Springhurst Music Teacher Uses Technology to Unlock Creativity
Dobbs Ferry music teacher's innovative lesson plan featured in educator's book.
The following information is courtesy of the Dobbs Ferry schools:
Springhurst music teacher Vi Taylor took Dr. Scott Watson’s course “Garage Band Does it All” in 2009 at Central Connecticut State University. The final project was to design a lesson she would use in her classroom, utilizing that particular software, and present it to her classmates. Little did she know at the time that her professor would enjoy her lesson plan so much that he would include it in his upcoming book, Using Technology To Unlock Musical Creativity, which hit the bookstores in August.
Watson acknowledges Ms. Taylor and Springhurst in the book’s forward and he makes a compelling case for creativity-based music learning as exemplified in her lesson “Identify And Move To Instruments A la Freeze Dance.”
The objective of the lesson, geared to grades 1-4 in general music classes, is to enable students to aurally (and possibly visually) identify instrument sounds in a multitrack arrangement, create movements for these sounds, and then perform their movements on cue while music is playing. Ms. Taylor uses the age-old children’s game “freeze dance” in which students improvise movement to music, but “freeze” in place when the music stops. Here, students perform agreed upon movements when they hear specific instrument sounds associated with percussion loops.
Ms. Taylor started using the lesson with 1st grade students during the 2009-2010 school year. She received a grant from the Dobbs Ferry Schools Foundation to purchase one MAC computer for her classroom. According to Ms. Taylor, this lesson would have been next to impossible to design and deliver without having access to a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and the Garage Band software. Even if you have the sound cues of the instruments from other sources, you would need to combine and arrange them with a track bed and have the ability to solo the instruments.
“Technology has allowed music educators to do all sorts of creating and editing to enhance and deliver instruction,” Ms. Taylor said. “I started using an iPod in my classroom in 2003 (she came to Springhurst in 2004). Just that piece of technology alone made a huge difference in giving me the ability to play music in the classroom without having to be distracted with loading in CDs and finding the tracks, while managing to keep the flow of my lesson going as well as maintain my students’ attention. The SMART Board has been another huge technological boon in my music room making delivery so much more effective and, as a tool, you have endless choices for creating visual and aural pages. The SMART Board has only enhanced what we do in music; singing, moving, playing, listening, and creating.”
The lesson plan can be adapted according to grade level and technology proficiency and is aligned to the National Music Standards for Arts Education. There are nine content standards. See www.menc.org/resources/view/national-standards-for-music-education Currently, Ms. Taylor’s professional development goals for this school year are technology focused. She is creating a wiki page for the parents of her 2nd graders. Using her iPhone, she plans to video lessons and activities during music class which she will upload to her wiki page to give parents an opportunity to see what their children are learning in music. The footage will also be used as an assessment tool for students. She is planning to do peer and self-evaluation preparation for the Songfest in May. Other department members have also jumped on the “Garage Band-wagon.” Springhurst band director Larry Cohen has been creating exciting and challenging tracks for his students to play along with and perform in concert. Other teachers are using music software to create and arrange tracks to enhance lesson materials to insure that students have the best learning experience possible.
“Vi is using a revolutionary new way to meld technology and music creativity,” said Springhurst Principal Julia Drake. “Her innovative lesson plan has been a great success in the classroom. It is not only fun, but reinforces listening skills and positively nurtures and develops students’ potential for musical expression.”
Do you know of other Rivertowns teacher who deserve recognition for their unique and innovative approaches to learning? Send me an email (elizabeth@patch.com) describing why the teacher you chose deserves to be featured.
