Nanjing International School believes that all teachers should be constantly learning and improving their teaching practices. As such, we are put into Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) based around a set of themes. For example, a theme could be improved writing skills, creativity in the classroom, integration of technology, etc.  Last year I worked on a team that was looking at unit design; I, specifically, wanted to see how I could make my Criterion A: Knowledge/Understanding more motivating and interesting. This year, I've been put in the writing group, which at first seemed like a strange choice for a music teacher.  However, I wanted to see whether I could see improvement in the kids' developmental workbooks / process journals.  Every year I get really good journals; every year I get really bad journals.  As always, there's always a wide range of abilities in the classroom. Some kids use the journals are authentic tools to help them grow; other kids use it to 'jump through the hoops' and get enough points on their band descriptors; and others just don't really bother.  These last kids have no plans for their performances, rarely reflect, offer very little evidence of responding to feedback, etc.  So how can I improve the workbooks? How can I get kids to see what the book is a 'tool' to help them.  Not just something that we have to do, like at the end of every lesson we have to do our developmental workbooks. If we could get the kids to really utilise and love the DWs, then their PPP journals would be a natural extension.  So that's my goal.
    I got an email from my PLT leader asking us all to bring some research to help the group. I started researching on JSTOR, with absolutely no success.  If I type in 'writing' and 'journal,' then I get primary articles on improving basic writing skills. If I type in 'writing' and 'journal' and 'high school,' then I get articles on the American drop-out rate of youths (?).  If I type in 'music' and 'journal,' then I get the names of American journals.  If I type in 'process journal,' then I get the process of writing - brainstorming, outlining, editing, revising, and publishing.  If I give up and go to a search engine and type in 'developmental workbooks,' I get my own website (LOL).  So today the coordinator for the PLTs came to see me to brainstorm my problem. He suggested that I take this to social media, to ask for help for you all. 

    Do you have articles / research that support writing in scrapbooks / developmental workbooks / process journals? Strategies can come later, but at the moment I need some solid empirical data on how and why journals are used as pedagogical tools. Then, later, I'll start asking for your feedback about strategies.

If you want to chat about this, please leave some comments and we'll get a dialogue going. Thanks!

Uzume Taiko teaches drums using oral traditions. There's no sheet music -- there's only the oral call of the leaders that is repeated by the students until learnt.  Sure, I did rhythmic dictations in university, but that was 15 years ago and still had me notating on sheet music the rhythms I heard. This was completely different!

1. Kodaly Be Gone!
You know those lovely Kodaly rhythms? When you sing them, you can automatically play them because each rhythm sung relates to a rhythm duration. Not so with Taiko drumming. Here, the sung syllables refer to how hard you are supposed to hit the drums. Very hard strikes are called 'Don.'  Two very soft strikes are called 'Tsuku.' So when you hear the caller singing the syllables, get it out of your heads that you are being told the rhythms!

2. Feel the rhythms and stop thinking about them!
We know that 'Don' is a loud strike and two very soft strikes are called 'Tsuku." Now, two loud strikes are called 'Doro.'  So a caller could yell, "Don tsuku Don Doro!" and this would result in:

See? It's the exact same rhythm, but played differently according to how the caller speaks. So you can't try to cheat and think, "Right... all eighth notes are Tsuku," because they aren't. (sigh...)

3. Think about the exact opposites. 
There are times in life when you just have to unlearn what you know. Hands are cupped in piano, but closed on the harp. Hands are high, V-shaped, and fluid on the snare drum, but held like straight clubs on the Taiko drums. I literally spent the first three days trying to train myself not to hold the drum sticks like a concert drummer. It was only on the fourth day when the instructor started to feel calmer about my sound quality and sticking techniques.

4. All dance moves are prepared.
Yes. Dance moves. I asked my instructor what the difference was between Chinese and Japanese drumming and she told me it essentially came down to the dance moves. Each movement setups up the next.  For example, if you have 'Don Don,' with alternating sticks, then your right hand has to be straight at 45 degrees while your left hand has to be 90 degrees beside your ear. The best advice I can give you is to watch the tapes at 15% speed and to really analyse how they are setting up each individual dance step.

How to Succeed: 
- let go of your inhibitions
- unlearn what you know
- FEEL the beats wash over you
- let your kinetic / muscle memory take over

Kids love Taiko Drumming.  Uzume told me they regularly do workshops in schools, and even bring all their own drums. So if you are interested in this really cool activity, please visit Uzume Taiko for more information.