JoAnn Irvin

Student Teacher Spring 2021

Rock Creek High School
Entry 7:
Contextual Information and Student Learning Adaptations

Total Number of Students in the School: ____305____

School Socio-Economic Make-Up (% free and reduced lunches): ____22%____

Class Class Class Class Class

1 2 3 4 5
Grade Level/Subject Taught 9-12 5 Beg. 6 Beg. 5-6 General 9-12 Jazz
Symphonic Band Band Music Band
Band
Number of Students in Classroom 48 57 30 22ish per 12
class

Contextual Information: Student Learning Adaptations:

(List the number of students identified in (Describe at least one example of a strategy to
each class you teach and identify the class in Class Class Class Class Class provide equitable opportunities,
which you are teaching your unit) 1 2 3 4 5 accommodations, or modifications you
attempted for any student identified within each
contextual characteristic)
Gender In my high school band classroom, I had a lot of
Number of Females: 25 33 19 13 3 different students. Some were from the city while
Number of Males: 23 24 11 9 9 others were farm kids. To keep my students
engaged, I tried to pick pop and country tunes to
play our warm ups over to give every group some
representation.
Ethnic/Cultural Make-Up All students are encouraged to audition for
Caucasian/White: 44 54 30 21 11 leadership positions. With the split of country
African American/ Black: 2 3 0 1 1 and city kids, there are a few cliques within the
Hispanic/Latino: 1 0 0 0 0 band. To help make the environment more
Asian/Pacific Islander: 1 0 0 0 0 neutral, we try to make sure students from each
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0 0 0 0 0 group of kids is represented equally.
Language Proficiency We had no ELL students in our class, however
Number of English Language Learners we did have a deaf student in our class. This was
(ELL): 0 0 0 0 0 also an accommodation because we had to make
extra we communicated with him. He has an
interpreter so we had to give her ample time to
tell him instructions.
Academic Performance For students performing at a lower grade level, I
Students Performing first consulted my cooperative teacher. Most of
Below Grade Level: 2 10 2-3 Most 0 these students were intellectually disabled. I
Student Performing made time during our 90-minute band blocks on
Above Grade Level: 5 7-8 20 4 13 Tue/Thrs. to meet with these students and give
them more individualized assistance for success.
Students with Special Needs For students performing at a lower grade level, I
Learning Disability: 0 10 4 2 0 first consulted my cooperating teacher. We
Emotional/Behavioral Impairment: 0 0 2 2 0 discussed that some of these kids are on IEPs and
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD): 0 9 5 5 1 need to have accommodations. One
Developmental Disability: 0 0 0 0 0 accommodation I made was working individually
Intellectual Disability: 0 0 1 0 0 with this student once a week on theory
Speech/Language Impairment: 0 0 0 0 0 worksheets to help her understand what the notes
Autism Spectrum: 0 3 2 0-1 0 were.
Gifted: 0 0 0 0 0
Blind/Visual Impairment (VI): 0 0 0 0 0
Deaf /Hearing Impairment (HI): 1 0 0 0 0
Physical Disability: 0 0 0 0 0
Other Health Impairment: 0 0 0 0 0

Contextual Information and Student Learning Adaptations

(Continued)

Student Characteristics:
Describe the developmental characteristics of students in your classroom.
(Cognitive, Physical, Emotional, Social).
As the range of my students were from 5th – 12th grade, the developmental characteristics were anything from
child to young adult. Most students in the 5-6th age range are cognitively developed enough to know the
difference between right and wrong. Physically these students are still anywhere from small to giant.
Emotionally they are still delicate and growing. Socially they are the most awkward human beings ever. The
leap from 5th to 6th grade seems to be the biggest gap in all the grade levels. On the high school side, students
almost fully developed cognitively except for cognitively impaired students. Physically, these students are as
close to full grown as we see in public education. Emotionally, high school kids are on a roller coaster. They
can be anywhere from a hot mess to the most put together kid. Socially, the awareness has been understood.
More than anything, at the high school level kids are just trying to find out who they are and where they fit.

Highlight the prior knowledge and interests of students in your classroom.

My students at the high school level have had prior knowledge in marching band, concert band, and basic
theory. This helped us build a piece together and deepen their theory knowledge. The high schools students
also have had a lot of band directors throughout their time at Rock Creek, so there is definitely holes in their
band knowledge. My 5-6 grade kids were very behind with prior knowledge because of the pandemic. The 5-
6 grade band is also adjusting to a new director. They are learning music theory as they learn their
instruments. This will lead to more in depth prior knowledge when they get to high school.

Describe the implications these characteristics have on planning and instruction. (e.g. What
instructional strategies will you use to meet the unique learning needs of all your students?)
For all classes, I had to consider that both of my cooperative teachers are also new to the school district so
anything I wanted to introduce to these students I could. One instructional strategy I had to utilize quite a bit
was modeling. These students have been set back due to the pandemic, so they need a little more guidance
than I initially expected. This was good for me because I brought all my instruments to the school and played
around with different sections every day while I lead a rehearsal.

Environmental Factors:
Describe district, school, and classroom environmental factors impacting the quality of education for
all of your students.
Since both the elementary and the high school were built in the 1930s and 1990s, the facilities are a bit
outdated. The technology is also outdated. The middle school was built just last year, and they also have new
top of the line smart boards. This made for interesting transitions in my lesson approaches based on the age I
was teaching that day. The high school band held in the commons area, so this provided us with a very
distracting, cavernous rehearsal space. Very unideal for a band rehearsal. The middle school band room is
funky shaped, so this causes students to be unable to see the director sometimes. The elementary school was
built in the 30s and the general music room is also the art room. This makes from close quarters while we are
trying to social distance. Overall, the only space I found to be a good space is the middle school band room.
The other rooms are not reliable with technology and create for distracting environments.

Describe community and family environmental factors impacting the quality of education for all of
your students.
The surrounding area of St. George and Westmoreland make for a small-town feel. These are blue collar
farm people that don’t care much for music. This makes music education at the school more difficult. There
is a wonderful backing of community support for the school, but this support does not reach the band
program. With new directors in those positions, I feel this will change over time. In my time as a student
teacher, we had to fight a lot with WHY music education should exist.

Describe the implications these factors have on planning and instruction. (What instructional
strategies will you use to address the unique environmental factors impacting each student?)
The district does provide students with 1-1 devices. The high school kids have chrome books, 5-8 have
iPads, and k-4 have a class set of iPads. This makes for an easier time with writing lesson plans because I
know that students have access to the internet. With my middle school kids, we do a lot of activities on their
iPad because then they can work in groups around the room with ease. The high school kids can respond to
any sort of survey, do research, or construct a project on their chrome book. This makes for more enriching
lessons.

Contextual Information and Student Learning Adaptations

(Continued)

Focus Students Information

Provide information about the two focus students you selected from the class in which you will be
teaching your unit that you feel would benefit from modified instruction. You MUST choose one
student with exceptionalities or an English Language Learner as one of your focus students.
Complete the chart below referring to these students only as Student A and Student B. Do not use
proper names.

Describe this student Why did you What did you find out Based on this
using information from select this about this student? information what
the Contextual student? Address characteristics are the implications
Information and Student from the Contextual for this student’s
Learning Adaptations Information and instruction?
Student Learning
Adaptations
Studen This male islander This student is Cognitive I always make
tA student is a authentically This student struggles to sure that when I
understand basic
homosexual flute themselves at instructions. He is very
speak to the
player. He is adopted the age of 16. smart and wants to work flutes, that I am
and is very much an That is on anything HIS way. gender-neutral
outcast in this extremely He believes he knows with my remarks.
community. I would important what is best. There are a few
also say he falls on because he Emotional
other flute players
 the autism spectrum. knows that This student struggles who also struggle
people judge with intense emotion. with music
He is 75% emotionally
him based on developed. He does have
comprehension,
who he is. He break downs. so this allows for
aspires to be a me to work with
cheerleader and Physical them as a group
is currently on Although he is within instead of calling
the normal physical
the dance team. developments for his
out student A
He is a very age, this student acts individually.
energetic, extremely feminine. He Student A is a
emotional, also acts as if his flute great volunteer,
fearless boy. weighs 90 pounds. and I make sure
He is a role Social
to choose him
model for Student A is an outcast when I have a
anyone who is who struggles to make task that requires
different. any connections. He is a volunteer. I try
very friendly yet he not to favor him
doesn’t let anyone in.
so that he feels
Many students bully
him. like a normal kid.
Describe this student Why did you What did you find out Based on this
using information from select this about this student? information what
the Contextual student? Address characteristics are the implications
Information and Student from the Contextual for this student’s
Learning Adaptations Information and instruction?
Student Learning
Adaptations
Studen This female, Student B is a Cognitive Because of her
tB Caucasian flute player very low self- This student is below the cognitive delay, I
normal cognitive
that struggles with esteem girl that development for her age
must be much
confidence, struggles a lot group. She struggles more intentional
attendance, and because her with understanding and with my
presence. parent neglect applying knowledge. instruction. It
her. I think it is Emotional must be very in
This student seems to
very interesting have a lot of negative
depth and
to see the fall emotions. She feels a lot elementary for
out of this of sadness and her to fully grasp
situation. I also inadequateness. what I am trying
chose her Physical to tell her. I try to
Student B is physically
because she overweight. She also has
ask her questions
tries harder shorter arms and and she ignores
than anyone struggles to play her me or just does
else to play her instrument. I believe this not understand.
instrument leads to her emotional She needs very
downfall.
loud. guided individual
Social instruction.
This student does not
talk to anyone. She goes
to the nurse’s office
more than anyone else.
She avoids eye contact
at all times.
 Entry 11 Data Analysis:
Pre-Assessment Data
Student Scores by Objective on the Pre-Assessment: Sightreading the piece Songs of Paradise by
Kevin Walczyk. The scores below reflect this performance scale on various sightreading skills:
Beginner – 1
Intermediate – 2
Accomplished – 3

Student Obj 1 Obj 2 Obj 3 Obj 4 Obj 5 Overall %

Students Students Students Students Students are (% correct
consistently consistently consistently correctly consistently out of 15
perform with perform with use proper identify all sensitive to
mature, accurate musical style musical the musical
possible
characteristic pitches and of symbols, key phrasing, points)
sounds of key articulation signatures, shaping, and
their signatures. and dynamics and tempos balancing of
instrument by notated notated the music
using within the within the throughout
sufficient air music. music before the piece.
and posture playing.
support.
1 1/3 1/3 2/3 3/3 2/3 60
2 1/3 2/3 3/3 2/3 2/3 66
3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 66
4 2/3 2/3 1/3 3/3 2/3 66
5 2/3 2/3 1/3 2/3 1/3 53
6 2/3 1/3 2/3 2/3 1/3 53
7 1/3 1/3 2/3 2/3 1/3 47
8 1/3 1/3 1/3 2/3 1/3 40
9 1/3 1/3 1/3 3/3 1/3 47
10 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 33
Focus A 1/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 1/3 53
Focus B 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 33

What do these data mean for instruction during the unit?

(In other words, as the teacher, how will you design and implement instruction based on the
given data? What assessments will be necessary? What will help you meet your state learning
outcomes. Be specific in your responses.)
From the pre-assessment of sight-reading I can already tell where students need more guidance.
No one received a perfect score on this sight-reading example. This is due to multiple reasons.
My students tend to struggle with the pulse in the ensemble. They also struggle with notes, which
leads to inaccurate rhythms and dynamics. Students need more practice with the fundamentals,
so I will begin by focusing on rhythm, alignment, and key signatures.

What do these data mean for instruction for the Focus Students during the unit?
Both Focus Students for this unit are behind in their musical abilities. They will need even more
specialized attention with the fundamentals. Student A will succeed more as the fundamentals
are practiced. Student B will need someone to walk through her fundamentals with her multiple
times before she begins to feel confident on her own. Both students sit near each other in the
ensemble. This makes for a weak section within the ensemble. Moving students around to place
strong players next to these students could help with their understanding as well as confidence.

Formative Assessment Data

Student Scores of Two Selected Formative Assessments: Form Construction of the first
movements and Rhythm assessment of Songs of Paradise.

Student Form Construction Rhythm assessment of

Songs of Paradise.
1 80 98
2 85 95
3 90 92
4 90 90
5 94 90
6 85 85
7 80 80
8 75 80
9 80 75
10 85 75
Focus A 80 90
Focus B 60 70

How did the data from these formative assessments impact learning during the unit?
(Hint: Compare these to the pre-test data for the aligned objectives. What adjustments might
need to be made?)
These assessments helped students apply knowledge they have learned through warm-ups
and band literature to different types of music activities. The first with the form reconstruction of
the piece yielded higher scores than I expected. Students seemed to understand what form is and
how it sounds. Students still need some assistance with this topic, so I can utilize this
conversation in rehearsals. The second formative assessment proved to be a high score yielder.
These students understand rhythm, it is the performance of rhythm that becomes a challenge for
them. Now that they have isolated the most prominent rhythms in the piece, we can focus on
those in context.

How did the data from these formative assessments impact Focus Student Learning during
the unit?
As expected, student A is receiving higher scores than student B. They both required
more individual instruction during these activities, but they were paired with high performing
students so they learned through collaboration and student lead instruction. Student B needs
more assistance than is available in the class without a para-professional. Student A typically
begins to grasp a concept once he sees someone do it first as an example.

Post-Assessment Data
Student Scores by Objective on the Post Assessment: The Symphonic Band performed a live
concert of Songs of Paradise. The same rubric from the pre-assessment was used to assess this
summative assessment.
Student Obj 1 Obj 2 Obj 3 Obj 4 Obj 5 Overall %
Students Students Students Students Students are (% correct
consistently consistently consistently correctly consistently out of 15
perform with perform with use proper identify all sensitive to
mature, accurate musical style musical the musical
possible
characteristic pitches and of symbols, key phrasing, points)
sounds of key articulation signatures, shaping, and
their signatures. and dynamics and tempos balancing of
instrument by notated notated the music
using within the within the throughout
sufficient air music. music while the piece.
and posture playing.
support.
1 3/3 3/3 2/3 3/3 3/3 93
2 3/3 3/3 2/3 2/3 3/3 86
3 2/3 3/3 3/3 2/3 2/3 80
4 2/3 3/3 3/3 2/3 3/3 86
5 2/3 3/3 2/3 3/3 2/3 80
6 2/3 3/3 3/3 3/3 3/3 93
7 3/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 73
8 3/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 73
9 3/3 3/3 3/3 3/3 3/3 100
10 2/3 3/3 3/3 2/3 2/3 80
Focus A 3/3 2/3 2/3 3/3 3/3 86
Focus B 2/3 1/3 1/3 2/3 1/3 46

What does these data mean for learning during the unit?
From the final data, every student improved during the lessons within the unit. Students were
introduced to form understanding, rhythm identification, historical background, and many other
things. Through this unit, students began to make an emotional connection to this piece of music.
This also helped them perform it with more rhythmic accuracy, dynamic accuracy, and
appropriate mood.

What does these data mean for learning for the Focus Students during the unit?
Both Focus Students overall scores improved from their initial score. Student A began to make
leaps and bound when placed with higher performing students. This allowed for him to make the
connections he needed and receive the individual attention he needed. Student B improved from
the first score however, she did not seem to make a lot of improvement. It was a difficult task to
get her to participate in class or even come to class. Student B needs more individual guidance
through her education process. Both students could make a deeper emotional connection to the
piece after the historic lesson and the form lesson. This appealed to the area of music they
understand and helped them feel closer to the piece as we played in band.

For future instruction, what have you learned about how students learn and the
effectiveness of your instructional style? What would you change, if anything?
For my student teaching experience, my biggest take away is that you must always have a
backup plan. Students are late, global pandemics occur, weather happens, technology chooses
not to work. In this case, you can’t just throw your hat in and say you’re done. I have had many
lessons that did not yield the result I wanted. I never displayed a bad attitude about it, but rather
the next time I saw my students we would just try again. I have learned that trial and error is a
very effective strategy and can be a positive experience if you make it one. I have learned that
my personality draws in my students. I have a very engaging voice and I love to move around
and make my students all feel seen. The one thing I intend to change as I progress into the
teaching field is to be more concise. I tend to be long-winded with explanation. I want to tell my
students what I want then, to provide an opportunity to practice it. This will make for quicker
pace of lesson plans as well as more engaging learning. I will take everything I learned from my
student teaching experience with me to small town Colorado!