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"Key 6. Social Skills

Which Social Skills Do Students Need for

Cooperative Learning?"

CL is to encourage developing good social skills - so I should include time in the unit summary, Reflection part to include reflecting the social learning during the CL activities on top of the usual artwork related reflection.

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Ukulele assessment feedback:

Rubrics are comprehensive, fair and easy to use.

Would like to ask about rhythm. Do you mean the strumming pattern or rhythm of the song?

Typo: There ARE almost no errors...

Possible for average student who is not able to play G chord consistently well to score grade A: 3+2+3+2

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Dear all,

Please read Chapter 5 on Kagan Cooperative Learning and share an example of a strategy you can use in your classroom. You may want to reflect on why this strategy is useful.

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The strategy that I would like to use is the implementation of Heterogeneous Teams which will include high, middle and low ability students and have a mixture of boys and girls. Heterogeneity of achievement levels maximizes positive peer tutoring, and serves as an aid to classroom management. Heterogeneous teams ensure at least one relatively high achiever on each team thus equalizing team status and avoiding “winner” and “loser” teams.

It will be useful to use Heterogeneous Teams in the teaching of Ukulele chords to P4 students so that the higher and middle ability students will be able to guide and tutor the low ability students in each team. Students will be able to monitor one another in learning and mastering the chords (C, F, Am G) through the structures of “Think-Pair-Share” and “Think-Pair-Square”.

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In heterogeneous teams, students THINK- PAIR-SQUARE as they are tasked to focus on individual accountability and equal participation so that everyone contributes and get to learn from their peers at the same time.

For P3 art lesson, students worked on a theme of saving the ocean from pollution. I got students to individually design their message in their art journal, they shared it with their shoulder partner to receive praise and feedback. Subsequently they can make changes to it if they want to and share it with another pair of friends. I will then pick students to share works of their friends to the class.

Students thought it gave them better understanding of the topics and gave up more ideas on how to work on their own message. It was also nice to see most students participating actively

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This chapter touches on the 4 basic principles of CL (acronym - PIES)

1. Positive Interdependence

2. Individual Accountability

3. Equal Participation

4. Simultaneous Interaction

When these 4 principles are not implemented consistently, the gains for Cooperative Learning are not guaranteed.

Gains

academic gains,

improved race relations,

developed social skills,

educated for character,

promoted self-esteem,

enhanced class climate,

fostered leadership and teamwork skills.

Principle 1 - Positive Interdependence

The 2 distinct outcomes that promote cooperation

A positive correlation of outcomes

Interdependence

Positive Correlation (Focus: Outcome)

In short, on the same side working towards the same goal. Outcomes may go up or down. A positive outcome for one benefits others.

Opposite of Positive Correlation is Negative Correlation. Students feel that they are in a competition and view their classmates as obstacles to their success. They are on opposite sides and therefore, do not cooperate.

Interdependence (Focus: Task)

In short, cannot do a task alone but can do it with another's help by working together, and thus increase the likelihood of cooperation. Cooperation is required for task completion.

Note: Positive Correlation does not always result in Interdependence. If a task is not structure carefully to ensure contribution from each member, a stronger member may take over the task and dominate it. While everybody is on the same side, interdependence is not created for them.

Some Ways on how to create Interdependence in the Classroom

1. Positive Correlation (Structuring Outcomes)

Team Goals

Team Rewards

Negative Interdependence Among Teams

Group Grades

Pooled Knowledge or Skills

Structures Create Positive Interdependence

2. Interdependence (Structuring Tasks)

Varied Knowledge or Skills

Challenging Tasks

Division of Labour

Roles

Resource Access

Rules

Structure

Principle 2 - Individual Accountability

Every student is responsible for his/her own performance, paving the way for successful teamwork. When individual accountability is violated, individuals hide behind the efforts of their teammates. Groups that do not make each member accountable does not consistently produce achievement gains.

3 Components of Individual Accountability

1. Individual - performance is done without help

2. Public - witnesses are present

3. Required - performance is required

In short, accountability is created when the individual has to do it, someone sees him to it and he needs to do it on his own effort.

Potential Pitfalls

Accountability requires Support. Individual accountability must be accompanied by positive interdependence, else it will backfire.

Individual accountability creates pressure and positive interdependence creates support. Either without the other is ineffective.

Principle 3 - Equal Participation

Students learn by interacting with content and with fellow students. For equitable educational outcomes, we need participation to be relatively equal.

Participation Produces Achievement - if students do not participate, they may not learn as much as their peers. Participation has benefits for those who need and receive help, as well as those who offer help.

Student Characteristics Affecting Participation - some examples

Personality types

Achievement, Success Orientation and Self-Esteem

Development Appropriateness

Cultural and Language Minorities

Classroom Structural Variables Affecting Participation - if participation is not mandatory, high achievers and extroverts will likely dominate the learning. Those who need the least help will participate and those who need the most help will shy away or tune out.

How to Create Equal Participation?

Structure it! For example

1. Turn Taking

2. Time Allocation

3. Think Time

4. Rules

5. Individual Accountability

6. Role Assignment

Flexible Use of the 6 Approaches - When we are sensitive to the need to equalize participation, we may structure for equality using any combination of the 6 approaches.

Acceptable Unequal Participation - However, there are times when we also need unequal participation. Overemphasis on equality can be inhibiting and prevent good ideas from being voiced, eg. Controversial issues - some students may have very strong opinions to share and some may not have any. Then they may just simply listen and digest.

Principle 4 - Simultaneous Interaction

Active engagement increases student learning.

Sequential vs Simultaneous Interaction

Sequential - Teacher talks the most, students take turns to talk. One person talks at one time, then what are the rest doing? Hopefully listening! Actively engaged? No.

Simultaneous - A high percentage of students are engaged at the same time. With effective CL, we dramatically increase the amount of active engagement because effective CL produces simultaneous engagement.

Learning Time vs Time on Task vs Overt Interaction

Kind of Time and Impact on Achievement

Learning Time - Marginal

Time on Task - Stronger

Overt Interaction - Strongest

1. What is Overt Interaction? Overt vs Covert - Overt engagement is something that we can see or hear; Covert is something we can only hope it's happening. Eg. When we ask the class a question and one student answers, we hope the others are listening but we are not certain. If we use a strategy like colour cards, all students may participate at the same time to answer the question and that is overt.

Simultaneous Interaction Increases Active Engagement

If a lesson is 60min just to do Q&A,

then the active engagement rate could be as follows:

One by one (3.33% at a time) - 2 min each

Round Robin (25% at a time) - 15 min each

Rally Robin (50% at a time) - 3o min each

Simultaneous Interaction Saves Time

If a student takes 3 min to share an idea, then a class of 30 would take 90 min. With Time-Pair-Share for example, the task would take 6 mins.

When NOT to Use Simultaneous Interaction? Examples.

When someone has a unique idea to share, then it should not be only 1 listener will benefit.

When someone is doing a demonstration

When someone is giving a report

Note:

When we have one student talking at a time, our focus should not be on the one presenting but the other 29.

A common concern during simultaneous sharing is that a wrong opinion/answer may be shared and the teacher may not be aware to correct the error. Some strategies to counter it - teacher to have students write answers down for review, walk around for authentic assessment, sit with a group and listen to what is going on, eavesdrop on teams, ...

Too much interaction - students may not be on task; Too little interaction - students may be daydreaming. However, at least if a student is not interacting when he should be, then we for sure know he is daydreaming!

Summary

CL consistently produces powerful gains when PIES principles are in place.

Any teacher can learn simple Kagan Structures and be confident in using it.

A firm understanding of the principles can help implement effective instructional strategies.

Instead of a "hostile and competitive" environment, we can create a supportive and cooperative class.

PIES is more than an evaluative tool. It offers insights and directions to implementing successful CL.

If students are not cooperating, focus on P. If not achieving, focus on I, if not participating, focus on E and if generally disengaged and low energy, focus on S.

Therefore, PIES is a good thing. Time to enjoy some pies!

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For P5 stopmotion lessons, we formed teams using a combination of Homogeneous and Student-Selected.

Students are first grouped by the teacher by gender, regardless of ability or ethnicity. In certain high-conflict classes, there is high resistance to working with someone they do not like. With the first grouping, students have 1 fewer criteria to disagree with and every child will have a group. Nobody will be left out.

Then students are allowed to swop places. Two students are allowed to exchange their spots as long as all members in both groups are agreeable. This helps students to move to a group that they like, practise negotiation skills, and also help ensure a more co-operative group experience during lesson time since they may feel they still have a voice in decision-making within a constraint and have put in the effort to get into another group of their choice.

As a result, there will be more engaged and happier groups during the subsequent lessons and the teacher can help the few groups that needed more nudging to move along.

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For my P5 Stopmotion grouping - students work in groups of 4-5 students per group. Classes where the groups are very big (6 or more) I used the Heterogeneous Teams, focusing mainly on the genders when I re-grouped them. I made use of the original class groupings as meted out by their FTs as the groups are made up of both genders. As these classes are very new to me, I have yet to find out more about their abilities so this was not taken into consideration for the time being.

Management of groups in the cooperative classrooms can be quite challenging at times. So I have derived a few of these strategies to help me:

1. Set time to work and counting down time

2. Giving groups multiple tasks to work on so that all group members are engaged in different tasks - this helps to speed up work progress and less likely for any group member not doing anything

3. I am thinking of using the bell/ chime to help in getting the groups' attention when I need to. But for now, whenever I start counting from 1-10, students understand that they have to get back to their seats and pay attention

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Using THINK PAIR SHARE to get students brainstorm on possible plastic materials to bring for the bottle sculpture.

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Got students to display their Doodle Cover design on tables and did a gallery walk followed by sharing with a partner their favourite works.

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For P6 music

I used student-selected team for the djole rhythm assignment.

Possible disadvantage : everyone in the team there does not know the rhythm accurately.

Another disadvantage - there will be that one or two students who are always left out of all the teams

How I counter the 1st disadvantage : A checklist is given to every group group members are supposed to refer to the checklist and do their self assessment for learning. There is also a peer assessment component where another team will provide them feedback based on the given checklist.

How I counter the 2nd disadvantage : teams are changed after one assignment is completed. In the next round, I would use another appropriate method of forming teams based on the requirements of the group learning outcomes.

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P3G Doodle Cover Gallery Walk

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"Teachers need cooperative instructional

strategies to ensure all students participate, are held accountable for their contributions and learnings, are maximally engaged, and work together toward shared team goals. Students need to learn to trust each other, how to work together, and how to resolve conflicts and make team decisions. "

"We suggest changing teams after about six weeks. Changing teams too frequently does not allow students to get to know their teammates well, to bond as a team, and form a team identity.

However, even if they are functioning well, we recommend changing teams after about six weeks. This creates variety and excitement and enables students to transfer their new social and academic skills to new situations."

Base on this recommendation, I think I should make changes to the teams every new art project. Usually an art project is about 4-6 weeks. So the duration is good for making changes to the team every new art unit (project). This way students can enjoy working with different students and learn new skills.

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Note for future:

Team of 4 is ideal. Not only can do groupwork but also be broken into pairs within the group to double the active participation. Odd numbers eliminate valuable pairwork opportunities and can degenerate into pair/s and an outsider.

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Implementing cooperative learning in a lower primary music lesson involves structuring activities so students work together to achieve a shared learning goal. Here’s how cooperative learning strategies tailored for a music lesson:

Think-Pair-Share

1,Play some short piece of music.

2,Students think individually about what they hear (e.g., tempo, mood).

3,Pair up and discuss their thoughts.

4,Groups share with the class.

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Good assessment is:

1) Formative

2) Authentic

3) Multi-dimensional (not just a single form of assessment eg. pen and paper)

4) Representative (listening to high and low achievers at the same time)

Formative assessment is like a cook-off contestant tasting her own food to see how to improve it.

Summative is the cook-off judge the rate of the food.

CL facilitates formative assessment, enables authenticity and multi-dimensional. It also allows it to be representative. Either peer evaluation in the groups or through teacher and student interaction.

As we are creating group assessments for our students, we need to ensure that:

1) no group grades. Not everyone should receive one standard grade. It will undermine motivation.

We should adopt LEARNING TOGETHER, TESTING ALONE.

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Chapter 17: Classic cooperative learning

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Chapter 17: Classic cooperative learning

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Traditional approaches to cooperative learning, contrasting them with Kagan's innovative methods. While classic models often emphasize the design of specific cooperative lessons, Kagan advocates for the integration of simple, versatile structures into everyday teaching. This approach ensures that cooperative learning becomes a seamless part of every lesson, promoting consistent and sustained student engagement.

Classic cooperative methods:

1. Jigsaw Designs

2. Cooperative Investigations

3. Mastery Designs

4. Learning Together

1. Jigsaw

All of the Jigsaw methods have a number of positive outcomes. Because each student has a unique contribution to make, the methods boost status and self-esteem—each student is an expert in turn. Teammates encourage each other to do their best because they need the information that each student can provide. Teammates gain an enhanced sense of interdependence—none can

succeed without the help of each of their teammates.

2. Cooperative Investigations:

- Group Investigation

- Co-op Co-op

- Co-op Jigsaw Experts Present

- Co-op Jigsaw Team Projects

- Complex Instruction

Meaning project happens when teams engage in intrinsically interesting investigations. Learning becomes far more relevant and

exciting when students work together first to understand a concept, then team up to apply their knowledge to create a project or presentation. With cooperative investigations, the class becomes an investigative community.

3. Mastery design

- Color-Coded Co-op Cards

- Student Teams Achievement Divisions (STAD)

- Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT)

- Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI)

- Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition

4. Learning together

The Learning Together model can be applied to have students master facts and skills, or it can be used to have students engage in cooperative investigations

- Specific objectives

- Making decisions: group size, arranging room, assigning students to groups, planning materials, assigning roles

- Communicating the Task, Goal Structure, and Learning Activity:

- Monitoring and intervening

- Evaluating and Processing

Although the classic cooperative learning methods produce proven positive outcomes, they are often complex and involve extensive preparation, lesson designing, scoring, recordkeeping, and/or preparation of specialized materials that are too extensive for teachers to do daily.

Kagan provides very specific step-by-step cooperative strategies that canbe easily incorporated into any classroom. It includes a wide variety of structures to match the many classroom objectives. It has a solid theoretical background. And the step-by-step structures incorporate all the essential elements of cooperative learning, ensuring social and academic success.

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Grouping students in Heterogeneous teams, students were group together based on the groupings in class. Students think pair share their thoughts.

Each student were given a different task:

Tasks were distributed to different numbers (1-4) in the team

Listening to different sound track and to draw out how they felt using lines and colours to express their emotions

Piecing together what they have done individually into a group

Group members shares about how they felt when they were doing the task individually and as a group

Teacher picked a number to share what they have discussed with the class

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As Carolyn has done a detailed summary of chapter 12, I will share my greatest takeaway for this chapter: Simultaneous Interaction.

Simultaneous Interaction is the most powerful tool to increase active engagement in students. Often, interaction in the traditional classroom is sequential (one at a time). The teacher asks a question. One student answers and the teacher responds to the answer.

If there are 30 students in a class and when the teacher and one student are interacting, the other 29 students are having a downtime because they are not actively engaged even though they may be listening. This participation pattern produces disengagement which does not result in optimal learning and may cause discipline problems.

Simultaneous Interaction actively engages a high percentage of students at the same time. Instead of calling on one student to respond, the teacher asks students to turn to a partner and share their answers. Now, half the class is actively engaged while the other half is actively listening.

Interaction maximally activates the brain and has a positive influence on learning. Students remember much more of what they say than what they hear because listening is passive and talking is active. Thus teachers should allow students to verbalise their ideas.

Simultaneous Interaction also saves classroom time. Teachers can engage more students at a time and thus get more accomplished more quickly. Traditionally, it will take over an hour to get every student to respond individually to a teacher’s question. For e.g. one minute to express his/her idea and one minute for the teacher to comment. If there are 30 students, this approach will take approximately an hour to complete. If Timed Pair Share were used, every student shares with a partner for one minute each and in a little over two minutes, the sharing of ideas and receiving of feedback are accomplished.

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Topic: Chapter 14 – Planning Cooperative Lessons

My Takeaways:

Cooperative Learning should be a tool for effective lesson delivery. We should not plan a lesson for cooperative learning to happen.

In the education system, there are constantly new methodologies and strategies that are introduced. Teachers can be overwhelmed with so many new and innovative approaches to try out. Thus, it is essential to understand that cooperative learning is relevant and can be used even with the latest teaching approaches.

I like the idea of incorporating cooperative learning structures as part of the lesson planning process for student engagement and positive learning experiences.

There are many structures that can be used. For now, NYPS focuses on these 3 – Round Robin, Think-Pair-Share and Think-Pair-Square. However, we can still explore one or two more structures that maybe useful for art lessons.

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Reflection on Chapter 16: Motivation Without Rewards and Competition

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Reflection on Chapter 16: Motivation Without Rewards and Competition

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Reflection on Chapter 16: Motivation Without Rewards and Competition

In Chapter 16 of Kagan Cooperative Learning, Dr. Spencer Kagan challenges the traditional belief that external rewards and competition are necessary to motivate students. Instead, he advocates for intrinsic motivation, which fosters a love for learning that extends beyond grades, prizes, or outperforming peers. This chapter resonated with me because it aligns with the idea that true engagement comes from curiosity, purpose, and a sense of belonging rather than external incentives. One key takeaway from this chapter is the importance of cooperative structures in promoting intrinsic motivation. Kagan emphasizes that when students work together toward a common goal, they experience a sense of contribution and responsibility that fuels their motivation. This approach shifts the focus from winning and outperforming others to personal growth and mastery. I found this particularly insightful because, in many educational settings, competition can create anxiety and discourage struggling students from participating. By contrast, cooperative learning creates an inclusive environment where every student feels valued.

Another important aspect discussed is the role of autonomy and student choice. When students have ownership over their learning, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated. This chapter encourages educators to design activities that allow students to make decisions, solve problems collaboratively, and connect learning to their interests. This reminded me of instances where I felt most motivated—when I was given the freedom to explore topics in a way that felt meaningful to me.

The chapter also critiques the overuse of tangible rewards, such as stickers or points, which may produce short-term compliance but fail to develop a genuine love for learning. Kagan explains that while rewards can sometimes be useful, they should not replace strategies that nurture intrinsic motivation. This made me reflect on the importance of recognizing students' efforts through encouragement, feedback, and a sense of progress rather than relying on external incentives.

Applying these principles in a real classroom setting requires a shift in mindset. It means creating learning experiences where students collaborate, set personal goals, and see the value in what they are learning rather than just chasing grades or rewards. I appreciate how this chapter challenges educators to rethink motivation and provides practical ways to make learning more meaningful.

In conclusion, Chapter 16 reinforces that motivation does not have to come from rewards or competition. By fostering a cooperative and student-centered environment, teachers can cultivate a deeper, more sustainable motivation in students. This chapter has inspired me to reflect on my own experiences with learning and consider ways to encourage intrinsic motivation in my own practice.

Here’s an example of how to apply the principles from Chapter 16 (Motivation Without Rewards and Competition) in a primary school music lesson:

Example: Encouraging Intrinsic Motivation in a Music Class

Lesson Topic: Exploring Rhythm Through Body Percussion

Traditional Approach (Using Rewards & Competition)

A teacher might traditionally motivate students by offering stickers or prizes for the "best" rhythm performance, or by making it a competition where students try to outperform each other. However, this could discourage students who struggle with rhythm and make learning feel like a pressure-filled task.

Alternative Approach (Using Intrinsic Motivation & Cooperation)

Instead of relying on rewards and competition, the teacher can foster intrinsic motivation by:

1. Creating a Collaborative Activity:

The teacher divides students into small groups and gives each group a simple rhythm pattern using body percussion (clapping, snapping, stomping).

Students must work together to practice and synchronize their rhythm.

2. Providing Autonomy & Choice:

After practicing, each group is invited to create their own rhythm using body percussion, incorporating creativity and personal expression.

This gives students a sense of ownership over their learning.

3. Focusing on Personal Growth & Mastery:

Instead of grading or ranking performances, the teacher celebrates improvement by encouraging students to reflect:

“What was easy or difficult about this activity?”

“How did your group improve from the beginning?”

“What did you enjoy about working together?”

This shifts the focus from winning to personal progress and teamwork.

4. Connecting to Real-World Meaning:

The teacher plays a short clip of body percussion used in cultural music (e.g., flamenco hand claps or African stomp rhythms).

Students discuss how rhythm is used in daily life and different cultures, making learning feel meaningful beyond the classroom.

Outcome:

Instead of competing, students collaborate, express creativity, and feel proud of their progress.

They develop a genuine appreciation for rhythm and music, rather than just performing for a prize.

Even students who struggle with rhythm feel included and valued, fostering a positive and supportive learning environment.

This approach aligns with Kagan’s cooperative learning principles, ensuring motivation comes from engagement, collaboration, and a love of learning—not external rewards or competition.

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Praise results in intrinsic motivation...more longlasting 

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I use think-pair-share, heterogeneous teams as well as solo-pair-team structure in my ukulele lessons.

Students will have a shoulder partner and the partners will check on each other's playing to ensure the fingering and technique of playing the chord is correct.

They are then grouped in heterogeneous teams (idea same as Jonathan) so as to ensure at least one player and those players who know how to play the instrument better will be able to guide their team members along.

Lastly its a team performance time. Groups will take turns to comment on each other's playing.

Thus making the entire structure solo (individual learning as a class) then pair to check on each other's playing and then team.

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Any comments?

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Any comments?

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Any comments?

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Rubrics Chinese Painting with Cubism P6 (1)

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Any comments?

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Very clear rubrics with specific skills to look out for. Descriptors are also easy to understand and observable.

My suggestion :

We had previously discussed and agreed that the focus of P4 assessment would be on the G chord and the up-down strumming pattern.

As such, I feel the first segment regarding the ukulele posture could be given as verbal feedback directly to the student instead of counting it towards the final score.

We may wish to consider replacing 'Ukulele posture' with Strumming pattern with descriptors such as 'consistently able to execute the D-DU-D-D strumming pattern accurately.'

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Assessment on the song Waka Waka Africa.

If the child plays well but the transition of the chords was not ideal, its Blossoming or Developing?

If the child plays well and the transition is well done however just cannot follow the tempo of the backing track, Developing or Blossoming?

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The different performance indicators may need to be consistent throughout.

If its Developing, Competent and Accomplished, it needs to be the same throughout for all.

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P4 Music Teachers concurred on the following points :

edit the backing track video to focus on the specific portion to be tested.

reduce the tempo of the backing track to 75% of original tempo.

students would be tested on the down strum to steady beat only.

students could refer to the chord chart on the backing track video.

Chord positions must be correct but chord fingering need not follow recommended chord fingerings. (Students would not be penalised for alternative fingering if the music flows well.)

Overall, music teachers agreed to change the requirements to achieve grade A for ukulele. They believed the change would be able to better differentiate and more fairly recognise the levels of mastery of the G Chord and musicality demonstrated by students.

Grade / Total points

A : 11 – 12 points

B : 7 – 10 points

C : 4 – 6 points

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P1 Self-Portrait Journal Cover Assessment

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Structural Approach to Cooperative Learning

Kagan outlines the structural approach to cooperative learning.

Key Points:

1. Structures vs. Activities: Kagan distinguishes between cooperative learning structures (e.g., Think-Pair-Share) and activities (e.g., group projects).

2. Types of Structures: Kagan identifies three types of cooperative learning structures:

a. Simultaneous Structures: Students work together simultaneously, sharing ideas and building on each other's responses (e.g., Think-Pair-Share).

b. Sequential Structures: Students work together in a sequence, building on each other's responses (e.g., Round Robin).

c. Support Structures: Students provide support and encouragement to each other (e.g., Numbered Heads Together).

3. Key Elements: Kagan highlights the importance of:

a. Positive Interdependence: Students rely on each other to achieve a common goal.

b. Individual Accountability: Each student is accountable for their own learning.

c. Face-to-Face Interaction: Students interact with each other to share ideas and build relationships.

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Some ideas after reading Chapt 13 (Amos)

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Some ideas after reading Chapt 13 (Amos)

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- RoundRobin: Brainstorming session on mural theme (P5 Street Art), color palette, and composition (P2 Landscape).

- Think-Pair-Share: Students pair up to discuss and sketch individual ideas (P6 Micrgraphy).

- Numbered Heads Together: Students work in groups to answer questions related to Street Art design, Coverpage design.

- Jigsaw: Students research and teach each other about specific aspects of the Artwork in Arts Appreciations.

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Kagan Cooperative Learning (Spencer Kagan Miguel Kagan)

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Thanks for the rubrics. I will read them and update you individually. Thank you.

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Do click this link to go to artworks assessment benchmarking padlet and use it to discuss with your level teachers (:

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Due to the respect for copyright, we were not allowed to take videos and pictures of the speakers. We respect. And its really nice to focus and listen instead of busy taking videos and photos. Thought provoking.

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The theme is ‘Being and Becoming Musical in a Posthuman era’. It resonates with all music educators as we are at a time when we often ask ourselves what is our role as music educators when a machine can do so much.

1999- emersion of auto tune

2004-GarageBand

2012- Spotify

Then now AI Suno and many more.

The keynote didn’t speak much but she used her voice to tell us the answer.

No AI can replace human emotions and expressiveness, no AI can replace cultural identity and no AI can replace the inter-connectedness of human. It was sung in aboriginal language yet its so moving.

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Sonic Play and Ableton workshops

Attended a workshop on Ableton and Sonic Play.

For Sonic play it is an unstructured play

Based on Chinese five elements

Inspired by Reggio Emilia and environment as the third teacher

Gerber 1998

Idea is Free Play and Sensory Exploration. For 3 to 6 years old will sing along

3 phases 6 to 8 sessions

1. Free play

2. Contextualisation eg where metal is from

3. Creation

Background track

Hello song

Exploration

Goodbye song

The Sonic Play Environment

As a third teacher

Non verbal intuitive and developmentally appropriate

Sensory Provocation

Sonic installation

Consists of a variety of loose parts

Aesthetically conceptualised

Teacher competency is important and it’s based on Sensitive observation

I see, I hear, I observe

Critical questioning with 3 Is in consideration

Am I interrupting, intervening, interacting

5 elements- where do they come from, how do they sound

8-9 students per session

Application: Sonic PLAY ENVIRONMENT for Learning Spaces.

Ableton

Software for music arrangement

Machine Learning vs AI generation.

There is a difference.

Application: the function of Ableton is more sophiscated than GarageBand and the second is more suitable for young learners. We are using GarageBand and it affirms us that we are on the right track in terms of machine learning for creativity. Students are curators of music. Happy accidents can occur in the process of music making.

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For day 3, I went for courses that are related to interdisciplinary learning.

Using Saint Sean’s ‘ Carnival of Animals’ a Readers theatre with music was planned for grade 6. Home teachers with music teachers help to run the show. Music teachers suggest and provide music while the home teachers get the students to plan. The script was based on ‘Carnival of Animals’ with the changes of the animals to Taiwan based animals. Through planning students learn stage managing and also drama skills.

Application: Reader’s Theatre and tying in with language departments for possible infusion. Interdisciplinary allows students to understand that learning is never in silos.

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Today is our school’s presentation time. We presented at 2 pm. For half and hour. Attached is the script.

In the morning, Karen and I divide and conquer. I went to sharing on teachers and students wellbeing.

There was a sharing by University of Taipei and University of Melbourne. For Taipei they shared the challenges teachers face. Students communicate more with social media and lesser to their family members.

Lecturers share some activities they asked the youngsters to do. I find this quite interesting and could give some thoughts.

For university of Melbourne, they shared case studies on teachers and why they are burned out.

Reasons mainly

1) Misconceptions of Music as a subject matter- minorities in school and often felt misunderstood. Eg one experienced colleague telling her that she has no marking and so there is no need a table.

2) lonely

3) ability to draw boundary and say no

More researches needed to understand the real pain points.

what generally felt was that the environment and being understood is important to keep the motivation going.

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Students are excited and motivated to participate in the doodling activity and are more than willing to share their designs with the group.

It would be nice if the students had a little longer time so that maybe they could feel more accomplished.

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1 success:

The successful completion of the Aesthetics Day - reflect the teamwork of the department. The ability to work within a tight schedule with minimal meetings, showed the team was able to rise to the occasion. Students' positive feedback was very encouraging to the team too.

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Challenge - Booking of iPads for P4 digital art module 

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Challenge - Booking of iPads for P4 digital art module 

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As we cannot ensure that the iPads are the same for every lesson for each class, we had to improvise many times in order for the activity to be carried out.

Even if the same cart in time, the iPads inside may not be the same, so we needed to keep downloading the required photos for work done.

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iPads are a lot less accessible this year. Music ICT projects at P4 level are a build-on of 3 to 4 weekly lessons, and students need to use the same iPads as their works are saved on the iPad device (not on iCloud).

This year, the department has yet to come up with a solution for this challenge and the P4 ICT music module remains unconfirmed.

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One success in term 1 is the mini opera performance was well received by both the P2 students and teachers.

One personal challenge is managing my form class student: Kane Ouh who is a compulsive thief and liar. Kane's father is also not co-operative and supportive of teachers' efforts.

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1 challenge:

The department is unable to have an iPad cart for the department usage causes some challenges. Some lessons required to have the same iPads as students' work are stored in them for continuous use in the following lessons.

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Success - Ownership over event / programmes

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Success - Ownership over event / programmes

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Team members took ownership of their roles when working towards shared goals. On Aesthetics Day, 50% of the music team was not present at the event due to other school events. The Aesthetics Day programme and classes went as planned and successfully executed.