band Continued from page 17
good alternatives are hard to come by. So how can we shift the focus from number of minutes played to skills mastery and next steps for musical growth? Once members of the 100-minutes-per-week, fill-out- chart-and-get-parent-signature club, the middle school directors in my district have recently begun experimenting with
The Keys to Success
some practice sheet alternatives. Adapted from one of Dr. Barden’s workshops, our fifth and sixth grade band members are still recording practice minutes but are also using tally marks to show how many times they have practiced each assigned exercise during the week. Meanwhile, seventh and eighth grade band members don’t need to record minutes, but instead must complete a self-evaluation prior to their lesson, rating themselves as Wow! – Got It – Almost – Not Yet for each as- signed exercise as well as providing a brief explanation of the troublesome aspects of the assignment if they don’t feel they will be able to demonstrate mastery.
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Attendance at Performances
So if participation and attendance are no longer graded, what happens when a student misses a performance? In a stan- dards-based system, the consequence for not doing the work… is doing the work. And while it is impossible to recreate the atmosphere and experience of performing in a formal band concert, there are still ways for a student to demonstrate mastery of performing skills. My school’s band manual explains that performance is an essential standard and concerts missed for any reason must be made up. The make- up assignment is the following: Together with at least one other person, prepare 20-30 minutes of music and arrange to perform somewhere in the community (nursing home, senior center, day care, youth group, your church, etc.). Videotape your performance and submit it to your director. While still not exactly the same as performing with a large ensemble, this concert make-up assignment is a viable alternative (as well as an effective way to discourage students from “skipping“ performances).
Our standards-based grading journey has been challenging but worthwhile. Every time a student talks to me about skill mastery and learning instead of grade points, I am reminded that we are headed
6522 Seybold Rd. Madison 18 608.271.2626 January 2017
in the right direction. As a band director, I believe it is my job to guide my students toward being independent musicians, stu- dents who can read, analyze and evaluate their own playing. Measuring student performance based on the standards in an important step toward that goal.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STANDARDS-BASED GRADING IN MUSIC
“Data-Driven PLCs in Instrumental Music.” Ankey
Schools.org/achsbands. Google Sites, 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.
https://sites.google.com/a/staff.
ankenyschools.org/achsbands/home.
Kimpton, Paul and Ann Kimpton. Grading for Musical Excellence: Making Music an Essential Part of Your Grades. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2012. Print.
Kimpton, Paul and Delwyn Harnisch. Scale Your Way to Music Assessment. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2008. Print.
References:
Barden, Wendy. “Standards-Based… Grading.” Web blog post. Fermata!. Segue Consulting Partners, 5 Jan. 2016. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.
http://seguecp.com/ blog/standards-based-grading/
Marzano, Robert J. and Tammy Heflebower. “Grades That Show What Students Know.” Effective Grading Practices Nov. 2011: 34-39. The University of Arizona. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.
http://math.arizona.edu/~vbohme/ Grades%20That%20Show%20 What%20Students%20Know.pdf
O’Connor, Ken. A Repair Kit for Grading: Fifteen Fixes for Broken Grades. Boston: Pearson. 2010. Print.
Stacy Juhl teaches beginning and middle school band in the Hortonville Area School District. Email:
stacyjuhl@hasd.org
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