Final Presentatin: Math and Music

My final presentation is on math and music and can be seen at http://youtu.be/hz-JgUR-520

Final Presentation

For my final presentation I am going to recored myself and hopefully one of the kids I nanny. I plan to do a lesson about teaching multiplication facts and using a song to help remember them to incorporate music.

Teacher Pay....Should it be based on performance?

I personally don't think teachers pay should be based on students performance. Students learn at different times and levels. As teachers, it is our job to want to help our students learn and get a solid education. That should be our incentive, not money. When teachers are paid based off student performance, I feel they loose sight of the actual teaching. Many times, they keep the same lesson plan and teaching style. These get old and never actually help the student. Whereas a teacher who tries new things with her students. To me, an effective teacher is one who goes out of her way to help her students. She spends time before and after school to get the lesson plans and make things ready for the students. Also, they are compassionate and supportive to their students. They are there to help them along in their journey.

Teachers Union and Tenure

In some cases I think reforms are needed. Older teachers do not have as strong of skills in curriculum, technology, or even discipline. These teachers are protected by tenure and are therefore not able to leave giving new teachers the chance. These new teachers are not given ample opportunity to find a job even if they are better than someone. Also, these new teachers have newer fresher ideas. They have more recent ways to implement curriculum as well as better ways to discipline.  I think that teachers should not be judged by time they have been teaching, but also by the depth and willingness to help students. Older teachers also do not vary their lesson plans and make new ones, they keep the same old ones over and over. It is because of this, that there needs to be a way to get younger, newer teachers in the mix.

Controversial Issus-Extra-Curricular Activities

I think extra-curricular activities are hard to balance, but with the right mind-set teachers and kids can do it.  I know form experience. I cam from a sports driven school and was sometimes frustrated with all of the school we would miss for sports, but not for music. I love being busy, so I found myself in almost every club and extra-curricular activity I could. Along with all of these activities, I was a waitress at Pizza Hut. That is definitely a lot on ones plate. I know elementary school students are not near as busy, but they still have their fair share of duties to participate in. I think elementary is where we can develop a students work ethic. In elementary we can teach them that work comes before play in an attempt to manage this in high school when extra-curricular activities and sports come into play. For instance in our school, we got out of school for every state game possible. Teachers made sure students knew that homework came first, and may have gave them a little more just because they were missing something. With all this stress on the importance of homework, elementary teachers need to also teach their students the importance of extra-curricular activities and being involved. I believe by doing this, it will teach everyone time management and the importance of being on a team and working with people. School is the most important, but so are extra-curricular activities an sports. We just need to find a good balance.

Introducing Instruments

Every child varies in their development, but generally rhythm sticks and finger symbols can be introduced in pre-school or kindergarten. With these instruments, children can create a steady beat and start learning music at an early age. The next instrument we can introduce to children is the kazoo. I would introduce this in 1st grade because it will help the kids know about pitch and how to maintain it. The recorder and xylophone I would wait to introduce till third or fourth grade. Children need to have great hand-eye coordination in order to do this. They need to be able to read music and play an instrument at the same time. I know I started playing the recorder in fourth grade and it was hard to play and read music at the same time.

Carl Orff

After researching Car Orff I found many interesting things out. He has some wonderful ides we could implement today. His method of teaching was the Orff Approach, and I can honestly say I think it will work. His method of teaching engages the child mind and body through singing, dancing, acting, and using percussion. He teaches students on a level they can comprehend, not something over their heads. He also designs his own lesson plans and adapts it as he sees fit for each individual child. There are certain Orff instruments that are used such as: xylophones, metallophones, glockenspiels, castanets, bells, maracas, triangles, cymbals, tambourines, timpani, bongs, gongs, steel drums, and conga drums. There are also many others. His way of teaching inspired many people and could easily be put in place to help 21st century children today. Children today are used to being in control and getting what they want. By playing music and expressing themselves I believe they will learn so much more. Also, children today are used to being independent. I believe this will help them assert their independence while learning to play and work with others at the same time. I believe kids today also have a creative side if we give them the chance. By using this method I think we can develop that, because the Orff Approach uses tons of creativity.