Marcel Williams

Music 670

Standard #5

Standard 5: The teacher of PK-12 music has skills in selecting, analyzing, interpreting, presenting, and

evaluating music and music performance within the context of music education.

During my studies at Kansas State University I have found that creating effective assessments

for your students can be quite challenging. I have learned early on that the assessment is just as

important as the lesson. I have acquired many assessment tools that range from performance

reflections, peer evaluation, exit tickets, score analysis, and more. During one of my unit studies I did a

historical/cultural analysis of a SATB choral piece called “Even When He Is Silent”. The text was taken

from the wall of a holocaust camp and without the historical context students would be unable to

successfully perform this piece as the composer intended. During my historical analysis I used what

information I had to inform my musical decisions.

Performing is key to a solid foundation in the learning process. However it is only a small

building block in the creation of a well rounded musician. As I can attest from my past experiences as an

ensemble member, teaching to the performance teaches the students musical skills within that one

piece and makes it significant to that one performance. Too often students are given a new piece of

music and are found unable to transfer the skills learned and expressed in the previous piece because

they were taught for the performance rather than for development. My students will be taught the

how, when, or why, we make these different musical decisions through analyzing the piece. Students in

my classroom will be given many opportunities to perform in and outside of the classroom. The

difference will be that we will study our music though analyzing, interpreting, and presenting the piece.
Every decision a student makes will be informed to the best of our abilities. We will also record our

rehearsals and performances and give students the opportunity to self evaluate their musical

performances. I will develop lesson plans that allow students to not just learn from listening to me but

also engage in it themselves through guided instruction. Repertoire will be selected carefully through

planning, and collaboration with music educators in the district. Each piece will be selected through

analyzation and application of teachable concepts, grade level difficulty, diversity of repertoire,

challenges, opportunities for early success, and development. This will benefit my students because the

music has been selected with them at the source of every decision.