In this workshop, we employed a lot of different artistic techniques to achieve a well-rounded education in film scores.  We typically started each class with a listening activity.  Sometimes this asked students to find scenes or songs that they enjoyed and share it with other students, sometimes they were asked to interpret musical ideas that they hear and match it with the first video they thought of, sometimes it was peer feedback on their compositions, and sometimes it even involved a visual art component to physically represent the music we listened to.  Then, we moved into a lecture portion, which usually asked students to analyze the pieces presented in the form of a class guided discussion.  Since it was more important to me for students to be actively engaged in each lesson, we quickly moved into an activity portion of the class, which usually consisted of a group project.  These projects ranged from identifying the musical characteristics in terms of character traits and rewriting character themes in small groups, to independently analyzing scenes then sharing with peers and visually describing musical pieces, to participating in guided tutorials and recreating famous movie themes.  Then, the class ended by letting students get started on their homework assignment for the week, which reviewed the skills that we learned in class while also connecting their new knowledge to their personal lives, giving them an idea of how to use these skills once the workshop is over.

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Before each workshop session, each workshop leader participated in a practicum that provided us with skills to successfully carry out our workshop classes.  We discussed how to write meaningful learning objectives to better assess student learning, facilitation techniques and how to structure lessons to be as engaging as possible, and other skills to help us guide students through the workshop.  One of the most impactful concepts that we learned was how to create an active learning environment through simply moving the classroom around.  In the journal article that we read in class, the authors discussed that students are more engaged in a classroom environment that is suited for active learning.  Some strategies for achieving an active learning environment could include the teacher acting as a facilitator by removing the spatial barrier between students and the teacher, using white boards and word clouds for students to report their ideas or finings, or even using mobile chairs to easily change the classroom setup (Rands & Gansemer-Topf, 2017).  In my own classroom, I used a lot of similar techniques, such as arranging desks and chairs to face each other when they were doing peer reviews or feedback sessions, grouping desks in small circles around a whiteboard and then asking students to share their group whiteboard with the other groups, switching up activities from listening to lecture to social to written as class time progressed - anything that helped to change the physical environment when the activity or content changed.  As I began to apply these strategies with students, I definitely noticed more student engagement with each other and myself, and it also allowed me to complete rapid and frequent assessments of student learning.