My students are really on a roll with choosing their own goals and focusing on their task. Today I reminded students of the goals that haven't changed, where to get their goal sheets and what to focus on. I reminded them to use different resources and to ask themselves questions along the way to make sure their learning was meaningful. Some questions I modeled for them included: Is this string instrument played with a bow? Does this brass instrument have valves or does it slide? Is the woodwind instrument made of wood or metal? How will I know when an instrument belongs in the percussion family? These kind of questions guide the learning toward the target and goal for the day.


I let students loose and gave them the option of sitting in the hallway or in the classroom to work. I then offered students the chance to come to a mini-lesson on reading the note names using So-Mi-La. Most students chose to work on their orchestra instrument research, some students chose to research a composer of their choice, but I did have a handful choose to come to the mini-lesson. In the mini-lesson, we reviewed where to find mi and la if we knew where so was on the staff. Students were given a short song (Doggie Doggie) and asked to write in the notes where appropriate using S for So, M for Mi and L for La. Once they were finished writing in the notes, I had them go over to a colored xylophone to play through the song. They each used their own strategies to practice the rhythms and then added in playing the notes. They were told which key was So and then they  figured out which were Mi and La. Over 80% of the students who chose to do this activity were able to play through the song without mistakes by the end of class using So- Mi- and La. I also put up a S-M-L listening game from SMARTExchange on the SMARTBoard for students to practice aurally identifying correct So-Mi-La patterns. The students seemed to really like this. 

To get a flavor for what our classroom looked like and sounded like this morning, as well as to hear from students directly what they were working on and learning, feel free to skim through and watch the video below!

Last week I tried to focus the learning in more by giving students goal sheets where they could determine their own goal based on the two pathways and then use the goal sheet to help keep their thoughts organized as they work through the goal. While the learners worked on this, I went around conferencing with students on their own level trying to help guide them toward an appropriate goal and toward using appropriate resources to help with this goal. As I worked through this, I found that having a goal and having a place to organize those thoughts was important and helped keep students on task, but having to create their own goal was more challenging and took up too much work time. 

This week, I changed it around. I offered two learning targets for working on the composers and 3 targets for working on the orchestra that students could choose from. They were asked to only choose one to goal to work on in one area, and use the goal sheet to help them work through that goal for the day. I also went through the resources that might help with each goal in Schoology. This all took place during a 5 minute mini-lesson. Students were then able to go on their way and begin working. I made sure to conference with students throughout, asking them about their goals, asking them how their resource was helping them work toward that goal, and discussing with them about the things they discovered as they worked toward their goal for the day. Students then were asked to put their goal sheet into their music folder, which gets left in the classroom, as a means to reflect upon their learning when we next meet, and choose a new goal that might come naturally from their previous work. 



A lot has changed since we began our journey and a lot will continue to change. Students know and understand that this is an experiment and a new way of learning and that change is a part of that. Hopefully this will help keep the students focused and will give them a better opportunity to learn more. 

​Goal Examples Below:

So, it is that time of year again when every music teacher packs a bottle of advil/excedrin/tylenol something that will help with the headache that is bound to come from teaching and listening to the recorder. This year, I am trying a new approach that I am hoping will keep the squeaking, and loud sounds to a minimum, while still allowing students to learn the important musical skills that come from playing the recorder. Just as I am trying a personalized approach to learning with my third graders, I am also trying to personalize the approach to learning for my fourth graders as well in their recorder unit. 

In my school district, only fourth graders learn to play the recorder in preparation for the switch to band or orchestra in the fifth grade (and choir as well). Our elementary schools are set up K-4 while 5-6 are at the intermediate school. Once I had my students either A) Get their own recorder from home approved by me or B) buy their own recorder through our school, I began to set up a Schoology folder for the recorders in their music courses. 

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Inside the Recorder Folder are more folders:

Inside those folders are resources to help the students learn as they go. I included the Recorder Karate Songs that they can learn as well as the submission folders for each song in the folder labeled Recorder Karate Songs. I also included some Care of/Technique/History of the Recorder sheets in the Must-Know folder. There are worksheets on note reading and playing the recorder to complete in the worksheets folder. 

The folder that I want to have the most attention today though, is the Practice Songs and Video-Lessons folder. It is in this folder where the self-paced self-taught aspect of personalized learning is really present. In this folder, I created videos of myself teaching each of the notes that we are learning, with where they are located on the staff, how to play them using the recorder, and then I play through some practice songs with them (not Recorder Karate Songs) to highlight just the note we are working on. Students have the option to play these videos and use them to help them learn to play at their own pace. They can move through the new notes as quickly or as slowly as they need to in order to be successful. Below is a sample video of me teaching a quick lesson on how to use the recorder properly:

When students arrived for the first day of recorders, I went through the expectations of using the recorder in class with them. I then went through the schoology folders with them giving examples of how to find resources based on different needs. In order to up the responsibility even more, students have a specific folder for their class where they need to check in each music time if they have their recorder. If they forgot their recorder, they leave the space next to their name blank. Students know that if they have 3 or more blank attendance spots by the end, their 21st century skills grade will reflect it. They also keep track of their belts in this folder. 

Testing for Belts:
Students have two options for belt testing, they may come to me and play their recorder karate song live or they may record themselves playing it using their iPad as a video camera and upload that video to Schoology. If they test for me they get immediate feedback and suggestions for improvement if needed or they earn their belt right away. If they choose to send a video, they need to watch for me to comment on their video with feedback letting them know if they earned a belt or if they need to try again and where they need to practice and show improvement. Students are welcome to test at their OWN PACE. All I asked is for all students to complete at least level 6, and if they are unable to get there, then together that student and I will figure out a goal together to find success another way. Students may not test every time they come to my class. I only do face to face performance tests once a week.

Classroom Management: Are they really being productive?
I would say 95% of my fourth graders are really trying to be productive during each class period. There are just a few here and there that get lazy, or try to procrastinate their way out of doing things. The beauty of personalizing the learning is that the students first hand will find out that procrastination and laziness will not lead to success in the long run. At first they will think they can get away with it, but as their peers move farther and farther ahead in the learning process, the few that are behind begin to be more aware of it and start to realize the mistake of waiting too long to start practicing. It is a good lesson to learn in elementary school to help students prepare for the world of instrumental music and the expectations as they get older. In order to make sure they don't get too far behind, once a week (the non-testing days) I call kids to my desk to "conference" with me. The "conference" is a 2-3 minute check-in where students discuss what they have been working on and show me a little bit about what they know. I am not asking them to test, I am just asking them to demonstrate that some understanding about the note reading, the connection to the pitch and the placement of the hands on the recorder, and the understanding of rhythms. This seems to keep most of my kids on task during class as they never know who is going to get called or when they will get called. Not every student will get called to conference during a check-in day and I usually try to call kids at random, or at least call who I notice needs to conference. It also gives me a chance to try to mini-lesson one on one with students who might need that extra help. 

The way I have set-up this unit on recorders allows students to choose what they want to learn about with the recorders and when they want to complete it. They come in and decide what they are working on, set their daily goal, and work to complete it. They check in with me semi-regularly, they get to work at their own PACE. It gives them a little freedom and helps to relieve the stress for both the students who work faster than their peers and don't want to be stuck doing something they are well able to do, and for the students who need a little extra time but don't want to embarrass themselves by asking for it. Each student is responsible for their own learning in their own time. I just set a deadline for April 15th and allow students to work toward that on their own. I will keep posting here to update you on how this particular unit is going, as it is experimental for me too!

TSo, after a couple snow days and changes in schedule, I am now ready to share what I have learned so far since starting this personalized learning journey with my third graders. After explaining all of the resources and going through each part of schoology assignments with my students, the feedback I got was that they were feeling stressed and overwhelmed about the amount of choice. Many admitted they weren't comfortable with that much choice and weren't sure what I expected of them, so I changed somethings around. I kept my discussion pages, kept all the information on Schoology, but I simplified the project information and told students that for the first few weeks, they don't need to think about the projects at all. I asked them to erase any project fears from their memories. I also told them that for the first week or so, I would not be holding any mini lessons as I wanted students to get as comfortable with the idea of choice as possible. I also had students only make a choice between the orchestra and the composers to help lessen some stress and ease them into it.  I functioned during these classes as a "tech coach" helping students utilize the resources they had in the best possible way. I started to end the choice based learning time about 5 minutes early to discuss what they had done. In three columns, I asked students who chose to learn about the composers share any information they had in their own words. I did the same for students who worked on the orchestra as well. During the last lesson of the first week, I added the choice to sing along with So-Me stories, written by Stuart Manins, with the CD reading along and helping reinforce pitch for students as they worked together in a small group. That option was then added to the columns we discussed at the end of class. Below is a picture of one of the third grade discuss what you learned columns. I used this to show students that they were learning on their own, and didn't need me to stand in front of them in order for them to leave the classroom with something new in their brain that they didn't learn before. When I asked for feedback from students about the personalized learning "experiment" as we call it, most students said they were feeling more comfortable and they were excited that they were learning on their own. They really were proud of being able to leave class with their own new information to share with their classmates who were doing other things, and also their parents. Many students also shared comments about their learning in the discussion pages on Schoology as well. Simplifying and taking the process a little bit slower and easing the students into choice and voice in their learning was much easier for them to understand the importance of their learning and to feel more comfortable about the "experiment".

The picture below shows students at work using their 1:1 devices to explore the pathways of the orchestra and composers(Mozart, Joplin, Grant-Still, Amy Beach, Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann). You can see that students were using a lot of different resources on their devices to learn about the pathways in different ways. Students chose a pathway at the beginning of class, and delved into it using the resources they chose from the Schoology page. 

Below is a tiny chunk of video showing students who chose to work on their pitch matching and music reading using the So-Me stories by Stuart Manins. It was taken toward the end of class, but these ladies were singing throughout the class along with the books.