Finishing Up!

I can't believe we're at the end of the semester already!  I've really learned a lot of interesting and useful things while taking this class.  Overall, my favorite modules have been those where I learned about blogs, Google docs and forms, and webquests.

I hadn't heard the term webquest before taking this course and when we reached that module I wasn't really sure what to expect.  In the end, the webquest was something that I found very fun to make and I think it's something that my students would really enjoy.  The gist of a webquest is that it provides students with an educational task, or quest.  By giving the students a gripping introduction, a thorough description of the task and process, a support system of resources, and a means of evaluation, teachers are able to send students on a trip that can be both challenging and rewarding.

I created a webquest that focused on the stories that music tells.  Sometimes we get so caught up in correct pitches, proper fingerings, and good technique that we forget to think about what the music is really saying.  My webquest is designed to expose students to program music (easy way to figure out what the "story" is) and music that is used to support a story (such as music used in commercials).  By guiding students through the process of setting up a blog, the students are able to create a place to share what they are learning as they go.  YouTube proved to be a fantastic resource for giving students examples to listen to.  Additionally, Noteflight provides students with a way to compose their own music in order to tell their own story, so I thought that it would be an exciting addition to the task.

I feel like I have come away from this class with a lot of great ideas and I am excited to experiment with them more over the summer so that I can start implementing them in my classes next year!

Powerpoint and Desktop Movies

Before enrolling in edci505 I thought I had a pretty good idea on how to use Powerpoint.  I was never a big fan of Powerpoint presentations.  I didn't like to make them and I definitely didn't like to sit through presentations that utilized them.  I never realized how interactive a Powerpoint presentation can be.

Until I began to work on my project I thought that lateral movement was the only option available.  It was really enlightening to find out that through the use of hyperlinks a presentation can be made that allows users to jump back and forth within the Powerpoint presentation.  I enjoyed the experience of creating a presentation that can be both interactive and fun for students to use.

I saw a lot of interesting ideas for Powerpoint use as I was looking around online, but the way that I thought would best serve my students and parents was to make a "Beginner's Guide" for new orchestra students and their parents.  The presentation would allow students and parents to explore the information that they have questions about without forcing them to follow a prescribed path.

Learning how to make a movie through the use of Windows Movie Maker was also an enlightening, if slightly frustrating, process.  I discovered that Windows Movie Maker and Windows Live Movie Maker are not the same.  My laptop has Windows 7, which came with the Live version.  I found the tools to be almost too basic and frustrating to use.  I downloaded a previous version of Movie Maker, but due to some compatibility issues the program kept freezing when I tried to extend lengths of clips.  After some trial and tribulation I was happy to produce a movie that I thought would be helpful for young students when learning how to hold their instruments.

Google docs...how did I live without you?

While we've seen some pretty neat stuff so far in edci505, I'd have to say that the Google docs modules have been, by far, my favorite.  They make so much sense and are SO useful!  I'm always needing to collect and compile data.  I teach 7 classes a day and each class has no fewer than 30 kids in it.  One has 95 and another has 120.  With that many kids, I'm easily overwhelmed by paperwork.  It just floods in!  Not only is that much paperwork a pain to deal with, but it feels so wasteful as well.

I think Google forms has come to my rescue.  What better way to have students submit information?  It saves paper, it saves time, and it compiles all the data in one tidy place.  I'm in love.

The week previous to our Google forms unit I attended the OMEA professional conference.  While there, I saw a fantastic presentation given by Ed Zunic of Upper Arlington schools that covered students doing self-evaluation.  He showed us how they have recently converted their self-evaluation forms to Google forms.  I was amazed by how easy the process of collecting student data could be, but didn't know how to do it.  Thank goodness for this class!

Now that I know how to use Google forms, I have a lot of ideas that I'm excited to try.  I see myself using Google forms in the following ways:

• "Getting to know you" questionnaires at the beginning of the year
• Collecting parent info like phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
• Getting parent volunteers 
• Student self-evaluations
• Practice logs
• Quizzes over material covered in class (I was really excited to find that I can get the program to grade quizzes for me!)

Who know what else I may come up with?  I'm so happy to be learning about things that will make life in the classroom both easier for me and more interesting for the students.

Interesting Blog Ideas

When looking around www.supportblogging.com at the links to school bloggers I found a couple of interesting blogs relating to music education.  Both blogs are created by a woman named Brenda Muench, a rural school music teacher.

Tech Tempo seems to have a lot of neat ideas about how music teachers can incorporate technology into the music classroom.  At first glance I noticed a couple of entries about iPods in the classroom and composing online.  I also like that she has audio clips of herself discussing these ideas.  The first few are recaps from IMEC (Illinois Music Educator Conference) and were recaps of things she saw or presented there.  OMEA's conference is coming up soon and I'm hoping that I will be able to see someone with similar ideas.

Her second blog, Music with Mrs. Muench, is a blog that serves as a place for her students to share what they are learning.  She keeps their privacy by using only initials but posts audio clips of the students explaining new concepts as well as other examples of student work.

Lot's of good ideas here!  I've got a lot to ponder.

New Blog!

I'm creating this blog in response to an assignment for a class that focuses on learning to use technology in the classroom.  However, I hope to continue this blog after the course is complete as a place to share ideas relating to music education, and more specifically, teaching orchestra.

We've already learned about a couple of tools in this class that could prove useful to educators everywhere, musically inclined or not.

To begin with, SymbalooEDU is a very interesting concept.  It's a place where a teacher can store all of the links, widgets, RSS feeds, videos, etc. that he or she feels may be helpful to students for a particular project or course.  I've started my own webmix that I intend to tweak in order to provide resources for my students.  I think that in terms of an orchestra program it would be great to have one page with links to information about the program and policies, a calendar of events, and perhaps videos of the students performing.  Additional pages could be created that focus on specific skills and techniques needed by different levels of players.  For example, a page for beginning students might have links to videos or websites that cover posture and bowholds as well as links to information about learning to read music.

Speaking of learning to read music, I was also able to create a neat tool focused on this skill through the use of GlogsterEDU.  This tool allows teachers and students to create online interactive posters.  Teachers can use them to help teach new topics and students can use them to help express what they are learning.  My glog focuses on learning to read music and provides both videos and links to sites that enable the students to practice reading skills.  I really had an enjoyable time putting the whole thing together.

Check them out and enjoy!