Jamstiks in the Classroom: Week 2

Our second session with the Jamstiks went very well. All but two of the iPads had the Jamstik Connect and JamTutor apps, so there were very few technical hiccups. Those tech issues are pretty easy to overcome in 8th grade, but younger students may not roll with the punches as easily. A big victory from this session was that NONE of the student Jamstiks had the "Something may be wrong with your Jamstik" message. Mine did briefly, but turning it off and on again fixed it straight away.

Initially, my plan was to offer students the opportunity to work through the steps with me on the projector screen OR work through them individually. I found that it didn't really do a whole lot to follow along with me--the sound wouldn't sync up anyway. I'm finding that walking around the classroom and answering individual questions is the best use of my time. What's nice about the projector, however, is the ability to demonstrate for students all at once.

My music classes are structured similarly each day. We start with a kind of warm-up activity or a logistical step (setting up chairs a specific way, answering a simple music question, etc.). Then we take attendance and ask "The Most Important Question:" What are we learning today? Then we go over what they'll know or be able to do by the end of the class. Then we move on to the meat of our class where they often have guided notes to fill out as we participate in the active learning phase. We finish with a review of the content, assign a homework assignment, complete a brief Exit Ticket from the day's learning, clean up, and I choose a Bravo! student, someone who did an exemplary job that day, making sure to rotate through each student before repeating.

Today's agenda was as follows:

Lesson Summary: Completing JamTutor Lesson 1, beginning Lesson 2

Classwork: Demonstrating completion of Lesson 1 (check marks through each step of JamTutor)

Exit Ticket: Lesson 1 Challenge: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie; each student must complete it twice, striving for a higher score the second attempt

Homework: Working through the first three steps of Roy Barnett's Fretboard Memorization Method: www.guitar-skill-builder.com/guitar-fretboard-two.html

I found that encouraging students to improve their score rather than focusing on a high score worked very well. It allowed for differentiation and kept students focused. One student in a class scored 75% on the Challenge and I named him the "Jampion" of the class. The next class students were working to beat that score! Two students tied it and one scored 83%. It was a great way to celebrate our students!

I felt that a 50-minute class period goal of completing Lesson 1 worked very well. It guided students through the process, laid out the guitar and the Jamstik, and it gave them ample practice on their skills. I'll continue with Lesson 2 next time as they use the fretboard. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here are two student quotes from the class:

"I love doing the Jamstik! It's a lot of fun. It inspired me to take guitar lessons in high school!"

~Lillian R.

"You have to feel it--it works better when I'm not thinking about it"

~Josh L.