New School Listening Journal 

 

 

In the last few years the Web has witnessed a blogging explosion.  A blog, which is similar to an electronic journal and can be about any topic, is very familiar to most 21st century students; therefore, it makes sense that teachers of these students would use this tool in their classes as well.  However, there are some tips to help make sure the class blog stays contained and cannot be viewed by the full global audience, as well as the posts/comments are respectful to all involved. 

 

1.  Start with an online tool that gives you, the teacher, complete control over who has access to the blog as well as all

     posts and comments.  I personally like Edublogs (click here) because this site was designed for teachers to

     use in their classrooms.  Specifically, this site prides itself on being safe for students (they have extensive content

     filters and tools in place to keep the blogs student-friendly) and private (teachers can choose to have blogs fully

     open, block search engines, or password protected).

 

2.  Create posting and comment 'etiquette' rules before starting.  Articles like Netiquette (click here) or Blogging Rules

     (click here) can be read by the students or be used by the teacher to help establish their own rules.

 

3.  Create a rubric to grade the students' posts and comments (click here for an example).

 

4.  Provide blog examples that you would like students to emulate.

 

5.  Provide support for students who struggle with writing by pairing students together.

 

 

Old School Listening Journals

 

Most secondary students listen to music while they are doing some other activity, such as their homework, driving a car, exercising etc.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with this... I listen to music during these activities too.  However, this type of 'listening' is different than what we often do in the music classroom.   Because of this, it is beneficial to provide some techniques to help the student be successful listeners in our classrooms. 

 

I always start this type of activity by explaining  to the students that I will be playing lots of different types of music when we do our listening journals, which they may or may not like.  While it is not necessary for them to like the songs, they must follow these basic rules:

Be quiet (no groans, grunts, sighs etc.)

Be still (no nonverbal gestures)

Focus on the things I asked them to listen for

No inappropriate language and/or illustrations in journals

Try and maintain an open mind

Must give reasons why they either like or dislike the music

 

Things to Consider

1. Start Out Easy

Start with what the students are familiar with and can connect with easily.  Don’t start your first listening journal

activity with Schoenberg.  Instead, use music found in movies, commercials, television shows etc. the students are familiar with.

Ask students to listen for 1-2 specific things within the music.  At the start, students need a lot of guidance to help

them focus.  I always start small.  However, as they become familiar with this type of activity, students should be able to listen for a greater number things as well as more specific things within the music. 

Allow students to use non-music terms and descriptions at the beginning.  Then, slowy introduce musical terms at a

basic level before moving on to the details.

Allow students to draw pictures, not just words or full sentences.  This will help visual learners as well as those who

cannot really describe what they are seeing in their heads.

2. Context and Transfers

Put the music into into context before they listen.  In most cases, some sort of brief  backstory should be given.

Make transfers of musical terms to non-musical things the students are familiar with.

3. Grading

Grading listening journal assignments can be difficult because it is oftentimes hard to determine what should be

considered a 'correct' answer.  My rules about this are relatively straight-forward: if I am asking them to write about their perceptions and/or opinions, then every answer is correct.  Examples of this would be, "Tell me how this music makes you feel" or "How did you feel the composer represented water".  However, if I am asking for more concrete things, such as "what instruments were playing in this excerpt", then a rubric is used.

 

4. Maintain Your Rules

You may have to be über strict at the very beginning.  Decide on how you will enforce your rules and be consistent. 

Personally, I don't let things slide because it is a slippery slope once you do.