天美传媒

鈥淭he situations have changed 鈥� the students' needs haven鈥檛,鈥� says Ray Fallon 鈥�17 when asked about teaching music to grades 3-8 during the pandemic. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what people need to keep in mind, whether teaching in person, hybrid, or virtual. Kids' needs haven鈥檛 changed.鈥�

鈥� 鈥橞e proud,鈥� 鈥楽tand up tall,鈥� 鈥楤elieve in yourself.鈥� I say these things constantly. 鈥�

Since school closures began in March, teachers have grappled with complicated questions of how to shift delivering curriculum in an online environment. We caught up with a few UMass Boston Music Education alums, all teaching in area public schools, on how they鈥檙e managing the shift. Teaching is still taking place, and they maintain their commitment and belief in music as essential to a well-rounded education. These days have brought challenges and innovation鈥攁nd even some new opportunities鈥攆or their students.  

No one was prepared for the seismic shift brought on by COVID-19, the closures and impacts on families. But each of these alumni are drawing on their UMass Boston experiences in and out of the classroom to manage the change and focus on student needs. The changes go beyond simply moving classrooms to virtual spaces.  

鈥淭his is just how we have to do things right now. Is it ideal? Of course not,鈥� says Andrew Sell 鈥�17, currently teaching over 400 pre-K to fourth graders at Mattahunt Elementary School in Boston鈥檚 Mattapan neighborhood. 鈥淓veryone, everywhere, wants things to be back to what they were. But given where we鈥檙e at, I dive in head-first. Let鈥檚 make this work.鈥�  

Sell shifted gears last spring to an entirely online learning curriculum. He鈥檚 teaching General Music, but all his students have instruments 鈥� xylophones for first graders, recorders for second and third graders, and MIDI keyboards for fourth graders. While he notes the loss of social interaction, his students are making music in the virtual classroom Sell created.  

Sasha White 鈥�19 is teaching Music Theory and Keyboard to grades 9-12 at Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester.

鈥淚 have two cameras on all the time,鈥� she says, 鈥渙ne on my hands, and one on body position.  

鈥淚 have them send me videos of their work,鈥� White says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e relying on the students more. Kids are having to be more responsible, manage their own functions. I am staying focused on my lesson plans, what the outcomes are going to be, and that has helped me. I focus on student learning outcomes.鈥�  

Kelly Pry 鈥�20 teaches at both the Curtis Guild and Bradley Elementary schools in East Boston. She鈥檚 teaching from her classroom, surrounded with instruments, but her students are online. Her curriculum has changed due to some of the limitations of online learning with K-6 students.  

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of things that can鈥檛 happen the way it does live,鈥� Pry says. 鈥淲e do a lot of singing, but it鈥檚 difficult on Zoom. If they鈥檙e all unmuted, it sounds awful. We can鈥檛 really dance. We can, but not together.鈥�  

Classes with Pry would normally involve lots of instruments鈥攛ylophones, drums, boom whackers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the things students get excited about. Super fun,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have instruments at home, so we can鈥檛 do that.鈥�  

But ear training works remarkably well on Zoom, she says. She tutored Sight Singing at UMass Boston for three years and says her students are 鈥渋dentifying if notes are higher and lower, identifying notes. It鈥檚 usually a 天美传媒-level skill, but they鈥檙e actually getting it. It鈥檚 going to be super-beneficial.鈥�  

Fallon, teaching Instrumental Music to grades 3-8 at the Tisbury School on Martha鈥檚 Vineyard, has also seen changes in not just the method, but the content of teaching. Normally, he鈥檇 be preparing for a band concert this time of year. Instead, students are making videos of their playing, seeing their classmates performances.  

鈥淭hey鈥檙e getting stronger at reading music, more sight reading, and playing along with a metronome,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 never thought I鈥檇 be able to see middle schoolers do that, so there are some small advantages.鈥�  

Sell notes that individual students, though, have individual experiences, and there are aspects specific to music that cannot be replicated for students separated by distance, connected to each other only through a screen.  

鈥淓specially for music, there鈥檚 a lag time online,鈥� Sell says, 鈥渟o you can鈥檛 replicate singing together in time. You lose out on that. It鈥檚 a little easier with younger kids, where you鈥檙e not expecting a super high level of timing. But it doesn鈥檛 replicate the connection of being next to someone singing or playing an instrument. That鈥檚 a real connection, and that鈥檚 a loss.鈥� 

鈥淥thers are losing the social interaction,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have a lot of students with a history of trauma, social anxieties鈥攅specially the students with autism, and we鈥檙e always striving trying to convey an inclusive feeling.鈥�  

鈥淲hat drew me to it as a young person was the interaction and the connection,鈥� he says, 鈥淣ot just with the music and feeling, which is great, but also the friendships. Performing is huge in a student鈥檚 development, that expression is important to have, and that cannot be replicated in any other subject, just performing arts.鈥� 

Fallon is also recalling the original call to teaching music as a profession, and community is central.  

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get into music ed because it was 鈥榥ice鈥� to have,鈥� Fallon says. 鈥淚t can be the difference of what gets a kid through school. That importance doesn鈥檛 change with this new learning environment. 

鈥淢usic class is a community moment,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can tell working together is the best part of their week. We鈥檙e still trying to have whole students, a well-rounded education. We had no pandemic preparedness training. But during this time, the thing that keeps me going is the compass of knowing I am working towards something important. It鈥檚 a guiding star. This is fun for me, yes, because I get to teach music, and I love music. But it also makes the world better. These programs can be the difference between making it or not for a lot of students.鈥�  

There was no pandemic training in their 天美传媒 experience鈥攏ot specifically. But each is drawing on the lessons from faculty in both the Music and Education departments, curriculum, tutoring, and ensemble experiences as they innovate their COVID-19-era classrooms.  

Alums gave credit to MUSIC 480, a Special Topics course on SocioCultural Perspectives in Music, a new addition to the UMass Boston Music Ed program, taught by Sommer Forrester. The class grew out of a need for Music Education students to explore the sociological aspects of music teaching and learning. Specifically, the course explores critical issues in the field of music education ranging from power, privilege, class, and marginalized populations, to thinking about 鈥渨ho鈥檚 music?鈥� cultural capital and relevancy.  

鈥淲hile we weren鈥檛 talking about online learning, we were talking about issues that we had to have in our minds no matter the circumstance,鈥� says Fallon. 鈥淚 remember learning about Maslow鈥檚 Hierarchy of Needs. Then, this year, we got to talking about balancing the health and emotional needs of our students, and I was like 鈥榥o, it鈥檚 not a balance, there鈥檚 a hierarchy.鈥� And it helped to think clearly about priorities.鈥�  

Sell teaches classes with a large immigrant population, many with language issues and special needs.  

鈥淲e explored the social justice needs in education,鈥� says Sell, 鈥渁nd I had such a leg up. I knew the terminology. As I continued developing the curriculum, I had to have a lens for social justice, evaluating who I am, and who I鈥檓 teaching. I still have work to do, for sure, but knew that what I was doing would make a difference.鈥� 

鈥淪ocioCultural Perspectives taught us to look subjectively at the world around us, and our students, and note that not everyone is like you,鈥� Pry said. 鈥淵ou need to think about who you鈥檙e teaching and how it works for them, and have a framework for doing that work.鈥� 

Each is anxious to get back into their regular classrooms, and put instruments in the hands of their students. Music, they say, isn鈥檛 about creating musicians or music lovers. It鈥檚 essential to education.

鈥淢usic sets students up to be successful in other areas,鈥� Sell says. 鈥淚f we want people to succeed in STEM, it鈥檚 hard for them to get there without those strong social skills and confidence. Music, and the performing arts, gives them something they can鈥檛 get anywhere else.鈥� 

鈥溾�橞e proud,鈥� 鈥楽tand up tall,鈥� 鈥楤elieve in yourself.鈥� I say these things constantly, and they鈥檙e not things you hear teachers saying in other subjects very often,鈥� says Sell. 鈥淢y students need to hear that.鈥� 

鈥淓ach of these students came here with a vision of their future careers, what it meant to be a music teacher, but they all had a willingness to try new things, and look at things in new ways,鈥� said Forrester, coordinator of Music Education at UMass Boston. 鈥淲hat they鈥檝e shown is a foundation in the pillars of creating classroom experiences that are creative, where students can experiment and grow through music. Those pillars haven鈥檛 changed in this environment. When they were at UMass Boston, Kelly, Sasha, Andrew, and Ray all had a curiosity and a willingness to think beyond their own experience, and engage enthusiastically with new experiences presented to them through the program. Their constant willingness to try new things was evident when they were students, and it鈥檚 what benefits their students today.鈥�