Theories of Motivation

Motivation is a very important part of the classroom, it gives students something to work toward. Extrinsic motivation would be providing incentives for students to participate or study. Intrinsic motivation is being motivated without any outside influences.

As a music major I am intrinsically motivated. All throughout middle school, high school, and college I have pushed myself to be a better musician. In middle and high school my I aimed to get the highest scores at solo &ensemble, to be first chair in my section, and to be accepted in to all of the honor bands in my area. In college I aim to succeed as a professional musician.

As a future band director I plan to use extrinsic motivation. I feel that any teacher should motivate their students. Yes, students should be motivated to do well in school so they will get good grades, but not all students will feel that way. I want my students to be the best musicians they can be. I plan on providing incentives for students who practice and show improvement throughout the semester. Some incentives could be parties for students who are practicing and more trips for students in higher ensembles. I also hope that my students are intrinsically motivated. I want them to want to be better musicians. I feel this can be done by making band a fun and exciting class.

Assesments

Informal: observing how students are performing and participating in group ensemble. Asking students questions during rehearsal to make sure they understand concepts.

Formal: Planning a playing test or an exam/test on music terms or history.

Pencil-Paper: This would be a written test on music terms, theory, or history. This could also be a way to see if students understand concepts discussed in class.

Performance: This assessment is probably the most important for a music class. I would require my students to participate in Solo & Ensemble, an event where students prepare a solo or chamber ensemble piece and play it for a judge. The student's feed back, comments, and score from the judge would be a class grade.

Traditional: tests covering instrument their tendencies and musical terms.

Authentic: Asking students things that they learned in music class that can be applied in life.

Standardized: There are not really standardized tests for music, with the exception of AP music theory in high school.

Teacher Developed: That could be a worksheet covering theory.

Norm-Referenced: Any of the music written tests could be used to compare students and their understanding of the concepts.

Criterion-referenced:  Any test over theory or terms that came from the textbook or from lesson given in class.