Focus Students Information

● Student A
○ Student A has been diagnosed with ADHD. They have difficulty concentrating in class
for long periods of time and are more prone to getting distracted. When off-task, they
sometimes act out or make jokes to disrupt other students.
○ This student requires cognitive and social accommodations within my instruction. I will
need to be mindful to include short mental breaks and keep from continuing for too long
when students are inactive or immobile. At times, I may need to separate them from the
group temporarily so that they may not purposefully distract their classmates, while still
ensuring they receive the material.
● Student B
○ Student B is on the autism spectrum, though more precise details are unknown to me.
They are emotionally sensitive, require an above average amount of time to complete
physical tasks, and are sensitive to loud noises.
○ This student requires emotional and physical accommodations within my instruction. I
will make allowances for them to sit and take short breaks when they begin to feel
overwhelmed. I will also end my instruction with enough time before the bell such that
Student B can put away his things and be on time to his next class.
Pre-Assessment Data
● Assessment method: Note identification worksheet
○ The first part of this worksheet is a blank staff with treble clef. Students write the note
names in blanks next to the lines and spaces.
○ The second part of this worksheet is a picture of one octave of keyboard bars. Students
write the letter names of the natural notes on the bars.
○ This worksheet is designed to help me know students’ comprehension of this set-up
material. Strategies for quick note identification and connecting what they read to their
instrument will be vital when starting to read songs out of the book.

Pre-Assessment Worksheet Rubric:

Name Treble clef letter Keyboard letter Overall % Score
names (9 possible names (8 possible (# of correct answers
points) points) out of 17)

Student 1 9 5 (skipped G) 82.35%

Student 2 9 8 100%

Student 3 9 8 100%

Student 4 9 8 (missed top C) 94.12%

Student 5 9 8 100%

Student 6 9 8 100%

Student 7 9 13 (labeled accidentals) 129.41%

Student 8 9 0 (each were one off) 52.94%

Focus A 9 8 100%

Focus B 9 8 100%

● What do these data mean for instruction during the unit?

○ The data gathered here means that the preparatory lesson on note identification and the
lines of the staff was fairly successful; everyone was pretty close. This is especially true
for the first half of the worksheet, in which no one missed any points. This makes me
believe that the mnemonics for the lines and spaces were effective for them. This
worksheet was for me to check that these concepts were solid before going on, seeing as
how this will be an essential part of reading music in the near future.
○ I’m using this data only to get a general idea of the effectiveness of my instruction up to
this point, as well as the level of prior knowledge with which the students are arriving.
For something like this, it would not be fair of me to turn these percentages into tangible
 grades. Most students got a hundred percent, because if they knew the patterns well
enough, they would have been able to extrapolate every answer from only one starting
note. On the flip side, getting off somewhere leads to the errors stacking as with Student
8, even though they were following the alphabetical order they were supposed to. I don’t
see these percentages as hard science, but they’re useful to get an overall grasp of their
understanding. Going forward, this means they have a solid foundation upon which I can
teach.
● What do these data mean for instruction for the Focus Students during the unit?
○ This data doesn’t tell me much about the two Focus Students specifically, other than
confirming they (so far) don’t have much difficulty with the material. For both of them,
their ability to understand the coursework is not my primary concern. Rather, it’s their
ability to follow classroom procedures and manage their emotional and social challenges,
although their particular challenges are quite different from one another.
Formative Assessment Data
● Assessment method - song playing test
● Students pick one of the four pieces to play individually, and will be assessed based on note
accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, and steadiness of time.
○ Their four choices are: “Hot Bundt Cakes,” “Lamb Chops,” “Beethoven’s Joy,” and
“Dreidel Spinning Top.” Students are encouraged to choose whichever song they feel
confident with and enjoy playing.
○ Students can play at whatever tempo they’re comfortable playing, though it will be noted
if they play significantly faster or slower than what was practiced in class.
○ The playing test will be scored but not officially graded. However, if the student receives
a score they are satisfied with, they can opt out of playing that song for their graded
playing test at the end of the unit.
○ The playing test will not be a surprise. Students will have multiple days to prepare.
Name Song chosen Note accuracy (5 Rhythm Overall %
points possible accuracy, steady (10 points total)
pulse (5 points
possible)

Student 1 Lamb Chops 4 3 70%

Student 2 Beethoven’s Joy 5 5 100%

Student 3 Hot Bundt Cakes 4 4 80%

Student 4 Beethoven’s Joy 5 5 100%

Student 5 Beethoven’s Joy 4 5 90%

Student 6 Lamb Chops 5 4 90%

Student 7 Dreidel Spinning 5 5 100%

Top

Student 8 Hot Bundt Cakes 3 5 80%

Focus A Beethoven’s Joy 4 5 90%

Focus B Lamb Chops 2 3 50%

● How did the data from these formative assessments impact learning during the unit?
○ I let the students choose which of the four songs they wanted to play. If they did well
enough, they wouldn’t have to do that one on their actual unit assessment. While they
played I assessed the accuracy of their notes, rhythm, and tempo consistency. After
everyone went, I took some notes of broader technique issues that I saw; generally
speaking, if multiple people had the same error then it’s something I should address. For
example, a few students were playing an E natural in the key of Bb major. They’re
 getting to the point where they may forget the fundamentals once things start to seem
complicated, and in this case I think awareness of key signatures was one such casualty.
Anyways, this just gives me a reason to go back and review certain things.
○ I also took note of which songs got selected and by which students. Predictably, the
students who usually had the most difficulty in class chose the easier songs to play. I was
completely prepared for that possibility. Conversely, almost everyone shied away from
“Dreidel Spinning Top,” confirming for me that they saw it as the most difficult. There’s
some time before their real playing test on every song, so I used this formative
assessment to gauge which ones they were most and least comfortable with. The ones
they didn’t want to play today would get the most focus between now and then.
● How did the data from these formative assessments impact Focus Student Learning during the
unit?
○ Playing tests can be stressful for certain students. I did this assessment at the end of a
class period, repeatedly trying to stress that this isn’t for a grade if you don’t want it to be.
I had thought downplaying the seriousness of the assessment would balance out the fact
that the whole class listened to each other play by themselves.Even so, the thought of
playing alone for others to watch and critique can be anxiety-inducing, depending on the
type of student. Focus Student B seemed to really struggle with this type of assessment,
and if I had known how difficult it would be I likely wouldn’t have asked them to do it in
front of the class. Their playing was tepid and they looked slightly shaken. Judging their
performance by the same criteria as the others, they received the lowest score despite
playing a song the class was more familiar with. It’s hard for me to judge if they were
anxious because of everyone watching, or if it had more to do with the extra noise from
other students throwing off their concentration. As much as I tried to get the rest of the
class to be a good audience, there was still some talking going on and Focus Student B is
frequently sensitive to noise. It’s band, so there will be playing tests, but in the future
we’ll look for ways to accommodate their needs.
Post-Assessment Data
● Assessment method - playing test
● Students play all four songs from the formative assessment, rather than just one of their choice.
They are evaluated on the same criteria.
● These scores are entered in the gradebook.

Name Hot Bundt Lamb Chops Beethoven’s Dreidel Overall %

Cakes (10 (10 points) Joy (10 Spinning Top Average
points) points) (10 points)

Student 1 10 9 10 7 90%

Student 2 10 10 10 10 100%

Student 3 10 10 10 8 95%

Student 4 10 10 9 9 95%

Student 5 10 10 10 10 100%

Student 6 10 9 10 9 95%

Student 7 10 10 10 10 100%

Student 8 10 9 9 8 90%

Focus A 10 10 10 9 97.5%

Focus B 10 7 9 6 80%

● What does these data mean for learning during the unit?
○ Overall the data shows this unit was very successful. In fairness it was a fairly long time
spent working on these songs. I believe their understanding of the music was
strengthened by their maintained familiarity with it over a long stretch of time.
● What does these data mean for learning for the Focus Students during the unit?
○ Focus Student A was, as far as I could tell, fairly unbothered about playing for others.
That’s not to say they didn’t try - I could tell they was genuinely trying - but that
environment of being in front of others and performing alone wasn’t a big issue to them. I
made accommodations for them on occasion when they were being particularly spacey,
but that has more to do with my classroom management strategies. While having a bit of
an attitude sometimes, they were rarely intentionally disruptive.
○ Focus Student B, while playing noticeably better than in the previous assessment, still
showed a level of stiffness and shyness that is difficult to overcome. When offered the
option to play for me in a practice room with no other spectators, they said that wasn’t
 necessary. I know them pretty well by now, so I mean when I say he would have
performed better and gotten a better score if he had taken that opportunity. However, it
was still his choice to do it this way. This prompted me to think more deeply about
whether students know what’s best for themselves.
● For future instruction, what have you learned about how students learn and the efficacy of your
instructional style? What would you change, if anything?
○ Based on my interaction with Focus Student B about not taking the accommodation
option for their playing test, this seems like something I want to consider in my career. I
intend to teach students how to advocate for themselves and that it’s okay to do so in my
classroom, although I’m still working on how to phrase it in a way students won’t take
advantage of unnecessarily. Still, if it means sparing anxiety for kids who already have
plenty, I’ll usually take that option. Teaching this unit also made me more aware of when
I’m singling out somebody, the anxiety they can feel being put on the spot, and the ways I
can alter my approach and tone to make those situations easier to handle.