Workshop with Dr. Chris Cayari: Saturday March 10th, 2018
I found that Dr. Chris Cayari’s workshop on Fostering Virtual Musicianship in the Music Classroom: Teach Your Students How to Create Like Their Favourite Youtube Stars was extremely interest, interactive, and informative. The workshop began with a formal talk given by Dr. Cayari on how to incorporate technology in the classroom in order to teach students to make videos such as ones on Youtube. The idea for this type of teaching came to Dr. Cayari after he did some research on what types of music students who do not take music in high school enjoy, and discovered the popularity of Youtube videos, especially covers of songs using the ukulele. He realized how intricate these Youtube videos were and decided to try to use this idea in his classroom.
One of the tasks that Dr. Cayari gave his undergraduate students was to simply create a music video. The expectations were high, yet flexible. The student had to select a song by themselves or in a group and create a video that would be presented in class as well as write a reflection on the learning process of this assignment. Something that Dr. Cayari observed was that most students collaborated with others such as old high school friends or siblings for this project and they were able to bond with people they were close to through this project. Due to the fact that the guidelines for this task were so flexible, he had many different takes on the project. Some students took a funny approach to the project while others took a more serious approach. Some students embraced the freedom, but others had trouble with making decisions.
Dr. Cayari also described how this type of project can be used with non-music majors, such as those who are pursuing the elementary teaching stream. He explained one assignment he had students do regarding composing for social change. The students took a children’s book called “A is for Activist” and videoed an arrangement based on the book. I think that this is an amazing idea because it allows students to see that even if they have had no previous musical experiences, they can still create music and be musical in an elementary setting and they are able to incorporate music in their classrooms someday even if they are not experienced music teachers.
Another topic addressed was the stress of testing and how if students have the option of videotaping performances it may take the stress away from testing. My only question regarding this would be how does this prepare students for when they have no choice but to perform live? The option of videotaping will not always be there, especially for those who pursue solely music education. It is inevitable that eventually, they will have to perform live and if all they have done is record their performances, they will not have learned how to handle the nerves that accompany performing. Is there a balance between these two types of testing that should be considered? While I know that I would feel less stress by recording performances and tests, I do not think it would help me to face my nerves and become more skilled at dealing with them.
Dr.Cayari gave us a large amount of time to explore the apps and technology that can be used for these types of learning in the classroom. We were able to learn how to use DMI, Garage Band, Starmaker, and Acapela. I think that this time was used valuably because now that I know how to use these apps, I am more likely to choose to use them in my classroom or music teaching someday. By collaborating with others and experiencing this technology firsthand, I was better able to understand the type of interactive learning that Dr. Cayari was presenting in the lecture and experience the benefits of it. I think that this tyoe of learning allows students to bond and enhance their musical skills. The apps allow students to play around with what beats work and what instruments sound good together, therefore, improving listening skills and creativity. Students are able to try multiple combinations and find the one that they like. This allows the student to explore their creativity and experiment with it.
Another question that I have is what a classroom that does not have access to this technology could do in order to experience learning in this way? We cannot assume that every student will have a phone to download these apps on. I had several friends in high school who did not have cellphones or iPads, and our school did not have enough iPads for every classroom. What could we do to make this learning available for everybody and how can we assure that no one is being centered out in the classroom for not having the same technology as other students?
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this workshop. I think that Dr. Cayari is pushing music teachers today to think outside the box to come up with new and modern methods of teaching music that appeal to all students. This is important because currently, I think that our curriculum and ways of teaching music in the classroom are not of interest to all students of today, especially those who have not had classical training. Therefore, there are countless student who miss out on having an education in music. To conclude, as I continue on in my path towards a career in music education, I will keep Dr. Cayari’s methods of teaching in mind so that I am able to incorporate them into my classroom someday.
I found that Dr. Chris Cayari’s workshop on Fostering Virtual Musicianship in the Music Classroom: Teach Your Students How to Create Like Their Favourite Youtube Stars was extremely interest, interactive, and informative. The workshop began with a formal talk given by Dr. Cayari on how to incorporate technology in the classroom in order to teach students to make videos such as ones on Youtube. The idea for this type of teaching came to Dr. Cayari after he did some research on what types of music students who do not take music in high school enjoy, and discovered the popularity of Youtube videos, especially covers of songs using the ukulele. He realized how intricate these Youtube videos were and decided to try to use this idea in his classroom.
One of the tasks that Dr. Cayari gave his undergraduate students was to simply create a music video. The expectations were high, yet flexible. The student had to select a song by themselves or in a group and create a video that would be presented in class as well as write a reflection on the learning process of this assignment. Something that Dr. Cayari observed was that most students collaborated with others such as old high school friends or siblings for this project and they were able to bond with people they were close to through this project. Due to the fact that the guidelines for this task were so flexible, he had many different takes on the project. Some students took a funny approach to the project while others took a more serious approach. Some students embraced the freedom, but others had trouble with making decisions.
Dr. Cayari also described how this type of project can be used with non-music majors, such as those who are pursuing the elementary teaching stream. He explained one assignment he had students do regarding composing for social change. The students took a children’s book called “A is for Activist” and videoed an arrangement based on the book. I think that this is an amazing idea because it allows students to see that even if they have had no previous musical experiences, they can still create music and be musical in an elementary setting and they are able to incorporate music in their classrooms someday even if they are not experienced music teachers.
Another topic addressed was the stress of testing and how if students have the option of videotaping performances it may take the stress away from testing. My only question regarding this would be how does this prepare students for when they have no choice but to perform live? The option of videotaping will not always be there, especially for those who pursue solely music education. It is inevitable that eventually, they will have to perform live and if all they have done is record their performances, they will not have learned how to handle the nerves that accompany performing. Is there a balance between these two types of testing that should be considered? While I know that I would feel less stress by recording performances and tests, I do not think it would help me to face my nerves and become more skilled at dealing with them.
Dr.Cayari gave us a large amount of time to explore the apps and technology that can be used for these types of learning in the classroom. We were able to learn how to use DMI, Garage Band, Starmaker, and Acapela. I think that this time was used valuably because now that I know how to use these apps, I am more likely to choose to use them in my classroom or music teaching someday. By collaborating with others and experiencing this technology firsthand, I was better able to understand the type of interactive learning that Dr. Cayari was presenting in the lecture and experience the benefits of it. I think that this tyoe of learning allows students to bond and enhance their musical skills. The apps allow students to play around with what beats work and what instruments sound good together, therefore, improving listening skills and creativity. Students are able to try multiple combinations and find the one that they like. This allows the student to explore their creativity and experiment with it.
Another question that I have is what a classroom that does not have access to this technology could do in order to experience learning in this way? We cannot assume that every student will have a phone to download these apps on. I had several friends in high school who did not have cellphones or iPads, and our school did not have enough iPads for every classroom. What could we do to make this learning available for everybody and how can we assure that no one is being centered out in the classroom for not having the same technology as other students?
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this workshop. I think that Dr. Cayari is pushing music teachers today to think outside the box to come up with new and modern methods of teaching music that appeal to all students. This is important because currently, I think that our curriculum and ways of teaching music in the classroom are not of interest to all students of today, especially those who have not had classical training. Therefore, there are countless student who miss out on having an education in music. To conclude, as I continue on in my path towards a career in music education, I will keep Dr. Cayari’s methods of teaching in mind so that I am able to incorporate them into my classroom someday.