We’ve heard many success stories of teachers and students using uTheory remotely over the last year and a half:

“It has been a challenging time for music educators, for sure, but uTheory made things so much easier.  I was able to have students learn important facets of pitch notation, rhythm reading, keyboard skills and ear training exercises which I probably wouldn't have spent nearly as much time on had we been in a live classroom. I feel like my music students will be stronger musicians when I see them next. With the ability to see their progress in a number of areas, and test their mastery with customizable assessments, I can't think of a better way to teach theory remotely.” - Scott Frank, Hillside Arts and Letters Academy

And before that, many teachers and students were thriving using uTheory in their classroom. How does that success translate back to in-person teaching, yet meet the needs of today’s evolving learners? Here are five tried-and-true strategies for using uTheory in your classroom this year.

New to uTheory? Check it out and sign up for a free teacher account here.

1. Whole Group Instruction

Let uTheory do the lesson planning, and even some of the teaching – show uTheory video lessons to your group, then let students complete the corresponding practice exercises individually. To do this, display a uTheory lesson in front of your class. Have your students sign in to uTheory and begin the same lesson, but pause the video you plan to watch together on each of their devices. After watching the lesson, the students will skip the same video on their own devices and individually complete the following practice exercises. Proceed through the lesson until completed or as time allows. And if your students don’t all have devices, you can teach with uTheory lessons in class, and let your students review and practice on their own at home.

2. Small Group Independent Work

When you’re instructing a small group of students – holding sectionals, conducting playing/singing tests, rotating through centers, etc. – keep the others engaged and learning with uTheory. Assign a lesson, set of skills to practice, or both, and no class time will be wasted on waiting for the teacher. Best of all, uTheory adapts to your students’ level based on their performance and provides immediate feedback, so that means no interrupting instruction with cries of “I need help!”.

3. Review and Reinforcement

We’ve all done it – thought we were finished teaching a new concept, only to find that the students don’t understand just yet and need more reinforcement. With uTheory, you can give students an opportunity to review and practice at their own pace. uTheory adapts to your students’ needs based on their performance, and lesson videos can be re-watched, so they’ll have the support they need to be successful even when they’re not in class.

4. Flipped Classroom

If your school schedule doesn’t allow enough time to teach it all, then leverage the flipped classroom model using uTheory. Assign lessons and skills for your students to practice at home, and they’ll come to class prepared to make connections in their repertoire or ready for a new theory concept.

5. Tests

Design custom tests aligned to your curriculum, yet don’t waste a single moment on writing out questions or grading student work. Along with choosing the types of questions, number of questions and amount of time allowed, you can set passing requirements and decide whether students have the chance to retake the assessment. We recommend allowing retakes, because uTheory tests teach, too – students receive detailed feedback following each test, direct access to relevant practice, and will be presented with a different set of questions for each test attempt. Go ahead, make every moment a teachable moment, we know you want to.

Bonus tips for successful teaching with uTheory:

  • Always remind your students to sign in before starting work in uTheory. If they don’t, they’ll see a reminder after 5 pages to sign in. If they ignore that too, then their progress from that session won’t be saved.
  • For in-person independent learning and practice, use headphones to hear examples clearly and cut down on classroom noise.
  • Without a group license or subscription, students will be limited to 10 pages of a lesson or exercise per day. We recommend a group license to give your students full access to uTheory. View license pricing options here.

Have another idea for using uTheory in the classroom? Let us and other teachers know about it on our Facebook page.