Techy Teaching Tools

Throughout the semester in my technology class, we have been introduced to quite a few teaching tools that tie into technology. I thought I'd share some of them with you...
SlideShare: This site is full of all sorts of powerpoint presentations on basically any topic you could imagine. In addition to lecture notes, you can find informative slides as well as WebQuests, too.
Speaking of WebQuests... Don't know what that is? Basically, it is a really cool way to get students researching topics using the internet. It is a great way to let them know how to find credible sources and allows for some diversity as to what each student is actually researching. This Site gives you the basic steps to building a WebQuest, and they can be done easily in Microsoft PowerPoint.
Rubistar: This site has all sorts of templates for forming rubrics. One of my professors once said that it was easier for students to reach a higher level and get a good grade if they knew exactly what was expected to get there. Rubistar allows for rubrics to be made in pretty much every content area with several designs for rubrics there and options for what is being graded.
For any new teachers out there, or anyone looking for an electronic way to gather any work samples you have done, Folio 21, helps you create an e-portfolio to show any prospective employers your work online. This allows for all sorts of editing and tailoring to your tastes, so your work and personality can shine, electronically.

Making the Most of Opportunities Given to You

So, tonight I got to be part of a rehearsal that was very special (at least to me). As a Music Education major, I have to take conducting courses. (Have is an interesting word because I think I would voluntarily take them even if they weren't required....anywho, back to the story). Well, one of the most influential conductors in my life is Colonel Lowell Graham. His expression of the music through his conducting, facial expressions, and body movements makes you want to play the music just as the composer intended it...in all its glory. So, tonight I had a rehearsal with a community group, and guess who the guest conductor for our concert is? None other than Colonel Lowell Graham. I was extremely excited for this and wanted to make the most of it while I knew he was going to be conducting the ensemble two hours. So, I got permission to video tape the rehearsal. Not only is this man an amazing conductor, but his rehearsal style is wonderful. We achieved so much in such a short time, and he did not have to say much to get his point across (something we discussed in my conducting class). Now, not only do I have the memory of the rehearsal, but I have a video that I can watch again and again to study his movements, how he used his left hand for expression, certain terms he used to get certain musical effects and sounds from the ensemble, and much more. The moral of the story.... if you have the opportunity to video tape a rehearsal, lecture, or event with someone that influenced you or has a lot of knowledge...do it!

"Taking Charge of your Teacher Preparation"

I get e-mails from The National Association for Music Education quite a bit, and as a future teacher, I found this article interesting. It was basically on how to get all the information you can before actually stepping into a classroom. While some of the ideas, after reading them, seemed to be somewhat common sense, it was a nice reminder about how to help yourself become a great teacher. Some of the ideas were to:
-Give lessons in your area of expertise
-Buy lunch for local music teachers and just talk about the field
-Offer to be a clinician at local schools
-Try to observe teachers of varying age-groups

While, again, some of the ideas seem like they should be obvious things to do, sometimes it is easier to say you are busy with school, rather than getting out into the field, where you actually get to work with students.

Good Rhythm and Intelligence

Earlier this week, I found an article relating high scores on intelligence tests with the ability to keep good time. It is an interesting article, but it drew many questions from me.
1.) Do all intelligent people keep good time?
2.) Are all the people that can keep good time intelligent?
3.) Since it has been proven that music helps the brain, especially in the areas of critical thinking, was it the rhythmic accuracy that made the person intelligent or the intelligence that made the rhythmic accuracy? (which came first, the chicken or the egg?)
Okay, here's where I become the devil's advocate... (P.S. I'm a percussionist...it's our job to keep good time)
So.... what about all of the vocalists or other instrumentalists that always say, "Well, I'm just not good a rhythms" or are horrible at keeping time? (just a note: I hear that quote quite a bit and wonder how a person could consider themselves a musician without mastering not only pitch accuracy/intonation but rhythms as well). Does this mean they lack intelligence? I don't think so. While I do see where the researchers were going with their report, I think that looking at the basic principle that involvement in music generally helps the brain make connections and helps with critical thinking skills, thus resulting in higher scores on intelligence tests.

Student Teaching Tips

"There is really no need to fear the students because they are the same stereotypical band nerds that we were in junior high and high school." This quote came from a three part series from The National Association for Music Education on "How to Make the Most of Your Student Teaching." While the first installment has only three tips, I think the idea of not being scared of students is huge. I know that at times I am super anxious about stepping in front of an ensemble and having someone call me out on something that only a college music student would know or critique my conducting, but it's (most likely) not going to happen. The three main tips they gave were to observe and take notes on your mentor teacher's way of doing things (even if you don't like the way they teach you can learn about what you don't want to do in your classroom), to practice your lesson plans to get use to doing them before you are in front of a class, and to stay positive with an open mind. I will be student teaching next spring, and the idea of having my own class in a year and a half is both scary and exciting at the same time. I hope that my student teaching experience can be one I gain lots of positive knowledge from.

When is it too much?

I will be the first to admit that I am a band nerd. That could easily be the reason why I am becoming a music educator. Anyway... I went to watch the Rocky Mountain Percussion Association (RMPA) Indoor Percussion Championships this weekend. I saw kids perform and give their all for something they had dedicated their life to for the past five months (or so). But I wonder if those kids that aren't like me, if they ever get burnt out. I was a kid who did everything I could, even though I had to drive ninety miles into Denver to do it. I did the Blue Knights Open Ensemble (2003) and the World Ensemble (2004-2006), while also marching in the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps (2003-2008 {it's my age-out year}), and still did honor bands with my school. Maybe the difference comes from the fact that I didn't come from a strong marching band program that I dedicated myself to in the fall. Yes, we had a marching band, but we just did football half-time shows, and it wasn't exactly the best quality. Yesterday, though, there were ensembles from very strong marching band schools, who were also very strong percussion ensemble schools. Here's the thing... they go basically straight from one venue into the other (marching band normally starts in the spring for the following fall at highly competitive schools). So, how do these kids not burn out? OR.... is that why few of them pursue music after high school? They're just tired... This is one thing I am going to have to make sure I don't do to my students because, while I can handle it, I don't know that every student could.

"Misguided Motivation"

I found this article about how people, young and older, can end up being motivated for the wrong reasons in life. The guy who wrote it is a martial arts instructor who noted that many of his clients are always wanting to get the next belt. While the belt system was put into place to motivate people to get better, it is also motivating them the wrong way. Many people do better in hopes of getting the "A" in a class, the higher paying job, the "student of the Month" award, and such, but it is becoming more and more rare that we see people who do things and challenge themselves just to get better. I just recently experienced something similar to this in my own life. I am submitting a composition to a contest, and many people are saying "Well, I hope you place." I respond with, "Well it was good practice in composing, so it's okay if I don't." Yes, it would be amazing to win or even place, but am I counting on it? No. We as (future) teachers need to make sure that our students aren't only trying hard to get the "A" on their project, but that they are actually learning and gaining something from the experience.

Another way to Use MySpace educationally

As a music Major that can procrastinate with the best of them, I found that MySpace can be a great way to discover new composers and listen to pieces that were just recently written. An easy way to incorporate this into a classroom is to do a web search using MySpace (though this activity will have to be monitored more or an alternative found for students that do not have a MySpace account). I just recently visited Eric Whitacre's MySpace and looked at his "top friends" to find other composers of today. Some deceased composers have also had pages dedicated to their music, and being able to search MySpace for these composers can be a more entertaining way to learn about a bunch of dead composers than researching in a library. Almost always music clips are put up as well, so being able to listen to free recordings of their music can help students get exposure to all sorts of classical and contemporary music without breaking the bank.

Using MySpace educationally

The whole idea of using technology to help students in the classroom is the main focus in my technology class. So, I thought I would add a little story about how I helped some of my students in the Denver City-Wide Marching Band last year. I had four students in the pit, none of which could read music very well. Every rehearsal we had was spent with me playing their parts with them and basically teaching them by rote. They had all become my friends on my music MySpace page, so I took the music I had written in Finale, took each part out, turned it into an mp3 file, and added it to the page along with a file/song of the entire percussion section's parts. Yes, I could have burned them CD's and given them to them a week later at the next rehearsal I would be at, but letting them have access to them that night after I added it, made it so much easier for them to work on their parts during the week. They definitely showed improvement, and I did that with the rest of the pieces in their marching band show.

People who overcame

Mental_Floss always has tons of tidbits of information, but one of the latest blogs featured people who overcame disabilities. We just talked about disabilities in one of my education classes, so I thought this would be appropriate to add. There are several stories of people overcoming physical disabilities and Beethoven with his deafness is included. I also just learned about how this affected Beethoven in my Music History class. Turns out he wrote a letter to a friend talking about contemplating suicide. It eventually comes around to saying that while he feels like killing himself, he decides to stay alive for his art (music). As teachers we all need to make sure that any disabled student in a classroom is encouraged and feels like they can achieve anything anyone else is doing because most of the time they can. They can do great things with hard work, just like the anyone else.

A State fighting for a return to the Curriculum

I was again surfing the Internet and found an article about lawmakers in Kentucky trying to find a better way to test their students. They, like many states, have developed a testing system to go along with the requirements for the No Child Left Behind Act. What they are trying to do is find a way to still test students but allow for more of the curriculum to be taught instead of teaching to the test. "Members of the Republican-controlled state Senate, led by Majority Leader Dan Kelly, say eliminating most of the testing program, which is tied to a high-stakes accountability system, could save the state as much as $10 million a year and give teachers far more time to focus on the curriculum instead of preparing for and administering the CATS." I am not a huge fan of tests, though I realize that we do need to keep teachers accountable for what they are teaching their students. I am glad to see that lawmakers are realizing the impact of these high-stakes tests on the curriculum previously set-up. There has been a switch from curriculum-based teaching to test-based teaching. Hopefully many states will follow Kentucky's lead and look into new ways of keeping teachers accountable and students learning.

An extreme case of Middle School Rage

I was surfing the net, and I found this disturbing article about the killing of a gay student in a middle school in California. After reading just the first section, there is one huge thing wrong with the picture; the student was killed in the back of a computer lab at school. How does this happen? How do teachers or other students not notice something like a gun on a student? I'm sure it's possible to not see it, as it can be hidden, but the idea that no one even reported of hearing that the killer was planning it. The whole thing is just very crazy to me. But the real reason I wrote this blog was to discuss when classes on tolerating differences should be implemented in school. In elementary schools students are told to "play nice with others", but in middle school, that doesn't really even carry through. Students, especially in middle school, are going through so many hormonal changes and finding who they are, so one would think that helping kids understand differences should be part of any middle school cuuriculum. It's not, though. There are several cases of bullying all over in schools, but a case as severe as the one above causes a huge concern as to what we, as teachers, unknowingly allow to happen. The bullying the student above received seemed to have been dealt with by the student well as he responded by flirting with the boys to diffuse the situation. That is apparently what set the other student off. I don't know what to even think about the whole thing, but I do know that when I become a teacher, I hope I can help students in my classes understand that we are all different, and that's okay. I just hope that everyone (teachers, students, administration, parents, and community members) can help our younger students understand that differences are okay, and we need to all tolerate everyone. Tolerating doesn't mean that you have to be a best friend with someone, it just means you have to let them live their life and not do anything to inflict pain.

Teaching by rote

I found this video of Tommy Emmanuel teaching Classical Gas by rote. It's fairly funny, and there are a few great jokes in there, but the main idea I was thinking about was the idea of teaching by rote (aka playing something and having the student play it back by ear, without music). This is commonly used in the Susuki method, and it can be fairly controversial at times. As you watch the video, Tommy is giving instructions with chords, so that helps as he plays, but in general the guys is having to listen. He does a fairly decent job, too.
Now, how does this apply to teaching? Well, like I mentioned earlier the Susuki method of teaching (especially violin and piano) relies on folk songs that kids know, and having them play by ear. While this has its ups and downs, I think any musician should have to train their ear. I am not saying every student should be started that way (as visual learners would probably not do as well), but to train a musical ear, practice in listening to pitches and matching them on an instrument is a great thing. Brass players need to be able to hear pitches in their head first to make sure they hit the right partial, and woodwind and string players need to make sure they are playing in tune. Having students play by rote every once in a while can help break up a class period with something a little more fun and different, while still helping them musically.

Single-Sex Classrooms

I was meandering through the New York Times website and found an article on single-sex classrooms in an intermediate school. It goes on for quite a while about the research supporting single-sex classes, and while I understand it, I also wonder if they have looked at the social issues that occur when males and females finally do get to mix. Do girls feel more confident speaking out in class now that they have gained confidence in their all-female class, or do they still get intimidated by boys? I do understand that the male and female brains do work in very different ways (just read the first section about how the rooms are kept for each sex and the coloring ideas), but each person's brain also works very differently. We have yet to see a separation of classes into kinesthetic, visual, and aural learners. We still keep all of them together, so why not keep males and females together. Yes, they are both awkward during puberty; that will happen no matter what, but part of that is what makes middle school/junior high memorable.

Gamelan Percussion is so cool

I found another cool video, only this one happens to be a gamelan orchestra in Indonesia. I love this. If you watch the metal "xylophones" (I don't know their official name), they are playing with one hand a muting the notes in their other with quite a bit of speed. As far as I can tell there isn't a conductor, either. So they have somehow instilled a great sense of pulse in these people, even with what seems like meter changes, too. I wonder how, and if that can be applied to an American group. I may have to look into that.

The Case for Music Education

I was surfing youtube, and I found this video helping support music education. It was even shown on national television. Why are we still fighting for music programs with all of the scientific knowledge we have gained about the connection between math and reading skills and music? If we want better test scores, maybe we should have every child enrolled in a music class. Wouldn't that be an interesting turn of events?

An Update on the drug situation

I was able to point out the girl that was talking about a guy taking prescription drugs at school to the counselor I am working with. Unfortunately she said it is hard to get programs/assemblies in the building because they do not like taking kids out of class (probably due to CSAP scores, something I may touch on later when I have more time to rant). She said that she's heard it's more of a problem, especially since the ninth graders go over to the high school to do sports. Well, yes, you can say that is one thing, but the lack of anti-drug anything in that school may also be to blame. I remember my years of middle school and drug-free posters were all over the place, but this school has a lot of achieving excellence posters. I am not saying they should not push excellence, but how great is it if a student achieves while using drugs or doesn't achieve where they could due to their drug use? I'm still trying to find a way I can reach even a few kids. Being able to spot the girl will hopefully get the group of kids she is associated with to think twice before using again, not due to being in trouble, but maybe I can provide them with some information on how harmful the supposed "safer" prescription drugs are.

Prescription Drug Use in Our Schools

I am involved in a class where we get to work in the Junior High Schools, and today was our first tour of one of the schools. The class got to check the school out, and then we were supposed to observe the hallways just to see kids in their "natural environment". I got to see them interact, joke with each other, flirt, and talk about all of the hip things people do. Well, apparently the new cool thing to do is Oxycotin. Yep, that's right, prescription pain-killers. I overheard a group of girls talking about a boy that had taken FIVE pills at school. FIVE! Normally after a surgery the normal amount taken is two about every eight hours. This child is very lucky to still be alive. According to various sources (WebMD and drugfree.com) an overdose of these pills can cause resperatory depression (aka you stop breathing right). I have no idea why kids this young are doing this, and if the school even knows. I told the vice principal and even looked at a yearbook to try to find the girl that had been talking, but unfortunately I couldn't identify her. They're going to watch the site for a group of girls with the description I gave in the location so they can try to get the situation dealt with. I'll be working in the counselling office for the rest of the semester, so I hope I can do something to help. Get a drug-free program in there as an assembly or something. Or at least show kids videos like this one.

Heavy Backpacks

I just got back from a long day of class... 7:30 am to about 6:30 pm jam packed full of classes. I don't have a chance to put books anywhere, so I end up carrying three binders, four textbooks, and one notebook with me on an average Thursday. I am just going to go ahead and guess that my backpack weighs about 25 pounds, plus or minus a few. I still live in the dorms, so I end up walking to class, too (approximately four miles of walking each day). I got back and realized how great it was to take my backpack off and not have to carry it around for the rest of the night. I then got thinking about the issue of school children and heavy backpacks. I found an article on the problems heavy backpacks can cause, and it is a little scary. The experts say a backpack is not supposed to weigh more than 10-15 percent of a person's total body weight. Basically that means that unless I weigh 250 pounds (which I do not), I am definitely carrying way too much in my backpack., Unfortunately, I need all of those materials in my classes. Soon I will be driving from my ED350 class, so I 1.) won't be walking as much 2.) will be able to leave some books in my car. Thank goodness. As a future educator I just wonder what teachers can do to help with kids having heavy backpacks.

My First Post for EDUC331 Sec. 002

I am just trying this out to make sure it works. Hope it does. :)

More to come later.

Alyssa