“Using Quaver, it feels like I’m sitting right beside my students.”
By Kristin Clark Taylor
In the years since Winnona Roshan has been using Quaver, the K-5 music teacher has witnessed major changes in the world around her – and in her classrooms.
As Roshan reflects on the exciting twists and turns she’s encountered on her journey as a music educator, one fact becomes crystal clear: At every turn — and at every step along the way — she has kept Quaver close at hand.
“One of the beautiful things about Quaver is how it’s been able to change with me over the years,” she says appreciatively. “They’re constantly updating and improving. We’ve evolved together!”
When Roshan was first introduced to Quaver during a pilot program about ten years ago, she says she knew right away it was going to be an important classroom resource.
But that was ten years ago … when she had a classroom.
Today, she teaches music at Guildford eLearning University Prep in Greensboro, North Carolina, where her “classroom” is the computer screen and her students learn from afar.
“We are in a totally virtual learning environment,” she explains.
“We don’t do anything in person except for special field trips and events, so having Quaver in this environment makes all the difference.”
Roshan says she feels lucky to have had Quaver before she made the leap.
“Being familiar with Quaver before I got here really helped me hit the ground running,” she says. “No other resource offers on-line instruction that’s so in-depth, so easy to manage, and so well-presented.”
“In this virtual environment, I need to be able to present material to my kids in a way that’s easy for them to digest and that they can receive in bite-size pieces,” she says, “and Quaver does just that.”
Distance? What Distance?
Roshan is passionate about bringing the power of music to life for her students, even — perhaps especially — in a virtual setting, and she relies on Quaver to close the distance gap.
“I use Quaver Backbeats for when my students create their own music,” Roshan says.
“I can see them understanding, appreciating, and learning how to create things like chord progressions and how to express themselves creatively through music.”
Roshan says Quaver offers her students the ability “to create real-life connections in a virtual environment, and to share what they’re learning not only with me but with each other — just like they would if we were in a classroom. It feels like I’m sitting right beside my students.”
Roshan says Quaver’s highly popular “Origin of Spoons” unit is a student favorite.
“Everyone has spoons at home!” she says happily. “We learn the basics of clicking them on the leg, the arm, the hand. We all love the rhythmic activities!”
The Spoons unit – which also happens to be part of an exhibit at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee – creates “an important jumping-off point” for discussions with her students about current spoon/clapper musicians who live in their home state of North Carolina.
Roshan incorporates a photo of herself into the Spoons slide to create a stronger connection with her students in their virtual environment.
Describing the Spoons lessons as “fun to learn, highly versatile, and culturally significant,” Roshan says the unit allows for a wider historical discussion as well.
“Many instruments – banjo, fiddles, tambourines – have links to African American heritage and were played by enslaved African Americans,” Roshan says, “and the spoons can also be heard in String Band, Blues, and Jug Band Blues.”
Content? STELLAR! … Standards? SATISIFIED!
“With Quaver, I can count on stellar content,” she says, “plus, I always know I’m covering my state, local, and national standards.”
She ends the conversation with a heartfelt message of gratitude:
“Thanks to the entire Quaver team for continually updating the curriculum, and for consciously creating content that is relevant, authentic, and diverse.”
But it’s the last four words she speaks that sing the loudest praise of all:
“My students love Quaver!”
Kristin Clark Taylor is an author and a journalist.
Want to get Quaver in your classroom? Visit www.quavered.com.
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