Engaging Instruction in the Music Classroom

In education, it is essential to make sure that as a teacher, I do the absolute best I can to help my students learn as much of the required material as possible. This challenges me as the instructor to not only thoroughly cover the material from the curriculum, but effectively engage the students in active learning. Active learning would look like my students moving around while showing evidence of what they have learned. For instance, I would have my students stand and then clap/stomp/sway to the pulse of the music. This is more functional than me telling them how to move to the music. However, this is only one way that engaging instruction can take place in the music classroom. 

Teachers with “strong pedagogical content knowledge know how to select the best content and effectively present it to students” (Milner et al., 2019, pg.72). This means that I must be prepared to teach students of different cultures, races, and backgrounds. For example, I would not require my elementary-aged students to know about how music is structured harmonically. My role as a teacher is to teach them at the level my students are currently at. However, this concept of designing engaging lessons goes beyond age classifications. During the holiday season, I plan to teach my students about the different holidays including but not limited to: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. I can help present these cultural traditions to students in my classroom while also considering their community. I will ask about the traditions and celebrations they have during the holidays and include my curriculum content into the discussion. 

As a teacher, one of my main goals is to have great relationships with my students. This entails my students knowing my personality, but also me knowing my students and their various home environments. Teachers can engage their students by caring about their students and the various circumstances they face daily (Milner et al., 2019). An example would be that a student may have their grandparents living at home with them. Some students may be from a military background and recently moved to the area. Certain students may have a parent that is chronically ill. As a result, this tells me that I as a teacher need to be sensitive to the things happening in their world in order to effectively communicate the information that they learn. However, some situations can be used to connect the world to music. For instance, the sound of a dribbling basketball from a game can help me teach my students about rhythmic patterns. Another example could be students who ride the bus can describe the timbres of the sounds they hear while on the bus. My teaching plan, in response to both of these principles, allows me to make thoughtful, intriguing lessons for my students that specifically apply to them.  

In conclusion, my teaching abilities must take into consideration what help to captivate my class’s attention. Through lesson planning, course content selection, and contemplation on my students’ surroundings I plan to make my instruction engaging and effective. In order to present the information in a way that does not lead to boredom, it is my responsibility to discover possibilities of diverse paths to ignite active learning. My teaching ability must also continue to evolve as I grow in learning more about how to engage my students. 

Reference 

Milner, H. R., Cunningham, H. B., Delale-O’Connor, L., & Kestenberg, E. G. (2019). “These kids are out of control”: Why we must reimagine “Classroom management” for equity. Corwin, a SAGE company.