I continued on reading the Woolfolk text. Chapter four talks about students with any kind of disability whether it be an intellectual disorder, mental illness, or issues like depression and drug problems. The chapter explains what hurdles a teacher might have to overcome to asses and help students with disabilities to better the learning process. This chapter resonated with me because I have taught students with disability. I have had/still have a number of students with autism. What’s interesting to me is even though these kids have a disability most have a knack for music. So, I’m really interested in teaching methods to help approach a child with special needs and instill a passion for music.
Chapter five talks about linguistics and dual language students and again what hurdles a teacher might have to overcome when dealing with students as English their second language. One thing that is mentioned that I thought was most important was that it is difficult for a student to learn a second language and also it takes time. The chapter goes over Milestones of early childhood language and ways to encourage development (Woolfolk Pg. 173) This got me thinking a bit about how language is associated with music. Say there was a scenario where I have a group pf students that never had music class and don’t speak English very well. What I could do as a teacher is make a song with the lyrics in their first language so they can participate in a song. Then maybe after they learn that we can change the lyrics to English. This might help identify, using music, how words are related. And it can also help with singing and learning about music. This is just one example of what might happen dealing with language and teaching music in the classroom.
Chapter six talks about cultural and diversity in the classroom and how cultural differences can impact education. They touched on how culture can have a negative impact on the learning process. They have four examples of students all from different class and social situations and show how each one can affect education. (Woolfolk Pg. 211-213) The chapter discusses stereotyping and prejudice. In the text, the reason student from different cultures other than white are because of cultural mismatching. (Woolfolk Pg. 222) Because there are prominently white teachers there is this gap between language and culture that is happening. What I thought about during this chapter is with every culture there is music. So, I feel it’s up to me as a teacher to interconnect different worlds and cultures with the power of music. They also talk about community and family partnership. (Woolfolk Pg. 239) Music is a part of community. It is a part of family. I think building those relationships in music can break the boundaries of culture and act as a glue for the human spirit.
Chapter eight goes on to talk about the brain and cognitive learning. A few points that stuck out to me were one being the fact that people who read music have larger parts of their brain because they use that part more. I think that is why music is important and should stay in schools because it does promote cognitive development and overall can make a child more susceptible to learning. The chapter also goes into short-term and long-term memory. When I think of memory and music I think of muscle memory also another important skill for a child develop that can attribute to cognitive development. This chapter also talks about mnemonic devices. (Woolfolk Pg. 316) I as a music teacher use mnemonic devices all the time. At the basics of reading music with Every Good Boy Does Fine and FACE. Mnemonic devices are a way to create long lasting way to help increase long lasting knowledge in music. There is even a whole systematic approach to associating syllables words and rhythm that can help students understand the sometimes-complex attributes of music in a way they can understand. Like using the word Pine-ap-ple for triplets in music and Piz-za for eight notes.
These readings definitely opened my eyes and got me think about teaching methods and strategies as well as being aware of my surroundings for the future of my teaching career.
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