Let's Be Productive!

“Being a music educator involves more than conducting ensembles, teaching classes, and working with individual students. No matter which area of music education one is involved with, there are essential organizational and administrative tasks that must be accomplished. While sometimes these duties can be onerous and seem overwhelming, completing them in an efficient and expedient manner reduces stress and leaves time to concentrate on what is really important: teaching music” (Bauer, 2014, p. 168-169)

This quote is something that all teachers should read every now and then. There have been so many times I have heard my colleagues say, “I wish I could just teach!” when having to deal with all the other tasks that are sometimes not music related. These tasks, however, come with the job. With the use of technology, we can be more organized and spend less time, just like the book tells us.

Now lets talk about how awesome Google is. I have used Google drive before, but never to the extent of how it can be used. I mainly used it for docs because it was easy to use on any computer. I loved that I could start work at school and finish at home without hassle. And can we discuss how great it is that it is always saving your work? That has become a very helpful tool! I have also used Google Docs to share information with other people and like how we could all edit the document together. I do not know why I never thought of utilizing this in my classroom.

One of my favorite tools is the Google Forms. This is a quick and easy way to quiz or gather information in many different formats. I already thought of amazing ways to use this with students. It also makes it easy to organize the data and analyze it for us! Though I did not always have access to a computer lab in my school, these are programs that could be used anywhere.

I also wish I used Google Slides instead of Power Point. I was one of the unfortunate teachers that had to travel and teach in other teacher’s classrooms. I ended up creating power point presentations of all my lessons, for I did not have a textbook and could not rely on using board space. I struggled with transferring my presentations to each computer and wasted time setting up. Being that Google Drive is meant to work wherever I need it to, it could have saved me a lot of work and time just accessing it there. I could have also given my students a link to each presentation for them to study instead of printing each presentation and copying it for them.

One thing is for sure, I will think of Google Drive and all the benefits of staying connected in such a way. Also, being that this is my last blog post for this class, it really goes to show you that there are many programs out there that can make you a more inspired, efficient, and organized teacher if you are willing to use what you have. Technology can be exciting and helpful if used in the correct way. Not only would you keep your lessons fresh, but you are also teaching your students how to use technology in an educated way. If we were all wiling to keep learning, the possibilities are endless as technology evolves and changes over the years. I am grateful for the knowledge I gained in this class and hope to stay inspired to learn more.

Resources:

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Learning and Technology: Lets Bring it Together!

This week our topics revolved around learning. This consisted of the idea that learning is contextual, active, social, and reflective. We as teachers must keep this in mind when thinking about instructional design, especially when it deals with technology. “By utilizing technology in a manner congruent with contemporary learning theories, teachers can design meaningful modules, lessons, units, and other learning activities for students” (Bauer, 2014, p. 147).

Project based learning took this idea to the next level.  If every lesson is based on listening to a teacher, taking notes, and then getting quizzed, we are not doing our job as teachers to expand learning in our classrooms. The idea of project based learning is to have students learn by doing. Pairing this with the concept of backwards design, teachers have the capabilities of creating lessons that really give meaning to the students before us.

With technology to help us, we can have projects done in a different way. This was the first time I have been asked to design a WebQuest. This design was foreign to me, but I soon gained a better understanding of it and was able to easily think of ways to use it. I thought back to a project I have done with my students in the past. During our unit on Music in the Movies, I had my students create a life soundtrack to go along with specific scenes of their lives as if they were being made into a major film. I have had a lot of success with this project for students really had to understand the connection with music to what is being viewed.  What can take this lesson to the next level is using a WebQuest and including more technology into the project.

I feel that understanding learning and utilizing technology can only help us enhance our teaching capabilities. I look forward to using these tools, and I am sure students will love the project based learning it develops!

Resources:

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Sharing is Caring

During this week, we had the chance to play around with social bookmarking and leaning how to share the information that is beneficial to teachers. As reflected in my previous blog posts, there is a lot of technology available for teachers to improve and enhance their lessons in all grades. Social bookmarking is a great way to share what works with others around us. Using the website Diigo (www.Diigo.com), it is shown how easy that can be. Not only can you share your own ideas and information, but you can make connections with other teachers with similar groupings. Sharing information is the next step in letting technology work for us. We as teacher need to utilize these collaborative sights to keep the interest in our teaching!

These ideas can also help us develop responding to music. "Having the ability to mentally represent sound through words, and perhaps images, is crucial to musical understanding" (Bauer, 2014, p. 109). Technology can add creativity to lessons that deal with responding. One of these way is by using the program Zaption (www.Zaption.com). This is a program where teachers can make viewing videos from sites like YouTube more interactive and more educational. I know I would have benefited from a program such as this. To get an idea of how it works, check out the "tour" I created

http://zapt.io/texusqg2

As you can see, I used this program to make an interactive response to a recording of a piece of music that my students were learning. This program can also be incorporated in other programs like my History of Rock and Roll class. I have shown so many music videos, and I am very excited at the thought of making them more interactive through Zaption.

I think we need to remember that even though the amount of information out there can be overwhelming, we can rely on each other to make sense of it all. We can find what works and share it so easily! "Social bookmarking not only helps user track, and later retrieve, online resources they discover, but it is also a way for people to work together to share and learn about valuable information, tools, and services on the Internet" (Bauer, 2014, p. 42).

Resources:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Technology and Performance

In this week’s assignments, we had the opportunity to think about and discuss music performance and technology. Technology has the ability to help students prepare themselves for performances, and enhance the performance experience in itself. Practicing takes on a whole new meaning when paired with technology. Many students do not have the ability to practice with accompaniment, but with the use of technology like SmartMusic, students can gain that experience in a practice setting. This can help students get a better understanding of the solo piece and offer a greater development of musical skills such as tonality. But above all, using programs like this can make practicing fun and exciting.

Technology also opens a door to musical performances that use more of what students have available. Starting an ensemble that uses technology such as iPads or cells phones can open the door for students who have not learned an instrument and cannot join at the level of the group. “However, with computers and related digital technologies, perhaps such students can be provided with educational experiences that include musical performance” (Bauer, 2014, p. 90). I know of many students who would love to spark their creativity and performance skills by using non-traditional instruments.

A great program that was introduced to me this week is Audacity. This program made mixing of music easy for any user to try. Using a program like this can help students by making clips of certain music, or editing pre-recorded accompaniment. A specific idea came to mind when working with Audacity. If I were performing a specific piece with my choir but I wanted to extend or alter the ending, I could take a prerecorded piano part and mix it in audacity for students to practice to at home. Simple fixes like this make this free program a teacher’s aid.

Using technology for performance can be an easy thing to do if we as teachers keep on top of the technology used every day. Years from now, SmartMusic and Audacity may be programs of the past, but that just means better programs are on the horizon.

Resource:

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

www.audacityteam.org/

Composing with Looping

During the lessons for this past week, I have done a lot of reflection on the use of technology with composition and how it can appeal to all students, not just the ones involved in the traditional music programs. In fact, our discussion post for this week really made us look at how non-traditional music classes can bring in interest with those 80% of students. “A growing number of teachers have found that students who compromise this other 80% are attracted to school music classes that involve a non-notational approach to musical creativity through composition, often facilitated through technology” (Bauer, 2014, p. 60).  I have always felt that students in the secondary levels have chosen not to be involved in a music program due to the lack of musical knowledge, such as reading music. However, if students are able to be in an environment where they can be creative without being intimidated by notation.

We had the chance to experiment with a program that worked mainly with looping. Soundtrap is a great free program that use loops but also allows you to add your own added creativity by recording with MIDI or other Digital Audio. However, composing with loops is not as easy as it seems. I found that it could be easy for the compositions to become repetitive if not done correctly. Specific guidelines would need to be set for students in order for them to understand how to write with loops. A great way to do this would be to specify a form they would follow. If they wrote for ABA form, they would need to figure out a loop pattern for each section and come up with a way to tie it all in.

Here is an example of my composition using Soundtrap: 

Stephanie Jasenak's Soundtrap Composition

I believe that students are attracted to technology and these non-traditional musical classes can spark interest not only in music, but also with all that technology has to offer. The fact that we can give students who have not been participating in a music program the opportunity to compose is a great reason to include technology in the curriculum. Before it used to be an expense, but with all these free programs that are easily accessible, it is easier than ever to start or develop a program such as this. We as teachers just need to be inspired and encouraged to continue to develop what is already out there.

Resources

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

www.soundtrap.com

Creativity with Technology

I took great interest this week in the projects that were assigned. The only notation programs I have used in the past have been finale and Sibelius, but never very well or to their full potential. I was never able to use these programs in my teaching because it was a financial requirement that we just didn’t have. Though the software wouldn’t be a problem to buy, we didn’t have a music computer lab for the students to use. The only computers students had access to were in the library

After using programs like MuseScore and Noteflight, I see how easy it is for students to use free notation software. Not only can these programs be used on any computer, they are also very user friendly. Teachers would not have to spend a lot of time teaching students how to use the program, where I feel you must with Finale and Sibelius. I especially liked Notefight because the program is all done online. Nothing has to be downloaded, and the students would be able to access their work outside of school.

Basically, all of the assignments this week inspired me to think about creativity in the classroom. With notation programs such as this, and the discussions we have had about improvisation, there is no reason more creativity cannot be included more.  “While technology may be a gateway to involve nontraditional students in school music programs, those who are already part of school music classes and ensembles can also benefit from using technology to facilitate the development of their musical creativity” (Bauer, 2014, p.46). This is very important for teachers to remember. With the development of technology of the years, it can only get easier to incorporate. However, we as teachers need to take the initiative to find these new technologies and learn about them to better our instruction. If we are teaching the same thing in 5 years, we are not being the forward-thinking teachers we need to be.

Resources:

musescore.org

www.noteflight.com

Baur, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.