A resource that “offers my students a new way of thinking about music education”
By Kristin Clark Taylor
Dr. Mary Dave Blackman has witnessed dramatic changes in higher education over the years.
Blackman, Professor Emeritus at East Tennessee State University, instructs undergraduate and graduate students who are either beginning or advancing their careers in the classroom, specifically in music education.
In the past, she says, the process of teaching teachers how to teach was fairly rote and repetitive — nowhere near as dynamic and interactive as it is today.
Until Quaver arrived on the scene, that is.
“My students are learning to teach music by doing it, not just by reading about how it should be done,” she says.
The flexibility of the Quaver curriculum, “allows future educators to develop their own teaching styles and techniques, which helps build their confidence moving forward,” she says.
Dr. Blackman also appreciates the fact that Quaver’s lesson plans are designed and written to comply with comply with mandatory standards – and there are many of them.
Having the standards incorporated into the lesson plan helps demonstrate how one lesson can hit multiple standards, and how specific activities support particular standards.
Dr. Blackman is quick to point some of the other ways Quaver is directly impacting her students.
She says that many of her students come from performance backgrounds rather than backgrounds in music education, and that being exposed to Quaver offers her students “a new way of thinking about music education.”
She ticks off several other ways she finds Quaver helpful:
The Quaver curriculum doesn’t tell teachers how they must teach; it provides them the tools and resources to make their own, independent decisions about how best to reach their students.
Utilizing a digital platform that complements, supports, and supplements individual teaching styles has been a real game-changer and has actually attracted many of her students to the elementary classroom environment.
A Few Facts About Quaver’s HigherEd Program
- Quaver partners with over 250 colleges and universities around the country — and that number is growing.
- The program provides professors and future educators free access to the curricula in order to gain valuable hands-on, practical experience.
- Upon graduation, Quaver can support first-year teachers with a free license to use the resources in their own classrooms.
- Curricula available in the program: QuaverMusic, QuaverReady, and QuaverHealth•PE.
Dr. Blackman lists a few more favorites that are popular in her classroom:
“Pumpkin Bones really showcases how teachers can tailor different instruments to the different skill levels of their students so that everyone is engaged and having fun, including the teachers.”
Blackman says that Quaver’s popular recorder lessons are another important teaching tool and “a must” in her classroom.
Dr. Mary Dave Blackman, Professor Emeritus at East Tennessee State University, says Quaver’s recorder lessons are a favorite.
The distinguished professor offers a few final words that perfectly capture why her students appreciate Quaver.
Her students, she says, are looking for ways to teach that fully reflect the world around them — songs and lessons that are global in nature.
This, she says with a smile in her voice, is exactly what Quaver offers!
A perfect combination, indeed.
For more information on Quaver’s HigherEd Program, go to QuaverEd.com/HigherEd.
Kristin Clark Taylor is an author and a journalist.
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