Sweet and Cruddy Case Study
Paper with Sample Assignment
Madison Aeling
While sitting in the middle school choir at Holy Rosary, I look around as class
is about to begin and realize all of the amazing individuals in the room. There are
loud students, boy students, tall students, sixth grade students, quiet students, short
students, eighth grade students, girl students, low voiced students, seventh grade
students, and high voiced students, just to name a few. And yet, with all of these
different kinds of students, there are teaching techniques and insights we can use to
insure the learning and growth of each one. For this project I have identified three
different individuals, a mini-me (who we will call Julia), a mini-not me (Jane), and an
interesting other individual (Josh); and will attempt to explain where in learning
they flourish, where their learning falls short, and what I can do as a teacher to
insure that they are being engaged and learning to the best of their abilities.
Cases:
Julia is the type of student any teacher would love to have in their class. She
is always doing great work, listening when she is supposed to, follows directions,
and works well with others. Julia is shy, but she is definitely smart student. She is
never out of line or not paying attention in choir, but she often finds herself bored
because others are wasting time by talking, or her classmates do not pick up the
music as quickly as she does.
Jane is a bright student, but in choir she seems to just be going through the
motions. She lip-syncs the words to every song, and even warm-ups. Jane has not
passed any part-tests because she just simply doesn’t care and is too easily
distracted by more important things, like how her hair looks today, or what she is
going to wear to the concert in two months. Jane is called out daily by the teacher for
talking and distracting others, or for daydreaming and not participating. Jane has a
beautiful voice, but the problem is she just doesn’t seem to want to be in choir
according to her behavior issues, and lack of care.
Josh is a student who is extremely intelligent—almost too intelligent. Josh
questions every little move the teacher makes, and calls her out on every decision.
He often plays “devils advocate.” When the teacher states something like, “we are all
here to make music and perform our very best,” he is raising his hand and
suggesting that not everyone may want to be here. Josh is a student who can be very
powerful in a classroom, but you must first learn how to get him on board and
convinced that what you’re doing has benefits for him too.
The teacher of these three students definitely has a challenge since they are
all in the same section of choir, and clearly have different educational agendas.
There are many teaching insights that we can use as teachers to make ourselves
more affective, and this is will also help to reach all students. Things as simple as
getting exercise through recess or physical education does tremendous things for
our brains. According to the research of John Medina, active brains have been
proven to perform better than a person with a sedentary lifestyle’s brain does. Longterm memory, reasoning, abstract thinking, attention span, and problem solving are
a few examples of things that are improved through exercising our bodies. Exercise
ultimately forces our bodies to build more blood vessels in the brain, which then as
a result receives more oxygen allowing more access to energy (Medina, 2011). All
students can benefit from exercise—the Julia’s, Jane’s, and Josh’s of your classroom
all need healthy bodies so they have the capabilities to do great things. Not only are
recess and physical education important in a student’s education, but there are also
ways that we can integrate exercise into our music classrooms. Adding movement to
the songs we sing, dancing, and moving by rhythm or beat are just a few ways that
we can incorporate exercise in our music lessons. I’ve also concluded that when
students are up and moving, they learn much better; they are wide awake, and
physically engaged in the activity—cementing the learning of whatever it is you are
trying to accomplish with the task.
In any learning environment, it is vital that we teach while being aware of the
four stages learning cycle. First, you must appeal to the senses—students become
engaged by seeing, hearing, or essentially experiencing (processed in the rear cortex
of the brain). Next, the meaning making happens. Through reflection the brain
interprets the input received through the senses. This is happening in the temporal
cortex. Analysis is the next step—in the front or integrative cortex. This is when
preparation for the final step takes place. Finally, you actually act on the process,
this is the action you are doing (in choir it would be singing). This is happening in
the motor cortex. After the cycle is completed, it repeats and happens over and over
(Zull, 2002). In a choir rehearsal, the student would see (read) or hear the music—
step 1, reflect or interpret the musical notation—step 2, analyze or prepare to
actually sing—step 3, and finally sing—step 4. While the student is singing they are
actually also having a sensory experience, where they will then reflect, and analyze
how they did, and repeat the passage (action) to improve the learning of that
specific section of music. By keeping the learning cycle in our minds while creating
lessons, we can be sure to engage all types of students. They may not all have the
same reactions in each stage, but it is important that we first provide our students
with the tools to succeed. That definitely includes using the best possible teaching
techniques available to us—all starting with appealing to the senses.
To help your teaching and classroom learning go from “just going through
the motions” to a “sense-luscious” learning experience, Zull recognizes that we must
look at learning from many angles. By using multiple strategies within our subject
area we are able to create new neurons in our students’ brains. New connections
equal new learning. To fully learn something, students must have experienced it
with any senses. In music they can hear, see, move, sing or play, or watch. By
utilizing all strategies, we can help them to not only learn new things, but also easily
revisit connections that have already been made (Zull, 2002). For the Julia’s of our
class, by presenting the same ideas in different ways we will be able to keep those
students engaged, and open their minds to seeing the same things in a different
way—this can really help them to find musical ideas and creativity on their own.
Especially for choir rehearsals, where we work on the same music for weeks,
possibly even months while we prepare for performance—by changing it up, Julia
will definitely continue to grow, while working on the same music. For students like
Jane, changing it up will allow multiple chances for her to “get it.” Once students are
able to make a connection to a piece of music, their love for what they are doing will
become so intense. If we are able to help a student connect, they will be better
behaved, and willing to learn from you as well as from classmates. The same goes
for the Josh’s of our choirs, help him find relevance by creating the opportunity for
him to be successful in a song selection, or even a section of a song. By presenting it
in multiple ways—in a sense-luscious way, there are many opportunities for him to
grasp on through something that makes sense to them.
Gardner suggests that intelligence is pluralistic. There are many ways of
“being smart” and he describes these in his ideas on multiple intelligences. Some of
us are more mathematically inclined, while others of us flourish in language arts.
Each of these intelligences can be useful, and it can also benefit the students we
teach if we are aware of these intelligences and which ones we tend to teach to most
often. In music classrooms, we may find that some students are very rhythmically
inclined (mathematical), while others are able to manipulate their bodies physically
to produce good singing technique (bodily-kinesthetic). While musical intelligence is
perceived as its own category, there are also aspects of other intelligences that go
hand-in-hand with music learning. Gardner has identified eight different
intelligences, with a possible ninth—linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical
intelligence, musical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence,
naturalistic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, with a
possible existential intelligence (Gardner, 2004). By recognizing where each student
excels and struggles, we are better able to structure lessons that will benefit
everyone’s learning. For Julia, this might be presenting ideas in a way that you often
can create success for yourself. For Jane, it might mean focusing on bodilykinesthetic, and intrapersonal intelligence and how we can teach to appeal to what
that student knows and can benefit from. For students like Josh, you would need to
focus on how what you are doing can benefit him. How is the lesson you are
teaching benefitting him as well as the class.
Doidge informs us that the brain has great plasticity, especially at a young
age. As we age, brain plasticity declines and it becomes more and more difficult to
change the way we think. The belief used to be that the only way we could change
brain structure was through evolution. We now have the knowledge that says
otherwise; our brains are able to be re-wired. We know this because if someone
loses their vision, the other senses kick into overdrive—making the remaining
senses much like the one that was lost which results in a re-wired brain. In The
Brain That Changes Itself, Doidge explains that our brains are shaped by our culture,
and experiences. This means we have the capabilities to shape and mold our
student’s minds, and with repetition and multiple angles that wiring will become
more and more permanent. For all of the students in this case study, they will
benefit from hearing, seeing, and saying/doing the same information multiple times,
and in small doses.
As the Heath brothers explain in Switch, we need to appeal not only to a
student’s rational side (the elephant rider), but also their emotions (elephant). The
elephant is continuously looking for instant gratification, and not always thinking
about the long-term effects. Our riders possess the ability to plan ahead, and
consider long-term consequences. Both of these things work for and against each
other. The elephant helps make continuous progress and gets things done—you
need to emotional drive of the elephant to be productive. The rider often works too
hard and overanalyzes things and is critical of the product. The Heath brothers point
out that we all know people who have problems with their rational side, or their
riders, “[they are the] friend who can agonize for twenty minutes about what to eat
for dinner; [they are the] colleague who can brainstorm about new ideas for hours
but can’t ever seem to make a decision.” You must appeal to both elephant and rider
if you want to get the most out of learning. The riders will help provide the
understanding (planning and guidance), while the elephants bring the motivation
(energy)—without one or the other learning can be fruitless (Heath, 2010). For our
students we must make sure we appeal to each student’s elephant and rider. In
Julia’s case, she has a great understanding of what is going on in class, but
sometimes lacks the emotional connection because of boredom. To help her make
more of her learning, we can continue to present challenges for those who are ready,
while still being able to focus on the task at hand that we have been repeating. For
example, in rehearsing a specific section of a song—tell students that if they have
already mastered the correct pitches, they should be thinking musically and
suggesting things that could make that specific part more meaningful for the
performers as well as the audience. For students like Jane, we need to work harder
for the attention of the rider. Their elephants are overpowering the rider and
allowing them to get through class doing as little as possible. By showing students
how the music relates to their lives is a great way to create an emotional interest,
and also challenge them to come up with their own interpretations of the same
piece. The same goes for Josh, make the music relevant. How can we relate a piece
written hundreds of years ago to what is happening now—we will look at popular
songs that the students like, and draw connections for them so they are able to
create connections of their own.
Research suggests that students who bear a too-high cognitive load, are not
able to learn or perform to the best of their ability. As suggested by Shiv, there is a
right amount of stress that creates a quality spot for learning where we can be
challenged and wanting to try. In the research conducted with students who were
asked to memorize a series of digits, those who had the lighter cognitive load (fewer
digits) were able to make better decisions (choosing healthy food instead of
chocolate cake), than the students bearing a larger (about seven digits) cognitive
load (Shiv, 2011). So, what does this mean for our classrooms? Mostly, it means that
we have to be prepared as teachers, and present our students with just the right
amount of information. Enough where they are challenged, but not too much or we
will face too much stress, causing them to shut down. By presenting information in
bits at a time, students will remember or retain the information, and they will have a
better understanding in the end. In a classroom with Julias, Janes, and Joshs this
provides a challenge. Not every student is going to be in the same place, and able to
bear the same amount of information to remain challenged. Julia has already shown
signs of ennui. In the music classroom, it is definitely possible for you to add tasks
for those students who need a challenge, while others are focusing on simply singing
the correct pitches. For those students who have already mastered the pitches, this
next time we sing focus on the timbre and ambiance we are going for in the piece
(for example).
Self-discovery is something that is important in the education of every
student. By challenging our students to find the answer on their own (complete a
chemistry lab without step-by-step instructions from the teacher) we are teaching
them to be independent, and take a front seat to their learning. By students making
discoveries, they experience a sense of accomplishment, and a boost of confidence.
With more and more confidence grows the intrinsic motivation—learning becomes
a priority (Zull, 2002). Self-discovery seems to be a natural thing for teachers to
guide students like Julia into since they are already pretty proficient, and looking for
a challenge. For students like Jane, and Josh this seems to be a bit more difficult
because they don’t see the value in what you are doing. One strategy I will use to
help these students is develop writing activities that allow everyone to think for
themselves, instead of the ones who already have the knowledge always answering
the questions. By allowing students more time to think critically about a problem,
they have a better opportunity at coming to an answer that is acceptable. Also, you
can use different songs—students can choose a song to analyze, then they aren’t
being compared to classmates and it’s solely about their own growth in learning
instead of what they know in comparison to everyone else.
Many people believe that the key to motivation is providing a reward.
Actually, as acknowledged by Dan Pink, rewards work but only when the task
involves mechanical skills. Once, cognition becomes involved, rewards actually
hinder performance. Psychologists, sociologists, and economists have performed
numerous studies, all resulting the same way. What they are saying is if we want
students to be engaged and learn, we must create a way for them to self-direct their
learning (Pink, 2008). You create the guidelines, and let the students figure out the
means they need to get there. This forces students to be independent, and think
creatively. This type of activity is great for all types of students—Julia, Jane, and
Josh—because they are able to each present their learning in a way that best suits
them. For example, you can assign the class to compose a piece of music to share
with the class—with a few guidelines so they aren’t overwhelmed (using specific
rhythms, or at least 8 bars, etc.). They can play/sing live, they can record, they can
present via electronically produced sound, or come up with their own way of
sharing.
One thing we will have to fight as teachers is dealing with teaching students
who have yet to fulfill their basic needs (according to Maslow). Motivation can be a
difficult thing to harness if you are distracted by basic needs that have not yet been
met—such as not getting enough sleep, or being hungry. Students need to see the
importance in the task they are being asked to do, so that they can be motivated to
complete the task (Maslow, 1943). Once again, we must first ensure our student
have everything they need that we are able to provide them, and next make sure
they understand the importance of learning the topics we are learning.
Sample Assignment:
Task for students: Choose a song that you enjoy, and write new lyrics to the
song. Explain how your lyrics compliment the music, and what the song is about—
provide meaning. Answer, how would you introduce this song to the class? What are
some things about the song that aren’t necessarily seen on the surface that make it
enjoyable to you, or why do you have a connection to this specific selection (the
original version)?
Task for teacher: Make an example: this example provides insights about
teaching and learning—specifically self-discovery—some of the best learning is
done by allowing students the creativity to present it “their way.” This song talks
about how students will learn through the assignment, by coming upon the creation
on their own (self-discovery). Students become excited about the assignment
because it’s a song they recognize and can relate to. Creative juices begin to flow,
and creative results yield short student masterpieces. It appeals to Julia because she
will challenge herself and will utilize all of her musical abilities to create something
meaningful and outstanding. It appeals to Jane because she can utilize her favorite
song, and by appealing to her emotions she will be more engaged. Finally it appeals
to Josh because he will be able to create some awesome lyrics that are relevant to
something he cares about, and will be able to use music that has meaning to him. All
will be able to showcase their abilities.
See song attachment—“Self Discovery” to the tune of King of Anything by
Sara Bareilles. This song will help describe above task, and give a sense for one
option of what they can do. Student could also play an instrument (with poetry
included), simulate and instrument, etc.
Lyrics:
Keep singing songs and stare me down behind the keyboard,
While I look at you.
So many things that we could do if we were able
If we just had time to sing all day, as they all say,
You’ve got opinions too
We’re all entitled to ‘em
But I’ve never asked
So let me thank you for your time
Try not to waste any precious rhyme
Get thinkin’ fast
I hate to break it to you gently
But now you’re learning
Through self-discovery
Who cares if I disagree, I’ll let you be
You’ll learn through self-discovery
And who knows what you’ll bring to me
Great songs, with lots for all of us to see.
At the end of the day, in my music classroom, there will always be a challenge
in figuring out how to teach so that all personnel are engaged, and learning. The
demeanor of each class is different, and will be approached slightly differently. The
best thing for me to do is be aware of the similarities and differences of each one of
my students, and do everything I can to vary my teaching, provide relevant material,
as well as a challenge to each individual.