MUE 6080 Module 5: SES of School and Community

The median home price in my school district’s community is $158,000. That is roughly $80,000 lower than its neighboring communities. The areas is comprised of mostly single family homes, but also contains several apartment and townhouse style complexes. The average monthly rent in the area is $1,194. The school district enrolls 1,012 students grades kindergarten through 12^th grade. There is one elementary building, one middle school building, and one high school building all on the same campus. The most recent data shows a free and reduced lunch rate of 47.3%. The demographic breakdown for the school is 62% white, 23% black, 5% multi race, 5% Hispanic, and 5% Asian. Some of the enrolled students do not reside in the community, but rather attend the school through the Voluntary Inter-district Choice Corporation or VICC. The demographic breakdown for the community is 83% white, 6% Asian, 4% black, 4% Hispanic, and 3% multi race.

In my almost three years working in the community I have noticed a wide variety of characteristics among the area families. Most of the families I have gotten to know are dual income families, in which both parents work, on single income families in which there is only one supporting parent. Most are working in blue collar jobs while some have careers related to higher education. In terms of the band program, I have to consider the expense of the instruments when trying to recruit for band. Some families find great value in music education and have the means to provide an instrument for their child, some value music education but expect a school instrument to be provided at no charge, and some do not value music education but will encourage their child to participate if there is no charge related. It is an interesting mix and each situation requires its own specialized approach to getting that child involved in band.

There are also some considerations when selecting music and determining the teaching approach. Due to scheduling conflicts with local churches, Wednesday night performances are discouraged. At our “Winter” concert we perform several “Christmas” or “holiday” pieces as well as selections that represent a variety of beliefs. Additionally, we perform traditional carols near Christmas in order to raise money for a local charity that provided presents to families in need. 

MUE 6080 Module 5: Music as Social

A recent social (music) situation occurred with my high school band students. They were performing a pep song (“Royals”) at the homecoming pep assembly and the entire crowd joined in, sang the lyrics, and even clapped some of the rhythmic lines. Administration views the purpose of this performance as having music that will get the crowd excited, however, I additionally view it as a recruiting opportunity since the entire district (K-12) attends. The piece was very short and mostly fit the popular music mold, although the tempo was slower than most pop songs. The band also marches to create several pictures on the gym floor while performing at this assembly since marching band is still relatively new for the school and we want to get the word out that it exists. I think it is fair to say that this performance is not intended for careful listening given the loud nature of the venue.

The 20 high school band students who performed wore casual pants, their band shirts, and the marching uniform hats with a Burger King crown attached to go along with the homecoming theme of “A Night with King Midas.” I encouraged the drumline to interact with the elementary students (who were sitting in the front row). They used a section of the song with stick clicks on beats 2 and 4 to get the kids clapping with them. The students memorized their music and the only amplified instrument was the bass guitar. There were about 1000 staff and students (grades kindergarten through 12^th) in the audience and I believe that some of them really did listen to the song in the sense that they had to pay close attention to ensure that they matched pitch when they sang. With that being said, several audience members took the opposite approach and used the time to converse with their neighbors. Audience members did not purchase a ticket and were not allowed to have food or drink, nor did they have a printed program. They did however applaud after the performance! 

Module 4 Reflection Post: The Landfill Orchestra

The video of the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra has several interesting components. The young girl who describe feeling butterflies while listening to a violin also stated “it’s (music) a feeling that I don’t know how to explain.” I think that is exactly why the people of Cateura began creating the instruments and organizing an ensemble. They realize that music makes them feel in a way not possible through anything else. Although there are not funds to purchase new violins (that are valued higher than a house), they citizens recognize the need for music in their society in order to “live” instead of “exist.” Additionally it should be noted that they ensemble played songs from the “past.” The small town in Paraguay that is built upon a landfill has a 40% school dropout rate, but yet they seem to be stretching to reach all four components of the role of music education (minimum competencies, cohesive society, learning from the past, and a richer life). I think it is especially incredible given that this town does not likely have the funds or technology to enjoy music through listening to replicated music. The statement “my life without music would be worthless” could be viewed as youthful exaggeration however it appears that this individual is existing with barely having basic needs met and therefore the removal of music from her life may very well make it feel worthless to her. 

Module 4 Reflection Post: Informing People about Music Education

There are many ways that I can make the value of music education better known in my community. This is my third year in the position of sole band director for grades 5^th through 12^th in a small suburb of St. Louis. Although the school district is small, the band program is very small and the high school enrollment is currently only 7% of the total school enrollment. While that is slightly increased since I was hired, there is still a long way to go. The current beginning band class (6^th grade) is at 33% enrollment. Below I will detail a few of the strategies that helped get so many 6^th grade students involved as well as ideas for strategies that I could implement to further demonstrate the importance of school music programs to the community. It’s worth noting that the biggest struggle the band program faces in my district is the ability to get students involved initially. All middle school students (6^th, 7^th, and 8^th) are allowed one “elective” section. Meaning that students who choose to take band throughout middle school do not get to experience any other classes outside of the cores (math, science, reading, English Language Arts, and social studies).  For the students that do stick with band (or choir) throughout middle school they face a tough decision in high school as they are encouraged to take honors courses that conflict with band and choir.

Recruiting efforts – It became very clear to me after the first year that if I didn’t start students in beginning band that I was likely never going to have them in the band program. I met with the elementary principal and we devised a plan to have “5^th grade instrumental music” as part of their specials rotation. I see all of the 5^th graders once a week and we explore the instrument families. I have gotten better at teaching this class and last year was able to incorporate many 5^th graders into the spring band concert. This was a great opportunity for me to speak to the 5^th grade parents about the important of music, for them to see what the high school band had to offer, and also allowed me to send them home with valuable information about the importance of music. Part of the materials I supplied included a website that I built specifically for recruiting. I must admit that I use the “academic card” as a reason to join the band program on these materials. I am not proud of this because I believe that music should stand alone and should not be defended based on what it does for other content areas; however at this point in the building process I am going to continue to include the academic benefits in the materials I supply to parents.

Join VP Band website 

Marching band as a face in the community - Another strategy that I used to show the community the importance of music was the reestablishment of the marching band program. Marching uniforms were purchased nearly 20 years prior to my hiring, but they were barely used. I wanted the high school band to have a face in the community, even if that was just playing a pep tune in the local parade. The events that we play have grown from the community parades to community luncheons and other events at City Hall. Many people have approached me with comments such as “I didn’t even know VPHS had a band.” Through the process of reestablishing the marching band I’ve (unsuccessfully) applied for grants and some of the materials that I have put together for the applications have been displayed at school board meetings. Video for grant 

Proposal for schedule changes – While working towards convening the school board and community that band is important, I have also had many meetings with administrators and other “elective” teachers to work towards a better schedule that would allow more course opportunities for our students. I have presented the data to show how we are the only school district in our county that limits our middle school students to one elective, but have been unable to convince the middle school administration that our students deserve more choices. I plan to continue to have meetings. Link to data presentation

Fun band activities – Over the last few years I have worked to take the high school band to contest as well as on larger performance and festival trips. Also, with the addition of the marching program we now go to marching competitions at held on college campuses and perform at the football games. Lastly, I created an after school jazz program that will compete for the first time this year. The addition of opportunities to perform has definitely increased student quantity as well as quality. The program is beginning to feel more like a typical band program.

Convincing the school community and residential community that band is valuable has been a struggle so far, but I feel that we are gaining traction and I will continue to work towards a valued band program. Several other strategies that I plan to implement include alumni band events in which former students come back and play with the current band, a mentor program were upperclassmen encourage younger band students to excel in the band program, and (hopefully) a successful attempt to starting a band boosters organization. I believe if we have a program that feels welcoming with a “family” feel to it, then we will grow and the more we grow the more voices we will have supporting us in the community.

MUE 6080 Module 3: Teaching Aesthetic Qualities in 6th Grade Band

To teach the aesthetic value of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 Second Movement to a 6th grade band class I would first have the students listen to the piece and write down any thoughts or observations they noticed without any guidance from me. I think it is hard to develop the ability to “listen” instead of simply “hearing” and giving the students an opportunity to notice aesthetic qualities before a teacher directs them in their listening experience may prove to be valuable. 

Next, I will provide the notation of opening oboe solo and note the following qualities:

• The duplicated notes with differing articulations (staccato and slurred) in measures two and four. 
• The ritardando at the end of the first phrase, concluding on beat one in measure nine. (And all other phrase endings in the introduction section). 
• *My intention is to provide several recognizable characteristics of the opening oboe solo so that the students would be able to recognize its exact duplication played by the cellos beginning in measure ten. 
• The entrance of the soft and subtle counter melody in the flutes in measure 32. 
• The change from flowing eight notes to solid and strong quarter notes played by most of the ensemble beginning at the A section. 
• The upward movement of the quarter notes and use of crescendo beginning in measures 54, 56, 58, and 60. Also, the upward movement in the strings with faster notes (8th and 16th) in the opposite measures (55, 57, 59, and 61). 
• Finally, the descending melodic movement to close the A section beginning in measure 70 with fast moving (16th note) lines in the strings and longer (quarter note) lines in the rest of the ensemble. 

MUE 6080 Module 3: Reasons to Advocate Music Education

Non-musical benefits of a proper music education:
1. Increased student academic performance in other content areas. Music For All, a nonprofit organization designed to promote music advocacy, states that “The College Entrance Examination Board found that students involved in public school music programs scored 107 points higher on the SAT's than students with no participation.”  Link here. 

2. Increased self-worth and confidence. Some studies claim that participation in the arts will increase students’ self-worth. Link to PBS article on this topic here. 

As someone who grew up in a home environment of “existing” rather than “living”, I agree that participation in school art programs increase self-worth. As a young band student I did not find the aesthetic value of music very often, but I quickly correlated musical successes with a much needed increase of self-esteem.  

3. Increased problem solving and reasoning skills. On NAFME’s “20 Important Benefits of Music in Our Schools” list, number one details the correlation between music and the development of the areas of the brain related to reasoning. Link here.

4. Increased language development. PBS.org has a long list of the benefits of a music education, including music’s ability to help young learners decode sounds and words. Link here. 

Why we should not base the value of music education on non-musical benefits:

1. In regards to number one above, while reading the many articles and studies that support music education’s relationship with increased academic success it is important to consider the opposite order and that high achieving students might be more likely to choose to participate in school music programs.  

2. Additionally, justifying music education’s existence on the outcomes of other content areas is just that; existing. The true value of music is in its ability to allow humans to “live” rather than “exist” and so  it is not beneficial to promote music education based on the effect it has on students’ ability to understand math and science. This justification is exactly why I lose many high school band students to honors biology every year.

3. While school music programs may offer students opportunities to grow as leaders or increase life skills such as responsibility and teamwork, many other school programs can do that too. Sports, academic clubs, and student organizations (student council) can be argued to offer the same array of skills and they are not incorporated into the school day as a class.   

4. Lastly, justify music education for any other reason other than studying music for the sake of knowing and experiencing music is harmful to the cause. If we defended music education for its beauty and expressiveness than perhaps music educators could focus their efforts more in that direction rather than finding ways to use music to support common core (or whatever new educational fade is being used).

Ultimately I feel it is important that we get away from linking music education to other content areas within schools. Bands, orchestras, and choirs are nothing like other content areas and I think that is a good thing. What music education can offer cannot be replicated in other classroom and I think we should celebrate that. While taking a break from this assignment I was scrolling social media and came across this “suggested” advertisement. 

Clearly, facebook does not know me very well. If they did they would have “suggested” something more like this:

MUE 6080 Module 3: Characteristics of an Aesthetic Experience with Music

I recently had an aesthetic experience with music while instructing 7^th & 8^th grade band through a new piece of music. This occurred at approximately 2:00 pm in the band room on Wednesday January 13^th, 2016. This experience differed from other times we have read a new music because it seemed as though the students had made their own connection to the music (and consequently played the staccato – staccato – accent reoccurring articulation properly) very quickly and with no guidance from me.

• ·         This experience was practical in the sense that the students had made a connection to the meaning of the music. In my role as their teacher I assumed some value of practicality in the experience, but for me as an individual the occurrence had no practicality.
• ·         The experience made me feel content and satisfied. Almost as though we could have packed up the instruments and been finished with class early!
• ·         At the time I felt that we had turned a new page as an ensemble and had gained a new level of maturity in playing that could be transferred to the next time we read down a new piece. Afterwards, several days later, I discovered that assumption was not true. The connection and consequent deep understanding of the described piece did not happen on the next song we read.
• ·         During the experience I did not focus on anything. After the playing stopped I remember thinking to myself “did I conduct the whole time?”  
• ·         During this experience, and other times I have had an aesthetic musical experience, I felt as though all emotions were delayed. Instead of feeling something during the process, I feel them stronger after the music stops. It is almost an “out of body” experience for me in these situations whereas in ordinary living I feel everything immediately and for exactly what it is.