RAND corporation

The RAND Corporation is a think tank that addresses almost every kind of issue. Do a search on music, then refine it for lyrics, NCLB, singing, lessons or another subtopic. It's another place for finding information for the review of literature.

Soundbeam

Soundbeam allows differently-abled people to create music in through basic movements. This is an assistive technology device that meets the needs of music educators and music therapists. Many times, mainstreamed students are handed a shaker or pair of rhythms sticks to be part of the class. Soundbeam would allow them to participate in the composition process by adding a melodic line, not just a rhythm.

The video and several other son the Soundbeam site show students with multiple disabilities. I believe this device would be effective for students with more abilities but who still require assistance.

Apple incorporates voice over, spotlight search and closed captioning for differently-abled folks. There are several videos to watch that share the stories of folks who use Switch SX, Keystrokes and Proloquo. A woman in France types by a jaw movement. Leigh-Anne Tompkins, a graphic artist who runs her own company, draws with her foot and a trackball. She says it best, "Being disabled doesn't mean an inability to function, it only means we function in a unique way." Apple is doing great things for people.

New Horizons

What would your life been like if you had not started playing or singing when you did? What would you have done with your time? Do you think there would have been a hole in your spirit because you didn't join band or orchestra or choir? What would have filled that void?

New Horizons International Music Association has filled that void for many mature adults who didn't have the opportunity to play an instrument when they were in school. The program was started in 1991 by Dr. Roy Ernst of Eastman School of Music. It originally was designed for folks age 50 and older, but now welcomes adults of any age. New Horizon bands are all over the country and in Ireland and Canada.

From the web site:
"Active participation in music fills important needs for adults – the need for challenging intellectual activity, the need to be a contributing member of a group, and the need to have exciting events in the future. For many people, music can serve these vital needs better than anything else. It provides an opportunity to experience profound and serious thoughts or joyful moments. It makes connections to the past, the present and the future. It also connects one to other individuals and other cultures. Making music is a way of making vital connections to life. Early studies indicate that music making can reduce depression and increase the strength of the immune system. "

The nearest New Horizons Band is held at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory and is part of the Institute for Learning in Retirement.

Music educators should know about community organizations that are available for their students after graduation. We want our students to be able to play independently of us, to be confident musicians who can be part of an ensemble. We want them to continue to play their instruments or sing throughout their lives.

Life in these digital states

We encourage our students to say please and thank you and to cover their mouth when they cough and now we must add to list a request turn off the cell phone at concerts and movies and to not chat during class. As life has expanded digitally, a whole new level of etiquette and safety has emerged. Text language is unacceptable in academic writing and students should be able to understand why without a lot of explanation. Teachers need to check and double check sites before sending students off on a WebQuest or in search of information. I believe that this is all part of the responsibility.

Copyright laws can be complicated and confusing. The University of Maryland article answers many questions about what can and cannot be copied. Here is another site that deals specifically with music copyright. This is another situaiton where music educators need to be models for students. As teachers copy music, let their phone ring during class, and forget to say please and thank you, they will let their students believe that it is an acceptable way of life.

percussion resource

I've always enjoyed a good percussion feature. Rowloff now has downloads of audio and video for their 2010 literature. There's a piece for ladders called Rung Again. Some of the videos are very laughable, but just keep watching (Escape from Pirate Cove)! You'll get to the audio!
These arrangements are very playable. They are graded easy, medium and advanced. There are novelty pieces and Christmas arrangements and plenty of other resources. Younger students might find success with the Sicles series. These pieces would be good for junior high solo and ensemble.

One challenge for music educators is to consider the various learning styles in our lessons. How do we reach all the learners when our main avenue is a performing ensemble? What about technology class? We consider Gardner's multiple intelligences and create lesson plans that will touch on all those learning styles. The points made in Nancy Driscoll's article direct us to four main styles of learning. Technology can address all these styles, but there is still a time when students need to be away from the computer and interacting with each other. A balance should be maintained so we don't lose track of the spirit within the child.

Prensky's article was written in 2001. His points are well directed and clear. Teaches who have felt lost in technology, or who have refused to learn about it, may have moved on. Teachers who are aware of the changing trends in learning and teaching have embraced technology and have prepared themselves to meet the needs of the students. Unfortunately, many schools still do not have adequate hardware and software of support the teachers new knowledge.

Along with Prensky's comments about traditional curriculum, I raise the question of year-round school. Summers are time away from school to help with the crops. Would student learning be enhanced by year-round school with shorter breaks? He speaks of 'legacy' content and 'future' content. This seems very shallow in the concept of what is being taught. There is even more than digital and technological content. We must still consider our students as human beings with hearts and souls, emotions and consciences, laughter and a desire to learn.

urbanmusiceducation blog

This blog includes GarageBand projects, a WebQuest and other lesson plans from a music educator in a Denver, CO school. Some of the podcasts are lesson plans and teacher descriptions. Other podcasts are student reports with students reading their reports and showing photos. A link takes you to Podcasting in the Music Classroom. There's some good advocacy information and it even includes the National Standards Song.

Multimedia Basics and wave forms

This reading puts everything together. All this information will be very helpful as I gain more confidence with programs to create a website. It also reinforces for me that I am still new to the understanding of how computer software and hardware work and how the internet connection can effect everything. In regards to computers, I am self-taught. The basic information provided here offers definitions and examples for me that I never attached to things before. Thad Brown's discussion of wave forms and bandwidth explained some issues that I had experienced in the past with sound and video files. There is so much more to know about. I look forward to creating a site that will benefit my students and their parents.

School Band and Orchestra magazine

SBO magazine is offered in print and online. It's light reading and there are lots of ads. Sometimes it feels like one big advertisement. But it's free.

One interesting article this month is in regards to the diversity in New York schools. The cover story is about the flute and how one teacher has made the instrument a highlight at her school. Another article discusses lip maintenance for trumpet players.

Delicious and social bookmarking

Social bookmarking is a great way to share ideas and research opportunities. We do not live in a vacuum and we need to ask questions and opinions of other people. The ability to share our findings may trigger another research idea or a chance to contribute to another project. It is easy to feel bombarded by too much information, but the organizational use of tabs makes for easy filing of digital information.

I like the ability to lock some bookmarks. These remain private. When an account is being shared for a specific purpose, the user must be aware that some sites may not be applicable for the current use. When the specific application is over, users may be deleted. However, this would eliminate the benefit of the socialization aspect of Delicious. A better option might be to create a separate account for these personal bookmarks or just keep them private.

Classical Guitar Video

Music students have opportunities to hear great bands, orchestras and choruses throughout their high school and college careers. Students who pursue other instrumental options must search other avenues to find performances of great players ont ehir chosen instruments. Most students have never been exposed to classical guitar performances. The guitar is an instrument that has crossed genres to be considered almost exclusive to the rock culture. Here's a chance for students to hear music that is closer to the origin of the instrument. Teaching hints and video lessons are available.

Software readings

The readings from the Experiencing Music Technology has such a wealth of information! The descriptions of all the software could be a great resource to pass on to the administration and technology person at your school. Many times, there is a great misunderstanding about what we do in the music room, let alone why we need to request software and computers. This information will show administrators that we teach a viable part of the curriculum that is more than playing, dancing and singing.

I especially like the idea of game-based software for elementary school. These games might make those indoor recess times pass a bit more quickly. These also offer a benefit for home-schoolers. MiDisaurus incorporates a child’s spoken voice with animation making it even more enjoyable for young folks.

Time Sketch Editor Pro is the software that helps create a listening map. Students can map a piece of music of their own choice. Projects that used to be completed on poster board, then on PageMaker can now be done with the help of bubble charts to highlight specific parts of the composition. Band, orchestra and choir directors can create listening maps for pieces for discussion during rehearsals.

Jump ahead to Practica Musica. The Advanced Placement module gives students assistance in their preparation for that test. Higher AP scores make the school and the district advance on the state’s grade card.

The beginning skills examples are ones that younger students could enjoy. The storytelling and simple questions would reinforce comprehension skills crossing over to reading support. The capability to reveal the interdisciplinary potential is great. Classroom teachers, the reading specialist, the math specialist all could be valuable companions in convincing administration of the benefits of software purchases.

From the photos in this article, it appears that this information is a bit dated. I wonder about the availability of these exact software packages now. New, better software may have replaced some of these titles.

The SmartBoard is a wonderful way to keep students attention in one place and make their experiences new and exciting. My personal concern with the SmartBoard is again, one of being forced to be own biggest advocate. The music room is often seen as a place that does not need any of the educational tools that the general classroom enjoys. As music educators, we must constantly work to educate and inform parents, administration and other teachers in the building of the benefits of what the student learn while in our classrooms. A music supervisor or department head can campaign on our behalf, but we must be able to utilize the equipment and software and show that our students are advancing because of it.

Research PLN

Here is a site I added to my Delicious bookmark list. This is a resource for social research information. There is a good analogy of targets to help understand reliability and variability. There is a lot of information here and another storehouse of references to gain a better understanding of all the terms and stats.

Audio/visual music

Recording groups is a great way for them to hear what is happening. The process of recording can get in the way. There may be a parent in the school who has recording experience. Seek their assistance. During the concert, you need more than someone who ‘just has to push the button.’

In the large school district where I taught for many years, the music department owned the CD recorder. It was a simple process to request it for whatever event. The music supervisor structured a professional development afternoon for us all to learn how to use it. It was much simpler than what was described in the reading. Easy to set up and use any time. Duplicating the recording for the students was just as easy. Directors do need to check into copyright laws to avoid unwanted lawsuits.

The students experience great benefits when they are able to analyze their own rehearsal. When they can get out of the mechanics of playing, they can listen and realize where the wrong notes happen, when rhythms are missed and when parts just don’t fit together correctly. Their own awareness is heightened and they become better listeners. As the group works together to correct mistakes, they become attentive to the many layers to the music, intonation and balance.

Visual representations of sound can be helpful too. I have used GarageBand to show students what a crescendo should look like. They work till they achieve a smooth waveform the gradually increases in size. A printout of the student’s performance would be helpful to explain some expectations to parents. Many parents claim to know nothing about music. A visual will help them see their child’s progress and take some of the objectivity away from the music assessment. The example of legato and staccato in the Watson article is clear. This could be a great help during parent-teacher conferences.

From theTop

This week, I added From the Top to my PLN. This is a fun National Public Radio program that features young musicians doing wonderful things. I have used this site in middle school general music classes. Young people can see what is possible and witness the diverse talent that is in the world. They can see that these very talented young people are normal kids too. The host, Christopher O'Riley has a wit about him that can keep even 8th-grade boys interested. They can look through the site, find a program to watch and listen, then write about it. (A multidisciplinary project when the school's main focus was on writing.) There is a teacher packet available.

MIDI accompaniments and Sequence-stration

The Kersten article had a lot of great ideas for using MIDI at home and school. The suggested web sites that are still available could be very useful. A list of sites like these be made available to parents at open house or at curriculum night or made available on the music homepage. If parents could have a demo of what these do, they might encourage their musicians to use them.

I like the idea in Sequence-stration about using unexpected timbres. Students can play with the whole sequenced piece, then as a music minus one simply by muting the melodic line. The fun accompaniment is still there to keep them moving through the exercise.

I remind myself that most of my private students (all elementary and middle school) tell me that their teachers don’t use accompaniments during class – not even a CD accompaniment. Some of these students do not have adequate computer access at home. These articles are packed with great stuff to know, but the application will depend on the teaching environment.

(Teachers should be aware of DonorsChoose.org. This is a site that allows an educator to describe their equipment need. Donors choose which projects they want to be a part of and make contribute to the cause as they are able. The larger community comes together for the good of the kids.)

The Habits of Musicianship

Robert Duke and James Byo from the Center for Music Learning at University of Texas at Austin have created a band method that goes beyond the rudimentary basic of note reading and technique to include musicianship from the very beginning. While we can be happy when the right pitch is produced with a semi-reasonable embouchure and almost decent tone quality, but a note is wrong if it isn't played in tune and with the proper inflection.

They offer a free download of all the materials. This edition is much easier to read than the last. All students parts are there with scores for the teacher. Even if you do not adopt the method, the introductory text is worth reading.

MIDI readings

The ability to discern which music technology to use for any given situation is dependent on one’s knowledge of the hardware and software. A great experience for a student composer would be to create an MIDI accompaniment, then create a digital audio with himself/herself as soloist. This method could be used for adjudication preparation. The student could punch in the accompaniment for the solo, then play along and assess his/her own performance.

It seems overwhelming to consider teaching the MIDI process to a class. It is a complicated process to me, but may not seem so to students who have grown up with computers and have possibly gained an understanding of how computers work. I found the analogy of the player piano to be very helpful in understanding the MIDI process. The piano roll has all the information and the piano just plays it. Dr. Estrella states, “Similarly, MIDI data produces no sound by itself. Instead MIDI data, like the piano roll, contains a description of the musical performance which, when received by a synthesizer, can be rendered as sound.” The last reading, What is MIDI?, on the About MIDI page is the easiest for me to understand. Students may grasp the concepts easier if they begin with note on and note off, and then move to all the other aspects of MIDI one at a time.

Elementary Music/Music Technology PLN

Here's a blog from Amy Burns, a general music teacher in New Jersey and the president-elect of TI:ME. She has included some great posts of downloadable freebies, her list of "Some Elementary Concert Items That No One Ever Tells You About…" and she explains how she used Apple Keynote to get 250 kids singing together. There's a link to interviews and perfomances from MENC Music Education Week in Washington last June. It will be interesting to learn how she continues to use technology throughout the year for composing or review of a concept. Comments from other teachers reinforce the use of technology. For fun, be sure to watch the YouTube video with the saxophonist explaining triplets. I couldn't resist and added her podcast that includes the opening plenary session from MENC Music Education Week in Wachington, Software for Music Creation.

PLN wk 3

Music Matters: a blog on music cognition

This site caught my eye with the video of the Daily Show conversation with Dr. Oliver Sacks, a noted neurologist, including a comparison of brain scans while listening the Bach and Beethoven.

Other articles include discussions about earworms and why we remember a melody sticks with us, the possibility of the presence of a music gene, and even a dancing cockatoo as evidence of beat induction.

Scroll searching and watch a video of Glenn Gould playing Bach.

Some postings are in other languages.

TI:ME strategies, Peter Webster and Sibelius

It was very interesting to read the TI:ME strategies and learn how they align to the standards of MENC, NETS and ISTE. The skills learned while using music software are not restricted to the technology being used, but can span many avenues of music education. Strategies could be interdisciplinary lessons with cooperation between the music teacher, technology teacher and classroom teacher. One example would be TI:ME standard 9.03 and MENC standard 9. The music teacher would determine the information to be discovered while the technology teacher instructs students on how to do internet searches and gather the information. It could all be tied to a social studies or history lesson. I also found it interesting that the TI:ME standards focus on teacher objectives in addition to student objectives.

Peter Webster mentions this very idea in the introduction of his writing. He offers many strategies on how to get music classes more technologically involved. He suggests a pull-out within the class, allowing students to take actual music class time to work at the computer. I especially liked his idea on creating musical toys by using MIDI sensors. With the current push for robotics teams, I think there would be some positive energy throughout the school for this activity.

We explored the Vermont MIDI project on the Google Earth exploration a few weeks ago. After seeing a performance and now reading more about it, I wonder how/when this will be expanded to other areas.

Notation Software

The three articles on notation software offered a nice overview of Finale and Sibelius. Many ideas shared are used by music teachers, from creating transcriptions to accommodate unique instrumentation to creating missing parts. Worksheets and practice sheets are more beneficial to the ensemble when the teacher can focus on specific concepts for a piece.

The Watson article from Music Education Technology discusses early versions fo Finale and Sibelius. I was reminded of FInale's ability to export graphics for use outside the program. This was a great benefit. The scanning capabilities have improved since Finale 2003 and Sibelius 2. And Sibeius nwo has worksheets and the ability to create custom worksheets.

Tom Rudolph offers ideas for student compositions and compares the use of music software for composing to using a word processor for writing. Niether application does the work, but assists the student in creating a legible, printed page. He suggests using student music librarians to create parts that may be missing or parts that need to be transcribed.

Floyd Richmond reveals several ways he has used notation software in his classroom. The ability to assign computer projects would be determined by the equipment available to the student. In class projects may be difficult if there is a limited number of computers available for use.

PLN wk 2

I've included Classics for Kids in my PLN. I first discovered this site at an OMEA conference a few years ago. It originates from WGUC in Cincinnati. There is a featured composer each week with a podcast, music, games and downloadable worksheets. Lessons plans are available and information for parents. I have used htis for general music classes as well as band to give the students a different way of exploring the life of a composer. Everything is archived, so you can search for a specific piece or composer.

http://www.classicsforkids.com/

PLN

So much information! Is it possible to choose one network and stick to just that one? But not all sites are available for all networks. It appears that by establishing an account on more than one network, articles and information would be duplicated, creating the appearance of more information than is really there. It could easily be information overload.

One site I included in my PLN is Project MUSE, Philosophy of Music Education Review (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_of_music_education_review/summary/v017/17.1.laird.html). This site allows each volume to be searched and articles downloaded.

Noteflight

Bicycle Built for Two
http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/131e2c31e29388f75942d07434276929d847ce38

Two thumbs down from me.

I found this program difficult to work with. It is possible that it is my computer since the problems I had were related to the mouse and moving across the page. The program did not respond as quickly as I would have liked. I clicked on the measure to insert a pitch and I had to wait for it to show up. If I needed to change a rhythm, it would take longer than expected to make the adjustment. The keyboard shortcuts didn't work and the editing palette didn't stay where I wanted it. The strip layout didn't scroll as I worked. I had to move the scroll bars to see what I was doing.

I'm sure this would be an effective tool for the classroom with the proper hardware. Students could enter a melody and experiment with harmonizations and/or countermelodies.

TPACK article

It is easy to forget the simplicity of a pencil (p. 1) as technology. The idea of any tool to be a piece of technology allows the term to take on new meaning. This article suggests that teachers recognize the kaleidoscope of technological uses and incorporate them into daily practice. What we know about technology is constantly changing, allowing our content knowledge and pedagogical experiences to increase.

Students come to the classroom armed with technological knowledge. Teachers must become made aware of the possibilities for expanding their students’ learning through the use of Smartboards, the internet, blogs and podcasts. Hands-on experiments are still critical to the learning process. The incorporation of technology expands the students’ experiences to include the larger community beyond the classroom. I believe the extreme to classroom technology is seen in the trial of the robot teacher in Japan. http://gadgets.softpedia.com/newsImage/Robot-Teacher-Trialled-at-Japanese-Elementary-School-2.jpg

One important issue mentioned in the article is that “knowledge of technology does not necessarily lead to effective teaching with technology.” (p. 12) Not every software program is going to be effective in every classroom. Care must be taken to ensure that content and concepts are age-appropriate and at the ability level of the students. A student may understand how to manipulate the SmartMusic software, but may not understand how to play eighth notes or know a fingering. The software will tell him he is incorrect, but won’t help him correct the mistake. Technology is a tool that should not be used without the teaching.