Matthew Schulte

MUSE 356 Choral Methods 1

Source:
Taking Advantage of Learning Styles in the Choral Rehearsal. Choral Journal.
Don P. Ester.
1994
Discussion:
The reading log this week was about different teaching styles to help students learn
material better. I had heard of most of these strategies or at least had experienced them in the
past, but I never put a name to the exercises. It is definitely important to use multiple teaching
strategies to allow students of all kinds to learn the material better. Personally, I am a
combination of all three categories (visualization, audiation, and locomotion), but I am not sure
which one I learn best with. Even if a student learns best in one way, it is still important to teach
in multiple ways not just for other students, but to reinforce the information being taught in
another way. I have improved my teaching methods since attending Ball State. In the first couple
peer teachings and before that, I would rely too much on speaking the instructions instead of
showing them in one of three ways. I would go on to explain what I wanted from my students
without showing it in some way. I am proud to say that I have gotten better at using
visualization, audiation, and locomotion in my teachings. The one aspect I can improve on is
incorporating more of each into my teachings to allow for any student to learn the material well.
I have experienced a lot of different methods in the choirs and classes I have been a part of, and I
am confident I can apply them to my lesson plans.