Overview:
The best planned lesson is worthless if the instructional delivery is uninteresting or unengaging, particularly if accompanied by weak leadership skills and ineffective classroom management. Although every music educator has an individual teaching style, effective instructional delivery should be practiced, evaluated, and revamped, if necessary, to consistently maintain student attention and a positive classroom environment.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Identify the elements of instructional delivery,
- Describe why effective pacing is important in teaching,
- Identify effective teaching transitions,
- Describe meaningful introductions,
- Describe ways in which teachers monitor and adjust to students as the lesson progresses, and
- Compare and contrast effective and ineffective ways of implementing a music lesson.
Why is Pacing Important?
Pacing refers to the speed the teacher sets for the progression of the lesson. If the lesson moves along too slowly the students will get bored and may become undisciplined. If the lesson moves too quickly the students will not completely engage and become disoriented.
Creating motivating lessons can aid pacing. Motivation is one of the most important factors in teaching and learning. Students actively engaged in challenging lessons that are developmentally appropriate will want to participate in music experiences, particularly those that are interesting and positive.
Motivation and pacing also closely tie to discipline. Students will be less likely to fidget and become off-task if their lessons are appealing, stimulating, and challenging. Extrinsic and intrinsic rewards can help to increase student motivation, depending upon the age of the students.
In order to effectively motivate students, teachers need to:
- Design an appealing curriculum with clear goals that are developmentally appropriate
- Exhibit behaviors that signal high expectations for all students
- Stimulate intrinsic motivation by personalizing instruction, demonstrating enthusiasm, and encouraging student responses