Lesson plan with multiple streams
Found in: Coaches, Practicing & Playlists, Student Management, Time Management
Kym N., California
There’re so many great supplemental programs available even for Level 1 now. I start to feel that it is very tight during lessons to use some of those supplemental programs when we already have variations/arrangement, and composition/improvisation.
I would really love to give the students a great program that like no other place can give.
I am thinking if we can first train the students (matured/experienced students-by that I don’t mean by age) how to learn the foundation pieces from the student videos, when they mastered learning those using the videos at home, we can give them a foundation video assignment to learn at home prior to the lesson. When they come back the next week, we can enrich them with improvisation, composition, arrangement, variation, and duets….etc. For the foundation pieces, we just need to reinforce and trouble shoot.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
I understand your thinking on that. However, I think it would be easy to lose sight of the main purpose of the first few foundation levels, which is to equip students with a body of playing-based tools and to ensure that they are conscious of those tools. Neil does address some of the tools on the student videos, but it’s really up to the teacher to make sure students are learning and processing the songs in playing-based mode and really understand those tools.
Also, I’m thinking of Neil’s diagram of a square with a circle drawn inside which touches the middle edged of the square. The entire square represents the lesson content, with the circle portion (which is the bulk) representing foundation and the small corners representing auxiliary streams. Now, I don’t know if that can shift at all with the release of all the newer programs. The main idea was that foundation should be front and center in the beginning stages.
I’ve thought about this issue as well, because there ARE so many great programs available. A different approach might be to set expectations a bit differently from the beginning – e.g. “Levels 1 and 2 will take approximately 4 – 6 months each to complete” (vs. 3-4 months). Then plan extra programs within that time frame.
You could use your idea, but with one of the special programs being the one that they do more from home, where applicable. If there are instructional audio files, for example, you could just take a few minutes in class to clarify, then assign more from the audio at home.
Hi Laurie, Thanks for the sharing your insights. I hope over time, I am able to manage the lesson time better. I like your idea about having one of the special programs being the one that they do more from home. Well, the foundation pieces are usually easier to learn by self than the streams and supplement program though.Kym N., California
Julia B., California
This is a great topic, and I have thought the same thing at times. I agree with you, Kym, the Foundation pieces are the easiest to learn at home from the video for the first couple of levels. I have some concerns about that, though:
- In my experience, that’s when students and parents are most likely to see the Foundation Levels as just “learning the next piece” the way you would in a traditional program. I really spend a lot of class time talking about the tools and strategies that go along with those pieces to keep that front and center. If they don’t have a clear sense that these pieces are primarily about building a tool kit, then they will probably maintain the piece but forget the tools, or even lose a piece because they are focused on “moving on”. (That can happen anyway!)
- During the first couple of levels I am establishing my “rules”. One of the big ones is that they never move ahead on the video without permission. If parents start feeling in charge of the learning from the video, I suspect that rule could be harder to enforce. (I say this from my own experience as a parent! When my kids learn something super fast, it is so easy to feel tempted to move on the next segment!)
- In group classes, I already have kids learning at different paces. I think some families would do a great job learning at home independently, and others wouldn’t. It’s not such a big deal if they are all at different spots in a supplemental program, but I would want to avoid a situation where student A comes in playing a song perfectly, student B didn’t understand a segment of the video and didn’t finish, and Student C misunderstood something & has been playing something incorrectly all week. Now my class time is spent re-teaching or correcting, student A has nothing to do, and I don’t have time to get to supplemental programs anyway….
Having said that, I do have one family that is its own group and the mom totally understands the program, and plays herself. I usually let them learn a piece or two over the summer when I’m on vacation, or maybe finish a piece we started from the video over Christmas break. They have done fine with that. It’s not the norm for me, though.
The other thing I have just noticed, is that, while I am excited about all these programs and keep trying to “pack it all in”, I have had 3 families say to me this year that they would be happy with less! That was an eye opener to me! Most of my kids love learning the new Foundation pieces the best, and too many other projects can make them feel overwhelmed at times.
Thanks for raising a great topic!