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.