During todays art session I went over an exemplar essay written in previous years to see what was expected of the assignment. The essay I was presented was simply exemplary with no discernible fault existing at all. It was useful to see what would be required to get a high mark so I can see how to do it myself. From the essay it was apparent that they made great use of pictures throughout the essay and evaluated each one afterwards in conjunction with a relevant reference. Additionally handmade diagrams to illustrate complex theories were an excellent way to make good points whilst saving on words. Their use of referencing was also brilliant acquiring over 40 by the end of the essay. This both inspired me and demotivated me at the same time as I felt I now had better knowledge of what to do but found the task daunting due to the skill this essay was completed. The lecturer later added that this essay is far more than what they are expecting to pass and to not panic.

The music session this week was focused on the voice and contained 2 sections one where we watched a beat boxers performance as a ted talk and the second discussing and participating in vocal warm up exercises. The beat boxer we watched was very talented creating such an impressive range of unique sounds it proved to be an interesting thing that pupils could easily attempt. It would be a valuable video for getting pupils interested in a more niche form of music and could be tied in with music editing software like garage band discussed in an earlier week. If pupils were to attempt beatboxing themselves they could unleash their full creative prowess if an emphasis on how trial and error aids them in their learning. This lack of fear of failure will increase their enjoyment and learning capabilities massively (Burnard, 2000). The vocal warm up exercises we did were fun and were a tool we could use for the future to save our voice. I realised as a teacher I will be using my voice an enormous amount and therefore care must be taken to prevent it being lost.

References

Burnard, P. (2000) How Children Ascribe Meaning to Improvisation and Composition: Rethinking pedagogy in music education. Music Education Research. [Online] Vol.2(1). Available: Taylor & Francis. [Accessed 5 January 2017].