Jing didn't work on my computer so I am blogging about how I would use it and its benefits.
One thing that I really would like to do when I begin my teaching career is to start a guitar workshop at the school where I teach. Most schools do not offer guitar instruction since it is not a concert instrument, but the demand is out there. After veiwing examples of the video tutorials which use the software Jing, I can see its application in the guitar workshop.
I teach a guitar class at YMCA where I work now and in this class, I mainly teach chords on the guitar (a chord is more than one note at a time). I usually teach the chords in class and make sure my students have the gist of how to play them. Then I send them home to practice the chords for the next class so we can use them in a song. But using Jing, a can save class time by showing them how to play the chords with a video tuorial.
I would import a picture of a guitar ( mainly the upper part of the neck). Using audio I would introduce myself and say the name of the chord that I was about to teach them. Then I would draw a number on the picture of the guitar, over the strings. Numbers 1-4 would represent the fingers on their left hand. The numbers would go over the strings where I want them to place that finger. As the numbers appear on the string of the guitar, I would record myself playing that note, so they can hear the sound of the note while they visually see where it is played on the neck.
This is much better than sending them home with just a picture of the guitar with the finger placements on it. Now they can hear if they have it right. So many times I have had students come to me and say "I got the chord" and then they play it and it's not right. But more importantly, this will free up time in my class for applying the chords they have learned and plugging them into songs, which is the main goal.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Integrated Lesson Plan
For my lesson plan, which I believe is more like a unit plan, my class will be learning about the music of Africa (sub-Sahara). This unit, which I believe will take 8 classes, will cover the history of African music, traditional rhythms, what events they are used at (weddings, etc), compositional techniques, traditional African instruments and their culture. Assessments will include a mid-unit test, which will include vocabulary and recognition of instruments, rhythm and form. And a final project, which will be a composition of an original piece written, performed and recorded by the students.
The technology that will be used in this unit, will be 1. research 2. veiwing /listening and 3. recording. Within the unit, the students will watch you tube video's (which I have selected) of songs from different parts of Africa showing performers who use traditional African instruments. Also, students will split into groups and research an instrument and one country which we heard a musical example from, in an effort to learn about their culture. The students will also get a brief lesson in garage band so that we can record their final performance.
Some of the essential questions that I want to answer in this lesson are - What characterizes African music? How does it compare to western music? What is the history of African music? What is the culture/social relevance of African music? Are there different types of African music?
I hope this brief overview of my lesson is clear and detailed enough to give you an idea of what's to come. If there is anything else that you would like to know at this point, please let me know.
The technology that will be used in this unit, will be 1. research 2. veiwing /listening and 3. recording. Within the unit, the students will watch you tube video's (which I have selected) of songs from different parts of Africa showing performers who use traditional African instruments. Also, students will split into groups and research an instrument and one country which we heard a musical example from, in an effort to learn about their culture. The students will also get a brief lesson in garage band so that we can record their final performance.
Some of the essential questions that I want to answer in this lesson are - What characterizes African music? How does it compare to western music? What is the history of African music? What is the culture/social relevance of African music? Are there different types of African music?
I hope this brief overview of my lesson is clear and detailed enough to give you an idea of what's to come. If there is anything else that you would like to know at this point, please let me know.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sexting
This week I learned about the term "sexting" which means to text sexual content. I didn't know it had it's own catchy phrase. After reading the article and watching the videos on Hope Witsell and Jesse Logan sexting, I learned about the problems that can occur when teens get involved in this. In both cases, the girls sent a provocative picture message of themselves to one recipient, which ended up in the hands of all of the students in thier schools. The classmates taunted and teased the girls so badly that suicide seemed to be the only way out.
My first reaction is to try and let these teens, who feel like they are in a hopeless situation with only one way out, know that there is hope. I want to tell them that things get better, that in hindsight, this is not that dire of a situation. But I know that adolescents don't have the ability to see things the way we do; to them nothing is more important and never will be more important than what is happening to them right now. It's such a sad situation.
The question has been asked what is the schools responsibility, if any, so schools have to use technology responsibly? First of all, one of the mothers mentioned that there was a law broken here, so that should be addressed. But are schools responsible for teaching students every law? If there is a moral question on how technology is used, who is the school to say what moral and what's immoral?
I think the easy way out for a school is to say it's not their responsibility, but I also believe that they would be doing a diservice. Schools are not just places for students to learn the core subjects and then go home. In schools, children learn how to interact with other people, communication, social behavior, basic life skills. Schools are where adolescents learn about the world around them, on a social and profesional level. If a school wants to provide the best education, technological responsibilty should be in the lesson plan.
My first reaction is to try and let these teens, who feel like they are in a hopeless situation with only one way out, know that there is hope. I want to tell them that things get better, that in hindsight, this is not that dire of a situation. But I know that adolescents don't have the ability to see things the way we do; to them nothing is more important and never will be more important than what is happening to them right now. It's such a sad situation.
The question has been asked what is the schools responsibility, if any, so schools have to use technology responsibly? First of all, one of the mothers mentioned that there was a law broken here, so that should be addressed. But are schools responsible for teaching students every law? If there is a moral question on how technology is used, who is the school to say what moral and what's immoral?
I think the easy way out for a school is to say it's not their responsibility, but I also believe that they would be doing a diservice. Schools are not just places for students to learn the core subjects and then go home. In schools, children learn how to interact with other people, communication, social behavior, basic life skills. Schools are where adolescents learn about the world around them, on a social and profesional level. If a school wants to provide the best education, technological responsibilty should be in the lesson plan.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Fair Use
This week I read a few articles about copyright laws and education, this subject is not foreign to me. Being a music major and also having made multiple albums, I have had to deal with copyrights before. But I have to admit that I still am fuzzy on what infringes on other peoples rights when it comes to this, maybe even more so now.
The articles I read had to do with "fair use" within the copyright laws. Fair use is when a copyrighted piece of work can be used for educational purposes as long as these four factors are weighed in and accounted for: 1. purpose of use 2. nature of work 3. amount used 4. effect on the market. The tricky part is assessing whether any of these four factors have actually been infringed on. For example, amount used; you're not allowed to show a whole piece of work but how much is too much? Or purpose of use: who's to say it wasn't for educational use or personal use?
I took a test after reading these articles to see if certain examples were infringing on copyright laws and I did quite poorly. This makes me not want to use any intellectual property out of fear of breaking the law. It seems to me that what is defined as breaking a copyright law changes from one case to another and that scares me.
The articles I read had to do with "fair use" within the copyright laws. Fair use is when a copyrighted piece of work can be used for educational purposes as long as these four factors are weighed in and accounted for: 1. purpose of use 2. nature of work 3. amount used 4. effect on the market. The tricky part is assessing whether any of these four factors have actually been infringed on. For example, amount used; you're not allowed to show a whole piece of work but how much is too much? Or purpose of use: who's to say it wasn't for educational use or personal use?
I took a test after reading these articles to see if certain examples were infringing on copyright laws and I did quite poorly. This makes me not want to use any intellectual property out of fear of breaking the law. It seems to me that what is defined as breaking a copyright law changes from one case to another and that scares me.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Technology Integration Matrix
For this weeks blog I will be talking about the technology integration matrix, which is a tool for teachers that illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. It incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed (i.e., reflective), authentic, and collaborative.
Today I would like to talk about one of the specific squares in the grid, collaborative at the transformation level. You can find their example here collaborative transformation level.
This example has the student typing a description of their home city in word, then reciting it in garage band (adding sound effects where necessary) and making it into a podcast for students all over the world to hear. Then they see how their counterpart does, if they have a problem guessing the city, the student adds more details to their description.
After viewing this example and reading the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers NETS for teachers, I found that a lot of these standards are incorporated in the lesson. For example, standards 1a, promotes creative thinking and 1b, engaging students in solving authentic problems using digital tools. Also 4d, develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools, can be seen in this lesson.
This lesson does not seem to be that engaging for the teacher, they are more of a monitor in this lesson. Personally, I believe I am at the adaption/infusion level of integrating technology in the classroom. This is much higher than when I started this class, so I'm headed in the right direction. I feel that I can easily communicate with parents, students or colleagues over the internet in a comprehensive way, thus expanding the walls of my classroom.
Today I would like to talk about one of the specific squares in the grid, collaborative at the transformation level. You can find their example here collaborative transformation level.
This example has the student typing a description of their home city in word, then reciting it in garage band (adding sound effects where necessary) and making it into a podcast for students all over the world to hear. Then they see how their counterpart does, if they have a problem guessing the city, the student adds more details to their description.
After viewing this example and reading the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers NETS for teachers, I found that a lot of these standards are incorporated in the lesson. For example, standards 1a, promotes creative thinking and 1b, engaging students in solving authentic problems using digital tools. Also 4d, develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools, can be seen in this lesson.
This lesson does not seem to be that engaging for the teacher, they are more of a monitor in this lesson. Personally, I believe I am at the adaption/infusion level of integrating technology in the classroom. This is much higher than when I started this class, so I'm headed in the right direction. I feel that I can easily communicate with parents, students or colleagues over the internet in a comprehensive way, thus expanding the walls of my classroom.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Podcast
Podcast Powered By Podbean
In my podcast, I have given examples from four different time periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century. The students will be able to listen to and compare the different styles. It's their assignment to think about these differences and come to class prepared to discuss them. If they do so, it will save time in the class and I will have extended the walls of my classroom.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Teaching Creativity
I am a musician so selling me on nurturing creativity in our schools is not difficult. I believe there are benefits that go way beyond learning a specific art that you are studying. I always refer people to this link why we teach music. Studies have also shown that when someone is playing music, it is one of the only activities that uses both the left and right side of the brain, connecting the logical and creative side. So studying music (or other arts) can help someone in other subjects or everyday life, it doesn't mean they are studying to be a musician.
Sir Ken Robinson brings up the story Schools Kill Creativity about the choreographer for Cats and other Broadway plays, going on to say that when she was a girl, she didn't pay attention in school and was fidgety. So her teacher recommended dance school and she grew up to be a successful Broadway choreographer and millionaire entrepreneur. This is a bit misleading. What if she went to dance school and became a mediocre dancer? Would she have any other skills to fall back on?
This is what parents will be asking when more emphasis is put on the arts and creativity in schools.
The point of that story, I think, is that if the girl stayed with her regular schooling, then she may have continued to misbehave and not do well academically. Whether or not she was going to be a dancer, she need that outlet of creativity and movement.
Will education shift to emphasize creativity and the arts? Not any time soon. It's too risky of a proposition for both parents and educators to see the value in it. They must understand that we are not teaching the arts so our kids will grow up to be musicians or artists or painters or dancers, we teach the arts so that our kids will grow up to be better people
Sir Ken Robinson brings up the story Schools Kill Creativity about the choreographer for Cats and other Broadway plays, going on to say that when she was a girl, she didn't pay attention in school and was fidgety. So her teacher recommended dance school and she grew up to be a successful Broadway choreographer and millionaire entrepreneur. This is a bit misleading. What if she went to dance school and became a mediocre dancer? Would she have any other skills to fall back on?
This is what parents will be asking when more emphasis is put on the arts and creativity in schools.
The point of that story, I think, is that if the girl stayed with her regular schooling, then she may have continued to misbehave and not do well academically. Whether or not she was going to be a dancer, she need that outlet of creativity and movement.
Will education shift to emphasize creativity and the arts? Not any time soon. It's too risky of a proposition for both parents and educators to see the value in it. They must understand that we are not teaching the arts so our kids will grow up to be musicians or artists or painters or dancers, we teach the arts so that our kids will grow up to be better people
21st Century Skills ....Friend or Fad
I started my graduate career at MSU in Sept of 2010 and since then, 21st Century Skills have been incorporated into the lesson plans being taught to me and in the lesson plans that I've been making for my students. But it never occurred to me that these new standards in teaching weren't here to stay. After reading several articles that were both for and against these new skill sets, there was one thing that I was sure of, fads do happen in the education world.
This was something that I hadn't realized, but the word fad came up in about 80 percent of the articles leading me to believe that it has happened before. According to Diane Ravitch article, "Criticle Thinking? You Need Knowledge", it's been happening since the early 1900's. And just like 21st Century Skills these "fads" emphasized hands on learning and real world skills.
The question has been asked if I think that this is a fad, and to me that means do I think this will last or revert back to emphasis on fundamental knowledge (the 3 R's); it is asking me to predict the future. If I make my prediction based on the past, then yes, I believe this doesn't have enough steam to keep moving. There seems to be too much opposition to the movement.
People like Jay Mathews who is calling it a pipe dream and Daniel Willingham who says that Partnership for 21st Century Skills has overstepped their bounds by not just setting goals but suggesting methods, assessments and professional development that have not themselves been assessed and shown to be affective are both fighting this movement for various reasons. Although if you read their articles, you will see that both of them find value in what the 21st Century Skills are teaching.
The problem seems to be not so much the content, but how its delivered and there needs to be a balance (that everyone can agree upon) between the hands on, critical thinking, communication and people skills offered by 21st Century Skills and the fundamental knowledge of the core disciplines. Until teachers find a happy medium, this will continue to be a fad.
This was something that I hadn't realized, but the word fad came up in about 80 percent of the articles leading me to believe that it has happened before. According to Diane Ravitch article, "Criticle Thinking? You Need Knowledge", it's been happening since the early 1900's. And just like 21st Century Skills these "fads" emphasized hands on learning and real world skills.
The question has been asked if I think that this is a fad, and to me that means do I think this will last or revert back to emphasis on fundamental knowledge (the 3 R's); it is asking me to predict the future. If I make my prediction based on the past, then yes, I believe this doesn't have enough steam to keep moving. There seems to be too much opposition to the movement.
People like Jay Mathews who is calling it a pipe dream and Daniel Willingham who says that Partnership for 21st Century Skills has overstepped their bounds by not just setting goals but suggesting methods, assessments and professional development that have not themselves been assessed and shown to be affective are both fighting this movement for various reasons. Although if you read their articles, you will see that both of them find value in what the 21st Century Skills are teaching.
The problem seems to be not so much the content, but how its delivered and there needs to be a balance (that everyone can agree upon) between the hands on, critical thinking, communication and people skills offered by 21st Century Skills and the fundamental knowledge of the core disciplines. Until teachers find a happy medium, this will continue to be a fad.
Monday, February 21, 2011
slideshow
Back to school_night
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Here is my back to school night slideshow with audio. I really hate my voice, I need to start talking clearer and mumble less. This portion of the slide show presentation was easier for me. I am already familiar with music and sound editing programs, I own Pro Tools and Garageband and I have worked with Audacity and many other programs. Most of them are easy to use and as you jump from one program to another, you start to see they they operate very similar.
After seeing the presentation about power point presentations and how they can be more harmful than helpful, I realized that there are a lot of pitfalls that I may have fell in had I not seen it. Still, my presentation still needs a lot of work. I think I'll do much better when planning out my next presentation. Or if I were to plan a whole lesson using it. I really like the video where the science teacher was able to relay the information through a presentation over the internet and save class time for the hands on part. That really got me thinking about the applications for music class. It would be great if I could find a way for them to practice music together with these programs.
Here is my back to school night slideshow with audio. I really hate my voice, I need to start talking clearer and mumble less. This portion of the slide show presentation was easier for me. I am already familiar with music and sound editing programs, I own Pro Tools and Garageband and I have worked with Audacity and many other programs. Most of them are easy to use and as you jump from one program to another, you start to see they they operate very similar.
After seeing the presentation about power point presentations and how they can be more harmful than helpful, I realized that there are a lot of pitfalls that I may have fell in had I not seen it. Still, my presentation still needs a lot of work. I think I'll do much better when planning out my next presentation. Or if I were to plan a whole lesson using it. I really like the video where the science teacher was able to relay the information through a presentation over the internet and save class time for the hands on part. That really got me thinking about the applications for music class. It would be great if I could find a way for them to practice music together with these programs.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Back to School Night Presentation
Being able to create a presentation and post it online is a great thing. I really like the quote that professor Bigsby wrote in the weekly assignments " you have just expanded the walls of your classroom", it made me think of what I was doing and the potential of what can be done by way of communication and collaboration with parents, students and other teachers. Thinking back to when I was in school, I can see limited we were and how freeing the internet can be for educators. There are so many applications for it, maybe even some that haven't even been thought of yet.
Tech Standards and Lesson Plans
Tech Standards
For me, being in the music program, I would utilize of the communication portion of the standards and find away to interact with music classrooms in different countries, with different types of music.
When going on job interviews and looking into schools that I would like to work at, I think it would be great to work for people that were like the ones from Chatam High School. I think it's important to be forward thinking, especially in education. (maybe even ahead of the game a bit if we want our students to be current when they graduate). If I want to try and do things in my classroom, like try and interact (live) with another class around the world, I would need to be working with people who understand that we, as educators, should be looking for better ways to do things.
Communication and Collaboration
I decided to think of a lesson based on the NJCCCS 8.1 Educational Technology. C. Communication and Collaboration and environments support the learning process and foster collaboration in solving local or global issues and problems. The CPI is 8.1.8 C1 (8th grade), participate in an online learning community with learners from other countries to understand their perspectives and global problems or issues, propose possible solutions.
What I understand this to mean is that this standard wants students to be able to talk with other students around the world on specific subjects. This will help kids understand different perspectives that people have around the word and therefore ready them for a global workplace.
As I said in an earlier blog, I think it would be great if we can have an online interaction between two music classes around the world. I would have the students talk about typical rhythms and melody found in there culture and perform them for each other. Also I would like the students to get insight into how the music came to be. Music can be a great historic indicator of a culture because the musicians are influenced by the society the live in. Politics, economics, geography, these things help shape an artist's work.
Dover Township
Dover is made up of mostly a Hispanic community, about 70 percent, comprised of Puerto Rican, Columbian, Chillian and Mexican. Spanish is the main language spoken in this town which makes me a minority here. But I love it, great people, great restaurants.
The school has a DFG A rating which is the lowest of the socioeconomic groups, but you wouldn't know it looking at the school district's website dover township. It is a fully comprehensive website, it has almost everything that Jamie Mackenzie mentions in her article "Why in the World Wide Web".
There is a great home page with an introductory and mission statement, there are links to other resources offered on the web and I did find data relevant to specific subjects.
What I didn't find was any gallery of work done by the students and I didn't find individual teacher pages but there were pages for individual classes that had assignments and resources on them. Also, there was teacher contact information. All in all, for a a district factor group A website, I thought it was well done.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tech and Me
I've been out of school for a long time now and it's hard for me to get use to the scale at which computers are being used in the classroom. Since doing my observation last semester, I've seen it used from software that teaches different subjects to the students, to smart boards, to networking with the parents in order to keep them up to speed on their child's homework. None of this was around when I was in school, but I think it's a great thing.
And like I said, it's going to take some getting use to. I don't use computers too much in my daily life besides checking my e-mail, editing music and editing video. I'm not really into social networking either, I have a Facebook account but I rarely use it. I do see the usefulness of networking on a professional level; finding out what's new in my field, communicating with students parents. So I'm going to have to learn to love technology (not that I ever hated it)
And like I said, it's going to take some getting use to. I don't use computers too much in my daily life besides checking my e-mail, editing music and editing video. I'm not really into social networking either, I have a Facebook account but I rarely use it. I do see the usefulness of networking on a professional level; finding out what's new in my field, communicating with students parents. So I'm going to have to learn to love technology (not that I ever hated it)
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