Post #4

Based on my readings and class discussion from Tuesday, I think there are many different factors in creating an environment conducive to learning. First of all, from my personal experience from one of the group activities on Tuesday, I learned about classroom arrangement and setup. First, I think that it is important to have a more home-y feel to the classroom, or at least a visually engaging and interesting classroom. If the classroom is white and boring, it could make the students feel like they are in a prison, and that is speaking from personal experience. Another aspect of a classroom conducive to learning is safety. Students should feel safe to participate in class. They shouldn't feel nervous or scared of what their classmates might say about them or what they believe. Another aspect of safety involves physical safety. Bullying and aggression are very prominent in today's public education system. Cyber bullying is also becoming popular due to the increased use of technology. Fights, bullying, and aggression should not be tolerated in the classroom as they provide distractions from learning. Other aspects that are conducive to learning transitions and making every minute count.

I can use these topics that were covered to create my own classroom that is conducive to learning. First, I would make sure to have posters, flyers and hopefully trophies on my band walls. In my last high school, we had a couch in my band room and it helped create community when we would all hang out in the band room for lunch or after school. I think this could go well depending on the kids in my school. As far as bullying goes, I want to squash negative comments directed at others or themselves. I also think that using section leaders in my band to watch out for the freshman or other students in the section could help. It gives section leaders pride and helps establish that community where everyone is comfortable with each other.

For my case study, which is the middle school case study about Cherie, there are a lot of things that I could do. First of all, since my class would be a band class, things would be a little different but she would still be a disruption. I think the most important thing I could do was to enforce my rules consistently and equitably to help discipline her. The Social Psychology of the Classroom, (Babad et al., 2003) talks about not ignoring the failures of human nature although it may be natural. I think that although Cherie may be needing attention and is acting out in class, it would be good classroom management to discipline her and show her the appropriate times to be funny. It is also important to enforce the rules consistently so the students will not have motivation to continue their misbehavior. Enforcing rules to other students also helps establish your credibility as a teacher. This is an important rule in creating a classroom conducive to learning.

Post #3

I think motivation is a very interesting topic because it applies to everyone and is different for every person. Personally, I think a mixture of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are most helpful for me. I tend to pay attention to topics that I think are interesting but I am also way more likely to learn something with some extrinsic motivators, such as rewards. If I have a personal interest in a topic, I don't necessarily need extrinsic motivators. On the other hand, if I do not like a topic and do not have any personal interest, extrinsic motivators are absolutely necessary to get my attention.

Because rewards continuous rewards or other extrinsic motivators cannot always be offered, it is important to know how to keep the students interested so they continue to learn. This can be accomplished through enhancing students' sense of self determination. That way they have intrinsic motivation instead of constantly needing extrinsic motivators. There are multiple ways to enhance the students' self determination in a band classroom:

-Providing opportunities for independent work and decision making: This can be accomplished through solo pieces for individual students.

-Presenting rules and instructions in an informational rather than controlling manner: This is conveyed through tone of voice and word choice.

-Giving students opportunities to make choices: I could ask them what pieces they like to play better? Or they can make musical choices in their solo pieces.

-Evaluating students in a non-controlling way: These evaluations can affect students' intrinsic motivation and this would be present in playing tests.

-Being selective about when and how you use extrinsic motivators: In elementary band, a student might get a small piece of candy for being able to play 1 or 2 major scales.

In my future classroom, it will be important for me to know how to enhance my students' self determination. I want them to succeed but some of that success is based upon how much they practice. I need to know what motivates them so they want to practice on their own, instead of needing a reward for every single aspect of the class. I will have to make band fun for them but also something they will learn from, work at, and want to succeed at.

Lastly, this is unrelated to the topic above, but this struck me in class today and I didn't have time to write it on my ticket out the door. Sara Beth and Karen brought up self-handicaping. I never realized how prevalent this is in our own society. I am even guilty. I think that so many people care what others think about them, even if they claim not to. I think fear of failure and the need for relatedness intermix. For example, if I have a conducting practicum that I worked really hard for, I still might be scared of failing. Then I say things that undermine my hard work just in case I fail. If I fail, I wouldn't want to be considered a failure by others, especially if I worked hard. I would much rather say "I am going to fail" to begin with so I don't have others judge me as harshly.
I'm not sure if that made complete sense, but I think this is a very common problem in today's culture.

POST 2

Informal Assessment: Verbal questions in class to see if the students understand the material at that moment, such as the length of a certain note.
Formal Assessment: An exam that is planned in advance and used to determine if the students understand the material from a unit, such as music theory.

Traditional assessment: Having a student play a section music that is only in that music and is not related to any real world tasks or other music
Authentic: Testing the student to see if they can hear/identify a major scale. This can be authentic because major scales are used in all kinds of music around the world, such as pop music.

Criterion-referenced assessment: In band world, this could be a playing test over a scale or part of music because this is basic testing style in music because playing is the most important part of band-if you can't play your instrument, you can't succeed.
Norm-referenced assessment: Standardized tests because it shows percentiles and compares scores to other students who took the test

Standardized Test: WASL the Washington State standardized test, because it is required for graduation. (There is not to my knowledge a widespread band/music standardized test).
Teacher-developed assessment: I could write a small excerpt of music including certain difficulties and assess each student based upon their own knowledge and practice with no outside help or recordings. This way I can monitor each student personally because their is no other interpretation of the music out in the world for them to copy.

Paper-pencil assessment: An exam over the historical and theoretical aspects of the music we are playing for a certain concert.
Performance assessment: A playing test can assess how they perform their instrument and how prepared and practiced they are. 

I tried to relate everything to music since I want to be a band director! I had some difficulty relating some of these assessments to music, but I did my best.