Yes,WeTestToo:AssessmentintheMiddleSchoolChoralClassroomERICJOHNSON

UNIVERSITY OFMISS ISS IPPI

WESTVIRGINIA ACDACONFERENCE

JANUARY27, 2017

Howdidwegethere?•SomehowoverthelastfewyearsthewordASSESSMENThasbecomeawordthathascreptintoourclassroomsandstrikesfearnotonlyintheheartsofstudents,butalsothatofTeachers.

•Asassessmentpracticeschangewithintheschoolhowdowefindawaytoberelevantandnotbecome“TheChoralClassroomLeftBehind”?

•Assessmentscanbequick,easy,andpainfreeifyouplanaheadandthinkaboutit.

•Assessmentsalsohelpstudentstoknowthattheywillbeheldaccountablefortheknowledgetheygaininourclasses.

FivePrinciplesforEffectiveClassroomAssessment1. Ensurethatassessmentserveslearning2. Usemultiplemeasures3. Alignassessmentstogoals4. Measurewhatmatters5. Ensurethatassessmentsarefairandequitable

fromCoreLearning:AssessingwhatMattersMostbyJayMcTighe

QuickQuizSheet•Paperandpencilarethetraditionalstandardwhenitcomestoassessments.

•Sincechoralclassesareoftenlargerthangeneralclassesitcantakeatremendousamountoftimetogradepaperandpenciltests.

•Ratherthengivealarge80questiontest,InowgivemorefrequentQuickQuizzeswhereIdisplayquestionsonmyboardandtheyansweronthesheet.

•Ithencollect,grade,andreturnwhenitstimeforthenextquiz.

DryEraseBoards•DryEraseboardshavebecomefarmoreofaneconomicalpurchaseoverthelastfewyears.Howeverinourlargeclassestheycantakeupatremendousamountofspace.

•Tosolvethespaceissue,andtosavemoney,Ipurchasedheavyweightsheetprotectorsandinsertedwhitecardstock.Thiscreatesaninstantdryeraseboard.

•Ialsopurchaseddryerasemarkersinbulk(getthegoodkind),andsimplewhite“boys”socks.Themarkerlivesinsidethesockandthesockbecomestheeraser.

•Thesheetprotectorsalsoallowforadditionalformsofassessmentbecauseyoucaninsertrhythm,andmelodictemplatesintothesheetprotectors.Youcan’tdothatonadryeraseboard.

DryEraseBoardActivities•WhiteCardstock: Functionsasatraditionaldryeraseboardwheretheycaneasilyanswermultiplechoiceorshortanswerquestionswhileyouquicklyscantheroom.•SingleLineStaff: Useapagewithasinglestafflineonitforstudentstocomposeoneortwomeasurerhythmpatterns.Havestudentsworktopairtheirrhythmwithcomplimentaryrhythmstocreateacompositionforthewholeclasstoperform.Thiscanalsobeusedforrhythmicdictation.•FiveLineStaff: Similarinconcepttothesingleline,Ihavestudentscomposeonemeasuremelodicpatternsandthentheypairuptocreatecompositionsforclassperformance.•Placeeachdifferenttemplateonadifferentcoloredcardstocktohelpstudentsquicklylocatethem.

DryEraseActivitiesEarTraining

•Singapatternonneutralsyllables.•Havethestudentscolorinthecorrespondingsquaresthatmatchthesolfegesyllablestheyheard.•Haveyoungerstudentscrossouttherowsthatyouwillnotbeusingtohelpthemgetusedtotheconcept.•Foradvancedstudentsincludeafivelinestaffforthemtothenwriteitoutasamelodicdictationexercise.

AssessmentGames•Password: StandatthedoorwithastackofRhythmorMelodiccards.Eachstudentgetsadifferentcardtofunctionastheirpassword.Iftheygotthepasswordcorrecttheytakethecardtotheirseat,iftheydidn’tgetitrightIhavethemstandbesidemeandstudythecarduntiltheyarereadytotrythepasswordagain.

•Kahoot: Thisisadigitaldevicebasedmultiplechoicegame.Studentsearnpointsforbeingabletoanswerinatimelymanner.InormallyuseKahoottoreviewtermsorsonglyrics.Youcanalsouploadimagestotestnotenames.TaketimetoexplorethepublicKahoot’sthatotherteachershavemade.

AssessmentGamesJenga

•StudentslovetoplayJenga becauseitisfunandloud.

•Numbereachjengablock.Haveeachnumbercorrespondtoanassessmentitemthatcanbedisplayedontheboard.Theyanswerthequestiontogetapointfortheirteam.

•Ihaveusedrhythmandmelodicpatternstheyhavetoperformandnotenames.

•Itworksmucheasierwhenyoumakethelargejengablocksinsteadofthesmalltraditionaljenga.

TeacherChecklistRubrics•Rubricshelptotaketheguessworkoutofassessment.•Thischecklistprovidesasimpleyes/nooptionforevaluationtogivestudentsfeedbackbeforealargersummativeassessment.Italsogivesyoutheabilitytotrackstudentgrowthinquickdocumentedglances.•Pre-printtherubricsandhavenamesofstudentsontherubricbeforetheassessmentbegins.Thiscanbedonebywritinginadvance,orusingmailinglabelsaffixedtothechecklists.•Doafewstudentsatatime,andbesuretomakeitrandom.Theyshouldnotserveasa“gotcha”formofassessment.(ex.TommyisoutofhischairsoIwilldohistoday)•Besurethestudentsareallowedtoseetherubricandtheirassessmentgrade.Therubricswillonlybeeffectiveifstudentsreceivefeedbackandhavetheopportunitytoself-correctbeforethenextassessment.•Thegoalismastery,sofeelfreetore-assessandreplacegradesasneeded.

TeacherChecklistRubrics

TeacherChecklistRubrics

TeacherChecklistRubrics

TeacherChecklistRubrics

StudentsAssessingOtherStudents•Oursingersneedtobeabletoassesseachother.Iworktofindwaystoallowmystudentstolearnfromeachotherinapositivelight.

•Eachdayastudentcomposesourrhythmicsight-reading.TheydothiswhileIamtakingroleandworkingthroughwarm-upssoitisreadybythetimewearereadyfortheliteracyportionofrehearsal.• Asagroupwetalkthroughanyerrorstheremightbeandhowwecouldimprovethem.IFastudenthasmultipleerrors,IusuallytelltheclassthatIhadthatstudentgivethema“fake”exercisesowecouldworkonfindingerrors.Ineverwantastudenttofeelscaredtocompose.

•OncewearewellintoourmusicIwillhavemystudentsassesaperformanceofthesongperformedbyanotherchoir.IoftenturntoYouTubeasthereareaplethoraofgood,andnot-so-goodperformancesonYouTube.

StudentsAssessingOtherStudents

SingingTests•Singingtestsaretheoriginalformofassessmentforthechoralclassroomandnothingstruckfearinayoung,andpresentday,EricJohnsonthanthewordsingingtest.EspeciallysingingQuartettests!•Thisfearcarriesoninsomesingersforalifetime,andcouldpotentiallybewhatkeepsthemfromsingingbeyondschoolchoirs.•Singingtestscanalsobetimeconsumingifyouhavelargerchoralprograms.Evenwhentheyaredoneinsmallgroupssomestudentsarestillabletoslipthroughthecracksandnotreallybeheard.•Digitaldeviceshavechangedhowteachersconductsingingtests.Itisnoweasierandfastertoassessstudentvocalgrowthandhelpthemmaintainadigitallibraryoftheirownrecordings.•Creatingadigitalarchivealsoallowsyoutohavedocumentationtofullysupportanygradesthataregiven.

MySingingTests•StudentsuseaGoogleChromebookthattheyareissuedbytheschoolsystem.

•www.online-voice-recorder.com

•TheentiresectionsingsbutwitheachstudentgettinganindividualrecordingontotheChromebook.Fortysingingtestscompletedinthetimeofone.

•ThefileisautomaticallysavedintotheirpersonalGoogleDriveandthenthestudentssharethefilewithmeforgrading.

•ManyteachersarenowutilizingGoogleClassroomforthisverything.

GettingStarted•Chooseonlyoneortwotypesofassessmentstoimplementsoasnottogetoverwhelmed.•Beconsistentinyourusage.•Avoidnegativeusesofassessments(i.e.punishment)•MusicreadingassessmentsdoesNOThavetomeanafull“all-state”stylesightreadingexam.Startsimpleandgrowinlengthastimeprogresses.•Alittlebitoffungoesalongway.

WhereDoesThisLead?•Improvedcurriculumimplementation•Pathwaysofunderstandingfornon-musicians,administrators,andparentsaboutwhatyourcontributionstotheoveralldevelopmentofeachstudentinyourclass•Increasedstudentownershipoftheireducation•Bettersingers•Lifelongmusicappreciators

EricG.Johnson

Conductor,Educator,andMusician

UniversityofMississippi

PhDStudent

egjohnson@triad.rr.com

www.egjohnson.webs.com