MUED 376: Choral Music, Materials & Techniques

(M2 & T)
Direct Instruction: Self-Assessment
Instructions: Select a 4 - 7 minute clip from one of your practicum teaching rehearsals
and review your direct instruction through answering the following questions. Please
write 3- 7 sentence answers for each question. Be thorough and specific.

October 11th
1. Had I written out my script in a direct instruction model? Would it have helped
my lesson delivery and success if I had done so?
I did base my lesson off of the direct instruction model but didn’t follow it
exactly. I think from this perspective, I did fine with the script I had
because it was detailed even though it didn’t have the exact words I was
going to say.

2. What was my ratio of 1, 2 and 3’s?

I think that all three of them were about equal, which looking back is not
the way I wanted it to be. I think it would be better to have mostly 2s, a
good number of 1s, and fewer 3s. I need to watch that ratio and stick to my
script a little more. I think this happened because I was able to wind
forward so quickly which threw me off a little.

3. Were my students doing lots of 2’s the entire time? Were they on task?
My students did a lot of 2p’s. Even when it wasn’t singing, they were
writing down things in their music, and making artistic decisions about
where to breathe and put emphasis on words.

4. Did I talk too much between every 2 and back to a 1?

Oh my dear goodness holy heck yes I did. This is something that I also
have problems with in Men’s Choir, is I take too long transitioning
between 1’s and 2’s. I try to make sure everyone is ready rather than just
going, and then I talk too much after each 2.

5. What kind of 3’s did I use in this clip? Do I need to improve my use of 3’s and if
so, in what way?
I used a lot of 3a’s both s and ns. I need to work on making them more
specific relevant and using less of them. It’s in my nature to give feedback
every time they perform a 2. I need to break away from that a little bit.

6. Were there any DI errors in this script?

In my script, there weren’t really any errors. The thing that I needed to fix
however, was that I didn’t really plan for any kind of winding in my
lesson. I need to incorporate more of that.

7. Did I turn any 1o’s into a 1a?

 I didn’t really have a 1o. I did have a 1s, but I didn’t turn that into a 1a.

8. What was the ‘pattern’ of the best ‘chunk’ in this teaching sequence? (For
example, 1a, 2p, 1a, 1d, 2v, 1o, 1a , 2p, 3sra)
1d, 1a, 1d, 2v/nv, 1d, 2p, 3asr

9. To summarize, what were the strengths of my Direct Instruction Model in this

lesson?
I think that the strongest point of my instruction was the ability to sort of
think on the fly and adapt to the faster pace of my choir even though it
wasn’t written in to my script.

10. To summarize, what were the weaknesses of my Direct Instruction Model in this
lesson?
My weakness was definitely how much a talk and how much downtime I
create by talking like this. I need to keep it short and sweet and focus more
on the 2s.

11. What are my next steps?

Practicing is a good starter. I need to do more over planning and practicing
the different scenarios that may play out in a lesson. I also need to learn to
cut back on my 3s and know that not everything they do requires a
feedback.