Part 1: Analyze Learners
Instructor: Neil Nelson
Grade: 9-12
Subject Area: Music Appreciation
General Characteristics
32 students are enrolled in this course. The students vary greatly in terms of age and ability level. The youngest students in the class are high school freshmen, approximately 14 years of age. The student population could largely be classified as middle to low socioeconomic status. The oldest student is almost 19 years of age, having repeated at least two grades in high school. Several students have learning disabilities as documented on IEP and Section 504 plans. A review of prior grades reveals that very few students would be classified as high achieving. Surveys distributed at the beginning of the school year show that the vast majority of students in this class did not enroll of their own accord. Many were placed in this course in order to fill their class schedule. The others largely selected this class to receive a fine arts credit towards college acceptance. As a result, teacher observation reveals that students exhibit a high degree of overall apathy towards the course content as many did not select this elective out of personal interest in the subject matter. Classroom behavior is generally acceptable most of the time, but a small number of students refuse to complete any work. Class activities that are interactive in nature and incorporate technology and other media are generally more successful than paper/pencil tasks such as seatwork or note taking.
Entry Competencies
The students in general are able to do the following:
The students have shown a greater ability to learn new material when it incorporates some form of visual media. The use of videos as an instructional method has been more successful than audio forms of media such as music recordings, as evident from higher rates of student participation in these activities. The integration of computers and technology has been limited at this point due to scheduling conflicts with the school labs, but prior experience teaching this class leads this instructor to conclude that projects incorporating technology typically lead to higher rates of student participation. As this group reflects the typical makeup of the class, it is logical to assume that this would be the same for this group of students as well. Creative projects in which the students are tasked with creating some sort of visual representation of their work (such as visual notes or an illustrated timelines) also are effective to their learning styles. Very few students demonstrate a preference for learning via reading texts and responding in written form.
Grade: 9-12
Subject Area: Music Appreciation
General Characteristics
32 students are enrolled in this course. The students vary greatly in terms of age and ability level. The youngest students in the class are high school freshmen, approximately 14 years of age. The student population could largely be classified as middle to low socioeconomic status. The oldest student is almost 19 years of age, having repeated at least two grades in high school. Several students have learning disabilities as documented on IEP and Section 504 plans. A review of prior grades reveals that very few students would be classified as high achieving. Surveys distributed at the beginning of the school year show that the vast majority of students in this class did not enroll of their own accord. Many were placed in this course in order to fill their class schedule. The others largely selected this class to receive a fine arts credit towards college acceptance. As a result, teacher observation reveals that students exhibit a high degree of overall apathy towards the course content as many did not select this elective out of personal interest in the subject matter. Classroom behavior is generally acceptable most of the time, but a small number of students refuse to complete any work. Class activities that are interactive in nature and incorporate technology and other media are generally more successful than paper/pencil tasks such as seatwork or note taking.
Entry Competencies
The students in general are able to do the following:
- Operate school owned computers in the computer lab
- Find information when prompted in the class textbook
- Utilize basic verbal communication in English to respond to questions from the teacher. Responses vary wildly in quality and ability to express thoughts.
- Utilize basic written communication in English to respond to questions from the teacher. Responses range from very poor command of basic functions of English to above average command of the English language and ability to express thoughts.
The students have shown a greater ability to learn new material when it incorporates some form of visual media. The use of videos as an instructional method has been more successful than audio forms of media such as music recordings, as evident from higher rates of student participation in these activities. The integration of computers and technology has been limited at this point due to scheduling conflicts with the school labs, but prior experience teaching this class leads this instructor to conclude that projects incorporating technology typically lead to higher rates of student participation. As this group reflects the typical makeup of the class, it is logical to assume that this would be the same for this group of students as well. Creative projects in which the students are tasked with creating some sort of visual representation of their work (such as visual notes or an illustrated timelines) also are effective to their learning styles. Very few students demonstrate a preference for learning via reading texts and responding in written form.