is a smoker. But luckily for the first 5 people, the auditions were taped. I begged my teacher to find out what was on the tape, but unfortunately, the head of District chorus (who also had members of his group nearly missing the cut to regional chorus) discarded the tapes and said that they were fine. No one will ever know how valuable those tapes could have been.
I just feel the ear can find discrepancies on its own without the help of an audio device. Taping does nothing to help the performer other than point out flaws and maybe even add to them. Or in my case, enable the listener to ignore the problem and cheat.
P.S. I placed 9th in the audition and made it to regionals. Yet, I placed 6th in the state auditions when combined with ten of the best kids from an opposing district. Stupid ass greedy teachers.

Orzolek Article

Do you feel more connected to what Orzolek says as a result of the reading of Brophy you have done? Compare and contrast Brophy to Orzolek. Can you start to sense any 'philosophical bias' in either perspective?
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Orzolek definitely has it correct when he says that educators, administrators and politicians have a huge role in spending money on the problem (whether assessment is possible) than the actual solution. Brophy promotes assessment by showing that each child seems to fit into a gap somewhere on the rubric. Orzolek disclaims this theory by figuring that no child is worth fitting into a gap. It's much more worth the effort to be creative in structure than abiding by a state law that frankly has no position to be in a classroom. A Philosophical bias is an understatement. I feel like I could attempt a paper of philosophical perspective on just the Orzolek article alone and make it sound more interesting than Brophy's book.

Number 3

Discuss how technology might help in assessing musical performances. Do you think that the presence of technological apparatus in the general music classroom threatens the authenticity of assessment tasks? Why or why not?
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Back in the day when I was a student, I would look forward to the day after concerts. Most of the time, this was when we really understood what the mistakes were in the concert and other times there were even good parts. It's hard not to be critical with technological apparatus around the performance area. From an educator's standpoint, it shows you EXACTLY how you taught something. Does it differentiate from class to class? Did you leave something out of one class that you meant to tell another? Did you miss a topic or an important question that was posed in an alternate class? Was your conducting technique clear in a certain section? Did emotion captivate or separate the students from you? How was the portrayal and work observed in former classes different from class to class or year to year? Obviously, video taping and recordings can be very useful if the students are unaware. If the students are aware, sometimes nerves kick in. When judging occurs, nerves can always play an issue. I can remember that last solo in high school when I screwed up the words at the end because I was so focused on singing the hell out of the song that I got too caught up in the emotion. The tape that was played for the next two days was extremely embarrassing. I can also think of times when a free improv was recorded within a gen. music classroom. It definitely hurried the thinking of the students around the camera because it seemed as though they were forced to produce great results. Sometimes it just can't happen. As far as assessment is concerned, I feel a student cannot be judged truly on a recording. General notes can be taken, but things occur during tapings that sometimes psychologically fool with a child's ability to think. The live performance outside of the recording room is definitely where the best stuff is made.

2nd post

Should improvisation be included in the "musical skills" learning area? Why or why not?

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How do you feel about the use of standardized musical tests as part of an overall assessment program?

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Improvisation should definitely be included in the "musical skills" learning area. Improv is to music teachers as open ended questions are to english teachers. Nobody knows what you're thinking unless you're allowed to step out of the box. The first couple improvs are tricky. Sometimes if you do it in smaller groups, it allows students to pull together their true creativity. And how many pianists do you know that are only able to "just play what's in front of me" instead of what's going on inside their head? Improv is freedom in a nutshell, and although it takes development, teachers should take time (especially elementary and middle school) out of their schedules to allow students to think for themselves and not let the octavo do the work.

Standardized music tests are complete and utter bull. Music, unless judged through a box by well informed educators, cannot have numbers attached to it (unless its a tempo marking or time signature). I think we've all been through the MENC audition process where the top scores move on to Districts/Regionals/States/All American/Hall of Fame/Immortal. However its ultimately a means of judging a gift.
Did you ever tell your aunt that the sweater she got you for Christmas sucks? Then you tell her that you returned the thing and wished she would never do you the favor of buying you another piece of clothing. That must be what it feels like to prepare rigorously for a test or competition and "fail" miserably. Unfortunately for the student, there's no returning their "failure" of a gift and instead we're left as music educators to deal with a child who doesn't want to do the work anymore. Now they're stuck in the corner and it's all your fault. You should have just said thank you and kept the sweater. Numbers can be overly revealing and they embrace standards that we don't really believe in as music educators. Learn to grade wisely.

Initial Blog

 As you read, think about how teachers might connect their learning goals, teaching strategies and curriculum objectives to assessment.
 Write some initial thoughts about question #2 on p. 29: Take a moment to write down some of the tenets of your personal philosophy of music education. Based on these tenets, discuss your view of the role of assessment in general music and its importance to general music teaching.
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When I think about assessment, I'm not going to lie...the first thing I think about is getting screwed. Most teachers have to make up grades to place in the lap of an administrator in the hopes of salvaging what may be left of a music program. During an average school day in the music classroom, a teacher is kept busy with many functions of the school. I've seen leadership roles being inherited by teachers on a daily basis leaving less and less time for "role book wonders". Yes, keeping attendance is mandatory. A student NEEDS to be in a music classroom in order to learn. A student should be penalized for skipping class unnecessarily; however!!!!! it's the goal of the teacher to motivate the students to come back each day and keep the musical journey flowing. BOOOO to those teachers who can't maintain discipline. YAY! to those teachers that love to keep creativity flowing, to maintain more laughter than tears; to urge students to participate in Tri-M events, MENC competitions, talent shows, rock concerts, creative writing (to better a child's lyric writing skills, of course :)) and singing the Star spangled banner at school events (football, basketball, baseball games for instance). How do these urgent matters get a grade?? From what I can see, they don't. They get "extra credit". They're taken into consideration and based on talent, they may get a better grade. In the end, a grade cannot measure a students full potential, aptitude, or complete assessment. In a band classroom, a flutist may have GREAT breath control. But if they can't maneuver fingering, until high school, where does that leave the middle school teacher? Do you give the student a 50% because they can only do half of what's expected? or do you give the student a 95% and hope the grade will keep them in the band and keep them motivated; how would you as a parent feel early on if a child came home with a 50% in flute versus a 95%? From a logical standpoint, you would urge the child to give it up and try something else. In the end, interference of learning goals, curriculum and strategies must come FIRST and then the grading system must be analyzed.

"Music education is an organized journey of instruction that enables students to aesthetically form sounds, harmonies and emotions. The teacher is the guide across the journey. She or he must able to embrace all situations in order to create artistry. Artistry is the omnipotent destination of the journey. Musicality is also of great importance. Without a good approach to the study of music, a student could be left with more questions then answers and unfortunately, much disinterest. In a parochial school setting, music must express the greater glory of God as well as a joyous integrity of the spirit. As music educators we must never lose sight in the fact that music is an 'indispensable art' as noted by the Diocese of Edmonton. Music is for all people as quoted in Psalm 98, not just professionals. Expressing this joy allows students to embody the values that should be taught and lived daily. If focusing on a private school’s program, religious imagination must also be present to help nurture the values attained through religion courses. Lastly, the ultimate goal of the classroom is to provide a meaningful experience for both the teacher and the student and inspire a sense of passion for the study of music."
When I read this passage of my music education philosophy over once more, I realized how much of a joke assessment can really be in a classroom. Once again, looking at things from a private school's point of view, the budgets are tight nationwide. If you don't keep kids interested, chances are when you look for your May MENC magazine in the mailbox, you'll only find a pink slip. Everyone HAS to take English every year. Everyone HAS to take Science every year. But music is something that could be tampered with. Maybe only the early years have a music program, so that by fourth grade (at least in the private school sector) it's voluntary to be in the chorus, band, strings, gen. music program. Music needs to maintain a role of facilitator not of schedule filler. The President of the United States, School Board elected officials and administrators, parents and students alike need to be aware of the benefits of Music Education; and we need to tell them!