Write a Reflection Commentary addressing the following prompts.

Include this commentary after

the Assessment Commentary in your STP.

● Describe what the students learned in relation to the 3 Artistic Processes of Creating, Performing,
and Assessing as a result of this Series of Lessons.

○ In aspects of creation, students learned and were encouraged to use their vast
imaginations and auditory senses to explore in the creation of music. Students were
guided in this process to begin and given some tools and guidelines to draw on but
ultimately were given freedom necessary to truly create. In aspects of performing,
students were regularly asked to share their musical ideas and products with the class.
Students were shown good audience member behavior as well as performance behavior
and asked to practice them. In aspects of of assessment students were given several
different kinds of both formal and informal assessment in verbal, written and visual
forms. Students were assessed by myself, their peers, and most importantly themselves.

● Analyze your musicianship and its effect on student learning. Refer to the video and other sources
of evidence in the portfolio.

○ I did lots of modeling on the instruments which impacted student learning. Several of the
instruments we used in this project the students had prior experience and exposure to but
got some of them, they had not. I took some time to model these things and because of
this students had the necessary readinesses to perform. It can be seen in Video Segment
#1 that I demonstrated how to play several of these instruments which the students hadn’t
been exposed to before. I also modeled some aural skills for the students. It can be seen
in Video Segment #4 that I asked students guided questions after they listened to music to
influence their thinking about the elements of music and modeled the aural skills that I
wanted them to begin to make automatic for this project. This helped students begin to
guide their own listening.
● Describe how your classroom environment promoted student learning.

○ I made it a point to ask students to think critically in these lessons. Some things were told
to them but a lot of things about this lesson were experiential and required students to
listen and use their own discretion and critical thinking skills. This made student learning
more personal than it would have been otherwise. I also made a point to ask students
regularly for feedback so as to engage them. This engagement kept the lesson flowing.
Without student engagement this lesson wouldn’t have flowed naturally. I tried to make
sure everyone was included and that students had lots of chances to make their ideas
heard and also to have choices in their experiences.

● Based on this analysis of your teaching and student learning, describe how you can improve the
instructional design and implementation of this Series of Lessons for a similar group of students
in the future. Be specific, and support your ideas with student assessment data from your
portfolio.
○ There were lots of good things about the lesson I planned. I think that I had a lesson that
was engaging and fit into my CT’s curriculum nicely. I think students had a lot of
different ways to engage with the lesson and lots of opportunity for choice and to give
feedback and receive. I am happy with the class responses to the lesson and the amount
of participation I had from the class in general. Though I feel that overall this lesson was
successful, there are several areas for growth. For starters, I wish that I had had more
time to teach this series of lessons. I had another lesson planned which would have taken
place before what actually was the last lesson which I feel would have made the students
learning more solid and rich. We were going to make sound effects as a group to
accompany the story of the “3 Little Bears”. If I had more time I would add that lesson to
the series because I think that it scaffolds the lesson material much easier that way. I also
think that I could have provided more choices for individual final assessments. I was
short on time and chose to do a matching quiz for the final post assessment thinking it
would be quicker for students to do and facilitate more student success by providing the
definitions. After seeing their post assessments I wish that I would have had students put
the definitions in their own words because it gives me a better idea of where their
thinking is headed instead of just being “incorrect”. If I could do it again I would make it
a written response, or they could speak their answers to me. I would prefer the latter,
actually. I think having students verbally/perform to give feedback works better than
writing for the simple fact that truly understanding musical concepts often has nothing to
do with the students ability to put their understandings into words. I think most students
got the concepts I wanted them to understand but they often confused rhythm with tempo.
I tried to make it clear but I wish I would have taken the time to make it more clear. In
the future I think I would take time to make this difference clear both aurally and
conceptually by changing the definition I used for rhythm to be more distinct and
spending more time giving concrete listening examples to aid in this understanding.
Something not completely shown in the videos or really mentioned in the project were
several instances of classroom management that I think I could grow in. As any new
teacher, I can always be finding more successful ways for my students to engage in the
lesson. There was one student who over the course of the lessons was frequently seen in
the back of the class and was sucked into goofing off with another boy. I often chose to
use proximity with them or make a quick comment to them to nip the behavior in the bud,
and while it seems like the boys were engaged it just stopped the behavior and did not
truly engage them. I could have found a way to engage them from the start of the lesson
that would have worked better. If I had a chance to reteach this lesson again I might
consider these students more seriously and find moments to engage them and positively
reinforce their engagement. Such as asking them their thoughts and celebrating their
points in front of the class. Saying something as simple as “I’m very glad you heard ____
in that example because that leads us to our next very important discussion in _____” can
affirm students listening and honor their responses.