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I think that this is the most important tool for a music teacher's formative assessment. On my placement, I made notes for each class which documented my strategies that either worked well or did not as well as areas for each piece that the students might need focus on. This helped me evaluate the effectiveness of my teaching practices as well as keep track of specific skills or areas in each piece that students need to focus on in upcoming lessons. Some examples of things I would write down were: tempo changes (Did I count in too fast or too slow?), fermattas and cut-offs (Were they clear? Were the students able to follow my conducting?), effectiveness of my strategy (Was it effective? If not, what should I try next class to be more effective?).

For assessing the students' progress, I would write down notes of specific sections that might need work, rhythms or pitches they were struggling with, tuning issues, or overall expression of the piece. In each music class we would usually play at least 3 pieces and each piece is for the most part broken up into eight bar sections so having this external reference became invaluable and made the planning phase much easier and more effective.

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This is a formative assessment strategy that I have adapted from my classes in University to be suitable for music. The students are each given a white board (or put into pairs/groups (depending on the availability of white boards). The teacher will either clap or play a rhythm 2 or 3 times and the students are asked to write down the rhythm in notation on their white boards and hold it up. This can also be done with interval identification (identifying the distance between two notes). In this case, the teacher plays the interval and the students write down the name. For example the teacher plays a minor second and the students write 'm2'. This enables the teacher to get feedback on the overall understanding and musicianship of the students. It also enables the students to get direct feedback on whether they are correct in a format that does not single them out or embarrass them. Another beneficial aspect of this activity is that the students are able to practice writing notated music (in the rhythm exercise) which I think helps make broader connections and schemas for the understanding of music notation.

One thing that I observed during my placement was the very large discrepancy between students in their musicianship abilities. When I was marking the ear training test that I designed, I found that people were either getting %80 to %100 or completely failing. I realized that it was a bit unfair to make students take a test in this way without giving them the ability to practice it. Ear training is like any other skill and needs to be practiced to gain proficiency. Even though the students were playing and and hearing those note and rhythm patterns everyday; they lacked the ability to translate those skills for the listening test. This activity allows the students to develop their musicianship skills and provides the teacher with feedback on areas of need before testing them.

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This is a rhythm exercise that I created during my placement to help the students with 6/8 time. They were struggling to play a section of a piece I was introducing called “Queen in Concert”. It is a medley piece that changes tempo and time signature. They were struggling with the last section in 6/8 time. I analyzed and wrote down all of the various rhythms in 3 beat sections (half a bar) in black marker on blank pieces of paper. This enabled me to display different combinations of two 3 beat rhythm patterns that covered every 6 beat rhythm pattern they needed to learn.

I used the large conductor's music stand to display the two pieces of paper (each with a different 3 beat pattern) to the class. I started with the simple patterns and then gradually switched out the pieces of paper to display more difficult rhythms.

I asked the half the class to tap the beat on their legs and the other half to clap the rhythm I had displayed in this way:

-Each note is a clap

-If the note is more than one beat; hold your hands together for the duration of the note

-A rest is shown by moving your hands apart with palms up for the duration of the rest

I displayed each combination until both halves of the class were clapping the right pattern. If a large majority was struggling with the specific combination I would clap it with them. They were getting direct auditory feedback from listening to each other as well as visual feedback from me if when needed by watching my hands. This strategy worked well to get them comfortable with 6/8 time and could be easily adapted for other time signatures and different levels of difficulty.

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This strategy involves co-creating a rubric for analyzing and assessing the qualities of a good musical performance.

First we have a discussion about what makes a performance good. For example: is it in tune? Is the tempo consistent? Is it rhythmically together? Are there any blatantly wrong notes? How expressive is the phrasing?

Once we have discussed and made a list of the qualities that make a good performance, we create a Word Web on the board. The main circles will be: Expression, Rhythm, Tone, and Pitch. Then we connect the list of qualities that we just brainstormed to those categories. For example, in the category of Rhythm we could add: good tempo (too fast or slow), consistent tempo (speeding up or slowing down), tightness (are the sections together?), rhythmic articulations (are they accurate?) etc.

Using this web as a guide, we co-create (with guidance) a rubric for assessing and comparing two performances of the same piece.
The piece chosen will be one that the students have been working on and are familiar with so that they can follow along with their music in front of them. The two performances will be high school level performances similar to the level and expectations of the class. The rubric will consist of those main categories mentioned above and contain the aspects of the sub categories to varying degrees. For example, a level 3 for rhythm could be: tempo is suitable, there is some speeding up or slowing down, most articulations are heard, individual sections of instruments sound together with some minor discrepancies.

This is a beneficial strategy because it opens up discussion and critical thought about the qualities of a good performance. It forces students to actively listen to the song that they are working on from an outside perspective and gives them more concrete ideas of how they can improve the overall sound of the piece.

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This model for playing tests was suggested to me by my faculty liaison (a retired music teacher) as an alternative to the standard one on one (teacher – student) method. Playing tests are necessary to assess individual students on their progress but can be disruptive and time consuming; usually spanning multiple classes and taking up valuable conductor guided rehearsal time. This is a model which makes use of simple recording technology and also allows students to get peer feedback.

The students have their required material for the test (for example a B flat major scale) and are each given a rubric for assessing their assigned partner. One student plays while the other records a video (on a phone or laptop) and fills out the assessment rubric. The rubrics are handed in and the videos are uploaded to an online platform for the teacher to mark. The teacher can also assess the students' rubrics and give marks for accurate evaluations.

The advantage of the peer assessment rubric is that students are actively listening to the performance and critically thinking about the objectives of the test which they can then apply to their own performance. The rubric makes the criteria on which the students are being assessed perfectly clear. Using the technology available to us now enables the teacher to mark the playing tests outside of class time. This also might be beneficial for to students mitigate the anxiety of playing one on one for their teacher.

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Including listening tests as part of the assessment “of” is beneficial in that it encourages to students to practice and develop their ability to discern correct rhythm and pitch. A musician is only as good as their ear allows them to be. Developing a good ear is essential for students to be able to determine when they are (or are not) playing the right notes and rhythm. I think that ear training tends to get put aside in music classes as being less important than performing but for me, the two are equally as important and inextricably linked.

For a listening test, the students are given a sheet of paper with blank staves on it. For the rhythm section, the students will draw a certain number of bar lines. The number of bars will vary depending on the difficulty/grade level. The teacher will play (for example) a 6 bar pattern (one bar at a time) on one note of the piano. The bar can be repeated multiple times depending on the difficulty and then the whole 6 bar pattern is played. The students need to write down in notation the rhythm that they hear. The pitch recognition section will follow the same format but this time the students are asked to write down the notes they hear in the correct order (all in quarter note rhythm). Other layers of difficulty can be adding by playing intervals, or identifying types of chords.

As mentioned in the assessment 'for' section, I think that in order for listening tests to be an effective assessment strategy, the students need to be given adequate time to practice and develop their musicianship in order to apply this to the test.

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This is strategy for a cumulative project in music that that came from the book "Teaching Instrumental Music in Canadian Schools" by Edwin B. Wasiak. The idea is to have students work on an online portfolio over the course of the semester. The platform is flexible but could include Padlet.com or  Weebly.com. At the beginning of the semester the students are asked to start their portfolio by writing a goal statement for the term relating to their musical ability. They are then asked to create a top ten list of their favourite songs/recordings with a brief explanation as to why they picked each song. Another aspect would include brief reviews of five online videos of performances with their given instrument. The portfolio would include a certain number of reflections written throughout the semester on their progress, achievements, or new things they learned about their instrument. This could also be a platform for the recording of the above mentioned playing test. It could include videos that the students have taken of their practice sessions or musical works that they have composed outside of class.

I think that this would be a great tool that makes use of current technologies and allows students and/or parents to view the individual's musical progress throughout the semester. The inclusion of the top ten music picks is a great way for the teacher to get an idea of what the students are listening to which could be useful in trying relate and inspire students musically.

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This is another idea that I have learned about and adapted from classes in University. The original idea is a strategy for getting students to answer questions in a way that does not single them out. The teacher asks a question and the students all respond at the same time; encouraging engagement of students that might be too shy to answer questions otherwise.

This can be used in music class as a way to further musicianship abilities in regards to hearing melodies and re-creating them. The idea is to have the teacher play a simple melody in key that is easy for all instruments (B flat concert) and have the students attempt play it back on their given instrument. For example, the teacher plays B flat, F, and G concert in quarter notes and tells the students the first note. The students then collectively try to play the correct notes. This process is repeated until the majority has played the correct notes.

This can be easily adapted for any level of difficulty by either adding more notes or more complicated rhythms. The idea is for students to be able to develop their listening and recall skills and connect that understanding to their instrument. Ear training, pitch recognition and memorization are integral parts of playing music that tend to get overlooked in music classes in favour of rehearsing. I believe that taking the time to develop musicianship will benefit rehearsing exponentially. If students are able to memorize their music by ear then they are more likely to be able to follow the conductor and be able to regulate themselves when they are playing the wrong the notes. This would ideally save rehearsal time for focusing on expression and articulation.

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This is an idea that I have formulated after reflecting on the issues inherent in the music classes I was teaching on my placement. Music is a unique subject in that parents are more likely to invest time and money for their children to learn the subject outside of standard education. The discrepancy in musical ability becomes very apparent in grade nine music class. Some students have been taking music lessons since a young age and some students are picking up a musical instrument for the first time.

The idea is to have an Entry Slip at the very beginning of the semester that provides the teacher with valuable information. The questions would include:

Have you played any instruments?

If yes, which ones and how long? Are you self taught or have you taken lessons?

What genre of music do you like? Name three songs you are listening to lately.

List everything that you know in point form about your given instrument.

These questions can provide very helpful feedback for the teacher at the beginning of the semester. It can help identify the students that need extra help and identify the students with previous experience that might be bored when learning the basics. I included the questions about musical interest because it gives the students a chance to think about what kind of music they like and gives the teacher an idea of the types of music that students will be more inspired to learn.

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Music is a unique subject. Formative assessment has always been a cornerstone of music class and summative assessment has been largely debated and questioned over the years. Everyday when the students are rehearsing the teacher is continually making assessment 'for' learning by listening to the students play and making quick decisions about the next goal in the process of learning a given piece. The teacher is then providing verbal feedback (assessment 'as') to the students on how to achieve this goal. The students are continually getting auditory feedback on their own perceived quality of the overall sound.

The challenging aspect of teaching music is the opposite of most other subjects in that assessment 'of' is the most difficult to justifiably quantify. Musical theory is an exception to this because it is easy to cumulatively assess through written assignments or tests. Musicianship (ear training) is also easy to assess through listening tests; however, in my experience, there tends to be a lack of hands on practice of musicianship abilities. Rehearsing tends to be the main focus and theory secondary but as I will elaborate on in my specific 'assessment strategies'; I think that developing musicianship abilities is worth spending time on and will greatly benefit rehearsal time.

I think that including and recording formative assessment in music class can greatly increase the efficacy and reliability of assessment 'of' learning. The main issue in a music class that formative assessment can fix is the differing level of abilities that students are bringing to the class. Obviously there has to be certain standards by which students are being assessed but taking into account and documenting the background experience that a student is coming in with can help the teacher formulate a grade based on a student's individual achievements over the semester.

Some of the strategies that I have included will hopefully help to address some of these difficulties with cumulative assessment ('of') in music. Documenting the students' individual musical experience prior to the course, setting aside time to focus musicianship, and making use of current technologies are some of the ways in which we can address these issues of assessment in music which I will elaborate on in my specific 'for, as, and of' assessment strategies.