Week 7 (#2) Is Public Education Playing Catch-Up With Technology?

Most of us are playing catch-up with technology is some fashion. There are rapid developments with so many aspects of technology. I feel that it is very important that teachers try to stay a tuned to new developments. You'll find this article enlightening.

http://networkedblogs.com/h6uUh?ref=nf

Week 7 (#1) Attention!...Students want BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/what_do_kids_say_is_the_biggest_obstacle_to_techno.php

Students have expressed themselves through a survey that they would prefer to (BYOD), bring their own devices to school. They would like to use their laptops, smartphones, and Ipads among the many others that are available. This article will shed light on student perspectives.

Week 6 (#2) Technology...Where is it taking us?

I am finding many, many great videos on a wide array of topics. You should find this video by Kevin Kelly interesting. The internet is only 5,000 days old as of this 2007 presentation. Can you imagine what the next 5,000 days will bring. Listen to Kevin Kelly's research.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html

Week 6 (#1) Music Is Medicine, Music Is Sanity

As I searched through the many videos of the TED.com website I found so many of them to be of interest. The link below will take you to a brief lecture and performance by Robert Grupta, violinist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He was the musician who gave a lesson to the schizophrenic homeless former Julliard music school student. This story was made into a movie starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downing. You will find this inspiring.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/robert_gupta.html

Week 5 (#2) APRIL - Jazz Appreciation Month

There is a tremendous number of great links to keep abreast to happenings with JAZZ. At this website below you can connect to the Jazz Educators resource website and also view the National Jazz Curriulum. Celebrate JAZZ in April and always.

http://www.menc.org/resources/view/april-is-jazz-appreciation-month

Week 5 (#1) WOW! An Animated Learning Site!

http://www.musictheory.net/

This is a fantastic site for helping your students with basic theory concepts. They will love the animated interaction. It is also a great site for teachers to create lessons. This is sure to be a well visited site for your students to learn basic theory concepts.

Week 4 (#2) How To Incorporate Technology in Music Classes

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/music/resource/5363.html

I would like everybody to know that the above link offers information for the contemporary music educator. This website will help to learn how to incorporate technology in your classroom with teaching strategies that support the National Standards for Music Education.

Week 4: New SmartPhone App for Music Advocacy

http://www.nammfoundation.org/support-music/now-access-supportmusic-information-through-your-smartphone

The link above is available for quick access to statistics for music advocacy. When you are discussing the importance of music with parents, administrators, students, colleagues, etc. you can quickly offer advocacy supporting information. This app makes for a very quick resource. NAMM sponsors this app.

Week 3 Post #2 "Music Educators Quotes"

I have always enjoyed reading and saying quotes. It is a pleasure to create them also. This website has several that you may wish to share with your students.

http://studiohelper.com/blog/staff-management/food-for-thought-quotes-for-the-studio/#more-935

Bicycle Built For Two

http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/19f8e5e9b22d0576696b9d3c3ab6aafc450b7e78

This project is my introduction to the online notation program, Noteflight. I found this program to be very user friendly. The keyboard commands would have been difficult to discover without the listing that was provided. I was impressed to see the quality of this program that is offered for free.

This program will truly gain more popularity. This program should prove to be a useful tool in music education. Students at all levels can have an interest at composition. This program can allow the creativity to happen while students learn the mechanics of notation at no monetary cost. The internet makes it accessible from any computer. It could be used as a class project whereas a middle school music class might all be asked to contribute to a composition with a few parameters such as only submitting two consecutive measures with one voice. Students can create edits to parts or sections of established compositions. In most cases the editing of parts should be advised by the director.

Week 3 Post #1 "Is There A Secret to Managing A Classroom?"

Have you ever wondered how to have the perfect classroom? The link below will take you to a brief article. This article sheds light on what I believe could lead to a very well managed classroom that fosters a desire to learn and creates learners that really enjoy the subject matter.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/good-classroom-management-secret-maurice-elias

Free Recruiting Poster

FREE!

Visit the American String Teachers Association website for updated information in the world of student Orchestras. There is information to interest all string teachers everywhere. Band directors may also find some very useful information.

They are offering a FREE recruiting poster.

http://www.astaweb.com/

If you like games...

Through my PLN I have discovered this great website for games. Many students would rather play games than study. This website will get students actively better understanding chords, rhythms, and many other basic music concepts.

Warning: These games may become addictive.

http://trainer.thetamusic.com/

When Will Technology Revolutionize Education?

Hey, Hey, Hey!

I found this article particularly interesting. The author speaks about how the electric guitar revolutionized the music industry and how many were slow to accept it. There are so many sources of technology available to our classrooms and it could really get to be overwhelming to stay abreast of these rapid changes and upgrades. Below is a website that lists this article. ENJOY!

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/leading_from_the_classroom/2011/02/why_hasnt_technology_revolutionized_education_guitar_heroes_inspiration_and_technology_adoption.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LeadingFromTheClassroom+%28Leading+From+the+Classroom%29

Got Keyboard Skills?

So many music teachers have acquired the skill of playing the piano regardless of what their major instrument may be. The following website will be helpful for approaches to various genres and playing tips.

See:http://keyboardmag.com/

Jazz is America's Music

Hi!

I know anybody reading this blog must love listening to music. The important newer item in many of our music curriculum's across the country is Multi-Cultural music. Many of the great music genres of the world include improvisation. It is really important that we as educators are teaching the skill of improvisation. Our national standards in Music include nine specific skills that are to be incorporated in our music programs.

If more music educators will seek to understand and teach improvisation the standards would be better met and Multi-Cultural music would be better understood and taught. Music teachers who learn to play and teach jazz are going make a great impact on learners.

Here are two websites to prick your interest:

http://www.downbeat.com/

http://jazztimes.com/

Two Great Websites for Music Teachers

I would like to share two websites that teachers may find great information for incorporating technology in the music classroom.

http://www.ti-me.org/This is a super site!

http://www.musictechforme.com/ Music Technology for Music Educators by Music Educators

I will continue to share websites that I feel teachers will find helpful in the areas of music technology. It is also going to be beneficial to explore some of the links from these sites.

My Introduction to Blogs...Music Teaching Technology

Hello to all,

I must preface my comments to say that this is my very first blog. It will be interesting to see how my fellow classmates relate and react as we all interact as bloggers. My assumption is that we may be exposed to others in "cyberspace" that may choose to respond. This course will intriguing and engaging. It should be fun.