My definition of a formal music education encompasses samplings from all over the world. Students will learn Western music and its conventions such as: reading and comprehending western notation, harmony, melody, counting systems, and western traditional ensembles (ie. orchestra, wind band, quartets, jazz ensembles). Students will explore music from outside the western realm through source materials and teachings. This will expand the students thinking about music and culture and allows to tap into more possibilities with musical expression. Using non-western counting systems and learning cultural dances are crucial to creating a well rounded program. In many lessons music will be presented in connection with areas such as math, science, history, and poetry as music gives an added layer of clarity to these subjects. Electronic means of creating music such as iPads and notation software incorporates skills the students use daily into the …show more content…
As the teaching methods are differentiated for each students, some of the assessment methods are as well. For example, a student with disabilities progress will be tracked differently than a student who shows accelerated progress. The celebration of small victories pushes the students to continue striving to be better musicians. For younger students, I would use a token and reward system with stickers for different tasks such as sitting quietly during instruction, putting away the instruments properly, listening to others. On a larger scale benchmarks are placed in my instruction in order to keep students moving to a similar skill set. Goals such as playing a concert Bflat scale at 120bpm in quarter notes by the end of the semester, or achieving phrasing in a concert work would be examples of these types of assessment tools. Students in both a general music classroom and large ensemble would be assessed by individual performances. Through Smart Music or performing for the class, these performances allow for feedback to occur on an individual basis for each student. Lastly dip-sticking is a technique I use frequently to quickly get a sense if the information is clear and understood by the