Observe a high school classroom, and you will sometimes—but thankfully not always— see a teacher lecturing or writing on the board while students feverishly try to copy every word into their notebooks. This mechanical, rote method of learning may be …
A few music teachers will have the opportunity to teach survey courses about music history. Some will present broad a curriculum encompassing the whole of Western music, while others will focus on 20th Century popular music. The closer the content …
Dandelions can grow anywhere. You even see them popping up in between cracks in the sidewalk. They are hardy and resilient. They can withstand the harshest conditions. The orchid, on the other hand, is fragile and needs just the right …
Mobile technology has broad utility in contemporary classrooms. Teachers and administrators might find smartphones to be complicated nuisances at times. Despite this, the worth of smartphones as instructional tools can’t be denied. One particularly useful application of smartphones is in …
Most middle school and high school literature courses include some introduction to world mythology. It continues to be part of curricula for good reasons. The archetypes found in literature from cultures around the world have their roots in the mythologies …
School music programs can include more than instrumental instruction or theory lessons. To expand a program’s utility, teachers can include experiences with music production. Twenty years ago, doing this was impractical. Today, consumer-level music production tools are inexpensive and don’t …
“Active learning” has been a hot phrase in education for the past few decades: inclusion, collaboration, class participation, roundtable discussion, class games, and project-based learning, among other methods, continue to be trendy in high schools everywhere. As a high school …
A few years ago, I created a demonstration lesson to use during interviews for teaching positions. Although I had intended it only as a demonstration lesson, I ended up liking it enough to try it with students. After getting some …
Budget cuts might be the most disheartening situation a school community has to face. Cuts have become ubiquitous in public schools, even in communities unaccustomed to compromising according to financial constraints. With cuts come casualties. Unfortunately, music programs frequently become fodder for …
What is intrinsic motivation? Intrinsic motivation is the internal desire to want to learn something or want the outcome. In order for a student to be intrinsically motivated, they need to be interested in the subject and engaged in the learning …