2. Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge

Artifact 1: Discipline Specific Paper; Teaching to Read Music

The artifact presented here is an essay that I produced for a course on literacy across the disciplines during the fall semester of 2017. In the paper, I explore the ways in which music literacy compares and contrasts with other content areas. In addition to that, I offer suggestions on ways that music teachers can effectively teach students to read and perform music efficiently, critically, and authentically. I chose to include this paper as the correlating artifact in this IPTS standard area because it demonstrates my understanding of music literacy and its corresponding pedagogy.

Within the context of the essay, I present several different methodologies that will help students to read music effectively and comprehensively. In this way, I demonstrate my understanding of the cognitive processes associated with various kinds of learning (e.g., critical and creative thinking, problem - structuring and problem - solving, invention, memorization, and recall). By employing those methods, I ensure attention to those learning processes so that students can master content standards (IPTS 2C). As evidenced by the section titled “Get to Know your Students,” I understand how diverse student characteristics and abilities affect processes of inquiry and influence patterns of learning (IPTS 2E). Finally, I use a variety of explanations and multiple representations of concepts that capture key ideas meant to help each student develop conceptual understanding and address common misunderstandings (IPTS 2M).

Through the process of writing this essay, I was able to discover the many different aspects of reading music and the ways in which they work together to create a truly embodied experience for the performer. I was able to then make conclusions about the best ways to teach to read music so that the student can achieve at the highest possible level while also thinking critically about the music they are reading.

Artifact 2: Circle of Life Arrangement for Middle School Percussion Section

This artifact is an arrangement that I created at the request of my cooperating teacher during my part-time student teaching placement at Lovinggood Middle School in Powder Springs, GA, spring 2017. Specifically, it was created for a percussion section of 25 sixth grade students to perform (in lieu of their original written parts) with their sixth grade band at spring concert. Their director and I decided that the parts provided in the original arrangement were not manageable for the 25 students, and so I was tasked with writing up entirely new parts for the instrumentation that we had available. This is the result.

To create this project, I utilized the notation software Finale as well as the composition software GarageBand, and thus demonstrate fluency in technology systems, the use of technology to support instruction and enhance student learning, and the design of learning experiences to develop student skills (IPTS 2L). By engaging my expertise in the area of percussion and percussion studies, the directors and I adjusted our practice to meet the needs of each student in the content area (IPTS 2P).

The development of these parts was not easy due to the range of student ability within the 25 student percussion section; not to mention limited instrumentation. Through careful planning and attention to each of the students’ particular skill sets and percussion-related musical interest, I was able to effectively write, arrange, and implement these parts into instruction that ultimately led to a successful performance at the students’ spring concert.