Even though most music classes do not use the most common types of literacy instruction (ex. reading, writing, teaching vocabulary), I have still learned a lot from this course. There are many strategies and ideas that I will incorporate into my future teaching.
Before this class when I heard the word literacy I would think of how well a student understands what they read. Now I know that literacy is much more than that. It is about helping students understand your content using a variety of instruction. This class helped me think about how I can incorporate different types of instruction into my classroom. Two types I would like to talk about are writing and digital literacy.
I did not think I would have many writing activities if I were teaching an instrumental music class. However, I have come to realize that writing can be an effective teaching tool in music. Activities like asking students to write concert reports or papers on composers will help them develop better English skills. It will also increase their higher order thinking skills by asking them to analyze and reflect on what music they hear. Asking students to compose music is another form of "writing" that can be used.
There were some very interesting digital resources I didn't know about before this class. One of them was Podcasting. I would use this resource to help monitor student's progress by asking them to record their practicing at home and send the recording to me so I could listen to them. Another way it could be used is for the teacher to record herself during class so the students can listen and practice what was taught it class at home.
One last thing I would like to mention is how very helpful it was to create lesson plans. This was the best way for us to take what we learned and apply it to our teaching. It required us to think very hard about how we would really use a certain teaching strategy. I feel like I have so many more ideas and understanding of how to teach literacy to students because of this class.
