Music Class

Assessment from la Clase de Música
By Amber Aasman & Greta Tom
August 14, 2012


Our classes took place inside the home of a local construction worker and community leader. The children who participated in the music class were ages six and seven, a majority of boys over girls. Alongside of us were three Colombian musicians and music teachers, who participated substantially in the music instruction.

Teachers prepare in the street.

The music class was held in a local home along with the quilting class.

Our class objectives were:

1. Students will learn basic music skills, such as rhythm and tempo
2. Students will gain skills and experience in performance through making music in the classroom and presenting their work at the celebration 
3. Encourage children to build a vision of hope for their futures (and that of their community) 
4. Improve children’s ability to collaborate together to create music

Plastic cups are used to demonstrate the basics of rhythmic notation

ASSESSMENT OF OVERAL GOALS

From the first day of art camp until the final day, there were some observable and recorded differences between in the students’ behaviors, knowledge, and visions for the future.

1. Pre/Post-test on envisioning the future

1.1 On the first day of camp, we asked the children to rate themselves (self-report) on how they felt about their future. When using the pre-drawn faces for the children to identify their feelings about their future, these were our results:

	Day One	Day Four
Positive	66.6%	75%
Neutral	22.2%	0%
Negative	11.1%	25%

According to this data, we were (somewhat) successful in encouraging the children to create a more hopeful future. An important factor in this evaluation was that four of the 11 children who had been present and pre-tested on the first day were present and post-tested on the last day. This makes it difficult to gather accurate and conclusive data, since the target population changed dramatically through the week.

In addition, it seemed that some children either did not fully understand the exercise or were not particularly self-reflective. At least one child seemed to be putting on show for his classmates, choosing to stand at the frowning face, instead of choosing the happy face which by all other indications, he would likely pair with. Having such a small number of children makes even one imprecise self-report impact the results dramatically.

1.2 Additionally, the children were asked on the first day to draw the picture of their future. On the first day, 11 children participated, and only 4 of the same children participated in the post-test. See table below for visuals.

• Jaison depicted himself as a soccer star, surrounded by flowers from fans in the first drawing. In the second drawing, he is playing soccer outside his home, standing on a grassy baseline, with a sun shining overhead. 
• Luis was unable to draw a picture on Day One, and was not even able to share his vision verbally. On Day Four he drew a picture of a nuclear family, on a sunny day, outside their home, and was able to clearly articulate each part of the picture. 
• Caroline indicated on her pre-test a great deal hostility towards her family, wishing them to be poor, but herself rich. On her second drawing, she drew herself with her sister, as the sun came out to dry the rain and chase away the lightening. 
• Juan Nicolas drew a very similar image in the pre and post-test, though included his happy wife in the second drawing. In the first drawings he depicted himself as a fireman and his brother as police, but in the final drawing, both are policemen. 

2. Self-Report: Feelings about Learning

When using the pre-drawn faces for children to identify their feelings about learning, these were our results:

	Day One	Day Four
Positive	27.3%	57.1%
Neutral	36.4%	28.5%
Negative	36.4%	14.3

According to this data, there was a shift in children’s interest in learning. Though this post-test was affected by similar variables as mentioned previously, by this point in the lesson more children had arrived to participate so that seven of the 11 children from Day One could participate in the post-test.

3. Self-Report: New thing to learn 

Lastly, we asked the children for one new subject which they would like to learn. 100% of the children present were able to offer at least one new thing they’d like to learn. Some of the things mentioned were music, singing, obedience, listening to the teacher, learning to read, and learning to be a soldier.

ASSESSMENT OF CLASS OBJECTIVES

1. Students will learn basic music skills, such as rhythm and tempo

Over three days of classes, we studied rhythm, melody, and tempo. By the end of the camp, all the children were able to create and demonstrate a rhythm. Not all understood “tempo,” but this in part was due to a language issue – when we said “tempo,” many heard “tiempo,” which means “time” in Spanish. We realized this rather late, and over the last day tried to make the distinction clear to the children. Some understood the distinction, but not all (approximately 25%).

2. Students will gain skills and experience in performance through making music in the classroom and presenting their work at the celebration

10 children participated in the final performance at the celebration event. All the children performed well: they stood straight and kept their eyes ahead, singing to the audience. They also demonstrated the ability to create rhythms with their handmade maracas, though the rhythm lacked synchrony. As observed from the recording, the girls performed rhythm more synchronously than the boys.

3. Encourage children to build a vision of hope for their futures (and that of their community)

In addition to the pre/post-test on the overall goals for the camp, the children also had to come up with one line containing a prompt word, such as esperenza (hope), amor (love), familio (family) and communidad (community). 100% of the children were able to place the word into a meaningful phrase.

4. Improve children’s ability to collaborate together to create music

Using the phrases designed by the children, the Colombian co-teachers designed a simple melody, and in collaboration with the students, compiled the phrases into this song:

Mi Barrio es muy Lindo 

Quiero crecer con esperanza

quiero jugar con mi familia

porque mi barrio es muy lindo

quiero jugar con mi familia

hacer una casa sobre la roca

para que los niños olviden pelear

juntos logremos un barrio con flores

donde por siempre brille la paz

[English] 

My Neighborhood is Really Pretty 

I want to grow with hope

I want to play with my family

Because my neighborhood is really pretty

I want to play with my family

build a house upon the Rock

so the kids will forget to fight

together we'll make a neighborhood with flowers

where peace will shine forever