OTL565 course reflection and references

One of the topics we discuss in my program is the way a student can “fall through the cracks”. This can happen for many reasons. Now, more than ever (at least in my district) teachers have enough support to provide quality education for all students. In my program, all students are tracked for development scholastically, socially and behaviorally. In this way, teachers are given the best chance to provide the best support for their students; all but ensuring that the instruction provided is able to be received by all students, regardless of their background.

This course has focused exclusively on providing the best possible education for all students; how to “reach” students who have a varied set of experiences on which they build their personalities. "No two students are alike. They come to classes with different interests, varying levels of prior knowledge and experience, and preferences for how they learn best." (Woods 2014) While my area of concentration is typically not something that a course focused on general education would touch much upon, making every student feel successful and welcome is something that my colleagues and I all feel is quite important to our program. After all, students don’t HAVE to sign up for band class. We must recruit our students or we will have no students to teach.

The important thing to remember when it comes to making the most of band class is to keep the students working, playing, and thinking. “Most young teachers teach as though all students learn best by listening to the teacher talk. However, most students learn better when the teacher engages them through a combination of approaches that appeal to their many senses.” (Royer 2022) Students can’t learn to play by being instructed alone. They need to be playing. They need to know why they are learning specific skills by seeing, understanding, and experiencing the application of these skills. An example of this would be that students are often taught to practice scales, but simply practicing scales is especially tedious for a novice musician. However tedious, they are necessary so finding the appropriate way to relate them to the music they are performing is crucial.

Noting many of the points raised by this class, finding ways for students to connect to the class can look a little different for every member of the class. Some students might really relate to the content. Some students might really relate to the routine. Some students might really just relate to the fact that they get to have a class where they aren’t academically “under the gun” so they feel like they can let their guard down a little bit. This course has presented me with a few new ideas for how to think about relating to the students. These new techniques will hopefully provide pathways for students to continue with our program into their high school years.

Woods, M., (2014) The Colorado College. Differentiating instruction in the music classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. https://digitalccbeta.coloradocollege.edu/pid/coccc:9426/datastream/OBJ

Royer, S. (2022) Classical music indy. Differentiated Instruction in Music Ensembles. https://classicalmusicindy.org/differentiated-instruction-in-music-ensembles/