I really didn’t understand my homework this week. The saxophone piece was too hard, and I didn’t even know one of the notes. I could have asked during the week, but my kids were busy with track practice and by the time they were home from school I was tired. Since it was hard, I wasn’t really motivated to get out my saxaphone and try it on my own. It wasn’t satisfying. It was too hard, and I was busy. My lesson with my sons this week was spent on the same piece as last week and I finally got my questions answered. Next week I will make the effort to move forward and to ask when I need help. Exactly what I expect of my students.
As I consider homework, this is something for me to keep in mind. Students are far less motivated if they are not “ready” for difficult homework. Maybe the concept is one they're are still barely grasping. Or maybe, we only looked at the easy problems in class and the homework requires them to go beyond without any teacher support. Reflecting on this, I remember a talk by Doug Fisher stating that homework should only include review on topics students are comfortable with. I believe that my experience with a difficult song is partially why he recommends this.
Found a great connection with music and math on a site called Math Illuminations.
Music and Math