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DavidMoul

MUS495
4/1/15

LessonAnalysis,part2

Bytheendofthislesson,studentswereexpectedtohaveverballyanalyzedseveral
recordingsofAfricanmusiconYouTube,aswellascreateashortsongbasedonthe
elementsofAfricanmusic,insmallgroups.ThestudentsinthehourIchoseformyproject
aretheleastmotivatedofallthechoirsIseeeveryday,soIwasabitapprehensiveabout
doingthisprojectwiththem,butitwasgoodthatIdidbecauseIgottowitnessthembeing
excitedoverlearningandgainaknowledgeofsomethingpreviouslyunfamiliar.Twothingsin
thislessonpointedtostudentlearning.Forstarters,atthebeginningofclasswespentagood
chunkoftimelookingattheelementsofAfricanmusic.Typically,thesestudentsarevery
quietandhaveadifficulttimespeakingupandgivinganswers.Duringthislesson,however,
theywereveryinvolvedinthevideoclip,studentscanbeheardprovidingtheeightelements
frommemory,aswellasidentifyingtheseelements,specifically,inthecontextofavarietyof
recordingsonYouTube.
BecausewehadlesstimeonthefirstdaythanIanticipated,Idecidedtomovemore
videoanalysistotheseconddayforthestudentstobecomemorefluentinidentifyingthe
elementsbeforetheywereaskedtoduplicatethemforthemselves.Wespenttwentyminutes
lookingatmusicfromtheBaka,Mande,andEwetribes,aswellasavarietyofgenresfrom
theAfricandiaspora.TheotherchangethatImadetotheday'slessonplanwastotakeout
theelementwherethestudentsrecordedthemselvesontheirphonesandsubmitteditvia
email.Duringmostclasses,wehavetospendagoodamountoftimeaskingtheseparticular
studentstoputawaytheirphonesandfocusonclass,somyintentionwastoinvolve
technologyintheclassroominanorganicway,sotheydidn'tfeelliketheywerebeing
punishedbutwerealsobeingaskedtousetechnologyinaspecificwaythatwould
discouragethemfromusingitinadistractingmanner.Intheselessons,however,itwasnot
anissueatallstudentswereengagedintheprocessandgenerallyinvolvedtothepointof
losinginterestintheirphoneforanhour.Iconsideredthisahugesuccess.Becauseofthis
andthefactthatIwasalreadygoingtobefilmingtheirsongswhentheyperformedthem,I
decidednottoencouragethemtotakeouttheirphones.
Monitoringstudentlearningwasfairlyeasyinthislessonbecauseofthewaythe
classroomwassetup:Iarrangedthechairsintoasemicircle,sothateverystudentcouldbe
seenandwasunabletohidebehindotherstudents.Thisalsoallowedthemtoseethescreen
moreeasily,andhelpedmebeabletocallonmorestudentsforverbalresponses.Also,as
mentionedabove,Iusedaworksheetaswell.Thisworksheetservedtwopurposes:togive
thestudentsguidepoststomarktheirsongwritingpathandalsoservedasavisualformeto
quicklyassesstheirprogressasIcirculatedbetweengroups.Basedonthesectiononwhich
theywereworking,Iknewwhichquestionstoaskofthemtobestgetthemthinkingtowards
thenextguidepost.Eventhoughmostgroupsdidnotturninasheetthatwascompletelyfilled

outstepbystep,eachgroupdidturninasheetthatreflectedtheideastheyused.I
anticipatedthatmostofthestudentsinanonauditionedchoirwouldbeunabletonotatetheir
songincompletion,butIwantedsomethingtangibleforthem,onwhichtheycouldoffload
information.Africanmusicislearnedaurally,sincemostAfricanculturesareoraltraditions.
Thisaspectofthelessonwasabitinauthentic,butIfeltthatitwasanecessarycomponentto
monitortheirlearning.
Duringthenextlesson,weneedtospendsometimeatthebeginningworkingoutthe
kinksinthesongsbeforethestudentsperformthem.Iwouldliketohavetheattendancetaker
doitasweworksothatwecangainanextrafewminutesandIwouldalsoliketomovethe
reflectionformbeforethediscussion,whichisabitdifferentthanthelessonplan,simply
becauseIwanttheformstoreflectthestudents'personalexperienceswiththeproject,not
justforthemtocopyanideavoicedinthediscussionastheirown.

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