TECHNOLOGY PROJECT SUMMARY

Percussion Ensemble Class

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This project had students record their group performances of their novelty piece, ​Cupla Cups​,
and then those video recordings were then played for the whole class. The students then used a
rubric via google form created by me to evaluate each of the three performances. This rubric
was comprised of five performance captions (tempo maintenance, rhythmic accuracy, etc.) where
they were instructed to rate the performances on a scale of 1 to 5, and then they were instructed
to answer two questions: “What did the group do well?” and “What can the group improve
upon?” This feedback was then sent to each member of the groups and were instructed to use it
during their next sectional rehearsal.

PROJECT OUTCOME SUMMARY

The students really enjoyed being able to see an evaluate all of the group performances, and they
now have a clearer idea of what needs to be worked on. There was more open conversation
between students about how to improve certain aspects of the performances, and it really opened
the floor for productive conversations. The students have been given the feedback from the
google forms, and they are using it during their rehearsals which is neat to see. They have even
come to me and asked me to monitor specific things during their performances which they
otherwise may have been unaware of. This has allowed them to really narrow their focus during
rehearsals which is making them more productive. Instead of just running through the piece,
they are now hitting certain spots and working on one concept at a time.

MODIFICATIONS/ACCOMMODATIONS

In my percussion class, I have two students with IEPs, and the biggest barrier was the musical
language. My student with ASD actually asked me if it was in spanish because there were words
on there that he did not recognize such as “tempo maintenance” because he is not used to seeing
those words on a screen. Typically, he does not ever need my help except to focus, so I did not
even think to give him any guidance with the google form. It only took a minute or two to give
him clarification, and then he continued on his own without a problem. My other student with an
IEP had no issues with using the google form and did really well in his group’s performance.
Both students enjoyed using technology and really benefited from seeing their performances.
One of them even made a comment that he saw himself doing things that he did not even realize
he was doing which is fantastic. If I had to modify this lesson, I would have maybe done the
recording and the viewings on different days. It took up a lot of time to do it all in one day, and I
feel we should have moved onto something else. I also waited for all students to submit their
evaluations before we watched the next video which also caused a lot of dead time which of
course caused distractions and a little chaos. I should have given then about five minutes, and
then moved one and allowed the others to continue working while they viewed the next video.
However, I think that would have affected their ability to give feedback to either group (the
previous or the current), so either option would have sacrificed a component of the project.