Mrs. Hunter's Music Class

Wow!  The Wonders of Web 2.0. 

As I look back on my blog posts these past weeks, I am truly amazed at what I have learned and actually DONE with technology.  I can even impress my adult kids who are much more tech-savvy than I am.  But I have to admit, I’m not sure I remember many things.  Having printed copies of each of the “Things”, I can go back and review.  Being a music teacher, I know that “Practice makes Perfect!”  (Actually a fellow teacher said we need to adapt that saying to “Perfect Practice makes Perfect” because if you practice incorrectly, that is not a good thing!)  But I can see that the more I practice these things, the more natural they become.  So I need to remind myself of all the things that I do so much more easily now, rather than bemoaning the fact that there are so many that I don’t remember!!

As I said in my voice thread, I am very passionate about my younger students (K-3rd grade) being very active in music class – singing, moving, playing instruments and games.  Since I only have them for 30 minutes each class period, I don’t think I’ll be using much of this in the actual class time.  But I will definitely be using it for my own personal and professional growth.  It’s great to actually observe other teachers and get their ideas so easily.

Thanks to Shelley for a great, eye-opening class!!

Is there such a thing as technology overload?  I think I have it now!  After exploring Classroom 2.0 and Twitter for several hours over the last couple of days, I am totally overwhelmed with the amount of information that is floating around in the “cloud” out there.  But, alas, knowing that with school starting tomorrow, there will not be much extra time to explore, I did give them both a good lookover. 

I’m not sure if I will jump into either of these right now.  I need a bit more time to process it all.  But I’m thankful for the opportunity to explore what is out there.   I do see the value of developing my own PLN so that I can quickly access ideas from fellow music teachers, particularly seeking out teachers that I have found to be great presenters at other workshops and meetings.  There certainly is truth to the statement, “Two heads are better than one.”  With Twitter, the number is multiplied.

As Forest Gump would say, “And that’s all I have to say about that.”

As I have been working on this course, several new sites have interested me and I’ve added them to my Google Reader RSS feed.  The Music Teacher’s Blog is adding a forum where ideas and thoughts can be exchanged.  That’s helpful. 

“Learn It in 5″ from the Free technology site reviews much of what we’ve done in this class with more helpful videos about Google Reader, Skype, Voicethread.  I’m sure I’ll return to this article.

Another cool item that came up in the Free Technology site was cheap (though not free) disposable “Whiteboards” that can be put up on a wall temporarily for use with markers just like a classroom whiteboard. 

From the “Successful Teaching” site (thank you, Shelley, for your many great suggested sites) was the article on “Is Memorization Important?”  The conclusion seems to be that memorizing is good for our brain, but the facts we memorize should have definite helpful uses in the future.  Some facts we need to have “on the spot” such as math facts when we are shopping and comparing, but others such as memorizing Presidents in their order in history, may not be so important to have at our disposable at a moment’s notice – except perhaps if you are aspiring to Jeopardy fame.

I did look around at the pageflakes.  It looks like it could be a very helpful tool.  Having a number of things of interest and importance to me at one page seems good.  Hopefully, I can come back to this when I have some time!

Guess what?  I already knew about googledocs!  I’m amazed, but it’s only because of my daughter and new son-in-law.  When we planned their wedding last year, they immediately put all kinds of things on googledocs.  I remember being so amazed that I could go the site and put in numbers, etc.  They listed the venues they were looking at; I could list venues I had seen or visited.  His parents could list venues.  We could compare and contrast.  It was great.  Then for the rsvp list – to have that all on googledocs was great.  We could plug in the Yes’s and No’s and keep count so easily.

And now, having just been at a board meeting of our music teacher’s group (Atlanta Area Orff-Schulwerk Association), a few teachers mentioned googledocs and how helpful that would be with our planning.  The committe that’s working on the Honor Orff Ensemble can come to the site to plan so much more easily than trying to e-mail back a forth to several people.  My after-school group plans and details could be coordinated on such a site.  Even teachers in our building can have trouble scheduling meetings, so we can plan the “in-house” field trips and coordinate who will do what.  Thumbs up for googledocs!

A nostalgic video from the 50′s – well, nostalgic to those of us who were alive in the 50′s!!

I found many cool videos on You tube.  Many “how-tos” for music teachers – how to play different instruments, examples of people playing instruments.  Another type of video I might use are several Mother Goose rhymes and songs on video.  I have a Mother Goose costume and appear as Mother Goose several times a year for my little guys.  That would be fun!

Teacher tube revealed many more interesting videos.  I found excellent videos of teachers engaging with their classes.  One that was fun and helpful to see was an early childhood music teacher showing how he prepares his young students for the musical centers in his room, taking it very slowly as he explained routines and expectations.  The helpful hint was to go slowly enough that the class follows along, rather than rushing through, and then facing many classroom management problems as a result.  One great signal he used I will definitely implement this year.  Kids can experiment and play until the brighter light goes on.  When the room is filled with noise, it is difficult to get attention – this would be a visual cue that all can see rather than an auditory one.

I was SO happy to read that others had trouble with this.  I  recorded my song, put it into I tunes, and thought I had followed all directions, but alas, my entry appeared on our site, but you cannot hear it.  I’m so sad.  It’s a lovely song!!  I tried it several times and actually have the entry listed twice.  Somehow it must have not converted to the MP3 format.  Again, I may have to wait for my daughter to come over to help me.  Or Shelley’s video may have the secret missing element!! 

I can see that it would be fun even with little guys in music to record them singing or playing instruments and play it back for them – a new way to record – and of course, video would be even more fun.

Well, quite a surprise!  The dashboard from my blog has changed, it seems, so I will see if I can still publish my thoughts. 

I have to admit I was looking at this particular week with fear and trepidation.   I have explored many podcasts.  Some are helpful, some should definitely be avoided, so there definitely needs to be guidance as to where students might go.  I downloaded an inspirational podcast from a preacher that I’ve always enjoyed listening to, Chuck Swindall.  I also downloaded a music podcast which will play some excerpts from classical music compositions.  I can see many uses for the podcasts in the music room, though, I’m thinking right now, it might take me too much time to find what I’m looking for.  However, downloading certain songs that I may be using in music class would be a helpful tool.  I need to do some more exploring.

 What a fun site!  I love reading and books, so I know I will come back to this site when this course is over.  I’ve not yet begun to scratch the surface of  the many ways the site can be used.  It’s great fun to read other’s comments about books I’ve read and get ideas of what other books I might like to read. 

As far as the early childhood music room, I’ll have to give it more thought.  There are many books I’ve used to teach various music concepts such as mallet technique on the barred instruments using Jump, Frog, Jump.  We often dramatize stories using sound effects with the rhythm instruments.  So perhaps, it would be helpful to have them categorized to find them easily.

I AM LEARNING THINGS!  I AM NOT STUPID!  I have to keep telling myself these things.  Delicious was a frustrating experience for me.  I got the bookmarking, but I have looked and listened over and over and CANNOT figure out how to tag any of my sites and get them on the wiki page for k12learning.  I will have to wait until my daughter gets back from her trip and have her help me.  I’m sure it’s a wonderfully helpful site, but I must be honest, it is driving me crazy at the moment.  And I simply must move on!