Classroom Setting

Indicators

Examples

Reflection

Classroom Atmosphere:
Teacher- student and studentstudent interactions.

The students came in quietly, ready to pay

attention. The classes working on the Seussical
songs really enjoyed class. The classes working
on recorder lessons were less enthusiastic, but still
seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The students used music textbooks, recorders,
The class started with the instrument of the week
routine. At the end of the class, the teacher let the
students know if they earned a note. When they
got 10 notes, they earned a party during music
class.
Students came in the room quietly and raised their
hands if they wanted to identify the instrument of
the week.
Participation was expected and the students did
participate.
The classroom had 6 tables that could each seat 6
students. Some of the classes used music
textbooks that stayed on the tables. For the classes
working on their spring concert songs, the teacher
used a CD player to play the accompaniment.
The teacher had a Dr. Who life-sized cardboard
model to display the class target.

The teacher had good control and it seemed like both the
students and the teacher were having fun. There was much
laughter and they got a lot done.

Classroom procedures:
Groups, materials, supplies,
transitions, and, routines.

Classroom behavior:
Expectations/rules,
monitoring, and response.
Classroom layout:
Arrangement of furniture,
resources for student use, and
technology integration.

I saw one class party. They played limbo and some other
games. I got to hold the limbo bar. It was fun.

This was amazing. The students entered the room quietly

and waited patiently for the teacher to take a moment to
prepare before selecting a student (which she kept track of
and made sure to give everyone a chance).
This seemed to work well. I didn't notice much
misbehaving

Teaching
Indicators

Examples

Reflection

Communication: Learning
outcomes, expectations,
directions, explanation of
content, use of vocabulary.
Questioning and discussion:
Blooms Taxonomy and wait
time.

Student Participation
techniques

Activities and assignments

As a part of the school's commitment to the visible learn

concept, the teacher made a point of posting learning targets
and success criteria for each class.
The teacher focused on the cognitive domain with the
instrument of the week and learning the words and rhythms in
their songs. The teacher focused on the affective domain
when feeling how the songs should flow. The teacher focused
on the sensory domain with the recorder lessons with the
students attempting to place their fingers in the correct
positions to play the right notes.
The teacher mentioned the importance of wait time (as an
aside to me, without prompting from me), when asking a
question during the instrument of the week routine.
In the classes that were practicing for their upcoming concert,
the students practiced singin their songs. In the classes that
were doing recorder lessons, the students worked on playing
songs on their recorders. All classes started with the
instrument of the week routine.

Grouping of students: Whole

class, small groups, pairs,
individual, etc.

The students working on the concert songs practiced word

memorization, focused on sections with tricky rhythms and
singing the words clearly.
The recorder students practiced their songs together in class.
After practicing a song for a couple of days, they played the
song as a test (in groups of 3 or 4 so the tests didn't take up
too much time. The recorder students had a homework
assignment of marking letters next to the notes in in their
music.
The class was arranged in tables of 6. There was a separate
desk at the back where the teacher placed any student who
was misbehaving.

Materials and resources:

Primary and secondary
sources

The classes used a music text book, copied recorder music

and fingering diagrams, and recorded music for singing along
with.

I hope to use the visible learner concept in my

teaching. It seemed helpful for the students to
know what they were trying to accomplish that
day.
The students were at different levels of
understanding, and that was ok.

Most students seemed very engaged. Some of

the students in the recorder lessons did not
want to participate. I thought there might be
more friction between those students and the
teacher. It didn't seem to happen maybe
because these students were too young to
develop full belligerance, maybe because the
teacher didn't allow it to get out of hand.
The teacher kept a balance between working
on small, tricky sections and letting the
students have fun singing the songs all the way
through.
The recorder students earned a piece of colored
yarn to tie onto their recorder if they passed
their test. They seemed to want to earn their
yarn.
The groups of 6 seemed to work pretty well.

I could imagine teaching with the music books

and the recorder handouts. I think I helped the
students in the back of the class understand
what was in the books.

Pacing: Gaining attention,

transitions, reflection, closure,
wait time, etc.

Each class started with the instrument of the week routine

and ended with the earning a music note routine.
Concert prep classes moved from song to song. There was a
balance between working on the tricky parts and singing
songs all the way through.
The recorder classes worked on individual notes and then
putting those notes together in a song

Improvisation: Making
adjustments, flexibility based
on the student needs

The teacher listened to where the errors were and focused on

correcting them. Sometimes the problems were with
ennunciation, sometimes with rhythm, sometimes with correct
fingerings on the recorder.

Student interests, culture, and

other diversity incorporated

The school has everal spanish speakers. Some classes use

both English and Spanish, some use Spanish only, some use
English only.counting song using both english and spanish

I was amazed by how well the students learn

these songs. I thought some of them were
pretty tricky.
The recorder classes were sometimes difficult
to get everyone doing the same thing at once.
It was also difficult to make sure everyone had
the fingerings correct. When a group of
students were doing their test, the other
students had to wait (ideally, they were
supposed to be practicing). The waiting was a
bit awkward.
It was usually pretty apparent what needed
work. The rework was done kindly.

Several classes sang along with a counting-to10 song in both English and Spanish. I can
now count to 10 in Spanish.

Lesson Planning
Indicators

Concepts, skills,
prerequisites, and
pedagogy
Student abilities,
interests, learning
styles, level of
knowledge, culture,
background, and
needs.
Learning outcomes

Examples

The students learned about notes and rhythms

and playing together.
The teacher used several class management
techniques (instrument of the week, did the
class earn a music note)
The school has many Spanish speaking
students. The lack of English skills impacted
some students' ability to participate fully in the
class.
Music class had very little standardized

Reflection

The students enjoyed music class and

the teacher kept classtime entertaining.

I was impressed with the overall musical

ability of the students, particularly how
they caught on to several tricky rhythms.

I find the lack of standardized

linked to standards
within and outside of
the discipline that are
able to be assessed
based on a diverse
population of
students.
Classroom Resources
to enhance the
teachers professional
knowledge and
appropriately
challenging student
materials that fit the
learning needs of all
students.
Learning activities
sequentially designed
to engage and
advances students
learning.
Intentionally
organized student
groups created to
support learning.

Formative and
summative
assessments aligned
to learning outcomes
that drive planning
and instruction.

assessment recognition.

assessment very appealing.

The classes
Music textbooks, recorder music, music
newsletter, music genre worksheet

The teacher occasionally has a class listen to a

piece of music and then identify the genre,
instruments used, dynamics and the form
(verses, refrain, etc.)
The classes worked on concert songs and
recorder.
The class was arranged into 6 tables with 6
seats each. The students sang or played
recorder together. The recorder students took
their tests as a group. Some of the groups
helped each other learn the songs.
The recorder tests helped the teacher keep
track of recorder progress.
For the concert practice, the assessment was
the concert performance.

The listening exercises exposed the

students to different styles of music and
ways to analyze music.
The students learned how to play and
appreciated music as they practiced.
The teacher usually let the students sit
with their friends. Once the students'
places were set at the beginning of the
semester, they were set for the entire
semester unless the teacher needed to
move somebody. I did notice a couple of
students were placed in special spots.
The recorder tests help the teacher
determine when to go on to the next
song. She had a packet she was trying
to get through, so she tried to keep the
students moving at a certain pace.
At the concert, I suppose the teacher is
being assessed as much as the students.

Assessment
Indicators

Examples

Reflection

Criteria expectations

The students are mostly expected to participate in music class

and hopefully enjoy it.
The recorder students play occasional test songs.

The students seem to enjoy music class very

much.

Monitoring student learning

The teacher listens to the class singing and keeps track of how
individuals are doing.
The teacher tested the recorder students occasionally to see if
they were comfortable with the increasingly difficult songs.
Teacher had foot issue, so she couldn't move around as much
as usual. She didn't get to the back of the class very much.
The recorder students sometimes needed to see where their
fingers should be placed on the recorder for certain notes. The
teacher gave mostly positive feedback about how the songs
were progressing
Almost all the students seemed to enjoyed music class. The
students self monitored by participating. The teach posted
learning targets and success criteria as a part of the visible
learner concept as a way to foster self-monitoring.

Since the teacher works with all the students in

the school and since they are focused on
getting the group to work together, there was
little reporting of student learning
I felt useful helping the recorder students in the
back of the class. I also joined in singing and
tried to help make the songs easier to learn.

Feedback: Timely,
substantive, constructive,
teacher proximity, provides
guidance.
Student participation: Selfmonitoring.

I see myself stating and posting learning

targets and success criteria at the beginning of
a class. I'm sure teaching will be more
effective and fun if the students are interested
in learning and I think the visible learner
model would be helpful to keep the students
interested and engaged.
The recorder students were gradually learning
to read music.

Formative Assessment

The teacher check whether the recorder students knew the

fingerings, and the length of the notes and the rests.

Summative Assessment

The closest thing to a summative assessment for the music

program seems to be the concerts.

This assessment seems to be not only of the

students, but also of the music program and the
music teacher.

Grading system: Traditional,

standards-based

Because the music teacher works with all the students, she did
very little grading. She did give colored pieces of yarn to
students who passed their recorder test. They called that belt
testing, like for karate.

I listened to a long discussion about traditional

and standards-based grading during the school
board meeting I attended in March. The
recorder tests seemed to be standards-based.