The coolest middle school percussion class you’ve ever seen

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Goal:

“The reflection piece is always one of the most challenging parts for students”

Zachary Morita is a music educator at Niu Valley Middle School. He wanted students to effectively reflect on their progress.

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Solution:

To address the challenge, Zachary implemented Unrulr by:

• Asking learners to post 15-60 second video recordings from their practice sessions.
• Using prompts to solicit weekly reflections from learners about challenges and big wins.
• Commenting on learners’ posts and/or following up with students in person to give personalized feedback on both musical skills and reflection quality.
• Holding dedicated time in class for students to give authentic peer feedback through comments and assessing students on their engagement.

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“I cannot see us having a learner centered classroom without Unrulr”

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Outcomes:

The implementation of Unrulr led to transformative outcomes for Zach, including:

• Improved visibility for Zach, allowing for targeted guidance and support.
• A series of videos showing the amazing progress of students’ musical skills!
• Tangible evidence of students’ improvements in awareness of how they are learning.

The outcomes for Zach’s students were:

• An increased ability to reflect on their learning experiences.
• Authentic, student-centered documentation of progress and practice strategies.
• A culture of authentic peer feedback and commenting.

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“The documentation part with Unrulr lends itself well to ensuring that students are always reflecting and striving for something better for themselves”

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Unrulr empowered student learning at Niu Valley Middle School by providing a user-friendly platform for reflection and progress tracking. Through documenting in Unrulr, students developed a deeper understanding of their learning process, while Zach gained valuable insights to guide and support their growth. Unrulr helped transform Zach’s music classroom into a learner-centered environment, fostering authentic reflection and continuous improvement.

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