Are Extrinsic Rewards Motivating?
The subject of motivation always interests me. Here’s a great post by Tim Topham summarizing the book on motivation called Drive. He mentions a few of the studies conducted on motivation including one on preschoolers and one on adults. The “if-then” approach to motivation (i.e. “if you do this, then I’ll give you this…”) is certainly problematic and Tim’s summary helps us see where those problems lie and how we teachers can tweak our own reward systems to be less problematic.
You can also get Drive in the Kindle edition for $9.99.
Read MoreSmash Hit Games with the Eggspert
About a month ago, I purchased the Eggspert Quizzing System and began using it in my studio. Since then, I have not stopped raving about how my students and I love it! Many of you have also purchased the inexpensive system and wanted more details on how I use it in my studio, so I thought I’d post about it.
First, a bit about how the quizzing system works. There are 2 settings: one where 1 of 2-6 players can press their “egg” which lights up the corresponding egg color on the master quizzing set. This is the setting I am using most. The other setting flashes the eggs (as many as you have turned on) and then randomly randomly chooses an egg to light up at the end. You can use this setting to make the students who answer more random. The white egg, which the teacher controls, clears the lit eggs before you ask the next question.
Here are some of the things you can do with the Eggspert quizzing system:
Read MoreStudent Critiques
Over the years, I’ve had my students critique each other a number of times. Mostly its been for their performances of pieces in our group Performance Classes. We’ve used a variety of materials to do this from the Performance Class Worksheet (there are 4 of them on this page) to a simple piece of paper on which students write 1 thing they liked and 1 thing they think could be improved. I think I am like most teachers when I say that sometimes this process makes me a little nervous.
by Oude School
Perhaps this nervousness is why I’ve been more reluctant to use peer critiques of composition and creative projects. But, I know that my use of student critique in regular piano performance is not as extensive as it could be. This quote from the Vermont MIDI Project is making me rethink my cursory use of student critiques:
Students should view and listen to each other’s work frequently. They learn new ideas from each other and use them in their own pieces. As they develop more musical vocabulary, they discuss the music itself, not individuals, and this helps to depersonalize the critique. It takes time to teach critique, and it may seem that the investment is not worthwhile at the beginning, but as the class builds skills in this area, their comments are more insightful, the process runs more smoothly, and the impact on their future work is significant.
“The impact on their future work is significant…” I think that sentence is enough to make any of us rethink how often and how deeply we use student critiques in the studio. I wholeheartedly agree that this sentence is true, but the fact that “it takes time to teach critique, and it may seem that the investment is not worthwhile at the beginning” keeps me from committing wholeheartedly to making this an integral year round part of my studio routine. Students are extremely influenced by their peers, so why not tap into this in our teaching?
I’d love to know your thoughts on the usefulness of critiques. How have you used them in your studio? Have they been beneficial?
Read MoreChristmas Piano Games and Activities
I’m gearing up for my Christmas party and have received numerous requests for a post on Christmas activities, so I wanted to give you a list. Newsletter subscribers will receive a few more ideas than what’s here, so be sure to subscribe to email updates if you haven’t already.
-
by mtuckg
Name that Tune – This is always a fun activity around Christmas time. Divide your students into 2 teams and play a small bit of a Christmas tune. Place a call bell between the 2 teams and the first person to ring the call bell and guess the tune gets a point for their team.
- Advanced Name that Tune – Use these Christmas Carol Flashcards to show more advanced students. The person who can ring the call bell and name the tune gets a point for their team.
- Encore – Another great game to use for large groups of students (especially older ones). Divide into 2 teams then announce your special word (santa, jingle, tree, jolly, etc.). Each team must sing at least 6 words of a tune with that word in it. The teams go back and forth (they get 30 seconds to think) until one team can not think of another song with that word in it (they don’t have to be Christmas songs, though I would only use Christmas words). The last team to have sung a correct song gets the point.
- Christmas Worksheets and Printables from Susan Paradis
- Christmas Note Bingo from Susan Paradis
- Silly Sentences – not a Christmas game, but Christmas graphics are on this fun game reviewing terms like ritardando, crescendo, accel, legato, etc.
- Christmas Resource Roundout – Jennifer Fink has a post about all the resources and Christmas games on her website.
- Crafts to Make – Here are some fantastic crafts to be made out of sheet music from Valerie at Dollarhide Music Center
The End-of-Project Sharing Element
Do you ever wonder why there isn’t more excitement about what you think are fun projects in your studio? Shouldn’t art projects, composing their own music, sight-reading challenges, etc. be thrilling for students?
I’m reading a book called Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity and the author Scott Watson talks about 8 principles for unlocking music creativity. I think his principles are fantastic and every teacher should read the book to improve their teaching. Just now I was struck by principle #8 just now where he states,
One of the best ways to ensure that students are motivated to work earnestly toward a good end product is to include an end-of-project sharing element into the plan…During these presentations students can share the fruits of their labor and feel a sense of celebrity for their creative efforts.
I think that the reason that more students aren’t interested in creative music projects is that there is no end-of-project sharing that is promised. I’ll give you an example.
Read MoreNew Prize Ideas
Susan Johannessen on Facebook was mentioning how quickly the “Sticky Hands” disappear from her prize box. I asked her where she got these wonderful little toys and she said they were at the $2 stores in Australia! Well, that’s a bit far for me to travel for a good prize, but I did find them at Amazon and another teacher said you could find them on the prize aisle at Target. I know my boys would love these at any time of year, but I’m going to add them onto my Black Friday Amazon order this weekend! Here are some options from Amazon:
Sticky Lizards 12 for $3
Sticky Lizards
Sticky Hands 72 for $8
Follow Us!