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Brian O Ackles

Leading Voices: Agile Centered Instruction

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Agile

Marked by ready ability to move with quick, easy grace – an agile dancer.

Having a quick resourceful and adaptable character – an agile mind.

Agile Centered Instruction

Identified by flexible and varied instruction – an agile educator.

At the beginning of teaching online, I became acutely aware that my students were struggling due to their reliance upon, and interactions with, the structure of the school.  So was I.  It became clear that we felt a loss and missed the interactions that we experienced throughout the school day.  The connections we made in the classroom, talking in the hall, meetings before school, rehearsals after school, and gathering during lunch grounded and defined the total school learning experience.  

School Learning Experiences

I realized that the school learning experience resembles my teaching, in that what grounds and defines my music program is not one specific methodology or event.  But instead, it is the interaction within the classroom learning environment, the variety of learning experiences, and the relationship between the student and subject.

Our school learning structure at Marcellus High School is not solely subject-centered, or schedule-centered, or social-centered, or staff-centered, or student-centered, or building-centered.  It is the interplay of all the above.  It is student-community-centered. 

My classroom is not exclusively student-centered, or subject-centered, or teacher-centered, or performance-centered, or concept-centered, or product-centered.  It is the diverse interaction of all the above.  It is agile.

The Classroom Learning Environment

In previous blogs, Leading Voices challenges readers to reflect on their teaching through Self-Generation, Seeing with New Eyes, Teaching Out Loud, and Reimagining and Improving Instruction.  An agile educator attempts to become aware of teaching habits in the classroom, and are mindful of their curricular and pedagogical preferences.

One teaching habit I fall into is using the same warm-up/focus exercises to get the students’ attention as begin class.  (I wonder when I will be able to add lip trills back into warm-ups?  Actually, I wonder when I will have in-person rehearsals with warm-ups again?). 

Throughout the year, I catch myself defaulting to a few of my favorite warm-ups with my choirs – I can go on vocal warm-up autopilot. These standard exercises are successful and tried and true, but at times, they can be limiting.  For this reason, many years ago, I created a vocal warm-up and vocal strategy notebook.  This notebook contains warm-up ideas from attending choral festivals, reading journals and blogs, and exercises I learn and borrow from my colleagues. 

Agile Centered Instruction is like my warm-up notebook.  I need to periodically remind myself to vary instruction and change up my teaching strategies,  Sometimes student-centered, sometimes teacher-centered.  Sometimes rote teaching, other times having the students initiate a discipline (The Paradox of Learning).

The Relationship Between Student and Subject

Agile Centered Instruction is adaptable, resourceful, fluid, and purposeful.  It is based on the praxial philosophy and uses a praxis-based curriculum as defined by David J. Elliott in his book, Music Matters.

“praxis connotates action that is embedded in, responsive to, and reflective of a specific context of effort.” (emphasis added)

(Elliot 1995, p. 14)

The praxis-based curriculum focuses on doing and purposeful action in music education. As the student grows in skill and understanding through the technical and musical demands, so does their ability to comprehend and perform more realistic real-life musical experiences.  As a student interacts with the praxis-based curriculum, he/she moves towards a more independent level of learning regardless of their present skill, and a new strengthened model of understanding is acquired.

The implementation of a praxis-based curriculum is simply not a matter of actively building new skills, but rather it strengthens the connections between actions, purpose, and understanding.  As a result, the students’ learning effects and changes future music instruction and the classroom environment.  Throughout this interaction, the changes in student understanding necessitate new responses and adaptations from the teacher by adapting and modifying instruction.  (adapted for teaching from Silsbee, 2008, p 239)

The interaction and dialogue between the teacher, student, and learning process create a learning environment that requires the instruction to be fluid, varied, and agile.  Agile Centered Instruction, supported by the praxial philosophy, presents a holistic classroom environment that promotes a culture of learning and musical growth, creating The Agile Classroom.

A Variety of Learning Experiences – The Agile Classroom

  • Encourages student inquiry and active problem-solving.
  • Develops students’ ability to plan, create, and evaluate.
  • Supports collaboration, self-monitoring, and accountability.
  • Enhances the quality of student participation and performance.
  • Promotes collaboration through shared group understanding and recognition of collective action.

The Agile Development Instructional Framework (ADIF) establishes the foundation for the Agile Classroom.  Agile centered music instruction is based on a tradition of excellence that meets the student at their current skill level, empowers individual learning, and helps students actively connect with music at a deeper level.


The Agile Classroom: PMEA Research Poster Presentation, Abstract, and Applications

How do we actively engage students in lifelong music learning and participation?

1. By becoming aware of our teaching and instructional habits in the classroom.

2. By teaching, thinking, questioning, and searching out loud.

3. By reimagining music instruction

4. By incorporating Agile-Centered Instruction

Conclusion: Agile Centered Instruction

The structure of school and the connections within the school learning experience offer valuable insights on how we, as a profession, can successfully bridge the gap between pre and post COVID-19 music instruction.  The strength of any school, classroom, or music program is in the interplay and collaboration between all components – it is not based on one specific methodology or event. 

The interaction and interchange between all elements in music instruction: student-centered, subject-centered, teacher-centered, performance-centered, concept-centered, product-centered, is the foundation of good teaching and the Agile Centered Classroom.

“Tell me, and I forget,

teach me, and I may remember,

involve me, and I learn.”

Xun Kuang, Chinese Confucian philosopher

References:

Elliott, David J. Music Matters: a New Philosophy of Music Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Regelski, Thomas “Implications of aesthetic versus praxial philosophies of music for curriculum theory in music education.” Didacta Varia, Vol. 8/1 (2003); 63-92; Helsinki University, Finland, Faculty of Education.

Silsbee, Douglas K., and Richard Strozzi-Heckler. Presence-Based Coaching: Cultivating Self-Generative Leaders through Mind, Body, and Heart. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008

Leading Voices: Creating a New Pedagogy for Music Education

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In my last blog, Reimagining and Improving Instruction, I closed with a profound quote by Jerome Bruner in which he challenges our awareness and understanding of instruction and reminds us of our responsibility as educators: “Pedagogy is never innocent. It is a medium that carries its own message.” (Bruner,1997, p.63).  This quote made me stop and reflect on my teaching: “What is the current message I am conveying to my students, and what will my new message be?”

  • If I implement and follow standard music education pedagogy in this current environment, my students and I will not be successful. 
  • If I initiate and create a new framework for music instruction, I may fail, and my students and I will not be successful. 

This quandary, however, does present an opportunity for me to engage in critical inquiry and examine my current pedagogical values and beliefs.  To proceed, I must embrace my uneasiness and begin a dialogue between past music education pedagogies, and the reality of this moment.  It is now time for me to look ahead and create a new pedagogy for music instruction.


The Path of Least Resistance

Problem Solving or The Creative Process?

To assist me in understanding how to adapt and create a new pedagogy, the book The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz provided new ideas and strategies that I found very helpful.  A graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Fritz suggests we use the creative process, not problem-solving, to generate new ideas.  He believes problem-solving can bring temporary relief, but for the long term, it seldom corrects the problem.


Chapter Three: Creating Is No Problem – Problem Solving Is Not Creating (p.34)

The Creative Process

He advises not to fix problems by searching for solutions, but rather to “consciously choose the results we want to see manifested” (Fritz 1989, p.172).  If we are not careful, we can spend a lot of time and energy searching, worrying, and trying to avoid what we do not want.

  • I do not want to teach music online next fall.
  • I do not want to lose my large rehearsal room next year to other subjects so they can social distance.
  • I do not want my students to learn music by electronically moving and manipulating information from one online platform to another. 

Fritz encourages us to make choices about what we do want:

  • I do want to find a way to actively engage my students next fall.
  • I do want my room or a large area where I can work safely with my students.
  • I do want my students to learn how to use technology as a tool that will enhance their performances – not become a substitute for the performing arts.

“The Process should always Serve the Result” (Fritz 1989, p.73)

Each year towards the end of May, I hold auditions for our ninth through twelfth grade Select Choir Vocal Ensemble. All choirs practice the audition process in rehearsals, and then during the following week, interested students sign up for ten-minute slots after school.  Well, it is that time of year.  I do not want to hold virtual auditions, but there is no other option.  I do want a strong group for next year, so successful auditions are essential.

I decided to create a Google Classroom called MHS Select Choir Auditions specifically for these auditions.  By using Google Classroom, I can easily share the audition information and materials with my classes.  I also invited colleagues to be co-teachers with me, which allows them to share the audition information with their students easily.  I posted the following information and resources on Google Classroom:

  1. A link to Flipgrid.  On this platform, I recorded a video message introducing the audition process and explained how to submit a video for their audition.
  2. A Google Form.  By using a Google Form, I can create a Google Sheet that will contain all the audition information (name, voice part, vocal experience, etc.).
  3. A link to a YouTube video and a pdf of My County’ Tis of Thee.  For the audition, students will choose the starting pitch and sing the first verse a cappella.
  4. A link to a YouTube video, and a pdf of the solfege chromatic scale. For the audition, students will choose the starting pitch and sing the chromatic scale ascending and descending a cappella.

Positive Results

After creating the online audition information and materials, I realized the process occurred quite naturally and organically.  I strongly dislike having virtual auditions this year, but by being aware and focusing on what I did want, the process did not dictate the outcome – the process serves the results.  Below are a few positive results from this year’s online auditions that I will use in the future.

  • Google Classroom – I can easily share information and materials with all the students and my colleagues.
  • Posting materials – Students now have easy access to the audition materials and can practice on their own.
  • Flipgrid – I will now have video documentation of each singer that I can compare and refer to if needed (Maybe I will still record the tryouts when we return to in-person auditions?).

Conclusion: Creating a New Pedagogy for Music Education

We, as a profession, are unquestionably feeling uneasiness as we face the reality of the pandemic and strive to navigate and understand how to move forward.  The uncertainty and questioning we are experiencing are because we can no longer implement the standard classroom pedagogy or follow the rote music instruction we have relied upon for so many years.  If we can engage in critical inquiry and examine our core values and beliefs, I believe we can create a new pedagogy and redefine the future of Music Education.

References:

Bruner, Jerome Seymour. The Culture of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.

Fritz, Robert. The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life. Kent: Elsevier Science, 2014.

Leading Voices: Reimagining and Improving Instruction

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As I look ahead, I know I will once again teach and enjoy the company of my students and colleagues in the future.  But what it will look like, or sound like, I do not know.  I do know that it will not be the same.

I am not the same.

My students are not the same.

Music Education has forever changed.

I have decided not to accept the new normal (whatever that means) and trust what musicians and some educators have done for centuries when confronted with challenges: explore new boundaries, examine possibilities, and reimagine our instruction. We are apart now, and we may need to be for a while. But when we return, we can become better people and stronger teachers for our students.

Exploring New Boundaries

Exploring new boundaries is what we must do and are now doing through distance learning. These boundaries are both restrictive and freeing – quite the paradox.  My students can no longer physically sing together, but they have come to realize how much they miss each other and miss connecting through the musical environment.  For now, we are learning how to connect and grow through the online medium – not an easy task!  My students and I are now fluent in Zoom, Google Meet, Google Classroom, Google Forms, and Google Sheets, Flipgrid, WeVideo, and other useful Online Resources.  

Are these valuable tools?    Most definitely.

Will I use them in the future?     Absolutely.

Will they define my program and become my new normal?    Nope.

Examining Possibilities

In my Leading Voices blog, Self-Generation, I discussed the work of Doug Silsbee and his book Presence-Based Coaching.  Silsbee describes his four-step process of Self-Observation, Realization, Reorganization, and Stabilization that allows us in a non-judgmental way to discover, label, choose and initiate new responses in teaching (Silsbee, 2008, p. 51-55).  This information is vital as we navigate through distance learning and strive to stabilize, maintain, and possibly strengthen our instruction.  Maybe in the past, we settled into a pattern of teaching that worked well for that specific time and place, but now, it no longer meets our needs of our students.

Silsbee’s’ four-step process below takes some time and practice, but I assure you, it will strengthen your relationships with your students and colleagues and transform your teaching.  More than ever, this is especially important as we learn to adapt and create new online musical experiences for our students.

  1. Self-Observation – Observe yourself (or your assignments) in action with no judgment.
  2. Realization – Become aware and label your habits.
  3. Reorganization – Notice the habit when it occurs and be aware of another possible choice.
  4. Stabilization – Integrate this new choice into your teaching.

Reimagining Instruction

Another way for us to uncover our habits and reimagine instruction is to take the Kolb Educator Role Profile (KERP).  Kolb and Kolb (2017) found through their research that successful teachers tend to teach around the Experiential Learning Cycle as they organize their activities in such a way that they address the four learning modes of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. 

Educator Roles and The Experiential Learning Cycle

The KERP is an extremely beneficial tool that illustrates how student learning can be maximized as teachers teach around the Experiential Learning Cycle. This instrument is specifically designed to help teachers identify their instructional tendencies and how to shift between the roles of the Facilitator, Expert, Evaluator, and Coach.  This awareness of instructional tendencies allows us the opportunity to look at distance learning through the lens of curiosity and possibilities. 

After taking the Kolb Educator Role Profile, I found my results to be very revealing: Coach – 38%, Facilitator – 28%, Expert – 6% (Interesting – why so low? ), and Standard Setter and Evaluator – 28%.   I am looking forward to returning to school and seeing if, how, and when I shift between these four roles.  I wonder if my students will be aware of these shifts, and if so, will they then learn and respond differently?

Conclusion: Reimagining & Improving Instruction

Even though we are not presently teaching in the classroom, this is an excellent time to explore and reflect upon our past and current teaching habits and preferences.  The awareness of our instructional practices, teaching styles, and methodology preferences is the foundation for pedagogy. 

Since we are being forced to present and implement new music instruction through social isolation and with challenging limitations, let us look for the hidden opportunities and grow as a profession.  As I begin to reimagine the future of Music Education instruction, I am reminded of a quote by Jerome Bruner:

“Pedagogy is never innocent. It is a medium that carries its own message.”

(Bruner,1997, p.63)

How do I actively engage students in lifelong music learning and participation?

References:

Bruner, Jerome Seymour. The Culture of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.

Kolb, Alice, and David A. Kolb. The Experiential Educator: Principles and Practices of Experiential Learning.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Silsbee, Douglas K., and Richard Strozzi-Heckler. Presence-Based Coaching: Cultivating Self-Generative Leaders through Mind, Body, and Heart. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008.

Leading Voices: Teaching Out Loud

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How do we actively engage students in lifelong music learning and participation?

1. By becoming aware of our teaching and instructional habits in the classroom.

Teaching “out loud” encourages teachers to put the ensemble right in the middle of the rehearsal process with you. To let your students hear you think, hear you question, and hear you search for a solution out loud in real-time.

Plunge into Learning

In class and through Distance Learning, I impress upon my students the importance and need to plunge into learning. It is through discovering, naming, and framing problems and challenges that students can find solutions – it is a dynamic process (Schon, 2016).  When students are a part of the process and participate in my thinking and reflecting, they discover that they, in turn, have internalized the process, and now create a repertoire of experiences that are available for future learning (Schon, p.112-113).  The rehearsals become a reflective practicum by which students receive experiences where they gain the ability to learn and create their own interventions.

Voice Lessons – How do we discern the difference between scales?

Reflective Practicum is the key

It is like talking to your choir, as you would speak to a student-teacher during their initial lessons. I team teach with my student teachers for their first few weeks. While we are teaching, the student-teacher and I may take a quick time out and quickly discuss an important aspect of the lesson while the choir listens. This clarification does not take very long and allows the student-teacher (and choir) to get real-time feedback on a variety of topics and skills.   Reflective Practicum is a remarkable teaching tool for both the student teacher and the choir as they learn from one another together.

My students are doing excellent work through Distance Learning. I believe this is because they feel (and are) capable and comfortable learning on their own. That is my goal – for me to step away and let them become an individual musician. If twenty years from now, my students are unable to help their child read and learn basic piano and music reading skills, then I have failed.

Marcellus High School Women’s Chorus

Students Thinking & Reflecting Out Loud

For our next concert (whenever that is), each choir will learn a song on their own. The catch is, we will never rehearse the song together as a choir. The first time we will sing the song as a group will be for our next concert. The video below is an audio recording that one of my sopranos submitted to Flipgrid last week. For this assignment, students describe how they will learn the song The Seal Lullaby by Eric Whitacre on their own. I am very proud of Stephanie’s work.  She provided an excellent overview and discussed several strategies she will use to learn the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O5s__qkc1c&feature=youtu.be

Students Assessing Out Loud

This week, students will continue to learn The Seal Lullaby through Self-Sprints.  Through Self-Sprints, students practice independently and work on trouble spots they identified last week.  A vital element of Self-Sprints is the student’s ability to assess and reflect upon their learning.  Below are three questions my choir members are accustomed to answering after an Ensemble Sprint, Sectional Sprint, or Self-Sprint.

During Distance Learning, my choirs now complete their assignments using Google Forms. Google Forms (and Google Video) are a great way to document, collect, and assess the students’ homework.

Concert Choir Self-Sprint #2 Form

Concert-Choir-Self-Sprint-2Download

How do I actively engage students in lifelong music learning and participation?

  1. By becoming aware of our teaching and instructional habits in the classroom.
  2. By teaching, thinking, questioning, and searching out loud.

Conclusion: Teaching Out Loud

When I teach and think out loud, the choir inherently become more engaged and energized in the entire learning process. I believe it is essential for my students to hear me think, question, and search for a solution out loud in real-time. As they become more aware of and participate in the dialogue between discovery and solutions, students internalize the process and establish a repertoire of experiences that will be available to them for future learning.

Leading Voice: You can Make a difference

From Carnegie Hall to sheltering in place, how coronavirus has hit one famous Newark music school

Leading Voices Next Online Meeting

Our next online meeting will be held on Monday, April 27, at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, and will last for about a half an hour.  If you are interested, you can email me at or use the link below to join the meeting.  Our next topic, Distance Learning, and the ELT Experiential Learning Cycle.

https://meet.google.com/bsk-wfrg-dxv?hs=122

References:

Schön, Donald A. Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint, 2016.

Palmer, Parker J. COURAGE TO TEACH: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teachers Life – 20th Anniversary Edition. Place of publication not identified: JOSSEY-BASS, 2017.

Ackles, Brian O., 2018.  Agile Development Instructional Framework (ADIF): A New Strategy for Student-Centered Music Education. Choral Journal, September 2018. Vol. 59, No. 2

Leading Voices: Agile Development Instructional Framework (ADIF) Sprints

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I am now in my fourth week of Distance Learning and am finally getting a handle on teaching High School Music Theory and Choral Music online.  It is challenging work, and at times it gets very frustrating, but also intriguing.  The innovation and creativity I see at work with my colleagues, and the work of my students is remarkable. 

Marcellus High School Concert Choir

How do I actively engage students in music learning and participation through Distance Learning?

As I search for teaching resources and research distance learning initiatives, I see our profession applying and adapting the traditional classroom choral music paradigm into the distance learning platform.  

For me, to make sense of remote instruction, I am beginning with the distance learning platform. This starting point gives me the flexibility and creativity I need to develop and implement applicable online lessons and experiences for my students.

Agile Development Instructional Framework – Sprints

Through applying the Agile Development Instructional Framework (ADIF) for the past five years in the music classroom, my students developed the skills and abilities needed to work through sections of music together using what we call “Sprints.”  A Sprint is a short rehearsal event (Iteration) that can last from three minutes to forty minutes or longer.  Each Sprint focuses on one distinct skill or concept the students identify as essential to learning and performing a piece of music. 

Below is an overview of the ADIF Sprint process and how students can actively participate in the learning process together, and then apply these skills towards independent learning.  First, as a Choir, then as a Section, and finally as an Individual.

Full Choir Sprint Planning

Earlier this year, students learned the importance of essential rehearsal expectations, choral skills, and individual responsibility that formed the foundation for the coming year.  For one activity, the choir listened to a new song and concentrated on specific areas that they felt would be challenging.  The purpose?  Their assignment was to create a lesson plan for our next rehearsal.  At the beginning of our next class, I literally shuffled the papers, randomly selected one of their responses (no names mentioned), and off we went. 

A lot of fun and very enlightening!

The choir as a group first realized that they could tell what section the anonymous lesson plan was from – many of the students’ responses were voice part specific.  Through this activity,  the choir recognizes that each section had different rehearsal needs.  At the same time, students saw similarities and realized that they were also dependent on each other.

Sectional Sprint Planning

Next, the choir worked in their SATB sections. Each voice part collaborated and created a lesson plan for their Sprint Sectional.  This plan is either called a Backlog list (non-prioritized list) or a Burndown Chart (A prioritized list).

MHS Select Choir Alto Section Backlog List for Glow by Eric Whitacre

After the Sectional Sprint Planning process, each section gives a brief presentation to the full choir outlining what they learned, and what they plan on working on during their Sectional Sprints.

Self-Sprint Planning

For the last step, students now work independently and take ownership and responsibility of their musicianship.  This final step is where I find myself starting as I work with my students during the pandemic.  Most of my effort and focus is on developing and expanding each choir member’s musicianship. 

For our next concert, each choir will learn a song on their own.  The catch is, we will not rehearse the song as a choir. The first time we will sing the song together as a choir, will be for our next concert.  The ladies in the Women’s Choir are currently planning and practicing their parts for I See the Light from TANGLED.  This assignment is on Flipgrid, and the audio clip below is from one of my sophomore sopranos.  I am very proud of her.

Through Flipgrid, each choir member submitted a ninety-second video clip discussing what they are working on, and how they plan on learning the song (students didn’t have to be in the video – most showed the music as the spoke).  The students enjoy this platform because they can see and hear their friends talk about music and get some tips on how others will practice the music. 

The statistics for Flipgrids’ student engagement for the Women’s Choir is currently at 4.1 hours of viewing, with 148 views.  My Concert Choir has 15.1 hours of viewing, with 655 views! To have some fun with my classes, the top three videos with the most hits gets the honorary distinction of “Ackles Top Video Picks of the week.”

Conclusion: ADIF Sprints

The underlying philosophy of ADIF is the desire to teach and enable each student to discover and to develop their ability to respond and think musically.  It is the realization that each student has the inherent capacity to evaluate, plan, execute, and evaluate a musical experience in a way that is valuable to both the individual and the ensemble.  It is the ability and capacity to learn with each other, for each other, and themselves.  

Professional Reading

Check out Parker J. Palmers’ book, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life.  I am currently on Chapter five: Teaching in Community, A subject-centered Education.  A most enjoyable read. 

Leading Voices Next Online Meeting

Our next online meeting will be held on Monday, April 13, at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, and will last for about a half an hour.  If you are interested, you can email me at brianoackl or use the link below to join the meeting.  Our next topic, Distance Learning, and the Experiential Learning Cycle.

https://meet.google.com/bsk-wfrg-dxv?hs=122

References:

Ackles, Brian O., 2018.  Agile Development Instructional Framework (ADIF): A New Strategy for Student-Centered Music Education. Choral Journal, September 2018. Vol. 59, No. 2

Leading Voices: Distance Learning and the Experiential Learning Cycle

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Below is an assignment I posted on Google Classroom for my 9-12 Concert Choir last week:

“Good morning, Folks! For our next concert, each choir will learn a song on their own.  The catch is, we will not rehearse the song as a choir.  The first time we will sing the song together will be for our next concert.  We Got This!“

I wish I could have seen their faces when they read this assignment – priceless!

Distance Learning

I am now three weeks into Distance Learning, and I’m still wrapping my head around the concept of online High School Vocal Music and Music Theory. My first assignment for choir, Choir Karaoke, worked out very well.  Through this assignment, the students selected one song from our winter/Spring repertoire, rehearsed the song, recorded their part, and submitted the video/audio recording to Google Classroom. 

Listening to their recordings and hearing their voices renewed my commitment (and brought tears to my eyes) to create and present practical assignments for my classes.  I always encourage my students to “plunge into learning,” and that is what I am doing.

Professional Reading

While reading the April issue of the Choral Journal, I came across the article entitled, The Horse before the Cart: Redefining the Choral Warm-up.  As I read, Brian J. Winnie addresses skill acquisition and the work of Alice Y. Kolb and David A. Kolb and the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT). With a little digging, I found great resources for ELT and decided to incorporate ELT aspects into the Distance Leasing for my students.  I am now integrating the ELT process by applying the Experiential Learning Cycle Model into my teaching as I create assignments for my classes.

Experiential Learning Cycle Model

The Experiential Learning Cycle (McLeod, 2013)

As I spent more time reading and studying the Experiential Learning Cycle, it dawned on me that I experienced these same four steps that led me to discover the Experiential Learning Theory.

The Experiential Learning Cycle Model in Action

While reading (Concrete Experience) the April issue of the Choral Journal, I came across the article entitled, The Horse before the Cart: Redefining the Choral Warm-up.  As I read (Reflective Observation), Brian J. Winnie address skill acquisition and the work of Alice Y. Kolb and David A. Kolb and the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT).  With a little digging, I found great resources for ELT and decided to incorporate (Abstract Conceptualization) ELT aspects into the Distance Leasing for my students.  I am now integrating the ELT process by applying (Active Experimentation) the Cycle of Experiential Learning into my teaching as I create assignments for my classes.

Now there are many other factors involved in the ELT earning process such as Learning Styles, Learning Spaces, ELT research, and the relationship between Organizational and Individual Learning, but these are topics for future discussions. 

Back to the Choirs’ Assignment: Responsive Learning #2

This week, the students will continue their work on their selected songs by using the Agile Development Instructional Framework (ADIF) alongside the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT).  Through ADIF, my students have classroom experience and are accustomed to taking an active role in rehearsal planning, implementation, reflection, and assessment. 

My three choirs are working on the following selections:

  • Concert Choir – The Seal Lullaby, Eric Whitacre
  • Women’s Choir – I See the Light, arr. Mac Huff
  • Select Choir – Moon River, arr. Steve Zegree

Sprints – The Agile Development Instructional Framework

Using ADIF for the past few years during classroom instruction, my students know how to work through a selection of music using what we call “Sprints.”  A Sprint is a short rehearsal event (Iteration) that can last from three minutes to a class period.  A Sprint Group consists of student membership ranging from a full choir, SATB sections, small mixed ensembles, or a Self-Sprint.  Each Sprint focuses on one particular skill or concept the students identify as essential to learning and performing a specific song.

The students’ next assignment will be to prepare for their Self-Sprint by creating a Self-Sprint Planning form – somewhat like their lesson plan.  They will experience the following:

  1. Listen to a recording with their music. (Concrete Experience)
  2. As they listen, annotate areas of concerns, and mark any questions. (Reflective Observation)
  3. Identify the skills and concepts needed to learn the music.  (Abstract Conceptualization)
  4. Practice their part and assess for future cycles. (Active Experimentation)

Conclusion: Distance Learning and the Experiential Learning Cycle

One of my goals through Distance Learning is to provide opportunities for my choir members to continue to become independent critical thinkers, problem solvers/finders and to think musically on their own at their current skill level.  Incorporating the Experiential Learning Theory within the Agile Development Instructional Framework provides flexibility, creativity, and accountability for both the director and the ensemble.

Leading Voices: Students Teaching Students

With many schools in the United States transitioning to, or now utilizing distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I am reaching out to my colleagues for assistance.  My 49 member SATB 9-12 Concert Choir will soon begin online work preparing O Love, by Elaine Hagenberg for our next concert.

There are several rehearsal videos available for independent study.  Yet, I am in search of a High School or College Choir that would be interested in collaborating and helping with our project.  I want to provide my students with a rehearsal video or MP3 recording of the piano accompaniment with an actual choir section (SATB) singing their parts (not just me singing or playing their parts).

I can create rehearsal tracks, but since this song must be studied and practiced independently at home, I would like their musical experience to be as close to a real choir as possible. These are challenging times – what better use of our students’ time and talents than to have our Students Teaching Students.  If interested, please email me at

Leading Voices Next Online Meeting:

Our next online meeting will be held on Monday, April 6, at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, and will last for about a half an hour.   The topic, Distance Learning, and the Experiential Learning Cycle. If you are interested, you can email me at or use the link below to join the meeting.

https://meet.google.com/bsk-wfrg-dxv?hs=122

References:

“About Experience Based Learning Systems (EBLS), Inc. .” About | Experience Based Learning Systems, LLC (EBLS). Accessed March 26, 2020. https://learningfromexperience.com/about/.

“(PDF) Experiential Learning Theory: A Dynamic, Holistic …” Accessed March 27, 2020. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267974468_Experiential_Learning_Theory_A_Dynamic_Holistic_Approach_to_Management_Learning_Education_and_Development.

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