5. Instructional Delivery

Artifact 1: Flip Presentation and corresponding Quiz

The artifact presented here is a classroom “flip” project that I created for my Technology in Education course at Trinity Christian College in the Fall of 2017. The purpose of the video is to teach some of the foundational elements involved in making harmony in music. Although the presentation was built with standard MU:Pr.1.5b in mind, it is intended for any student looking to further their understanding of music theory. Within the video, you will find that the progression of material starts with a discussion on harmonic “building blocks” such as scales, intervals, and diatonic triads. It then combines these musical components to demonstrate chordal harmonic progression. Accompanying the video is a quiz containing ten questions that are intended to employ higher order thinking (Bloom’s Taxonomy). Specifically, students will be unable to simply reference verbatim answers to each quiz question. They will need to understand, apply, and analyze what they learned to answer the questions correctly.

Through the production of this artifact, I have developed techniques for modifying instructional methods, materials, and the environment to facilitate learning for students with diverse learning characteristics (IPTS 5E). The philosophy behind “flipping” classrooms is to engage students in more authentic learning scenarios inside of the school environment. With presentations such as this one, students are able to access what would normally be a classroom lecture of sort at home, thus leaving more time for active application of the material in class. This project uses multiple teaching strategies, including adjusted pacing and flexible grouping, and engages students in active learning opportunities that promote the development of critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and performance capabilities (IPTS 5I). Students are able to stop and start the video at will, and can rewind sections that they did not fully understand the first time. Lastly, this artifact demonstrates my use of technology to accomplish differentiated instructional objectives that enhance learning for each student (IPTS 5N).

During the course of creating this project, I learned just how efficient creating a video such as this could be for teaching. The subject matter covered in this 6-7 minute video would have arguably taken up an entire class period to cover, seeing as how students would inevitably ask you to repeat or cover something that they didn’t understand. With this instructional video, students can view it in the comfort of their home and repeat sections as many times as they please until they grasp the information. This frees up class time to apply and analyze what was learned and thus fosters a classroom environment where higher-order thinking occurs more frequently.

Artifact 2: Beginning Band Lesson Plan

This lesson plan was created in preparation for a beginning band rehearsal that I delivered during a 4^th grade saxophone sectional at my student teaching placement in the spring semester of 2018. Among the other elements found in this lesson plan document, you will find a section in which I list several strategies for differentiation and planned supports for students with a range of abilities. Additionally, you will find a detailed instructional plan that includes an “engage, connect, launch” section prior to instructional activity #1. Within the instructional plan, you will find several instructional approaches meant to engage higher-order thinking skills for all students.

In preparing this lesson plan, I planned to implement effective differentiated instruction through the use of a wide variety of materials, technologies, and resources (IPTS 5C). In the delivery of the lesson, I utilized techniques for modifying instructional methods, materials, and the environment to facilitate learning for students with diverse learning characteristics (IPTS 5E). This lesson plan demonstrates my knowledge of strategies that maximize student attentiveness and engagement (IPTS 5F). Within the learning sequence, you can see that I planned to use multiple teaching strategies, including adjusted pacing and flexible grouping, to engage students in active learning opportunities that promote the development of critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and performance capabilities (IPTS 5I). Lastly, I developed a variety of clear, accurate presentations and representations of new musical concepts as well as alternative explanations to assist students’ understanding (IPTS 5L).

In writing this lesson plan, I was able to formulate strategies that I learned from research are effective in helping students to learn new material authentically. The goal was to have all students reach the desired result of interpreting and performing a musical composition with technical accuracy and expressive quality, and I was able to reach that goal through effective and detailed differentiation and planned supports.