Chants & Music in the Classroom

Alright Dr. P I need to ask for your forgiveness! You may not remember, but a couple of weeks ago during class I said to you that singing is one of the reasons I am aiming towards one of the upper grade levels (5th or 6th). As you will recall I am not much of a singer and when you asked us to sing in front of the class my affective filter went sky high! Well, I have done some research (for another class) and have discovered that songs and chants have a huge positive impact on learning no matter your students grade level or first language spoken. I will now repent for what I said and tell you that I will use music and chants in my room no matter what grade I am hired to teach! Read on to see what has convinced me other wise.

Students learn languages in many different ways. Research shows that for most ESL students you need to lower the affective filter, or their fear of failure, by creating a relaxed, low-anxiety environment. Doing this helps build motivation, self-confidence and self-esteem, particularly within the classroom environment. Patricia A. Richard-Amato suggests (2003), “Chants, music, and poetry often produce lowered anxiety and greater ego permeability among second language learners” ( p. 210). I must admit I am one of the least musically talented future teachers. In fact, I have even held onto the belief that if I teach in an upper grade level, chants and music will not have to be a part of my curriculum. As I have researched chants and music, my eyes have been opened. I must ask for forgiveness about my attitude, especially towards music in the classroom. I now recognize that by using chants and or music in my teaching, no matter the grade level, not only will I make learning more fun, but also it will make what has been taught more effective and longer lasting. Using chants and music will also reduce anxiety and inhibition in my second language learners (Richard-Amato, 2003) as well as with my first language learners.
A chant is a rhythmic group recitation that is characterized by repetition. As the teacher, you are the creative leader and looking for opportunities to involve your listeners (Dunn 1999). Chanting has many of the same benefits of song. Chants can be performed anywhere, even if your voice is as bad as mine! Incorporating chants into lessons will build energy towards learning (Dunn, 1999). There are many benefits to using chants in the classroom. Sonja Dunn (1999) suggests that chanting uses rhythm and rhyme in a fun, enjoyable way. Chants offer opportunities for academic growth in repeated readings, which build fluency. They can serve as a writing prompt, offering students the chance to write new verses. Chants also provide patterns that can make learning easier. They provide a change of pace and mood to improve student motivation. Chants also offer opportunities for social growth. Using chants builds student’s confidence in oral language and can promote a sense of community, which is conducive to learning.
There are many reasons to sing. Patricia A. Richard-Amato (2003) suggests, “Music reduces anxiety and inhibitions in ELL students” ( p. 202). Songs also help children learn information quickly and accurately. Through songs, children store and retrieve information more quickly and they can access this information over longer periods of time (MacDonald, 2008). When a teacher chooses songs to sing with his/her class these six guidelines should be kept in mind. First, the teacher needs to make sure that the chosen songs are relevant, meaningful, and interesting to the students in the classroom. Second, the teacher needs to make sure the song tells a simple story, it is important to choose songs that have a beginning, middle, and an end, this will also help students develop an understanding of story structure. Next, the songs need to have a simple, memorable melody; you know the kind of song that gets stuck in your head. Next, the chosen song should build a base for future learning. The selected song should have some information in it that you need to teach. Next, the song should review information and practice skills. Finally, the songs need to be age appropriate (MacDonald, 2008). Music can be used to teach many different things, basic vocabulary, colors, body parts, simple actions, clothes and names of people are just a few of the concepts that can be taught through music (Richard-Amato, 2003).
Sharon MacDonald, an early childhood educator and teacher trainer, stated in Cara Bafile’s (2008) article that “There are valid conclusions that can made from what we know about songs and chants --they teach." Songs and chants are an excellent way to begin or end a lesson (Linse, 2008). Using a song or chant at the beginning of a lesson, will help the students make the transition from their native language into English as the lesson warm-up. If I were teaching a lesson about body parts, I could easily begin the class by singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” Then, at the end of the lesson, a good way to dismiss the students would be to sing the verse again. This could even be done while students are lining up to leave or while they are waiting at the door for the bell to ring. Chants and music if used correctly, by a creative teacher, can be effective in teaching content across the curriculum and confidence-to both ELL students and first language learners.

Who Am I As An Educator?

To Teach is to Touch the Future
I am afraid that through all of this, learning to be a teacher, I have forgotten why I ever wanted to teach. This paper has forced me to stop and think about why I am doing all of this. It has allowed me to refocus on the prize. What is the prize? It is my desire, which comes from deep within my heart to be a teacher. I do not mean one of those teachers who show up everyday and goes through the motions. I mean one of those teachers who teach! I want to make a difference! I want to be the “guardian of parents’ dreams”! (Axel Ramirez, 2007)
Teaching is an art. Some people are born teachers while others acquire the skill. I have been told that I have a gift and unique power to bring out the potential of the children with whom I work. I want to nurture my students and be the person who lifts them up. I want to show my students the beauty, power, and courage inside each of them, even if they do not always see it in themselves. I want my students to leave my class with more confidence, compassion, and enthusiasm for life and learning than when they entered.
I am passionate in my desire to make a difference and help build a better future! I did not choose teaching to gain monetary reward. Instead, while teaching I hope to gain the best reward ever – the satisfaction that I have had an impact in the education of the leaders of the world and the training of CEOs. I will play a part in shaping the destiny of the future generations, and the leaders of tomorrow.
The power of a teacher is unparalleled. When I think about the importance of the role of a teacher, on one hand I feel overwhelmed; on the other hand, I find myself dying for the chance to "get out there" and teach.

Fulfilling the Promise pgs. 120-162

These pages are full of many more "tools" to add to my "teaching tool box", and I can't wait to get out there and use them. Graphic organizers and more tiering ideas-finally some information I can use in the real world! Before becoming a student in the Education program I use to walk the halls of the education building and wonder what was going on behind the closed classroom doors. I imagined that the secrets of teaching were being shared and I couldn't wait for my turn to hear them. My first semester in the program was very satisfying, I felt that the things I was being taught were of great relavence! The secrets were being passed to me! My second semester was a bit more challenging! I was very frustrated with many of my classes, wondering how all this theory is really going to help me become the teacher I want to be. I left for the summer dissatisfied with what had happened in the second semester. Fall 2008, Differentiation entered my life! The secrets are being spilled all over the place, I just hope I am able to gather everything up, find a place to store it all, remember where I put it all, and pull it all back out when I get my first classroom! Thank you for letting me be a part of the secret sharing!
My new favorite idea is the Learning Menus. What a great way to give learners their choice of tasks, while still ensuring that each learner focuses on knowledge, understanding, and skills designated as essential. I think that when I use this idea, no matter what grade, I will call their menus "Main Courses", "Side Dishes", and "Desserts". I love allowing the students to work on their menus when other assigned tasks from the day are completed. This is a great "Fast Finisher" activity. I can't wait to have the chance to incorporate all of these ideas into my classroom.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Tiering

Tiering is an instructional approach designed to have students of differing readiness levels work with essential knowledge, understanding, and skill, but to do so at levels of difficulty appropriately challenging for them as individuals at a given point in the instructional cycle. When tiering you think about the readiness levels of students based on pre-assessment, ongoing assessment, and continually growing teacher knowledge of students' general skills levels. A great example of tiering is the Words Their Way program. The students are pre-assessed with the one of the spelling inventories, a way to discover the differing readiness levels in the classroom. The information obtained by the inventory is then used to identify the students' developmental stage of word knowledge or the students' instructional level. Once the students' instructional level has been identified the new information is used to group the students for instruction, the students should be placed in groups that are appropriately challenging for them as individuals. Students should be grouped with other students who are ready to study the same word features. Once the groups have been formed it is important to continue monitoring their progress over time (ongoing assessment). The advantage to Words Their Way is that these groups should be fluid, as the teacher you need to keep close watch as to what is going on in each group, understanding where each of the students' general skills levels lie. If a student is frustrated or not challenged by the activities then the group should be reorganized.
When tiering it is important to clearly establish what students should know, understand, and be able to do as a result of the activity or the product assignment. It is important to develop an activity or assignment that is interesting and engaging for students, one that requires students to work at a high level of thought. It is very important to pre-assess, to use ongoing assessments, and to continue to grow your knowledge, as the teacher, of your students' general skills levels. As the teacher you need to also develop enough versions of the task to challenge the range of learners, this means you may need to create one, two, three, four or maybe more additional versions. I like how it mentioned in the video we watched in class, to start with creating the task for the higher level students and then work your way down. I understand that this will take a lot of work on my part. However, I also understand it does not have to be done for every subject or lesson and the work will be well worth it in the end.
As I read about Think-Tac-Toe and RAFT I kept thinking why didn't we do stuff like this when I was in school. Both of the activities are amazing and a great way to get your students to use a higher level of thinking. I want to use the Novel Think-Tac-Toe for some book reports. My plan is to have a list of different types of book reports for each month, this is definitely going to be added to my list. The RAFT activity could be used in social studies, science, even for math. Wouldn't that be fun to have my 5th graders write a paper as the integer, to our class, about what it is like to be forgotten when doing math problems!
Alright! Enough already! While reading pages 149-162 I have officially decided I am not going to be selling this book on Amazon! I NEED A CLASSROOM!!!!! Learning contracts, Thinkdots, Journals, the list goes on and on! I can't wait to try all of this out on my students! I feel like I am armed and ready with so much ammunition, I hope I can remember where I have put it all! As I write this I have tears in my eyes. I want to teach!!!! I want to be that teacher that every parent wants their child to have. I want to be that teacher that will be remembered one day in a past students college class as they are talking about people who have had a major influence on their life! I have worried as to how I am going to accomplish these goals, but with the knowledge I have gained from this textbook and in your class I know I can do it! I want to do it! I will be the best I can be! Watch out, come next fall I will be implementing these things into my classroom and my students will not want to leave!

Fulfilling the Promise Chapter 6

Curriculum and Instruction as the Vehicle for Responding to Student Needs:
Rational to Practice
The job of a teacher is so important. How the teacher guides teaching and learning will inevitably sculpt the learner's sense of self-worth-and how the teacher directly and indirectly affects the student's sense of value will necessarily shape how and what the student learns. The teacher is an aid in preparing the students for life. It would be great if every student walking out of elementary school left with a sense of self-worth and knowing how they learn best. We can do it! How? Just letting each student in your classroom know that you care, that they matter, letting your students see that you will do whatever it takes to build not only their sense of worth, but also his or her sense of power as a learner.
This chapter suggests some concrete ways in which I can make sure that curriculum and instruction are important, focused, and engaging. Ways in which each student in my classroom is well served as a human being and as a learner. Some suggestions are; focus student products around significant problems and issues, use meaningful audiences, help students discover how ideas and skills are useful in the world, provide choices that ensure focus, look for fresh ways to present and explore ideas, and share your experiences and invite students to do the same. It is also important to plan your curriculum so that the work for each learner is challenging and scaffolded. The trick is to place task just a bit ahead of a learner's comfort zone, and then also provide the support necessary to help the learner gain comfort and proficiency with the tasks. Some strategies suggested for this type of demanding and supported curriculum instruction are; to use tiered approaches, incorporate complex instruction, to use a variety of rubrics to guide quality, to provide learning contracts at appropriate times, to aim high, to take a "no excuses" stance, to become computer savvy, to help students realize success is the result of their own effort, to use the new American Lecture Format (which I totally agree with), to designate a "keeper of the book", to try ThinkDots, to directly teach strategies for working successfully with text, to use think alouds (which I do everyday), to use small group instruction as a regular part of instructional cycles, to establish peer networks for learning, to promote language proficiency, to use weekend study buddies, to make peer-critique or peer-review sessions a regular feature (which will work well if you have established trust in your classroom, if there is no trust this will fail miserably!), to cue and coach student responses, and to team with resource specialist. Whew! How in the heck do I do all of this?
I must admit I read ahead. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed after these last two chapters. I want to be a differentiation teacher, I really do! But, is it possible? I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders! I want the students who walk into my classroom to have the experience of a lifetime. I want them to walk out at the end of the year realizing their self-worth and realizing they have learned things that will help them in the world. I am willing to try this, I am willing to take the risks so I can better the lives of my students. Like it says in Chapter 7 all I can do is "just begin." I am ready to begin!

Fulfilling the Promise Chapter 5

Curriculum and Instruction as the Vehicle for Addressing Student Needs
This is something that I know I am going to need to work on and remind myself of constantly. I can't fix everything. My role is to teach. I am not a counselor, parent, coach, or social worker. My job is to shape lives by equipping my students with the intellectual wherewithal necessary to make their way in the world. A world that increasingly demands academic preparation for full participation. My job is to ensure that my students develop the knowledge, understanding, and skill necessary to be productive members of society. How do I do this? What tools do I use? My tools are the curriculum and my instruction. I need to make sure my students develop the knowledge, understanding, and skill necessary to be productive members of society. The thing is that any teacher can take these tools and teacher. But in order to be a "good" teacher I need to take these tools, teach the subjects, and teach the human beings in my room.
We have all had teachers that taught the subject well, but made no connection at all to us as the student. In fact, this philosophy, of teaching the subject and no worries about who you are teaching, is evident even in my own classes here at UVU. What a shame! Teaching a classroom of future teachers, who are being taught the importance of getting to know your students, and not taking even a minute to try to learn our names. "Please invest in me." Even here at UVU a couple of our teachers have said to us, "The information is here. I'll deliver. You get it." How much learning is actually taking place in these classes? On the other hand I have had many teachers here at UVU respond to that request with a, "I care about who you are. I will learn about you and do whatever it takes to make sure you take this subject matter and use it to make you a fuller and more potent human being then you were when you walked into this program. Please be my colleague." Now these are the classes where the learning has happened! The work with these latter teachers, was and is important, focused, engaging, demanding and scaffolded. To these teachers the curriculum and instruction are the medium through which they showed us the power of knowledge, the power of self, and the inextricable links between the two. I believe that I will walk away from this program knowing what it is like to be taught in a classroom without differentiation, and what it is like to be taught in a classroom with differentiation. Knowing the consequences, first hand, of focusing only on the subject at hand, and simply delivering it, I have determined the type of teacher I will be. I am even more determined to be the type of teacher who will not only teach the subject matter, but will remember that I am teaching human beings. I am teaching people who have a need for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge in my classroom.
Curriculum is important. Curriculum can be a vehicle to address learner needs for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge. But there is so much to cover. I remember Axel teaching us that it is more important to teach one thing well than to teach many things poorly. I like that idea, but also realize that there is a lot that needs to be covered in order for my students to do well on the end of the year standardized tests. My concerns were put at ease when I read, "Students in schools, classrooms, and educational systems that teach less and teach it better score higher on standardized measures than students in schools that seek coverage of massive amounts of information with little emphasis on understanding. In other words, curriculum that is a mile wide but only an inch deep in ineffective in producing real learning." (National Research Council, 1999; Stigler & Hiebert, 1999) My role is to determine what is important in the curriculum for my students. I can do this by asking myself: Is what we are studying essential to the structure of the subject matter? Does it provide a road map toward expertise in the subject area? Does it build understanding in the subject area? and Does it balance knowledge, understanding and skill?
Once I have determined what I believe to be important for our class to cover, I need to specify precisely what I want my students to know, understand, and be able to do as a result of what we are studying. Pre-assessment is so important at this point. It is much more effective to have a better sense of where the students are, what they know, and what they don't know when beginning to craft lessons. At the end it is important to ask students to produce something that demonstrates what they have come to know, understand, and are able to do as a result of what had just been studied. Do I hear Axel? BACKWARDS DESIGN!!!!!
"Much of the fine art of teaching comes in figuring out how to deliver the curricular fundamentals in ways that are irresistible to young minds." I am competing with video games, movies, and television it is important to find ways to motivate my students. Through novelty, personal interest, emotional connection, personal relevance or passion, I will have the ability to create an environment where learner engagement will occur. Creating this engaging environment allows students to see that there is meaning in the work being done, the work will be found to be intriguing, they will see the value in the work and they will find themselves absorbed by the work.
It is so important to create opportunities for each student to work hard. That means for every student persistent, meaningful, guided work that draws on the skills of complex thinking as well as the skills of thinking about thinking must be ever present. This allows each student, no matter their "level", to sharpen his/her abilities as a thinker. I am preparing my students for the real world. Demanding curriculum and instruction will help each of my students to develop habits of mind and attitude necessary for success in school and in life. I keep hearing in my mind, "Remember, equity not equal!" What may be demanding for one student may be overwhelming for another and may cause that student to quit trying. That is why it is so important to pre-assess and know each of my students. It is so important that I make sure each of my students taste success at their own levels.
I need to do my job for every student. I need to scaffold the growth of each student in my classroom. I can only do this if I take the time to get to know each of my students. In order for me to "raise the ceiling" for each learner in my room I need to know where I want each student to be at the end of the lesson, where each learner stands or begins, and then I can take the action needed to ensure that each student grows. I need to place work that is a bit out of reach of each student and then ensure each of them that as they extend themselves they will succeed. Not one student in my classroom knows how to grow in a subject area, until I make it necessary for them to grow and I provide the support that guides them to grow.
Student diversity. I think this sums up differentiaiton teaching. In order for me to teach my students to activate their prior knowledge, to see the similarities between their life and the life of others, to make meaning of the subject, to grapple with thought provoking ideas, to make sound judgements, to activate learning, to work hard and to strive for quality, I must take the time to know each of my students. I must show them that I care, and I must provide the support system necessary for each of them to grow. The only way to do this is to take the time to find out what each student in my room knows and what they don't know, what they can and cannot do, and to assess this continually.
I see it in my own classes here at UVU. When we as the learners are not affirmed, when the professor cannot afford us purpose, power, challenge and contribution simply because they cannot take the time to get to know us the curriculum and instruction are impotent. On the other hand for those professors who do take the time to get to know us, they can respond effectively to each of us as individual learners with investment, persistence, opportunity, and reflection and the learning that takes place has no limits!