Tools for applying creativity

            Creativity is the ultimate problem solving tool. This is something I found very important this week when reading the book and listening to the lecture. That sentence is something I believe but never think of as a problem solving tool. Without creativity, we would have a hard time working things out or learning to work with other people. This is something that was mind blowing for me. I enjoyed the reading this week because it gave me ideas to use in the classroom. As I have said before, I work in a very small school district. Most of these students thrive on sports and show little interest in music. I teach music appreciation for middle school students. Some of them are in band or were in band a long time ago. Those that were in band have the urge tell me that do not want to be in this class because of their lack of interest. I try to teach lessons that meet all of their needs and interests. I teach a composition lesson and I discussed it more in my blog from last week. The reading this week hit home for me when discussing the two approaches to composition; which are standard musical notation and non-notational compositional strategies. I use the first one in my lessons after the whole class goes over simple music notation. The next thing is learning the notes on the piano. I use musictheory.net to discuss the notes on the piano. After all that, the students write their own piano song and play it for me. The students like it because they learn an instrument but they are also intimidated by it because of their comfort level on the piano. There are times where the students will play music that sounds familiar to them instead of what they have written down. They will play it by ear. When Bauer (2014) discussed composing without notation software, this made me think of my students. As much as I believe that being literate in music is important, I look back to how I learned music. I could not read it that well in high school and played my music, from my clarinet, better by ear. Using notation software that includes sounds, instead of notes, will engage my students in their musical thinking and help them with their creativity.

Soundation is a great tool that I want to use with students and it can be beneficial to those who cannot read music well. This software may be helpful for those with learning disabilities. As much work as a special education teacher has to do, they, sometimes, have a difficult time working with me and my music colleagues. I have to go to them many times and get advice on how to help these students. I do receive their IEP’s but they are very hard to follow. They do not include the arts to improve their education in these documents. I feel that Soundation would be a positive way for these students to learn music. Since many of my students have reading IEP’s, this program can teach them to improvise by using different sounds. My capstone project involves helping students with disabilities in music class and I plan on using this program for it.

Feedback is an important component in music. “Feedback tells the learner to what extent learning has been successful and where strengths and weaknesses exist” (Bauer, 2014). It is very easy to give negative feedback on someone else’s work. For tools on positive feedback, I enjoyed reading about Bauers’ compliment sandwich. A three basic step process where:

1.)    The student is given a simple positive comment (Bauer, 2014).

2.)    The student receives constructive comments regarding areas to be improved (Bauer, 2014).

3.)     The student receives another sincere comment (Bauer, 2014).

An element like this may work for younger students in elementary and middle school. In my experience, sources of feedback that would work for high school students are rubrics and one-on-one meetings. These meetings are with the teacher and other students. The important thing is for the teacher to explain how feedback works before allowing someone to give it. Feedback is another way for students to be creative. When they learn about their strengths and weaknesses from other sources, they find ways to improve their skill.

            Creativity is about finding ways to progress the talent you have. Composing and improvising are teaching methods that I like to use. Technology programs that use non-notational software, such as Soundation, can help those who have a hard time reading music. The advantage is that they are free to use, easy to download, and give nonmusical students the opportunity to be creative.

References

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music.