K-12 Performing Arts

Task 2: Instruction Commentary

TASK 2: INSTRUCTION COMMENTARY

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 6 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the
brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Commentary pages exceeding the maximum will not be
scored. You may insert no more than 2 additional pages of supporting documentation at the end of this file. These pages
may include graphics, texts, or images that are not clearly visible in the video or a transcript for occasionally inaudible portions.
These pages do not count toward your page total.

1. Which lesson or lessons are shown in the video clips? Identify the lesson(s) by lesson plan
number.
[ Video Clip 1 is taken from Lesson 1, while Video Clip 2 is taken from Lesson 3. ]
2.

Promoting a Positive Learning Environment

Refer to scenes in the video clips where you provided a positive learning environment.
a. How did you demonstrate mutual respect for, rapport with, and responsiveness to
students with varied needs and backgrounds, and challenge students to engage in
learning?
[ At the beginning of Clip 1 (00:01), the students and I discuss what a pre-assessment is and
how it will show what the students know at the beginning of the learning segment so that they
can see how much they have grown at the end of the segment. This sets up a positive learning
environment because students are now focused on growing their skills and knowledge, rather
than just on getting an A. This also makes the classroom more low-risk. In clip 1, at 00:42, a
student asks me if they are supposed to have two markers. Just as I have with other questions,
I welcomed it with a smile and said yes. A positive learning environment encourages appropriate
student and teacher interaction. I believe this environment is already present in the classroom,
so this is just a continuation of it. The same student clarified my expectations for the answers I
wanted written down on individual white boards in clip 1 at 00:58. Other students probably
wondered what I exactly expected during this segment, so it was good that he clarified it. If I had
shut down his questioning over something that could be perceived as unnecessary, such as his
question about having two markers, he would not have felt comfortable asking another question
that was actually a very good question. At 05:00 I compliment a student on some good work that
they had done with their whiteboard. Giving compliments about specific items that students
have done well on helps promote a positive learning environment, rather than just
complimenting a student on being a good student, which has less meaning to them. I did a very
similar thing at 04:50 by telling a student that they were doing well, but telling them to just look
at one answer again. Compliments and challenging students to engage and grow go hand in
hand. It is best to start with a compliment that is very specific to what a student has done well,
and then to encourage them to grow a little more by asking them to revaluate another specific
item. Similarly, in clip 2, at 01:00, I tell a student that the notation I had asked the student to
write down was correct, but I encouraged further learning about notation by telling the student
what the common practice was, and told them that I was saying that even though I was not
expecting the stems on notes to go in their correct directions, and that the student would not be
penalized on the post-assessment, because it would be useful in the future and because the
student was ahead of the class in notating bowings. At 06:25 in clip 1, I ask a student (student
3) to read to the class what a tie is. Since the student has learned English as a second
language and has demonstrated a certain level of uneasiness with being asked to share
thoughts, possibly due to the newness of English, and also due to the student being shy, I
wanted to give the student a way to share in a way that is not extremely stressful: the student is
good with reading and thats all the student has to do. As the class and semester progresses, I
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K-12 Performing Arts

Task 2: Instruction Commentary

will gradually ask the student to do more than just read what is already written on the page, as
the student gets more comfortable with sharing. In fact, in clip 2, at 5:35, I ask the same student
what their thinking was behind a correct answer they had written down on their individual
whiteboard. I knew that the student would feel safe in sharing because of the fact that I had
already checked the students answer and the student knew it was right: they just had to explain
why.
In video clip 2, at 01:47, a student told me that they were cold. I wasnt feeling cold at the time,
but I validated their feelings by telling them it must be, and that I just hadnt noticed yet because
I had been running around. At 00:30, I admit that I should have told the students not to erase the
notes they had already drawn on their individual white boards. It was my mistake, not theirs, and
if I had gotten angry with them and blamed them, it would have created a very negative
atmosphere.
Overall, I think it is very apparent in my clips that the students are respectful of me and I
am respectful of them. I allow and encourage- them to voice their thoughts, and the students
do not talk or play when I am speaking. There was an instance after the post-assessment in
which a student questioned my writing of their assessment playing portion material. She posed
her idea about my time signature choice in a very thoughtful way, and I responded by telling her
that her though about it was great and I had not even thought about my choice of the time
signature. I told her my reasons off the top of my head for using the signature, agreed with her
that it technically could have been written other ways, and said I would think about her question
for future use in similar learning segments.]
3. Engaging Students in Learning
Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.
a. Explain how your instruction engaged students in developing and applying

knowledge/skills (e.g., tools/instruments, technical proficiencies, processes,

elements, organizational principles),

contextual understandings (e.g., social, cultural, historical, global, personal

reflection), AND/OR

artistic expression (e.g., interpretation, creativity, exploration/improvisation, individual

choices).
[ At 07:23 in clip 1, I ask the students to clap through an example in the method book that uses
ties. They have to count in their heads through two beats and once every two beats. They had
previously learned how to add note values together, and now they are applying and developing
their knowledge and skills. At 07:45, the students then do the same thing, except they pluck and
start to apply this knowledge about adding note values together on their instrument. At 09:14,
the students not only have to start each note unit (of added notes under a tie), but they also
have to hold the full value of the tied notes because they are now using the bow. This sequence
of events was also an example of scaffolding, in which supports were used to gradually develop
and apply student knowledge and skills, rather than just throwing students in the deep end.
Specifically, I took out certain actions and motions to think about. The students would have had
to move their bow for two beats due to a notation they had never seen or interpreted before,
they would have had to change notes while doing this, and they would have had to change at
the same time. Thus, when we clapped, the students only had to worry about interpreting the
notation to clap every two beats. When we pluck the students had to do this, but they also had
to change notes with their left hand. And when we finally played, the students only had to add in
one last idea: moving the bow in the same direction for two beats. ]

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K-12 Performing Arts

Task 2: Instruction Commentary

b. Describe how your instruction linked students prior academic learning and personal,
cultural, and community assets with new learning.
[ In video clip 1, at 00:55, I have students write down note durations on their personal white
boards. This is something the students already know how to figure out because they have been
taught it and have done well on previous assessments regarding rhythms. However, I then had
the students practice along the same lines by having them add note values together (04:06).
The students know the note values, are adding in basic math ideas that they already know, and
they will later use those skills and knowledge to do even more. The students will need to know
how to add values together because it will be necessary for holding through tied notes. In lesson
three, I loosely compared the left hand versus right hand rhythms to wind instruments, where
their fingers change to play different notes, but their air continues to during legato, analogously
slurred playing. Several students in the class have already played wind instruments. I also
referenced friends of my students who are in other orchestra classes, and who the students
have seen play these types of bowings. I recommended that they get together for jam
sessions with their friends who have been doing these bowings for a while, to work on them
together. ]
4. Deepening Student Learning during Instruction
Refer to examples from the video clips in your explanations.
a. Explain how you evoked student performances and/or responses to support
students development and application of knowledge/skills, contextual understandings,
and/or artistic expression.
[At the beginning of Clip 1 (00:01), I ask the students what a pre-assessment is. The students
immediately come up with answers like not a grade, seeing what you know, and seeing what
youre going to learn. I prompt them to think about what else they will see when they take the
post-assessment. They respond with it will show growth. In addition to providing a positive
learning environment with a growth mindset among students, this was an example of deepening
student learning during instruction. Although it was not directly developing and applying skills
and knowledge, it did set up a foundation for doing so, which I think will support student
development and application of knowledge and skills. In the second clip, at 05:25, I ask two
students to explain their answers regarding left hand versus right hand rhythm to the class. The
two students I chose I knew had written down the correct answers on their white boards, and I
wanted them to verbalize their thinking behind the answers because they had gotten a question
related to left hand versus right hand rhythm wrong on an exit slip. The students gave good
answers, and then I reiterated their responses in a slightly different way so that the rest of the
class and the students could hear the same thing in a different way. We walked through
contextual understandings that were understood as a class regarding rhythm, moved through
the adding of rhythms that was new, and then came to the correct answer. When someone is in
my classroom, the thing they should notice right away is that the class is run as more of a
discussion, rather than a lecture. I have students pair-share to discuss concepts, and then we
share as a whole group. I constantly work with students towards applying knowledge and skills
to their instruments. I had the students peer-evaluate each other on the playing portions music
in lesson 2. This was so that students would know what to work on for the next day, and also so
that they had practice in evaluating performances so that they could better evaluate themselves.
]
b. Explain how you used modeling, demonstrations, and/or content examples to develop
students knowledge/skills, contextual understandings, and/or artistic expression for
creating, performing, or responding to music/dance/theater.

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K-12 Performing Arts

Task 2: Instruction Commentary

[ In clip 2, at 06:50, I do call and response modeling with the students. They have already
demonstrated an ability to identify and distinguish between types of bowings, and they have
even demonstrated an ability to read notated bowings and play them independently. However, I
want the students to separately focus on developing the motions needed to create the bowings
notated in the assessment piece. This modeling gives students a chance to see correct playing
of various bowings, and it allows them to develop their skills and knowledge concurrently so that
they constantly have a model to strive towards as they work on the bowings. In other segments,
I built upon this foundation by modeling bowings until students were satisfied with their own
performances, and then asked guided questions about exactly what I and the students were
doing to accomplish the bowings. I also had the students think about left versus right hand
rhythm after modeling and playing bowings together, identifying the bowings, and describing
them. After we work through several call and responses of different bowings, I have them read
the notated bowings and play through larger chunks of the piece before I let them work
individually. In lesson 2, I also spent some time with students in which I would move the bow for
them while their hand was still on it, and they would move their left hand fingers as needed. This
was so that they would get used to the motion of playing multiple notes all in one bow direction.
I especially helped student 2 with this because he has difficulty with string crossings, and strings
crossings in one bow direction were hard for him to do. ]
5. Analyzing Teaching
Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.
a. What changes would you make to your instructionfor whole class and/or for students
who need greater support or challengeto better support student learning of the central
focus (e.g., missed opportunities)?
Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/support
(e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling readers,
underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted
students).

[ In clip 1, at 00:55, I would have rephrased my expectations for the answers the students were
supposed to write on their white boards regarding note duration. For some reason, I worded my
expectation as how much each note gets. I had asked similar questions before and should
have stuck with a better phrasing like what value does each note get in terms of number of
beats?.
I think I would have spent more time on this learning segment. Unfortunately, the students
needed to move on to another segment that would get them ready to play with a larger
orchestra (on arranged parts), so I only had three days. The students learned a lot, but I think
they would have had an even deeper understanding of the content if we had spent 4 or even 5
days on the unit.]
b. Why do you think these changes would improve student learning? Support your
explanation with evidence of student learning AND principles from theory and/or
research.
[Rephrasing my expectations in clip 1, at 00:55, would have been better for the student who
asked a question to clarify it, as the student has had some previous experience in music but not
very much. Two of the students who already play at a high level on other instruments were
probably able to figure out what I meant very easily. However, other students like focus student
3, who has never played an instrument and who has language barriers since English is the
students second language, probably had no idea what I meant. I did better with this type of
questioning in the second video clip, at 04:30, because I explained what I expected in multiple,
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K-12 Performing Arts

Task 2: Instruction Commentary

better, ways. I also helped scaffold the students through an extra step, rather than just expecting
the students to be able to complete the whole learning task by themselves. Using what research
has told us is a good way to help students through learning tasks scaffolding would be a
great change for the activity we worked on regarding rhythm.
Learning simply takes time and repetition in various formats. For students to learn the
language function and be able to demonstrate it well, they need time to process and continue
using the langue that has been covered in the unit, in addition to simply playing the bowings in
other music. I would have spent the extra time having the students work through more variations
of questions regarding comparing and contrasting, left hand versus right hand rhythm, and
more. I think that would have made the material more solid for all of the students, and students
like student number three would have had more time to process and develop language skills to
enable the student to more adequately describe and compare the bowings and their left hand
versus right hand motions. In 1963, John Carroll theorized in his paper A Model of School
Learning that learning is linked directly to time. Other studies have shown that learning truly is
linked to time. Specifically, though, there are three concepts that are linked to learning. First is
allocated time, which is simply the total amount of time in which learning can occur. Second is
engaged time, or the amount of time that students are actively engaged in learning during the
allocated time. The third concept is academic learning time, which has to do with quality of
learning (specifically, learning material at an appropriate difficulty level). I think that the students
in my class were learning material that engaged them at an appropriate difficulty level.
Additionally, I would say that students were engaged in learning in my classes for greater than
90% of the time. Therefore, I think the true limitation for student learning had to do with the
allocated time. ]

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