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.