Music
classes, especially at the beginning levels, potentially have
a wide range of student knowledge and skill levels. Students
may exceed or fall short of a course's general student expectations
for a number of reasons, such as music studies outside of school
or newness to a school's music program. Additionally, the learning
environments of music classes support diverse approaches to
exploring ideas and media. The combination of different experience
levels and diverse learning styles makes individualizing instruction
an important music teaching strategy. Here are a few ideas on
individualizing instruction in the music classroom.
- Within
a larger group, individualizing instruction allows each
student to progress through the curriculum at his or her
own pace.
- If
the diversity of student needs is considered in the design
of teaching strategies and curricula,advanced students can
move ahead while others work on the basics.
- One
basic means of individualizing instruction is to explain
a lesson or demonstrate a technique to small groups of students
at a time.
Other
strategies music teachers might use include:
- Contracts
for independent learning
- Learning
centers
- Computer-aided
instruction.
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