As this couse draws to a close, I am reflecting holistically. If we are to consider technology as a means to drive music education, we need to also be certain to conserve the traditional aspects as well.
Throughout the course, we have used a variety of different programs to assist us in developing assignments and assessments. By completing projects such as this, we are able to more thoroughly comply with national, state, and local standards via incorporation of technology.
The WebQuest is an ideal way to have students complete studies in music education using technology only. We can use these for students to access important information that will enhance and supplement their knowledge base. If we would like our students to understand concepts more in-depth and then apply them to their performance skills, the WebQuest route would be successful. This was the idea behind the WebQuest that I designed over Impressionism - focusing on the aesthetics of music, and how music affects the listener.
The completion of the e-portfolio was a return to my undergraduate days as Ball State pioneered these for music educators. At the time, our portfolios were organized by the INTASC principles and the National standards. I believe INTASC is now obsolete, but it was very effective at the time. As I departed school and in the job market, I was able to send my e-portfolio link to potential employers. While my paper portfolio was far more impressive, (technology was not as affordable as it is today) the electronic version provided adequate information including my resume and philosophy of education, As Well as several artifacts demonstrating my competency. I certainly appreciate this still being a focus of Dr. Bauer.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Week 7
This week focused on the use of technology for the use of assessment and professional productivity. Here is where I feel technology makes its perfect fit into what we do daily. I have used a variety of technology programs to give presentations, communicate information, record data, keep student records, manage finances, as well as create assessments. I have used Microsoft Office, Movie Maker, Finale, and Charms Office Assistant.
The use of the Google tools to create assessments and presentations is great to know, since I am a Google user already. It's great that we can generate quizzes or surveys through these means, and do so quickly and efficiently. Being able to immediately share or publish this information is an incredible advantage.
The vocabulary discussed in the chapters this week were a good reminder of the vocabulary discussed in the Assessment in Music Education course last summer. The more we are comfortable with this terminology, the more effective we can be on our campuses, and with our respective administration(s).
What we can benefit from this information should be obvious - technology drives everything today. We can communicate whatever we need to with the click of a button. Our staff send weekly e-mails out through our parent liaison that describes, in detail, what is happening in the program that week. We also maintain a web page with all of our information, and a Facebook page that we send information to. I use an app called Remind101 to send text messages to students and parents.
Technology is the present and the future - use of these methods would be perfect for many of the operations in general music classrooms, but also in the administration of secondary performance classrooms. We do this every day.
The use of the Google tools to create assessments and presentations is great to know, since I am a Google user already. It's great that we can generate quizzes or surveys through these means, and do so quickly and efficiently. Being able to immediately share or publish this information is an incredible advantage.
The vocabulary discussed in the chapters this week were a good reminder of the vocabulary discussed in the Assessment in Music Education course last summer. The more we are comfortable with this terminology, the more effective we can be on our campuses, and with our respective administration(s).
What we can benefit from this information should be obvious - technology drives everything today. We can communicate whatever we need to with the click of a button. Our staff send weekly e-mails out through our parent liaison that describes, in detail, what is happening in the program that week. We also maintain a web page with all of our information, and a Facebook page that we send information to. I use an app called Remind101 to send text messages to students and parents.
Technology is the present and the future - use of these methods would be perfect for many of the operations in general music classrooms, but also in the administration of secondary performance classrooms. We do this every day.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Week 6
This week's Module was centered around Instructional Design and Technology.
Technological advances permit educators to design and deliver instruction in ways that are far superior to the past. The wealth of resources are vast, and other web-based music materials allow for instant access to so many possibilities at the click of the mouse. Many teachers are using social media to interact with their students - I in particular use an app called "Remind 101", which is a free SMS program that permits me to text information to my students using my mobile phone, but it does not use my phone number, and the students/parents cannot text back. Programs such as these are giving teachers more freedom to connect with students without the "unethical" problems to haunt them.
The reading discussed several concepts about instruction, and how to use technology legally in these parameters. My top five list was as follows:
5. Logistics
We focused on this heavily in the summer training sessions for our district this year. We have all been provided with a copy of "The Fundamental 5" by Sean Cain and Mike Laird - we studied this book, and had multiple discussions regarding its contents. One of these fundamentals is called "The Power Zone" - it encourages that we instruct in the power zone, which involves us actually being all over our classroom, instead of in a stationary place. Talk about difficulty when you are trying to run a wind rehearsal! However, this is a part of how I set up my ensemble, so that I can be off the podium and to any player or section in the band in a heartbeat. Proximity of players to other players, where the projector is located, how the stereo system is set up; the logistics of your classroom play a highly pertinent role in the success of your instruction, and the absorption of the material.
4. Learning in Context
One of the most important statements ever made to me in undergraduate was spoken by a professor for a class that really did not hold a lot of value for music education majors: “You have to make whatever it is that you are doing relevant for you, and the people around you.” Students today DO NOT CARE about what they are learning if it does not CONNECT with them. Period. Now, consider that music students at the secondary level are generally do not require additional motivation other than they WANT to be there – there is always a small percentage of them that stay in band purely for social reasons, so making connections with them between what they like and what they can learn is essential. Our district and campus strongly promotes building relationships with all of our students, particularly those that are considered to be “at risk”. The more we can know about who we are teaching, the more we can relate our subject to their interests and what makes them tick.
3. Correcting Misconceptions
I purchased a book in undergrad called “Lies My Music Teacher Told Me”. In this book, several examples were provided of misconceptions and/or misinformation – things like “There are only 12 major scales”, and “Practice Makes Perfect”. We need to take a step back and try to understand what is realistic, and ensure that our students understand that as well. Truth be told, there are15 major scales, and only perfect practice makes perfect (practice makes permanent). To quote one of my mentors: “Even the doctor who graduates last in his class is still called doctor.” Think about that for a second – we try so hard to teach our students that less than 100% is unacceptable, (see video on YouTube by Dr. Jack Stamp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw4vqll9cAM – Why Music Matters) who wants to be under the knife of the surgeon who is only correct 96% of the time? Who wants to drive over the bridge engineered by a fellow who is 99% on his calculations? We always have to be thoughtful of what the students believe they know, what they really don’t know, and be ABSOLUTELY certain that whatever we deliver to them is correct.
2. Differentiated Learning
Ultimately, this concept does not even warrant a discussion because it’s something we must do all the time in high school band. The topic as listed is only one half of the battle – not only do we need to recognize differentiated learning, we have to actually differentiate instruction. This goes back to the learning styles everyone talked about for ages: Audio, Visual, and Tactile/Kinesthetic. Beyond that, I refer back to Learning in Context. As teachers, it is part of our responsibility to know our students well enough to make our delivery methods effective for EVERY one of them. Yes, this is a pain. Yes, this is time consuming. But…so what? We need to reach “Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day”.
1. Backwards Design
I decided to mention this point because it is such a hot topic in education today. This is another educational practice that was adopted by our district this year, so when I took the Instructional Design course, I was excited to know much of what was being discussed. Our campus has also used some of the same materials as the course (Teacher’s Toolkit), which was also encouraging. Secondary instrumental music classes are designed in this manner without even applying the moniker. Everything we do for the entire school year is based on the end result. Marching band shows are planned months in advance, using information about the students we currently have, and the ones we will be acquiring from the middle schools. Concert repertoire is studied and selected months in advance to produce a fantastic performance. Contest pieces are selected months in advance to ensure the best possible rating at contest. Solo and Ensemble, District/Region/All-State Band etudes, audition materials – all selected and provided long before they are going to be performed to ensure the success of the students. Some of these things are governed by the state; others are well within our control, but everything we do, ALL YEAR LONG, centers around the end result. We continuously ponder: where do we want to be when this is over, and will our students be stronger musicians at the end of the year because of the choices we have made?
One of the other topics discussed in the reading was Copyright, which I would have included if it was a Top 6 list. Copyright laws are stringent, and more often than not, we violate those laws. While "Fair Use" and "Fair Dealing" are terms that are thrown around by educators like it protects them, more often than not, they are still breaking the copyright law. We consider educational use - but there are correct ways to do this, and incorrect ways to do this. Just because we own a copy of something does not give us the right to make additional copies and distribute them. This is something that is very important for all educators to understand, IN PARTICULAR, music educators. Admit it, everyone has "made copies" of literature as to "not destroy" the originals.
I found it fun to revisit the concept of WebQuests again. As a student at Ball State University, we completed WebQuests as part of our MusEd courses. This is an effective means to have the students complete tasks while being in their comfort zone (behind a screen). We didn't have YouTube when I was an undergraduate, so now the extents of web-based lessons reach even further; not to mention the VAST number of other webpages that are music-centered.
Technological advances permit educators to design and deliver instruction in ways that are far superior to the past. The wealth of resources are vast, and other web-based music materials allow for instant access to so many possibilities at the click of the mouse. Many teachers are using social media to interact with their students - I in particular use an app called "Remind 101", which is a free SMS program that permits me to text information to my students using my mobile phone, but it does not use my phone number, and the students/parents cannot text back. Programs such as these are giving teachers more freedom to connect with students without the "unethical" problems to haunt them.
The reading discussed several concepts about instruction, and how to use technology legally in these parameters. My top five list was as follows:
5. Logistics
We focused on this heavily in the summer training sessions for our district this year. We have all been provided with a copy of "The Fundamental 5" by Sean Cain and Mike Laird - we studied this book, and had multiple discussions regarding its contents. One of these fundamentals is called "The Power Zone" - it encourages that we instruct in the power zone, which involves us actually being all over our classroom, instead of in a stationary place. Talk about difficulty when you are trying to run a wind rehearsal! However, this is a part of how I set up my ensemble, so that I can be off the podium and to any player or section in the band in a heartbeat. Proximity of players to other players, where the projector is located, how the stereo system is set up; the logistics of your classroom play a highly pertinent role in the success of your instruction, and the absorption of the material.
4. Learning in Context
One of the most important statements ever made to me in undergraduate was spoken by a professor for a class that really did not hold a lot of value for music education majors: “You have to make whatever it is that you are doing relevant for you, and the people around you.” Students today DO NOT CARE about what they are learning if it does not CONNECT with them. Period. Now, consider that music students at the secondary level are generally do not require additional motivation other than they WANT to be there – there is always a small percentage of them that stay in band purely for social reasons, so making connections with them between what they like and what they can learn is essential. Our district and campus strongly promotes building relationships with all of our students, particularly those that are considered to be “at risk”. The more we can know about who we are teaching, the more we can relate our subject to their interests and what makes them tick.
3. Correcting Misconceptions
I purchased a book in undergrad called “Lies My Music Teacher Told Me”. In this book, several examples were provided of misconceptions and/or misinformation – things like “There are only 12 major scales”, and “Practice Makes Perfect”. We need to take a step back and try to understand what is realistic, and ensure that our students understand that as well. Truth be told, there are15 major scales, and only perfect practice makes perfect (practice makes permanent). To quote one of my mentors: “Even the doctor who graduates last in his class is still called doctor.” Think about that for a second – we try so hard to teach our students that less than 100% is unacceptable, (see video on YouTube by Dr. Jack Stamp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw4vqll9cAM – Why Music Matters) who wants to be under the knife of the surgeon who is only correct 96% of the time? Who wants to drive over the bridge engineered by a fellow who is 99% on his calculations? We always have to be thoughtful of what the students believe they know, what they really don’t know, and be ABSOLUTELY certain that whatever we deliver to them is correct.
2. Differentiated Learning
Ultimately, this concept does not even warrant a discussion because it’s something we must do all the time in high school band. The topic as listed is only one half of the battle – not only do we need to recognize differentiated learning, we have to actually differentiate instruction. This goes back to the learning styles everyone talked about for ages: Audio, Visual, and Tactile/Kinesthetic. Beyond that, I refer back to Learning in Context. As teachers, it is part of our responsibility to know our students well enough to make our delivery methods effective for EVERY one of them. Yes, this is a pain. Yes, this is time consuming. But…so what? We need to reach “Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day”.
1. Backwards Design
I decided to mention this point because it is such a hot topic in education today. This is another educational practice that was adopted by our district this year, so when I took the Instructional Design course, I was excited to know much of what was being discussed. Our campus has also used some of the same materials as the course (Teacher’s Toolkit), which was also encouraging. Secondary instrumental music classes are designed in this manner without even applying the moniker. Everything we do for the entire school year is based on the end result. Marching band shows are planned months in advance, using information about the students we currently have, and the ones we will be acquiring from the middle schools. Concert repertoire is studied and selected months in advance to produce a fantastic performance. Contest pieces are selected months in advance to ensure the best possible rating at contest. Solo and Ensemble, District/Region/All-State Band etudes, audition materials – all selected and provided long before they are going to be performed to ensure the success of the students. Some of these things are governed by the state; others are well within our control, but everything we do, ALL YEAR LONG, centers around the end result. We continuously ponder: where do we want to be when this is over, and will our students be stronger musicians at the end of the year because of the choices we have made?
One of the other topics discussed in the reading was Copyright, which I would have included if it was a Top 6 list. Copyright laws are stringent, and more often than not, we violate those laws. While "Fair Use" and "Fair Dealing" are terms that are thrown around by educators like it protects them, more often than not, they are still breaking the copyright law. We consider educational use - but there are correct ways to do this, and incorrect ways to do this. Just because we own a copy of something does not give us the right to make additional copies and distribute them. This is something that is very important for all educators to understand, IN PARTICULAR, music educators. Admit it, everyone has "made copies" of literature as to "not destroy" the originals.
I found it fun to revisit the concept of WebQuests again. As a student at Ball State University, we completed WebQuests as part of our MusEd courses. This is an effective means to have the students complete tasks while being in their comfort zone (behind a screen). We didn't have YouTube when I was an undergraduate, so now the extents of web-based lessons reach even further; not to mention the VAST number of other webpages that are music-centered.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Week 5
In this week's coursework, we were exposed to a variety of activities, all of which hold high value in the music education classroom.
In our discussion this week, we were prompted to reflect on how we use technology to elicit student response to music. As with much of this course, having to reflect on what we do or do not do brings us to the realization that we implement technology in our classrooms more than we understand. As stated in the discussion board post, I use YouTube to generate listening guides and reflections for my students. There are so many high quality videos of master teachers/conductors, professional performing ensembles and the like, it would be virtually impossible to run out of things to distribute to the students. As a result of a one of these listening assignments, I had a student create this image for me - I'm so humbled by and proud of this, I cannot resist sharing as often as possible:
This student was impacted by the listening in this fashion - only by being asked to sketch something if visual imagery comes to mind. I was anticipating animals, landscape, colors and things like that; but was presented with this. AMAZING! This and many other online resources can be used to supplement instruction, plus give the students the access to many of the pieces that they are playing in class every day, being played by the finest musicians.
The other educational components of this week's materials was the Instructional Software Evaluation and the Social Bookmarking project. The Instructional Software Evaluation was very useful, because it required that we searched, in-depth for effective means of instruction and/or assessment via technology. Since I teach secondary school exclusively, I selected to evaluate the SmartMusic program because of its value to the secondary school band classroom. This program provides such a valuable resource for the students AND the instructors. Its objectivity in assessment provides concrete feedback to the students and measurable data for the administration.
Social Bookmarking is something that I had never heard of until now, and I'm glad it was introduced. This makes perfect sense for all of us who are using online information to create or modify instruction, or to those who use web pages to enhance the students' learning. This type of categorization makes for a quick and easy way to access what you need when you need it. Along with this, to complete the project, we had to seek out resources either on the internet by ourselves, or using web pages or links provided for us. There were many resources that I saw that I did not know existed, so the search alone was very educational.
In our discussion this week, we were prompted to reflect on how we use technology to elicit student response to music. As with much of this course, having to reflect on what we do or do not do brings us to the realization that we implement technology in our classrooms more than we understand. As stated in the discussion board post, I use YouTube to generate listening guides and reflections for my students. There are so many high quality videos of master teachers/conductors, professional performing ensembles and the like, it would be virtually impossible to run out of things to distribute to the students. As a result of a one of these listening assignments, I had a student create this image for me - I'm so humbled by and proud of this, I cannot resist sharing as often as possible:
This student was impacted by the listening in this fashion - only by being asked to sketch something if visual imagery comes to mind. I was anticipating animals, landscape, colors and things like that; but was presented with this. AMAZING! This and many other online resources can be used to supplement instruction, plus give the students the access to many of the pieces that they are playing in class every day, being played by the finest musicians.
The other educational components of this week's materials was the Instructional Software Evaluation and the Social Bookmarking project. The Instructional Software Evaluation was very useful, because it required that we searched, in-depth for effective means of instruction and/or assessment via technology. Since I teach secondary school exclusively, I selected to evaluate the SmartMusic program because of its value to the secondary school band classroom. This program provides such a valuable resource for the students AND the instructors. Its objectivity in assessment provides concrete feedback to the students and measurable data for the administration.
Social Bookmarking is something that I had never heard of until now, and I'm glad it was introduced. This makes perfect sense for all of us who are using online information to create or modify instruction, or to those who use web pages to enhance the students' learning. This type of categorization makes for a quick and easy way to access what you need when you need it. Along with this, to complete the project, we had to seek out resources either on the internet by ourselves, or using web pages or links provided for us. There were many resources that I saw that I did not know existed, so the search alone was very educational.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Week 4
This week was a good reminder of how well we generally have it when it comes to technology in the music education classroom. Even though there may be limitations to what we can use or have access to, developments in free materials on the internet make things even more reachable than ever.
The text discussed a variety of programs that are available, most of which I have the ability to use in my classes. Music notation software, SMARTMusic, YouTube, Metronomes, Tuners; these things are used regularly in many schools across the country. Something as simple as a metronome/tuner is considered technology, even though it seems almost "silly" to think that.
Although I did not make mention of this program in my discussion post this week, we also use a piece of online software called "Rhythm Bee" in our beginning band classes. This is something that does cost money and must be renewed each school year, but is accessed through the internet and provides a multitude of lessons about counting rhythms. I am not sure if this is being used outside of Texas, but we have been using it for the past three years, and it does seem to be effective. I would like to see it used past the beginner level, but to my knowledge, there is not an upper tier set of lessons.
The project for the week focused on using Audacity to create remixes of sound files. This program is simple enough for a novice to use with a little bit of training, and while not entirely expansive with production tools, certainly provides adequate means to be creative. I have used similar programs in the past to write/mix/produce electronic music with some colleagues, but those were far more advanced and required a lot of tutelage. But with the experience that I have, I was able to quickly manipulate the files to produce my project(s). In the Lynda chapters, there was lot of information that was certainly geared toward some of the more advanced vocabulary. Understanding sound waves and frequencies is not exactly the easiest thing to do, but having a basic grasp of how to look at those on the program is definitely needed.
Ultimately, we have a wealth of performance-based technology at our fingertips. Some of it is free, some of it costs money, but ALL of it is educationally valuable.
The text discussed a variety of programs that are available, most of which I have the ability to use in my classes. Music notation software, SMARTMusic, YouTube, Metronomes, Tuners; these things are used regularly in many schools across the country. Something as simple as a metronome/tuner is considered technology, even though it seems almost "silly" to think that.
Although I did not make mention of this program in my discussion post this week, we also use a piece of online software called "Rhythm Bee" in our beginning band classes. This is something that does cost money and must be renewed each school year, but is accessed through the internet and provides a multitude of lessons about counting rhythms. I am not sure if this is being used outside of Texas, but we have been using it for the past three years, and it does seem to be effective. I would like to see it used past the beginner level, but to my knowledge, there is not an upper tier set of lessons.
The project for the week focused on using Audacity to create remixes of sound files. This program is simple enough for a novice to use with a little bit of training, and while not entirely expansive with production tools, certainly provides adequate means to be creative. I have used similar programs in the past to write/mix/produce electronic music with some colleagues, but those were far more advanced and required a lot of tutelage. But with the experience that I have, I was able to quickly manipulate the files to produce my project(s). In the Lynda chapters, there was lot of information that was certainly geared toward some of the more advanced vocabulary. Understanding sound waves and frequencies is not exactly the easiest thing to do, but having a basic grasp of how to look at those on the program is definitely needed.
Ultimately, we have a wealth of performance-based technology at our fingertips. Some of it is free, some of it costs money, but ALL of it is educationally valuable.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Week 3
This week was an interesting topic - these technology driven classrooms. I am a traditionalist by nature; I want students in my ensemble(s). As the director of a band program, it is my priority to see students through middle school and into the high school band program. While I can appreciate the use of technology to reach these "other 80%", it irritates me to no end when many of these students should still be in my classroom instead of some kind of alternate music classroom. I feel this is causing an uphill battle to reach higher altitudes, instead of helping with recruitment and retention. This is actually a possible "out" for students to bypass the workload of being a traditional music student and providing an alternative. I want them to keep playing their horns. We keep an open door to teach anyone who wants to commit to becoming a performing musician - just come talk to us, we'll do the work if you'll commit.
Regardless, the online program was fun. I have some experience working with electronica, so there was some familiar territory to tread here. However, there was no musical structure to learning how to use the program. If anyone were to venture into this, the products would most likely be by chance. If this were to be utilized in a setting for a music theory class or something similar, the students would actually begin to grasp musicality, theory, form, style etcetera. To just use this as a teaching method would be ludicrous, and in a sense blasphemous to those who came before us in the field.
Ultimately, I want students to become advocate as well as performers. If they can appreciate the art form at a high level, much can be gained. Using technology as a means to an end is not right, and it will be the demise of traditional programs. Most districts don't have the money to make this possible anyway - the ones who do, are VERY lucky.
Regardless, the online program was fun. I have some experience working with electronica, so there was some familiar territory to tread here. However, there was no musical structure to learning how to use the program. If anyone were to venture into this, the products would most likely be by chance. If this were to be utilized in a setting for a music theory class or something similar, the students would actually begin to grasp musicality, theory, form, style etcetera. To just use this as a teaching method would be ludicrous, and in a sense blasphemous to those who came before us in the field.
Ultimately, I want students to become advocate as well as performers. If they can appreciate the art form at a high level, much can be gained. Using technology as a means to an end is not right, and it will be the demise of traditional programs. Most districts don't have the money to make this possible anyway - the ones who do, are VERY lucky.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Link
Here is the link to NoteFlight score:
http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/c9f0d0276ff66d58026e0f98b6ba5e340a77cc17
http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/c9f0d0276ff66d58026e0f98b6ba5e340a77cc17
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