Lois Veenhoven Guderian and some of her UW-Superior students in the music classroom at Lake Superior Elementary School in Superior | Explore Superior

UWS & School District In Tune on Music

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UWS’s Programs Meet with Success in Superior

By Tom Hansen

The University of Wisconsin-Superior Music Department continues to make a difference in Superior schools by helping individuals learn musical skills and understanding that enable them to read music and to play and create music for lifelong social music making engagement.

Lois Veenhoven Guderian and some of her UW-Superior students in the music classroom at Lake Superior Elementary School in Superior | Explore Superior

Lois Veenhoven Guderian and some of her UW-Superior students in the music classroom at Lake Superior Elementary School in Superior.

In May, the UW-Superior Music Education Department rounded up another semester of several Academic Service-Learning (AS-L) projects in Superior schools. Under the supervision of their professor, Dr. Lois Veenhoven Guderian, UW-Superior students in music education methods courses engaged in dynamic project-based music teaching and learning with educators and their students in the Superior schools.

Each program aligned with the National and State Standards for Music Education, Superior School District curriculum goals, and student learning outcomes per music education course and/or a degree program offered at UW-Superior. The project collaborations resulted in mutually beneficial teaching and learning experiences in music education for children and youth in schools and for higher education students who are pursuing bachelor degrees in elementary education and music education.


“Resulted in mutually beneficial teaching and learning experiences in music education for children and youth in schools.”


Under the project designs of Dr. Lois Veenhoven Guderian, and the collaboration and cooperation of Superior District principals and educators, higher education students and children and youths in the schools were able to learn from each other. The higher education students developed skills and understandings in how to plan and carry out sequentially ordered instruction in music, and how to integrate music across curricula based on Common Core Standards.

Young students and their educators in the schools experienced UW-Superior students’ help in collaborative, interconnected project-based teaching and learning designed to develop children/youths musical skills, understanding and creative thinking in music.

In order to address current state and national educational aims, namely the development of children’s creative thinking in music, several of the programs – each designed to address several aspects of the curriculum – included teaching and learning experiences in music improvisation and composition.

As was the case in all of the music education projects/programs, planning ahead and cooperation on the part of each individual involved – Superior educator, university professor, higher education student and young student – resulted in a vibrant community of learners where everyone gained.

A Variety of Projects

After meetings between Dr. Guderian and potential partners in fall and spring semesters, a variety of programs were planned for various grade levels of children in the schools. For example, in project based learning with 4th graders, UW-Superior pre-service educators took turns teaching musical concepts and engaged children in soprano recorder playing, music reading and composing while other UW-Superior students circulated during the instruction providing assistance for children who needed individual help.

In another ongoing program at 2 pre-schools, for a designated portion of the semester, pre-service educators provided weekly, 30-minute music classes for 4-year old kindergarten children where a music educator had not been assigned.

In an interdisciplinary project in creative writing and composing, Dr. Guderian provided whole group teaching and learning for fifth graders and higher education students served as small group lead teachers/facilitators for fifth graders who worked together to write poetry, compose music and perform for peers. The teaching and learning was made possible with several educators in one classroom instead of the usual one educator to whole group ratio.

Superior District music and classroom educators took care of scheduling, set up and logistics, and modeled valuable classroom management techniques to the benefit of the higher education students. For all projects, higher education students prepared for the fieldwork in their university classroom with their professor, shared planning and teaching responsibilities at the site with their professor and the school educator, and followed each site visit with reflection, discussion and planning for the next visit in their university classroom.

During the 2015 spring semester, a total of 23 UW-Superior pre-service educators from 3 music education methods classes provided 6 programs in 4 different schools.

Learning through Experience

Academic Service-Learning is learning through experience that involves civic engagement. During the last 6 and a half years, under the project designs and implementation of more than 14 programs by Dr. Lois Veenhoven Guderian, elementary education degree students and music education degree students at UW-Superior have been able to develop skills and understandings for teaching and integrating music across the elementary curriculum.

Additionally, music education degree students have been able to develop skills and understandings for teaching sequentially ordered music curriculum in the schools. Each program design has had a central focus based on the curricular goals of the partner and addresses a variety of standards.

Through AS-L real life field experiences, higher education students have opportunities to apply and further develop skills and understandings learned in their university classroom in support of preparation for their chosen career. Theory is realized in practice through the act and process of the applied work that also provides a service to the community, a school or an organization within the community.


“Collaborations between the University of Wisconsin-Superior Department of Music Education and Superior School District schools have been ongoing since 2009.”


Besides educational goals, another goal of the projects is to foster civic mindedness in these young people pursing career tracks in education. All constituencies who are part of the work experience what it means to work collaboratively in educational communities for the good of all. Collaborations between the University of Wisconsin-Superior Department of Music Education and Superior School District schools have been ongoing since 2009.

“In my opinion, this is the best kind of AS-L field teaching experience. It was invaluable to observe my professor put into practice the various teaching strategies and to watch the children respond to those methods. It was also incredibly exciting to participate in the planning and teaching and to observe and participate in my peers’ lesson plans, that gave us an opportunity to see the many creative ways in which we could integrate the subject matter into our own future classrooms, ” said Lindsey Dobson, elementary education major.

Dobson added, “The best part of the experience, that I felt was most beneficial, was the immediate feedback and guidance we were given after submitting lesson plans and directly after teaching the lesson. The professor was able to observe us and guide us during this type of experience that was extremely helpful. In class, we were able to focus on the material we were learning and also reflect on our experiences teaching.”

A total of 23 students took part in classroom instruction this spring.  “These teaching opportunities were extremely helpful for me as a future educator.  They gave me insight and experience on how to effectively put our practice of integrating music to use.  Without these experiences, I would never have been able to practice what I have learned throughout this class,” said Kenny Mattinen, elementary education major.  “These experiences also showed me how effective music integration can be throughout the general curriculum.  I look forward to having my own class and ultimately using some of the strategies we learned and practiced in this class to help my students learn and create music.”


“Teaching and learning programs of this nature would be impossible without the willingness to collaborate on the part of school curriculum coordinators, administrators, and educators.”


Charles Corbett, choral-general music education major said, “I found my time in the local schools very useful as a first step towards being a teacher.  Not only did this benefit us with teaching experience as a thoughtful preparation for student teaching, but I feel it also benefitted the surrounding community.”

An experienced educator of more than 30 years, Dr. Lois Guderian said, “Everyone learns in this environment. We are most grateful to our colleagues in the Superior schools for providing our students with the opportunity to learn through experience in this way.”  She added, “Teaching and learning programs of this nature would be impossible without the willingness to collaborate on the part of school curriculum coordinators, administrators, and educators, and the efforts and cooperation on the part of the higher education students and young students in classrooms.”

Administrators and educators from Superior School District agree this is a program that makes an impact. “I know my students loved the experience,” said Jennifer Willoughby, LSE 4K – educator.

Mark Howard, Lake Superior Elementary School principal said this is a good partnership, “This has been a win-win collaboration for us. Everyone benefits. The win-win learning was for all – young to old – students, teachers, principal, and families.”

Dr. Guderian’s approach to Academic Service-Learning has been presented at state conferences and a written description of the approach is a chapter contribution included in a new international sourcebook on service learning published in April 2015 by Sage Publications.

UW-Superior Students Who Participated in the AS-L Projects in Spring 2015: 

Secondary General Music Methods: Nicole Alaspa, Charles Corbett, Ben Ellison, Sam Gray, Lisa Pederson.

Teaching Elementary School Music: Jordan Buhr, Kelin Horn, Nikki Niska, Helana Semborski, Paige Skewers, Kyle Yaeger, Zachary Abukhodair, Cody Baker, Shamra Benson, Alyssa Bryant, Lindsey Dobson,  Rae Fischbach, Emily Graf, Mary Keller, Ken Mattinen, Anna Morgan, Sarah Nestrude, Samantha Whiting.

Tom Hansen, is the Director of Marketing and Communications for UWS and can be reached at (715) 394-8260




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