Mr. Gratovich’s Classroom Edit display name

About my class

As our district prepares to begin another phase of remote learning it is becoming clear that our chances for connecting with our students will be in short supply. Making authentic, personal connections and building foundational relationships is vitally important for students' sense of belonging and security. In an effort to reach across the technological barrier I will create all of the instructional videos, recordings, practice tracks, and performance demonstrations for my guitar classes this year; this recording equipment will allow me to accomplish that goal. An audio interface is necessary for recording high-quality sound in a digital format. Bringing the capabilities of a recording studio into my own classroom will also open opportunities for my students when we return to in-person instruction: they can create recordings suitable for college auditions and scholarship applications, participate in competitive events and virtual ensembles, and gain hands-on experience and exposure to career paths in music such as music production and music technology. The Zoom platform is a powerful tool for remote learning, but is very limited in its capacity to capture instrumental sound. Modeling is a very important and powerful instructional tool for my face-to-face lessons; no amount of verbalization or explanation can replace the immediacy of seeing and hearing a musical phrase executed with fluid technique and beautiful tone. Improving the audio quality of my synchronous classes will give students an accurate representation of the characteristic tone of the classical guitar - distinguished by its warmth, clarity, and expressiveness - which they will use as a model in their own playing. Most importantly, the ability to pre-record instructional materials will give me the freedom to differentiate my instruction by providing additional depth and challenge, or by accommodating those students who need learning supports such as increased flexibility or reinforcement.