Coming through 2020 has indeed been a challenge. One of the things I learnt in lockdown was the need for individualised feedback through technology. Last year I worked on Feedback as a TAI and I had some success and also some not so successful outcomes. Feedback and Feedforward is still something I am constantly working on in Performing Arts. Because Performing Arts is very individualised, each student is working on a completely different piece of music and each student responds differently to how feedback is given. I am going to re-visit this, this term. I firstly need to decide on how I want to move forward with this and I will document that here.
Showing posts with label Critical inquiry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Critical inquiry. Show all posts
Monday, 24 August 2020
Thursday, 9 May 2019
Term 1 reflection.
Term 1 was exhausting. It was a term filled with some awesome stuff but also some difficult stuff.
My classes this first term have been mixed. My seniors classes are fantastic, I have a large year 11 class and they are so enthusiastic and just soak up every bit of knowledge that is thrown at them. My year 12 and 13 classes are smaller but an awesome bunch of talented musos that are always keen and passionate about their music.
This year as a school we decided that junior music would be offered as an option for year 9 and 10 ( it used to be compulsory at year 9) This is based on the success of the passion projects so giving students the freedom of choice to learn their passions. I was totally on board for this, I re wrote my junior units so that I had two semesters. The first semester would be a performance based semester where students cover lots of different aspects of Performing Arts and then work towards a performance. I was seriously amped to get into this but alas as my classes arrived I realised that they were not digging this idea and had no passion at all for performance arts and little passion for music in general. sigh!!! What did I do wrong?? At the end of the 2018 we had 40plus juniors perform in our Musical Theatre passion project, all willing to sing, dance and act to their hearts content! Being honest I was a little crushed...... What the hell do I do now?? I have changed all of my units and the students hate it???!!! It actually took me a while to really process this and figure out what to do next!! So, eventually I realised two things.
1. Some of our students just don't read the course outlines and hand books before they choose! So, they choose a subject based on what they think it is! ( listening to music, jamming on the guitar, watching youtube?) Who Knows!!
2. Most of the students that have chosen Music actually do want to do music. They have seen the musical theatre performances and want to be able to perform but they are too scared or they just don't know how!
So I swallowed my pride and changed the direction of what we were doing! Instead we went back to basics and learnt some skills on the keyboard and the guitar and started thinking about what music we liked and how we could eventually perform it?? This was reasonably successful and students definitely learned new things and enjoyed learning. Did we do a performance in term one? no! Will we get a performance done in term two? Who knows?? Are the juniors getting a cool musical experience and learning some practical and theoretical knowledge?? YES! So I am going to take that as win. It wasn't what I had planned or expected but in teaching nothing ever really goes as planned ha ha!
I still am a firm believer of always trying new things because sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Even though I was disappointed that my new course did not flourish this Term. I will still continue to push this as a subject option. For me I think that I need to make sure I go into the deans assemblies and talk about the new course so that students understand what the expectations are.
In the end Term 1 ended well. I finished We Will Rock You which was again a fantastic opportunity to be singing again this year! No more shows for 2019. Ready to take on the challenged of Term 2.
My classes this first term have been mixed. My seniors classes are fantastic, I have a large year 11 class and they are so enthusiastic and just soak up every bit of knowledge that is thrown at them. My year 12 and 13 classes are smaller but an awesome bunch of talented musos that are always keen and passionate about their music.
This year as a school we decided that junior music would be offered as an option for year 9 and 10 ( it used to be compulsory at year 9) This is based on the success of the passion projects so giving students the freedom of choice to learn their passions. I was totally on board for this, I re wrote my junior units so that I had two semesters. The first semester would be a performance based semester where students cover lots of different aspects of Performing Arts and then work towards a performance. I was seriously amped to get into this but alas as my classes arrived I realised that they were not digging this idea and had no passion at all for performance arts and little passion for music in general. sigh!!! What did I do wrong?? At the end of the 2018 we had 40plus juniors perform in our Musical Theatre passion project, all willing to sing, dance and act to their hearts content! Being honest I was a little crushed...... What the hell do I do now?? I have changed all of my units and the students hate it???!!! It actually took me a while to really process this and figure out what to do next!! So, eventually I realised two things.
1. Some of our students just don't read the course outlines and hand books before they choose! So, they choose a subject based on what they think it is! ( listening to music, jamming on the guitar, watching youtube?) Who Knows!!
2. Most of the students that have chosen Music actually do want to do music. They have seen the musical theatre performances and want to be able to perform but they are too scared or they just don't know how!
So I swallowed my pride and changed the direction of what we were doing! Instead we went back to basics and learnt some skills on the keyboard and the guitar and started thinking about what music we liked and how we could eventually perform it?? This was reasonably successful and students definitely learned new things and enjoyed learning. Did we do a performance in term one? no! Will we get a performance done in term two? Who knows?? Are the juniors getting a cool musical experience and learning some practical and theoretical knowledge?? YES! So I am going to take that as win. It wasn't what I had planned or expected but in teaching nothing ever really goes as planned ha ha!
I still am a firm believer of always trying new things because sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Even though I was disappointed that my new course did not flourish this Term. I will still continue to push this as a subject option. For me I think that I need to make sure I go into the deans assemblies and talk about the new course so that students understand what the expectations are.
In the end Term 1 ended well. I finished We Will Rock You which was again a fantastic opportunity to be singing again this year! No more shows for 2019. Ready to take on the challenged of Term 2.
Monday, 4 March 2019
Term 1 is KICKING OFFFFFFF!!!!!!
I don't think I have ever had a crazier start to a Term 1. All good crazy of course but never the less crazy!!! One of my favourite parts of the school year is the start! I love catching up with all the teenagers after the big summer holiday and seeing all of my new classes. This year I have three awesome senior music classes. They are all super keen, eager musos and are full of enthusiasm! Long may it last!! I have three junior classes, one yr 9 and two yr 10 classes. This year Hornby changed the way we were offering junior courses. Instead of making everything a compulsory taster session in yr 9, students are now able to choose their passion subjects to do all year if they wish! Similarly in year 10, students can now change options mid year and not be committed to a full year of the same courses! Now..... this is a wonderful idea. Why make students take something they are never going to be into??? So, because we have a strong performing culture here I decided to be bold and make my junior courses a Performing Arts course where students would learn many aspects of the performing arts not just music. BUT you have to perform..... That is the part that often doesn't register in the wonderful minds of the mini humans! I have one of my year 10 classes that are going with it and have happily soaked up the wonderful world of Mime, Comedy, Salsa dancing and Musical Theatre. They have been pushed out of their comfort zones and have almost totally embraced it! The other two classes, not so much..... Initially I took it quite personally thinking "Why have I created this awesome performance course that covers all these wonderful art forms and they don't want to do it??????" Well, I realised after I got over myself that they are all awesome enthusiastic music students who are simply not ready to perform.... Yet! So, we have gone back a wee bit and are revisiting some essential Keyboard, Guitar and singing skills. Here they get to learn and play music without the pressure of the big performance. I have realised that with taking risks and trying new things, there are always going to be detours in the road and that's ok!
Sunday, 22 April 2018
Musical Theatre mayhem!!!
It's been a manic term........ In year 8 and 9 we have focused on Musical Theatre as a genre for Term 1. This was a collaborative project between myself, Joanne (HOD Drama) and our two part time PA teachers Luke and Sarah. We all had one goal and that was to get all of our juniors on the stage performing. Cue dramatic sound........
We spent a lot of time initially researching musical theatre and putting this new genre into context. Many students had no idea what musical theatre was, some only thought of good old High school musical and some students already had a vast knowledge and were already fans of Hamilton and Mean Girls. We had ALOT of differentiation..... Some students were so keen to perform and as soon as we headed into the practical element were on their way. Others had a passion for sets and props and began designing. Some students were a little reluctant and preferred to research the genre further and produce detailed slide shows. We had a vast array of work happening and even those students that still were not sold on performing on stage they understood the genre and could explain features and give examples. FANTASTIC. In our final showcase each class presented their work, this was a class performance from each ( and yes everyone in the class stood on stage and did something!!! Even the nervous kids stood at the back and sang or danced their heart out) RESULT!! we had some fantastic solo and small ensamble performances, some fab research and some gorgeous set pieces.
There are many things we will take from this project and change and tweak. There were certainly things that didn't work. But, most importantly there were lots of things that did work! Everyone enjoyed themselves and in the end every student involved stood on a stage and performed and left the term with new knowledge on the wonderful genre of Musical Theatre.
We spent a lot of time initially researching musical theatre and putting this new genre into context. Many students had no idea what musical theatre was, some only thought of good old High school musical and some students already had a vast knowledge and were already fans of Hamilton and Mean Girls. We had ALOT of differentiation..... Some students were so keen to perform and as soon as we headed into the practical element were on their way. Others had a passion for sets and props and began designing. Some students were a little reluctant and preferred to research the genre further and produce detailed slide shows. We had a vast array of work happening and even those students that still were not sold on performing on stage they understood the genre and could explain features and give examples. FANTASTIC. In our final showcase each class presented their work, this was a class performance from each ( and yes everyone in the class stood on stage and did something!!! Even the nervous kids stood at the back and sang or danced their heart out) RESULT!! we had some fantastic solo and small ensamble performances, some fab research and some gorgeous set pieces.
There are many things we will take from this project and change and tweak. There were certainly things that didn't work. But, most importantly there were lots of things that did work! Everyone enjoyed themselves and in the end every student involved stood on a stage and performed and left the term with new knowledge on the wonderful genre of Musical Theatre.
Monday, 19 February 2018
Hit the term running....... no, sprinting!!!!
To say we have started school with a bang is an understatement! Its only week 4 and we have had pd days, staff meetings, student meetings, international students, timetable changes, crazy weather and lots of new faces. 2018 was always set to be a big year at Hornby High School but i think i may have underestimated this!
We started our year with our Uru Manuka cluster meeting. This was a day for all of the schools in the cluster to meet together and to discuss our progress with Learn, Create, Share. I did take some valuable things from the day. Listening to Pat Sneddon is always inspiring, hear his encouraging words and the the difference we are making to our children was definitely a great way to start the year. It was interesting though to hear the differences in opinions from our colleagues from other schools........
I always love the start of a school year. I had really missed the kids and it was great catching up with the staff and meeting the 12 newbies! Week 4 in and it already feels like its half way through the term lol! Being over code this term is hard work but I am enjoying all of my classes. Really noticing the difference with smaller junior classes. Going from around 35 to 19 in an average junior music class is already reaping the benefits!
We have set the tone for a great year but it's going to be a hard one too!!
We started our year with our Uru Manuka cluster meeting. This was a day for all of the schools in the cluster to meet together and to discuss our progress with Learn, Create, Share. I did take some valuable things from the day. Listening to Pat Sneddon is always inspiring, hear his encouraging words and the the difference we are making to our children was definitely a great way to start the year. It was interesting though to hear the differences in opinions from our colleagues from other schools........
I always love the start of a school year. I had really missed the kids and it was great catching up with the staff and meeting the 12 newbies! Week 4 in and it already feels like its half way through the term lol! Being over code this term is hard work but I am enjoying all of my classes. Really noticing the difference with smaller junior classes. Going from around 35 to 19 in an average junior music class is already reaping the benefits!
We have set the tone for a great year but it's going to be a hard one too!!
Tuesday, 18 October 2016
A new vision!
As Hornby High school moves into the realms of the big rebuild we are starting to look at the vision of the school. Our board of trustees presented their ideas of our vision after school on Monday, along with afternoon tea which always goes down well with the Hornby crew.
Learn, Create, Share is where we want to take our students, being creative in whatever they do
( creativity is not exclusive to the Arts but to be creative in all subjects.) The toughest part of that equation is the sharing part. I find my wonderful musos learn and create in their comfort zones well and work hard. The scary part is the sharing. The performing and giving their all on stage! Now, we have become better at this and I have seen the confidence levels grow in my musicians. We are still not quite at the point though where my students will do this freely without me nagging them! ( with the exception of Jacob and Siaosi if they happen to read this) How do I get them to this point....... I am not sure. I can do all the encouraging in the world but there still has to be more! Project based learning is an avenue we are beginning to look at and I have started thinking about this for 2017. Cross - curricular projects which engage our students and connect our subjects! Is this the answer??? I don't know but as a teacher in the 21st century I want to give it a go, I'm excited to try it and am keen to get it started!!! More to come on this subject......... :)
Learn, Create, Share is where we want to take our students, being creative in whatever they do
( creativity is not exclusive to the Arts but to be creative in all subjects.) The toughest part of that equation is the sharing part. I find my wonderful musos learn and create in their comfort zones well and work hard. The scary part is the sharing. The performing and giving their all on stage! Now, we have become better at this and I have seen the confidence levels grow in my musicians. We are still not quite at the point though where my students will do this freely without me nagging them! ( with the exception of Jacob and Siaosi if they happen to read this) How do I get them to this point....... I am not sure. I can do all the encouraging in the world but there still has to be more! Project based learning is an avenue we are beginning to look at and I have started thinking about this for 2017. Cross - curricular projects which engage our students and connect our subjects! Is this the answer??? I don't know but as a teacher in the 21st century I want to give it a go, I'm excited to try it and am keen to get it started!!! More to come on this subject......... :)
Sunday, 4 September 2016
PD - Genius hour......
Genius hour is project based learning task or activity. Students choose their own project on any subject. The idea is to choose a passion, choose something that you are going to enjoy learning and developing. If the idea can be answered by a 2 minute google search then dig deeper. When researching an idea you need to think about,
What will i learn? What will i create? What will i solve?
What do i love? what are my interests? How can i make an impact?
I love that we are moving into a culture of allowing our children to take ownership of their learning. As a teacher it takes us out of our comfort zone, we are no longer the be holder of all knowledge. Its a scary prospect but also exciting!
What will i learn? What will i create? What will i solve?
What do i love? what are my interests? How can i make an impact?
I love that we are moving into a culture of allowing our children to take ownership of their learning. As a teacher it takes us out of our comfort zone, we are no longer the be holder of all knowledge. Its a scary prospect but also exciting!
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