REVIEWS
Dr. Miriam Factora’s collection of Filipino folk songs and rhymes has given us a solid foundation and a clearer direction in the Philippine Music Education. The adaptation of the Kodály Approach to the Philippine setting was made possible because of her collection. It was through the use of these songs and rhymes that both teachers and students were not just able to present and learn the concepts well, but they were also able to revisit and appreciate more the Filipino culture and traditions.
Roselle Elinore Matias
Music Teacher | Ateneo de Manila Grade School • Quezon City, Philippines
Dr. Miriam Factora’s collection of songs and rhymes is definitely a huge help in preparing and planning lessons. She created a massive songbook of Filipino materials and it opened doors for Filipino music teachers like me to revisit and gain more understanding of our own heritage, culture and traditions. We use the songs in our daily lessons and even in choir. Singing the folksongs also help students learn the language, unlocking words and dialects that are not familiar to them. Every song is like a visit to a town or province in our country which makes the singing experience more like an adventure, not only for the kids but also for the educators.
Venitta Magpantay
Music Teacher | Ateneo de Manila Grade School • Quezon City, Philippines
These books are real gems for music teachers. The games, rhymes, and song selections in these books are research-based, culture-based, and values-laden. From a broad perspective, these books served as a means to provide “quality education” and answered the problem of “lack of instructional materials” for Filipino music teachers. I have used these books among music education students and in the professional development programs of Filipino teachers around the country.
Dolores T. Andres, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Music Education | University of Santo Tomas, Conservatory of Music • Manila, Philippines
Associate Researcher, National Research Council of the Philippines
Ever since I discovered Dr. Factora’s works in the Kodály courses presented by the Kodály Society of the Philippines, her books—namely Philippine Children’s Songs, Spoken Rhymes and Games for Teaching Books One and Two—have been my references for songs coming from the Filipino culture. These books have remarkably helped me in my lesson planning. I use the rhymes and games for young learners and the more complex songs to teach more complex concepts to upper-grade students.
Raquel Ceradoy
Former Music Teacher | De La Salle Santiago Zobel School • Muntinlupa, Philippines
Music Teacher | St. Peter's College • Palmerston North, New Zealand
This book [Creative Music Teaching at the Elementary Level] is a perfect resource for an elementary music educator aiming to cultivate a vibrant, interactive classroom environment. It is packed with strategies and advice on how to make every music lesson meaningful, enjoyable, and full of learning. All the ideas presented in the book are inspired by the author’s expansive training and experience as a music educator. Therefore, all of them are worth trying!
The book also contains a glimpse of the Kodály and Orff approaches in the elementary classroom and explains why the author opted to use both methods in her classes. This is a thoughtful reflection from the author, as music educators are frequently faced with the crucial decision of which teaching method is most effective in the music classroom.
Lastly, the book contains the musical notations of all the featured folksongs and rhymes with their English translations, at the end. Some folksongs even come with an arrangement for Orff instruments!
It is definitely a book worth reading, especially for those looking to get off to a good start in elementary music teaching.
Cielito Margo E. Mirandilla
St. Scholastica’s College | Manila, Philippines
NOTE: Click on the title to read more about the workshop.
My biggest take away was how to adapt simple melodies for students of all levels. Thankl you for everything.
Casey Conforzi
PYP Music Teacher | Osaka International School • Osaka, Japan
I teach IB DP, so I don’t have a chance to experience the philosophy and practice in other categories. It was exciting to see how these experiential approaches are going on. I tend to give a lecture about things, as the students need to write some academic essays, but considering the IB philosophy, I need to adopt more practice-based workshops. Today’s session gave me a lot about the approaches.
Takuro Kurokawa
Lecturer of English and IB DP Music | Osaka International High School • Osaka, Japan
This experience was very beneficial for me. It helped me feel confident that I was doing the right thing in my classes, and it was also nice to refresh my memory.
Satsuki Go-Matsuzawa
PYP Music Teacher | Canadian Academy • Kobe, Japan
My biggest takeaway from this workshop is the idea of me making learners learn through experimentation, and. the fact that I can now become a better version of the music teacher I was before coming here.
Raphael Kwame Laba
Elementary Music Teacher
I have children from different countries so now this workshop made me curious about the different folksongs from their countries and I am thinking of asking the parents to come to our class and introduce their song with us.
You also inspire me to learn how to count in all their languages and it will be nice to sing and play with those languages.
Haruna Schwarz
I learned about experiential learning and that music class can be beyond the classroom by involving the family and even the community.
Charissa Ann Regis
Osaka PYP & MYP Music Teacher Modern Band Club Teacher | Abroad International School • Osaka, Japan
I’m still processing all the information from today, but given that it is my first year in an IB school doing PYP, I have learned a new approach in teaching music to students with different backgrounds. My students are predominantly Japanese and the activities from today’s workshop made me realize that it is definitely possible to use multi/inter-cultural materials to make them understand the different elements in music.
I enjoyed the sagidi sagidi activity, and the many ways we could apply it to teaching rhythm/ostinato, or even teaching simple melody.
Patricia Alpay
Music Teacher/ELA Support | AIC World College • Hiroshima, Japan
It can be much easier than I thought to include multicultural materials in lessons. I was worried about not perfectly performing and teaching the music for the students, but that is not required to have a diverse curriculum and expose students to different cultures and traditions.
Natalie Miller
PYP Music Teacher | Fukuoka International School • Fukuoka, Japan
Your sessions are full of variety. Your personality makes the classroom a big difference – friendly, humble, humorous, grounded and playful! The process of activity is therapeutic!
Fiona Lee
It was really helpful to see how you can scale up songs and activities for older students. I find this as a very effective workshop and I learned a lot. Thank you for your kind demeanor and willingness to teach us.
Evan Figueras
Divisional Director of Music | The Salvation Army Southern California • U.S.A
The multicultural songs that we learned and how to teach a simple concept from kinder through high school was great! Thank you, Dr. Factora! Love your enthusiasm and your passion in music and multicultural folksongs/materials!
Marga Gargantiel
Music Teacher | Capistrano Unified School District • California, U.S.A
I relish being given to stretch my music muscles when Dr. Factora challenged us to think of extensions. As an Elementary Music teacher, I don’t often get to explore those things and I so appreciate her authentic cultural pieces with depth and breadth. I cannot recommend her enough. More Dr. Factora!
Brittany Case
Music Educator | Saddleback Valley Unified School District • California, U.S.A
There are many ways to incorporate the strengths and cultures of our students.I wish we had more time. I had a lot of fun for my first Orff workshop!
Jesus Santamaria
K-5 Music Teacher | Hollydale School • California, U.S.A
I loved not only the introduction to songs from many cultures, but the ways to bring our cultures together to connect with all of our students. This workshop was chock full of new songs, ideas, and concepts for every grade level. I honestly just want more time! Thank you Dr. Factora for an amazing joint workshop with Orff and Kodaly! I am inspired to bring your songs and ideas back to my classroom on Monday!
Victoria Cope
VAPA TOSA and Music Teacher | Tustin Unified School District • California, U.S.A
Your lifelong dedication to collecting and making these materials available is inspiring! Thank you for the repetition to build familiarity with the music. “I look forward to talking further with you about ways to connect and incorporate the IKS Symposium grant applicants to prepare for future participation and succession in IKS leadership.
Kathy Rauch
Highlands Farm School
Extending simple songs and chants into full arrangements that take students through different musical concepts like part work and improvisation is my biggest takeaway. I would have liked to play instruments a little bit more though. Still, thank you! This was really fun and I learned a ton of great activities I can use in the classroom immediately!
Tyler Stevens
My biggest takeaway were the games and songs from many languages that I can implement in my classroom this week! As well as a great process for teaching multicultural material for use both in class and performances.
Thank you, Dr. Factora, for sharing your time and expertise!
Jordan Laucks
I enjoyed the diverse songs and games that can be taught and differentiated to so many grade levels! I suggest you provide a pronunciation guide but I still think you did a wonderful job pronouncing it for us today. Thank you so much for coming! I hope to see you present again, I learned so much today and I loved getting to see so much representation from different countries, languages and cultures!
Sarah Krogstad
Music Teacher Preschool-5 | Stanley Elementary
All the fun ideas and the ideas of collecting games from kids was awesome. I just wish we had more time to do the tinkling dances!
Jeremy Morita
Hunt Elementary Puyallup School District
Dr. Factora is a must have clinician. I’ve never been in a workshop that so seamlessly integrated several ways to use a folk song. Not only were we taught the song and how to use initially, but Miriam gave us so many extensions throughout the day. Many seasoned teachers had several lightbulb moments. Masterful teaching and I hope to learn from her again soon.
Also, please know I am so extremely grateful for all your work so that Teddy will be able to learn more about his heritage. Thank you so much!!! If you need more recommendations for other chapters and such, please let me know. I will be happy to sing your praises!
Melissa Stouffer
Dr. Factora is a creative, dynamic, and engaging presenter, who invites all educators to join her in preserving musical traditions for future generations. My favorite takeaway from today’s workshop was her crash course on how to introduce melodic question and answer in the music classroom. Thank you for providing a Zoom option as there are many reasons attendees may not be able to participate in – person. As a Zoom participant I felt acknowledged and engaged whenever possible.
Jar-el Garcia
Music Teacher | Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District • California, U.S.A.
Biggest takeaway: Examples of ways to connect with students in a meaningful and musical way through their different cultures/languages.
Wonderful presentation! I wish we could have stayed all day or all weekend. I love the joy you exude while teaching. Thank you for being here!
Renee Gehlbach
Elementary Music Teacher | Covina-Valley Unified School District
Associate Conductor | National Children’s Chorus • California, U.S.A.
I really appreciated that Miriam showed us songs recorded from the source, and that we were learning authentic songs that are now being used in the classroom. Miriam’s passion, excitement, and energy are so contagious and really help to spark a genuine fascination for Philippine musical culture. She is so great at showing teachers how to teach not just the songs but also the musical concepts that can be taught with the songs, and was very responsive when participants had questions to clarify how instructions could be given. I hope to keep being able to learn from Miriam as she has such contagious joy that she shares with others as she shares music. |
Joy Tang
K-2 Music Teacher | Bullis Charter Schools • Los Altos, California, U.S.A.