Ongoing Assessment- What do they really know?

      Student-Centered learning encompasses  being aware of what the student actually knows. We can’t assume that just because we taught it, the student has learned it.  Students need multiple explanations, repetition, and reminders. I often have a student say to me, "I played it perfectly at home". I usually smile and say, "It must be me." I know that real learning takes a long time to be stable and predictable.
 I discussed the process of learning with my brother recently. He is a professor of physics, who focuses his research on the human voice. He is currently writing a book for voice practitioners and he shared a chapter with me on motor-learning which I felt helped me in my piano teaching.

       "Motor learning is a process, inferred rather than directly observed, which leads to relatively permanent changes in the general capacity for motor performance, as a result of practice or exposure."

   New action patterns are not incremental and they do not accumulate some place in the head in an ordered way. They are dynamic, they fluctuate, but real, permanent learning means that various mental processes will occur consistently as a result of practice. Temporary performance shifts that may occur during lessons do not imply learning. Learning involves relatively stable changes and improvements in average performance over time. I had a student who has since moved away who would try to wing it at his lesson. As he played his piece for me I knew, and he knew I knew, that he had not practiced enough. "Wait," he would say, "Let me do that again and maybe this time I will be lucky."

   Improvement over a short period of time, such as during a lesson or a week long practice session, does not mean real motor learning is permanent. Distractions can impact learning. The best measure of how well something is learned is demonstrated by the first try with multiple distractions.

   Most studies hold to the principle that spaced practice tends to produce greater learning than massed practice. If a student is attentive and working on a problem he will be more productive if he works on it 10 minutes and then rests and comes back later in the day, than if he practices 60 minutes and does not go back for several days. The brain will work on the problem when the student is away from the piano. I felt a little discouraged when I read that because my student's lives are so full. Would they ever go back to practice on the same day?

   Verbal instructions from a teacher are not as effective as curiosity, from the student, to try different approaches and find the answer themselves. Attention to the experience the student is having is more effective than telling the student what to pay attention to. Asking questions such as "did that feel better" "was that easier", or "did it sound better" are more effective than "was your hand curved". Paying attention to the experience is better for processing than paying attention to the physical action.

    Watching others has been shown to be very motivational. Self goal-setting works better than having a goal assigned. Giving feedback while the student is playing interferes with his own processing of information. Waiting until after they are done, works better and asking them to evaluate their own playing first, helps them even more.

    Provide some variability in the lesson setting. Playing with different conditions enhances learning. I think we all know that when a student is practicing for a recital it is wise to practice in different situations; in front of family, on a different piano, or while someone is speaking. 

    Random practice, or playing pieces and exercises in a different order, is effective because it forces the learner to "reboot" and reconstruct his learning which he may not have to do if he has a rote practice agenda.

   Part-whole practice is effective for learning. Dividing a piece into sections and starting on a different section helps long term learning.

   These are just ideas researchers are working on. My brother is summarizing those that have had the most consistent results. He is hoping to help vocal coaches and vocologists who have students and clients who need to learn new motor skills having to do with their vocal mechanisms.

   I find these ideas most interesting and it explains many occurrences in my experience. One, for example, is the way note-reading seems to come and go, in a beginning student. They seem to be able to do it at our lesson, but then it falls apart at home. So, real learning did not take place at the lesson. The test of stability, getting it right on the first try, even with distractions, is the ultimate measuring tool.

Pattern Recognition

  Wouldn't it be great to take the Magic School Bus into our student's mind and view music on the page they way that they do? Would we see that the lines and spaces move around and merge? Would we be surprised to see that they do not even notice the crescendo sign and ritardando sign we pointed to? The complexities of notation keep some of my students playing vertically one note at a time. I have a desire that they come to the point where they play horizontally, seeing, what Dr. Faber calls, "chunks" of notes. And so, one of the keys to student-centered teaching is Pattern Recognition.
  Pattern Recognition is seeing notes in larger and larger chunks. If seeing notes in groups is the desired outcome, why, I ask myself, am I drilling single notes? Why not do more sight-reading with groups of notes so that they become more easily recognizable in the pieces my student's play? This may seem obvious at first but as I analyze the emphasis I place on this endeavor I see I may be short-changing my students. I know I need to repeat and repeat and then assess if my students are actually seeing the chunks I am drilling.
  Dr. Faber made an interesting statement. Perception cannot be forced,  it must be invited. I have been pondering why that is so. I think one reason is because music is symbolic language and symbols have many layers to be explored. I could place flashcards in front of my students but  that does not guarantee that they see the relationship to these notes. I can talk to them and play it for them but really I need to invite them to be curious about how these symbols interrelate. As the student begins to explore these symbols I, as teacher, could invite them to see variations which keep the basic foundation but introduce a new element which changes their meanings. 

For example a 5 finger scale as a chunk, shows how notes step, like a ladder

 Add a bar line and introduce beats and rests, which makes the time signature become important. 

  Change the value of notes and see how the measure must extend. Behind this simple notation, are layers of more meanings; half-steps and whole steps, ascending tones needing dynamic interpretation and on and on. These layers of meaning take a while to perceive but my teaching should invite curiosity to widen perceptions. That is what I am after this new year. One book I am adding to my list for my beginning student "Piano Adventures, Primer Level Sight-Reading Book". 

  I hope it assists me in being more aware of my student progress and perceptions.How do you facilitate note-reading in chunks?

Practicing Incentive This Fall

Layers-

 Just like an onion has different layers of skin so a piece of music has different layers of elements to learn and perfect. This fall my students are going to practice with the intent of adding more layers to their musical artistry.

    Although tracking practice time is not an end in and of itself, I am going to keep the incentive to record the minutes we practice which we started this summer, every 100 minutes earns a chance to glue a shape, design. or sticker to a piece of posterboard. The poster will become a collage of shapes and colors; a work of art representing the layers of musicality we add as we learn a piece of music. At the fall recital we will display our project and hopefully our music will show what we have learned..
  The purpose of this incentive is to:
    1- Make student and parent aware of the length of their child's practice time
    2- To use assignment books routinely for reviewing assignments and recording practice times
    3.- To participate in a studio wide experience
Incentives to practice work for me if they take less than a minute to record and if they are inexpensive.

We will start with the first 100 minutes being shapes and basic colors. This layer is likened to playing correct notes and correct rhythm.

 As the minutes add up the shapes will be textured as dynamics add texture to the music.

Patterns on the paper will be like articulation. 

Shiny foil shapes will allow me to talk about phrasing and voicing.

Lastly, stickers will add personality as interpretation of the music is unique and individual.

I see it happening and I hope my students come on board and enjoy the art we create together.

Ice- Cream Group Lessons Coda

  The time for summer group lessons has past. 

I am very happy with the experiences we had and everyone loved the ice-cream. The ensemble piece was the most fun for my students. We started out by studying the short score and identifying the different staves of music. I am glad I kept the instrument parts simple and I will be able to increase the difficulty the next time.

It also worked very well to have everyone take a turn with the instruments. Playing the drums on the I-Pad Garage Band app was the coveted part.

The harder parts were the melody line and the accompaniment, harmony line. Even though the music was easy, the need to play on beat with the other instruments made everyone tentative.

I felt what a middle-school band teacher must feel as he brings beginning students together. 

The reward to see everyone engaged in a musical experience and enjoying each other was well worth the effort.

More Teaching Across the Disciplines

                                                                                           
I like to liken learning to play musically to peeling an onion. The first layer might be recognising notes; second rhythm; third dynamics; fourth articulation and on. I found a u-tube video of an artist I admire, who shows how he lays down layers of paint. I feel like we do the same thing when we learn a piece of music.

Engagement- Keeping the Student's Attention

       Dr. Randall Faber talks a lot about child-centered teaching. I have been thinking about what that means to me. I want to be centered on my student. I want to take my ques from the messages they are sending me. If I were not child-centered what would be at the center of my teaching? My lesson plan? My goals for what I want them to learn?

 A key to child-centered learning is engagement, according to Dr. Faber.
   "Are we operating on the student’s 90% attention capacity, or 6%?  Just like perception, attention can’t be forced.  It must be invited."
    What tools do we, as piano teachers have to invite attention?
    - Our open- hearted personality
    - Our own love of music
    - learning games
    - asking questions that invite curiosity
    - our ability to pace activities

 " When a student tries to contribute and direct learning, do we inwardly swat them away and stick to our lesson plan?  Harnessed attention is a gift, and yet we so often forego perfect opportunities for learning when the student shows interest."
    I know I have the teacher voice in my head saying, "We have to learn two new songs today. You are pulling me in the wrong direction."
    Last week I had double booked accidentally and I had two boys here together. One was in the second half of his hour lesson and we were about to work on the notation to his own composition. The other, who showed up, was a student who had been waning in interest. I went with my gut intuition and invited the older boy to teach the younger boy his song. I marveled how inspiring the teacher was and how attentive the learner had become. My agenda was not completed but something better happened.
   According to Dr. Faber, "One secret to engagement is the idea of curiosity.  Curiosity is a wonderfully useful state of mind!  It engages attention, and is a prerequisite to learning.  Not only should we let the student lead learning with curiosity, but the teacher must also model curiosity."
    "What if" are words which lead to interesting reasons to repeat a song or a phrase. My student's "What ifs" are always more adventuresome than mine. What if we play this phrase higher, or on the black keys, or backwards? I try to have three attention grabbers ready at every lesson because I know I will have to recapture their interest about every ten minutes.
   You may want to read Joy's notes on Dr. Faber's talk at NCKP 2011
   

Ice- Cream Group Lessons

   Today was the kick-off for my ice-cream group lessons. I will have four different lessons with 4-6 kids in each group. I ended up with only two girls, the other student had a conflict. These two girls were jazzed because they had earned so many scoops in my practicing incentive. The students earned one scoop of ice-cream for every 100 minutes they logged.

    Besides having ice-cream we did some note-reading. We made up some words using only the musical alphabet. You can find the work sheet here.

    And we learned a simple piece which I had written for 6 instruments. I like giving my students different musical experiences and this one was about reading a score and learning parts for both pitched instruments and percussion. I did not know how this would play out, pardon the pun, but it was just right for the time factor and for my students.You can find the music here.

   I will write about how it is with more students next week.