Analysis
For this analysis project, we decided to analyze a lesson plan for a high school general music class. The lesson plan “Introductory Music Lesson Plan” is complex and thought out well. This lesson plan thoroughly incorporates substantial amounts of concepts of educational psychology and allows the teacher to integrate these concepts into the classroom. This lesson plan could be designated for non-musicians and musicians since the lesson plan breaks down the simple aspects of music and allows for further exploration of the subject. This lesson plan is segmented into ten parts or “steps.” These steps are mini lesson plans within themselves. For this analysis, we will only be talking about the first lesson. The first part of the lesson plan teaches skills to students to enable them to achieve basic knowledge of the different notes on the piano and their relationship.
In this lesson, there are three expected outcomes; “1.) Students will be able to understand that notes have "names." 2.) They [students] will be able to develop the ability to identify any "natural" note with reference to a piano keyboard. 3.) They will be able to understand that notes to be found on the "black" keys can be assigned one of two "names" depending upon the circumstances” (Lesson Plan, 3). At the beginning of the lesson, the students are given a handout with a two-octave piano with all the note names filled out on it. They are then told that they do not need any musical experience to understand the material. From there, they are to spend some time talking about the handout in their peer groups. After, they have a full classroom discussion, the teacher makes the students aware of the fact that the white notes on the piano have an alphabetical sequence. Once the students show competency with the white key group, the teacher then discusses the black keys and enharmonics. When there is an indication of the students’ comprehension, the students receive the first worksheet out of three. The first worksheet is focused on the natural white keys. They are allowed to use the handout that was provided to them. After they finish the first worksheet, they are then given the second worksheet. This worksheet focuses on the black keys of the piano and the students are still allowed to use the handout that was given to them. Once they complete the two worksheet they are then given the same worksheets, this time not being able to look at the handout. This is the method in which is used to teach the lesson.
This lesson does an excellent job in teaching because it takes existing schemas of what students already know about music, and they will later have to assimilate and accommodate these schemas as the lesson progresses to successfully understand the material. In the first part of the lesson, they do a very nice job laying the groundwork. The teacher mentions two specific things in the lesson plan to raise the self-efficacy of their students. The teacher informs them that they do not need to have any background with pianos or music to understand this concept because that’s how easy it is to learn. This helps the students because they were given a piano handout, and some students, as you can imagine, were not familiar with music. The second moment of self-efficacy in the lesson plan is when the teacher makes the students discuss the piano handout in groups. They were all trying to decipher what was on the handout together, and that peer-to-peer connection helped the students because they realized that many people had not known about this material either.
Furthermore, this lesson provides students with the ability to process and memorize the material. The teacher not only has the students identify the note names and the placement on the piano, but the lesson also encourages the students to memorize their placement too. The teacher executes this by using rehearsal and maintenance of what they’ve learned. In the first couple of worksheets, the students are allowed to use the handout. They rehearse what they’ve learned by applying the concepts and answering the questions on the worksheet. We thought it was a very interesting choice that the third worksheet was the same as the first and second worksheet. By doing this, this helps the student retrieve the information they’ve already seen, and it continues to familiarize them with the concept, even if they are unable to remember it. By doing this, they are making the students use forced retrieval. Even if they may not exactly remember the notes, their memory and concept knowledge is strengthening by just thinking about it more. We thought that this was a good positive to the lesson plan.
Another strong aspect that was provided in this lesson was the ability to use a student’s zone of proximal development. The lesson plan uses the zone of proximal development in many ways during this specific lesson. The teacher lays out in the lesson plan that the students will learn using three different worksheets and use the handout provided to them about the keyboard. This practice is inside their zone of proximal development for the individual students in the class and the groups of students in the class. The worksheet provides prompts for the students to grasp the basics of the piano. The worksheets even lay out the concepts individually. The worksheets go from white keys, to black keys, then to a worksheet that incorporates all the keys on the piano. This use of multiple worksheets makes the students build their memory of the skills used to identify the keys on the piano and makes them do the task over so that they incorporate the knowledge into actual practice. This leads to the final task of the lesson where students are asked not to use the handout, but complete the same worksheets again using only the knowledge they acquired during the lecture, any help that was given to them, and the knowledge used on the worksheets. This lesson plan had the students to do the task that they were not able to do without help beforehand. This made it possible for the students to do the tasks after the assistance of the teacher and worksheets. This lesson plan used the zone of proximal development to its’ advantage and made the students learn things that they probably thought they were incapable of.
While the lesson plan had very strong aspects, we did notice a couple of things that could be done to improve it. Depending on if they had the students, the teacher could have put mastery models peers into the mix of every group. This person could have been the “leader” of the group and could have helped the incompetent and coping students. Although groups are good for self-efficacy with the students. Groups do not always help especially if there are many students struggling in the groups. If the teachers would have made better use of peer models, then the self-efficacy and environment of the classroom could have been higher.
The teacher also could have used a coping model. This is where the student struggles with the task but is able to pull through and succeed at it. This tactic of using coping modeling would help the students see that they are able to perform the task even if they struggle with the task. Again, this could increase their self-efficacy and help provide them with confidence to do the task. “Our student groups are often composed of a wide range of individuals with regard to previous practical experience and levels of theoretical understanding. It may be that they are quite accomplished performers with regard to their practical abilities on (for example) guitar, vocals or drums (where it is possible to function at quite a high level without really having to develop a "joined up" understanding of how melody and harmony "work") but that they have a non-existent or "patchy" level of understanding with regard to a working knowledge of music theory” (Lesson Plan, 4). In the lesson plan, they address that there is the possibility that the students are at different levels in music theory. The overall problem with this is that the creator of the lesson plan does not provide a specific way to help and guide these students. If the teacher could split them into groups and incorporate some of the knowledgeable students into groups with the less knowledgeable students this could increase the student’s overall learning and information intake.
The “Introductory Lesson Plan” utilized various key concepts of learning that provide students with the tools to be able to learn a new skill or concept or build on that skill or concept. Overall, the lesson plan could be a successful lesson if the teacher utilizes the students in their classroom and acknowledges each student’s strength and weakness. The lesson plan is organized in a way any learner or teacher could comprehend. It allows for clear instruction and learning in the classroom. The lesson has a few unsatisfactory components to it, but it enables the teacher who is using it to captivate their students in a lesson that will help build on knowledge or teach them new knowledge that they can use in future classes and outside of future classes. Any learner or teacher could comprehend. It allows for clear instruction and learning in the classroom. The lesson has a few unsatisfactory components to it, but it enables the teacher who is using it to captivate their students in a lesson that will help build on knowledge or teach them new knowledge that they can use in future classes and outside of future classes.
In this lesson, there are three expected outcomes; “1.) Students will be able to understand that notes have "names." 2.) They [students] will be able to develop the ability to identify any "natural" note with reference to a piano keyboard. 3.) They will be able to understand that notes to be found on the "black" keys can be assigned one of two "names" depending upon the circumstances” (Lesson Plan, 3). At the beginning of the lesson, the students are given a handout with a two-octave piano with all the note names filled out on it. They are then told that they do not need any musical experience to understand the material. From there, they are to spend some time talking about the handout in their peer groups. After, they have a full classroom discussion, the teacher makes the students aware of the fact that the white notes on the piano have an alphabetical sequence. Once the students show competency with the white key group, the teacher then discusses the black keys and enharmonics. When there is an indication of the students’ comprehension, the students receive the first worksheet out of three. The first worksheet is focused on the natural white keys. They are allowed to use the handout that was provided to them. After they finish the first worksheet, they are then given the second worksheet. This worksheet focuses on the black keys of the piano and the students are still allowed to use the handout that was given to them. Once they complete the two worksheet they are then given the same worksheets, this time not being able to look at the handout. This is the method in which is used to teach the lesson.
This lesson does an excellent job in teaching because it takes existing schemas of what students already know about music, and they will later have to assimilate and accommodate these schemas as the lesson progresses to successfully understand the material. In the first part of the lesson, they do a very nice job laying the groundwork. The teacher mentions two specific things in the lesson plan to raise the self-efficacy of their students. The teacher informs them that they do not need to have any background with pianos or music to understand this concept because that’s how easy it is to learn. This helps the students because they were given a piano handout, and some students, as you can imagine, were not familiar with music. The second moment of self-efficacy in the lesson plan is when the teacher makes the students discuss the piano handout in groups. They were all trying to decipher what was on the handout together, and that peer-to-peer connection helped the students because they realized that many people had not known about this material either.
Furthermore, this lesson provides students with the ability to process and memorize the material. The teacher not only has the students identify the note names and the placement on the piano, but the lesson also encourages the students to memorize their placement too. The teacher executes this by using rehearsal and maintenance of what they’ve learned. In the first couple of worksheets, the students are allowed to use the handout. They rehearse what they’ve learned by applying the concepts and answering the questions on the worksheet. We thought it was a very interesting choice that the third worksheet was the same as the first and second worksheet. By doing this, this helps the student retrieve the information they’ve already seen, and it continues to familiarize them with the concept, even if they are unable to remember it. By doing this, they are making the students use forced retrieval. Even if they may not exactly remember the notes, their memory and concept knowledge is strengthening by just thinking about it more. We thought that this was a good positive to the lesson plan.
Another strong aspect that was provided in this lesson was the ability to use a student’s zone of proximal development. The lesson plan uses the zone of proximal development in many ways during this specific lesson. The teacher lays out in the lesson plan that the students will learn using three different worksheets and use the handout provided to them about the keyboard. This practice is inside their zone of proximal development for the individual students in the class and the groups of students in the class. The worksheet provides prompts for the students to grasp the basics of the piano. The worksheets even lay out the concepts individually. The worksheets go from white keys, to black keys, then to a worksheet that incorporates all the keys on the piano. This use of multiple worksheets makes the students build their memory of the skills used to identify the keys on the piano and makes them do the task over so that they incorporate the knowledge into actual practice. This leads to the final task of the lesson where students are asked not to use the handout, but complete the same worksheets again using only the knowledge they acquired during the lecture, any help that was given to them, and the knowledge used on the worksheets. This lesson plan had the students to do the task that they were not able to do without help beforehand. This made it possible for the students to do the tasks after the assistance of the teacher and worksheets. This lesson plan used the zone of proximal development to its’ advantage and made the students learn things that they probably thought they were incapable of.
While the lesson plan had very strong aspects, we did notice a couple of things that could be done to improve it. Depending on if they had the students, the teacher could have put mastery models peers into the mix of every group. This person could have been the “leader” of the group and could have helped the incompetent and coping students. Although groups are good for self-efficacy with the students. Groups do not always help especially if there are many students struggling in the groups. If the teachers would have made better use of peer models, then the self-efficacy and environment of the classroom could have been higher.
The teacher also could have used a coping model. This is where the student struggles with the task but is able to pull through and succeed at it. This tactic of using coping modeling would help the students see that they are able to perform the task even if they struggle with the task. Again, this could increase their self-efficacy and help provide them with confidence to do the task. “Our student groups are often composed of a wide range of individuals with regard to previous practical experience and levels of theoretical understanding. It may be that they are quite accomplished performers with regard to their practical abilities on (for example) guitar, vocals or drums (where it is possible to function at quite a high level without really having to develop a "joined up" understanding of how melody and harmony "work") but that they have a non-existent or "patchy" level of understanding with regard to a working knowledge of music theory” (Lesson Plan, 4). In the lesson plan, they address that there is the possibility that the students are at different levels in music theory. The overall problem with this is that the creator of the lesson plan does not provide a specific way to help and guide these students. If the teacher could split them into groups and incorporate some of the knowledgeable students into groups with the less knowledgeable students this could increase the student’s overall learning and information intake.
The “Introductory Lesson Plan” utilized various key concepts of learning that provide students with the tools to be able to learn a new skill or concept or build on that skill or concept. Overall, the lesson plan could be a successful lesson if the teacher utilizes the students in their classroom and acknowledges each student’s strength and weakness. The lesson plan is organized in a way any learner or teacher could comprehend. It allows for clear instruction and learning in the classroom. The lesson has a few unsatisfactory components to it, but it enables the teacher who is using it to captivate their students in a lesson that will help build on knowledge or teach them new knowledge that they can use in future classes and outside of future classes. Any learner or teacher could comprehend. It allows for clear instruction and learning in the classroom. The lesson has a few unsatisfactory components to it, but it enables the teacher who is using it to captivate their students in a lesson that will help build on knowledge or teach them new knowledge that they can use in future classes and outside of future classes.