Reflection on the First Semester or "What was it you wanted me to do?"

The semester is nearing an end already, and I have begun my bi-yearly reflections on how things actually transpired in my classes versus what I planned to have transpire.  Sometimes, I am able to see how the design allowed for rich learning transfers to take place, and others, well, not so much!  At any rate, I like to take some notes on the things I want to change, tweak, add or simply drop and never, ever try again!

One of the hardest things to judge is how much I bring to the table and how much my students bring and how to entice them to bring more.  I felt many times during the semester that I cared much more than they did, and worried about them much more than they did!  Part of that is my age, knowing what they need now to be most successful in the future.  And part of it is an overgrown sense of responsibility and perfectionism I carry with me about teaching...if only I taught them better, they would learn it...another myth I need to give up on.

I have a wide variety of age levels, but seems I may have more sophomores than any other level across the courses I teach.  Seems the last few years, I have had more of the upperclassmen than that and there is a difference between freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors!  There is a difference between music education majors and education majors actually.  Not good or bad, just different. And that has had me trying to figure out if any of those differences have affected some of what I am seeing in my classes.

The truth is, I am disappointed that there isn't a sense of curiosity or wonder in so many of them.  That they don't want to take an assignment and run with enthusiasm toward an area that they enjoy, but rather do the minimum and then feign misunderstanding.  "But I thought this was right."  Or "I thought this was what you said you wanted."  And I always respond, "Is this your best work? Is this what you wanted to share with me that you have learned?"

I have office hours, I answer my emails immediately, I write out samples, post student samples, write out instructions, post instructions, explain instructions...but no matter what I do, they seem completely befuddled by more than one instruction.  Forget a complex assignment, even if we build up to it.  They don't want to have to sit down and think something through that takes more than an evening of work.  And forget following a calendar! Just have an assignment due and actually get it done on time? Nope, not going to happen.  They just hope you forget about it.  Now, this isn't true for all of them, but for many it is, sadly, the case.

I changed tactics in one class and told them that the minimum of what I wanted for our final project would be a C.  If they wanted an A, they had to work for it, digging in, and really showing me what they had learned in the course.  I wonder if it is because I run a project-based classroom, and that hasn't been the norm for them ever.  I don't give them tests with right or wrong answers - we are actively 'musicking' or asking questions with a plethora of possible responses that might ask them to think below the surface response.  Though I still get the surface responses, and then I keep asking more questions.  Anyway, that seemed to gain a bit more attention..."wait, so how do I figure out how to get an A?"  And to that I responded, "How might you be able to show me what you have learned in the class?"...and we went on from there.  I hope and pray that brings out more in them.  That remains to be seen.

So I need to change my tactics a bit.  Perhaps have more 'check-points' where they have to meet higher standards than they have of themselves.  I don't think many have standards for themselves at all.  They simply haven't thought about it that way - after all, they pay for the class, I am responsible to teach them what they need to know!  So maybe a few shocker activities at the beginning of the semester to make them realize they will be responsible for the acquisition of the knowledge we will be constructing together in the course. Perhaps more opportunities to transfer what they are learning in other classes to what we are learning together.

I have had some really wonderful moments in the semester...when my students finally seemed to really understand transposition and how to use it in score study and rehearsal...when we were studying masterworks and they discovered something in the score they hadn't noticed before...when the delight of making music made my elementary education students forget they were not (as they tell me often) 'musicians'...when they stop by to share that they really enjoyed a class discussion or topic that day...those keep me working hard.

Next semester brings a different set of courses, and different challenges.  I know I have learned much about working with the youngest of the college set, and will enjoy finding new ways to connect the material I want to share with them in more meaningful ways.  I just hope I haven't scarred the ones I experimented on this semester! Or maybe I should ask my evaluators..."What was it you wanted me to do??"