3. “What have you learned about the inquiry process?” (Posted Feb 17, 2017)
The inquiry process is helping me realize I need to find out what types of music the students enjoy, and what they want to learn about music themselves! I taught a grade 6 math lesson yesterday during practicum, regarding area and perimeter. To make the lesson more interesting, I chose a music video that had an alternative rock song regarding these two concepts.”The perimeter….it’s the outside” or “Area…it’s the inside.” (These words were sung to the tune of “Good” by Better than Ezra, circa 1995). Some students looked embarrassed during the song and laughed uncomfortably, while others started to hum along or sway to the beat. This experience left me more questions: How will I pick songs that appeal to the majority of students? Do I change the genre frequently? Perhaps I give the students a choice of 3 different songs and they choose which one they prefer? I plan to conduct a brief music-related survey before I start my long practicum so I have a better sense of their musical preferences and experiences with music.
This was an exciting week because music class began this week on Feb 15! As part of my inquiry, I learned about “soundscaping” for the first time. Soundscaping has really broadened my idea of music beyond conventional, Eurocentric views of music. (My music training is with Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto). It is accessible as almost anyone can make, and copy a range of sounds (this could be a challenge with students who can not speak however). This type of lesson is differentiated because students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) can also participate fully!
This class has taught me music is not a universal language, and that sounds have different meanings, depending upon the culture. I’ve learned music is largely dependent upon context as well. Music is often linked with movement or dance in several cultures. Perhaps the students need to stand up when they’re listening to music regarding math, and move around the classroom looking for examples of perimeter and area. Lastly, I’m curious how or if I will be able to measure the impact of music integration on student learning. How will I have a control group? Perhaps half of the class receives the lesson without music, and the other half receives the same lesson with music integrated into the content. I will also need to determine how to formatively assess student learning in these two scenarios.
2. “What are the benefits of teacher inquiry?” (Posted Feb 9, 2017)
My previous blog post stated: “I plan to develop some useful classroom management techniques, so I harness this positive energy and transform it into more complex thinking, and deeper understandings.” Today at my practicum, I made a point of establishing clear expectations with my students prior to jumping into a Math lesson on Area, and it really helped to create the desired behaviour! To me, teacher inquiry (or self-inquiry) is really about understanding and leveraging our own strengths, while learning how to recognize and improve upon our deficits/weaknesses (often due to a lack of skill or experience). I don’t really like the word weakness, and prefer to call it “areas for improvement!” I’m participating in experiential learning alongside my students, and this realization makes it more exciting and less daunting!
As Teacher Candidates, we are currently undergoing a personal inquiry and exploring who we truly are in terms of our identity, biases, etc. We are modelling the type of inquiry we would want our students to pursue in our classrooms, asking big, open-ended questions that have no clear or obvious answer. Teachers can improve upon their teaching practices through an ongoing process of self-reflection and journaling, again modelling the behaviours they wish to see and promote in their students.
Some specific inquiry-related benefits I’ve seen to date are: student-centred learning, collaboration, brainstorming, motivating, and sparks of genuine curiousity, and deeper, more complex thinking. When students have an opportunity to pursue topics of personal interest to them, they are intrinsically motivated to research and seek out more information with an open mind. The process of inquiry encourages us to view the complexity of issues that are important to us, in this ever-changing, technological world. Inquiry promotes dialogue through the open sharing and exchanging of fresh ideas and perspectives in a supportive and nurturing environment. I also see inquiry promoting risk-taking, and delving into areas we may not typically want to venture into, but then realizing the benefits. It makes me think of that old adage, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”
I have enjoyed music and have integrated it into my own life for a few decades, and I have seen how it can impact my motivation and energy levels. I’ve seen a minimal amount of music-related curriculum at my school to date, so I am curious whether music integration enhances the learning experiences of students.
I’ve learned from group dialogues that starting with a Big Idea from the curriculum for an inquiry may be too broad and overwhelming. The inquiry process is time consuming but worthwhile pursuing, and I hope one gets more efficient following subsequent paths of inquiry. Effective teacher guidance is required to facilitate a beneficial inquiry process, and I want to be constantly promoting curiousity and big questions in my classroom. As a TC, I do not see myself (nor do I want my students) to see me as a “keeper of knowledge” but rather as a “facilitator of the inquiry process.”
1.How do I see inquiry being used in the classroom?
Posted: Feb 2, 2017
To date, I’ve observed some evidence of inquiry-based learning happening in my Grade 6/7 classroom. Recently, the teacher assigned an “Extreme Environments” project where the students were encouraged to develop big ideas and ask open-ended questions to guide their respective projects. The expectation is for students to select any topic that falls under the extreme environment category, including: deserts, polar regions, deep sea, and even space. Most students seemed motivated to work on a self-selected topic of personal interest to them.
The focus of my inquiry question is music, and to date, I have not seen any music incorporated into the classroom. My S.A. does not have a background in music so s/he does not integrate music into different subjects or topics. A few weeks ago, I taught a Math lesson regarding the Order of Operations and wanted to make it more interesting for the students. I found a music video explaining “BEDMAS” (Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction), to the tune of a recent pop song “Call me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. After hearing the chorus a few times, I encouraged the students to sing along if they wanted to, and some of them did. In this context, I had a specific intention to teach a concept with music, and it appeared to enhance the students’ overall learning experience. However, I’m curious as to how I would actually measure or demonstrate this “enhanced learning.”
Based on the research read to date, I found the Munroe article, “Curriculum Integration in the General Music Classroom” to be the most compelling and pragmatic. Munroe advocates for the “co-equal/cognitive style” which involves synthesis, analysis and evaluation processes in order to effectively integrate music in a meaningful way (2015, p. 13). The example she provides is teaching and singing African American gospel music in class, and then making critical connections from these lyrics to the civil rights movement. Every year, an elementary school in Boulder, Colorado teaches these social justice issues and the songs that were a key part of this movement. February is Black History Month, so it would be an ideal time to teach about civil rights and analyze songs such as, “We Shall Overcome.”
I think it will be challenging and time consuming to incorporate music into the classroom in a meaningful way. However, the research shows that music integration can significantly enhance student learning, understanding, and motivation (Munroe, 2015, p. 17). There will likely be some class excitement regarding this inquiry, so the key will be to clearly establish some general expectations regarding how we explore music and draw relevant connections in a respectful and meaningful way. I plan to develop some useful classroom management techniques, so I harness this positive energy and transform it into more complex thinking, and deeper understandings.