This course has been about using technology in the music classroom. However, one of our goals in teaching music to our students is to create Life-long musicians That means giving them the tools to be musicians without our continued assistance. So, your final project is to create a project for your students. It will include all of the Standards: Creating Music, Performing Music, Responding to Music, and Connecting to Music. It may be for individual students or small groups of students (no more than 5 in a group to ensure that all students participate equally); but, they must be able to do it without your assistance. All information must be available to them from your HUB. This will be a project that your students would be able to complete outside of class time over a period of time that you will set. Elementary music educators may want to prepare the project for their older students, since it is self-directed. 
Procedure  | Make a new page in your HUB called "Student Project" (be sure to call it that so I can find it ;-) | | On that page, you will give all instructions, required links, and a rubric for the assessment of their project. Part of your grade will be how easy your instructions are to follow, so be sure you use appropriate formatting (bullets or numbers where needed). Do not just attach a Word document(s) or PDFs. Your page should include: |
Project title: something more original and descriptive than "Student Project" Class/grade/individual or group: This will be an extension project from a specific class. If you assign the project for groups, specify how many in each group, and how groups are chosen. Remember, no more than 5 students per group. Objectives for the Student Project: You know how to do these by now! However, you will want to phrase them with personal pronouns, addressing the students as in : By the end of this project, you will know . . . and By the end of this project, you will be able to . . . Grading rubric: You will devise your own grading rubric. This will be your Assessment Evidence, so design it according to your stated objectives. See notes on Make Your Own Rubric below. Material list: Include anything the students will need to complete the project. Any materials you wish them to have must be attached or linked to your HUB, including scores, tests, forms, instructions, etc. They will not be allowed to give you anything in person. Be specific with the technology tools. Do not include anything that students would not actually have access to. For example, they cannot do individual projects using Finale if they do not reasonably have access to the software. No pretending here. For this project, we will assume that all of your students will have access to the internet. That will be the only assumption. Otherwise, consider your own reality and be creative! There are so many free programs and apps, so please search for the best technology tools for your students to use, rather than only the ones you already know about.
Activity list: Number the activities and describe them step-by-step. Students will only have access to your HUB, not to you, so be clear and complete in your instructions. On each step that includes the use of an internet link, include the link there. Do not just list "internet" in your instructions or "look it up in the help file." You can divide your activity list into sections if you like (much easier to follow that way). It may be by task or by time frame (Week 1, Week 2, for example) The goal is for your students to create original music, to perform music (they can perform their original creation or something else related to the project), to respond to music (again, to their own original creation or to other music related to the project), and then to connect the music both to personal meaning and to a cultural/social context. No part of the project may be carried out in class. Also, they are not allowed to use any school equipment or spaces that would require your presence for their use. They cannot ask you questions in the middle of the project (although you could set up a discussion board where they might answer each others' questions). The safest scenario to ensure that this is an independent project is to set it up as a summer project and pretend your will be in Tahiti with no internet!  In the spirit of a paper free environment, avoid the use of paper. This will encourage the use of technology tools and digital communication. You should instruct them in using the technology tools to complete their project. Do not assume that every student knows how to upload to YouTube or to use Audacity, etc. Even if you have used these tools with your students in the past, give them detailed instructions and/or provide them with links to instructions/videos. The students will also need to demonstrate their project in some way, so include that final activity (upload to YouTube or SoundCloud, to a Facebook page, Google docs, etc.) Remember that the project will mean more to the students if they are able to share it in some way, rather than just sending it to you for grading.
Final Checklist
| After completing your instructions, test your student project; that is, have someone else read it (preferably someone of that age) to make sure your instructions are clear and that the students would be able to complete the project on their own. Believe me, even with graduate students, I usually have to add more detail! | | Please read this "Final Project" page one more time in case you missed any instructions or in case I have added additional helps. Ask questions if you are not clear (which probably means I need to add more detail to my instructions on this page ;-) | | Consideration will be given to those who take some time to include apps and links that you haven't used before. I'm seeing some of the same technology tools used mostly, so broaden your experience! | | At the bottom of your Student Project page on your HUB, upload a Word document or PDF file of your complete project. You can copy and paste from your HUB, or you can type your project content into the Word document first and then paste it into your project page. The purpose of having the Word document is so your classmates will have the opportunity to save your project plan for their files. I know that you will come up with some terrific ideas that we all can use! |
Make Your Own Rubric This is the rubric you will use to assess your students' success in this project Include this rubric on your HUB for your students' assessment information You can model your rubric after the ones used in this course, or on the one on p. 139 of your textbook, or you may find one that is more suited to your age-group or project. If you put "music rubric" into a Google image search (or use a more specific search term), you can find hundreds of examples. There are also rubric-making sites and templates. Do not copy one exactly, or it surely will not fit your specific objectives, but you can find helpful wording. I suggest something like this for the shell: Criteria | Performance Indicators | Having Difficulty | Developing | Good | Excellent | Creating Music | | | Don't just leave these blocks blank - your students need to know specifically what constitutes "Good," etc. | You would fill in each block with an explanation of what you consider to be Excellent, Good, etc. in that particular area. | | | | | This section is for points. | Performing Music | | | | | | | | | | Responding to Music | | | | | | | | | | Connecting | | | | | | | | | |
Feel free to add additional criteria, but be sure that your rubric will assess all of the Standards. You may want to add criteria such as deadlines or participation or use of technology. You may use any point system, but your assessment should have some kind of numerical value, to allow a final score/grade. Note: Please try to place the rubric and all other materials directly on the HUB (not as Word docs or PDFs linked to your HUB). |
