teachers demonstrate pedagogical expertise in the content they teach.
Element A:
Teachers provide instruction that is aligned with the Colorado Academic Standards, their District’s organized plan of instruction, and the individual needs of their students.
Artifact (EPES): Lesson Plan with Associated Standards
Effective teachers not only meet Colorado Academic Standards and their district’s plan of instruction, but regularly demonstrate how their teaching aligns with these measures. In this lesson plan, rather than outlining standards and objectives at the beginning of my lesson, I chose to include them for each activity. This more clearly demonstrates how each activity meets different standards and objectives, especially in music lessons that contain multiple activities. For purposes of advocacy for music education, this practice helps non-musician administrators and other teachers understand pedagogical practices in music and how they are related to academic learning objectives.
Element B:
Teachers develop and implement lessons that connect to a variety of content areas/disciplines and emphasize literacy and mathematical practices
Artifact (EPES): Instructional materials aiding in left-to-right visual tracking
Students in early grades (such as the First Grade students in this photo), often need help tracking from left to right. This activity connected the number of syllables in each word of the folk song “Lucy Locket” to quarter and eighth note rhythms. First, students identified the number of syllables in each word, and then they practiced tracking from left to right by pointing to each note and word along with me. Thus, practice in English literacy skills was integrated with developing music literacy.
Element C:
Teachers demonstrate knowledge of the content, central concepts, inquiry, appropriate evidence-based instructional practices, and specialized characteristics of the disciplines being taught.
Artifact (RMHS): Modeling on my Primary Instrument
Music teachers must constantly model their own musicianship as a primary means of teaching concepts. This demonstrates knowledge of the content and is an evidence-based practice: students learn more effectively from frequent modeling than from explaining musical concepts and sounds. In the photo above, I model lip slur studies for the students, who play them back, attempting to replicate the sound and smoothness of air. Air flow and sound continuity are central concepts of wind playing, but are very difficult to explain. Modeling creates the opportunity for students to experience an exemplar of these concepts and attempt to match with their own playing. This also provides opportunities for inquiry: I often ask students to identify the differences and nuances between two models. Musical modeling is a specialized characteristic of music teaching: music cannot be taught authentically through explanation. As such, a great music teacher must be a professional musician who models frequently and effectively on their instrument and voice.