A Fairfax Band Director Encourages Her Students to Take Ownership of their 学习
2023年12月13日
2023年12月13日
凯瑟琳·雅各比著
A favorite video clip I show my students depicts people stuck on an escalator. 当机制突然出现时, 震动停止, the people riding the escalator begin shouting for rescue and lamenting, “在救援到来之前，什么也做不了!” 这 metaphor comically applies to our mission of empowering young people to take ownership of their learning. That ownership can only be achieved if students can think critically beyond “the 正确的答案.”
每位教师都意识到疫情以来学生的学习差距. 尽管许多人将考试成绩作为证据, we 知道 children are so much more than multiple-choice assessments. 但是 他们 知道?
My high school band classroom is designed to build trust and help students look beyond the need to find a singular, 正确的答案. I’m teaching them how to not get stuck on an escalator waiting for help.
Educators recognize 那 we have a generation of learners who view the world through a test-taking lens, 被教导要寻找最佳的选择题答案. 虽然我们的职业在对抗这种心态方面取得了很大的进步, 疫情严重打击了学生的信心. Many of my students would have rather melted into an anonymous puddle than share an “incorrect” observation in an online class chat.
在我的乐队课上，学生面临的评估是在一个小组内进行的, 为素未谋面的评委现场表演. 他们还必须在家庭和社区面前表演无数次, 在足球赛上, 周末的比赛, 还有社区音乐会和游行. Issues of self-confidence and self-reflection are as important as the mechanics of playing their instruments, 因为没有他们, 整体的产物——它的性能受到影响.
我们的学生不是在真空中达到这种精神状态的. 当一个人所说的一切都可以被数字化地分享和存储, 没有截止日期, 生活在一个精心策划的图像世界里, 年轻人一直承受着追求社会完美的压力, 包括数字环境的内部和外部. 建立信任文化总是需要时间的, 但如果没有信任, students will not explore freely or speak without the constant worry of being “wrong.”
建立信任社区, 自我反思和自我评价, makes for a learning environment in which there are no multiple-choice answers.
不管一节课的目标是什么，也不管我们在弹什么曲子——热身, 优化练习, 文学——同样的过程也适用.
准备评估什么. A critical facet to group discussion is teaching students how to make critiques 那 aren’t personal to the player but specific to the product as a separate, 无生命的实体. (我个人的比喻是:无家可归者vs. 无家可归者.) I begin with one or two parameters to consider before listening critically. 我们头脑风暴我们可能使用的描述符. 而不是像“好”或“坏”这样充满价值的词语,我们用“clean”这样的词做了一个词库,”“准确,”“模糊,”“光明,和“一致”.”
创建产品. I teach my students 那 it’s easier to hear the accuracy of someone else’s playing than to hear it in their own. 这 is partially true—only listening is easier than listening while also trying to think about tone production, 技术, 演奏乐器. 但是, 真正的 我这么说的原因是为了消除犯错误的耻辱. 一种态度，"当然 你听不到需要修改的地方——你是演示人员!” encourages students to play without fear and accept corrections from their peers. Now it’s not personal; it’s just a fact of how things work. 没有失败, within a few weeks students are playing without self-consciousness and have also found the capacity to self-evaluate in front of the class.
When the entire group is performing, I record the audio so we can listen immediately. The same principles apply as for individual performance – no one needs to feel embarrassed because 当然 it’s easier to hear what needs fixing on the recording than when you were performing in 真正的 time.
The ensemble members will soon become strong self-evaluators and begin to fix themselves in 真正的 time…but I don’t 告诉 them 那 part yet!
评价. Dr. Tim Robblee of Shenandoah University codifies the evaluation process beautifully. The first words out of his mouth after the music stops are, “What did you hear?学生使用词汇表中的描述词. 下一个问题是，“我们需要改变它吗??” If the answer is no, the teacher moves onto the next part of the lesson. 如果答案是肯定的, 他问他们需要改变什么, 随后, 我们该如何做出改变呢. 清洗并重复.
My personal teaching goal is to go as long as possible without offering my own answers or suggestions, 尽管大家都知道我经常会扬起质疑的眉毛.
该产品. 最终, training students to both diagnose and problem-solve means 他们 absorb and apply content much faster than when 他们 were delayed waiting for teacher direction (and frankly, 通常对材料不太感兴趣). Active listening demands far more of their brain than passive listening.
跨学科的应用程序. These same principles apply to any classroom regardless of content area. Math and computer programming require constant error analysis and trying multiple approaches to solve the problem. Most scientific study occurs as part of a collective and requires regular revision of methodology after review. The peer-edit writing process succeeds when empathy and critical thinking skills are engaged. 在任何科目中, 我们的学生在学习过程中越积极参与, 他们对探究单一解越感兴趣.
Several summers ago, I was on staff with an American student honor band 那 toured Europe. 我们有一次一日游是去奥地利的冰川. There were three chair lifts to get to the top; the first went to the ski lodge, 第二个是工业式的中途停留站, and the last to six feet of snow and an unimpeded view of the Alpine chain. 几个小时后我们遇到了学生, a few teenagers told me how nonplussed 他们 were with the whole experience. 我惊呆了. 经过一番询问, I 真正的ized 那 none of these very musically accomplished students made it past the second stop. Not once did 他们 look up to see the signs directing them to the final lift, nor did 他们 wander around the corner and see the other passengers continuing on.
“但是你没有 告诉 我们该怎么做!他们抱怨道。. Teacher extraordinaire Don Magee recited what would become one of my favorite mantras: “Pay attention – it will change your life.“即使几天后我们到了巴黎, I had to coach those same students to look up at the city around them instead of waiting to blindly follow another group of tourists around. 但, 在旅行结束的时候, 他们 gleefully told me of a small chocolate store 他们 found on an Italian backstreet and how 他们 found a way to communicate with the owner.
作为教育者, 我们有能力帮助学生集中注意力, 建立社区, 既要信任，又要无所畏惧. 生活不是多项选择题. 生活不仅仅是我们精心策划的社交媒体角色. We must help our students discover and accept their authentic, imperfect selves. 和 那对我来说，就是完美.
凯瑟琳·雅各比, 费尔法克斯教育协会的成员, 是赫恩登高中的乐队指挥吗. She was named a finalist for the 2023 Washington Post Teacher of the Year Award.
