OneNote review

OneNote is a convenient, "all-in-one" stop for organizing multiple areas of life.  The program is free and available on any device.  I appreciate the tabs a familiar layout to other Microsoft office programs.  The sharing features make it easy to view, add, and edit content from one device to another from any location.  OneNote is very email friendly and allows you to link your accounts and send things you've been working on right from the program without logging in to an email site. 

I really like the "TAGS" menu on the iPad version of the OneNote app. 

This drop down menu allows you make specific notes for yourself while you're in the middle of working on something and keep track of these notes later.  Now that I'm a blogger, I can use OneNote to "remember" things to keep for the Blog.  I can also share things with my students straight from OneNote and keep an ongoing list of music to listen to. 

Week 7- More than a teacher

It doesn't take long for a music teacher to realize that most of their job involves something other than teaching.  "Burnout" could often be attributed to the stress of balancing teaching, organization, administrating, professional development, financial management, chaperoning, advising, counseling, and other "hats" music teachers wear.  Actual conducting and rehearsing can seem like a very small percentage of our daily tasks.  

Over time I've come to terms with my many roles and learned to balance my teaching life relatively stress-free through prioritizing.  Although I have many responsibilities, I remind myself often that I'm a band director because I love music and I love teaching music.  My purpose in coming to this school every day is to teach music.  I remember seeing a long "To Do" list on my high school band director's desk every day when I was in school.  The number one thing on the list never changed.  It read, "#1- Teach students to enjoy and appreciate music."  Everything else on the list was secondary to this primary objective.  I was fortunate to have such a good example of keeping this kind of perspective.  Even though I do so many more things than teach, keeping this kind of outlook helps me cherish the times I am teaching, and understand that all the other parts of the job are to make that part better. 

I've really enjoyed exploring so many technology tools that are out there for assisting music teaching during this class.  If utilized correctly, technology should help us accomplish all the things on our lists and aid our responsibilities, not become another "to do" to complicate our lives.  Today's music students are "wired in" to every kind of technology for most every aspect of their lives.  I've certainly been more equipped to embrace and integrate technology into my music curriculum during this class.    

Music Creation Project

Here's my original song "I go to your eyes".  I recorded everything in GarageBand.

Week 6- The Digital Delimma: Learning vs. Consuming. Listening vs. Hearing.

YouTube has really revolutionized learning in almost any life context you can think of.  I've personally used YouTube tutorial videos for many DIY and "How To" projects such as repairing a damaged ceiling in my house, replacing the headlights in my truck, and installing a new screen door on my porch.  I constantly observe my music tech students look up YouTube tutorials on how to play certain songs on guitar or bass or when they have an operational issue with a DAW they can't figure out.  More than likely if there's something you want to know how to do, there's someone out there in the world that can do it, and has made a video showing us how. 

As someone who did not grow up in the digital age and has watched this shift, it's amazing but also intimidating.  As an educator, I can't help but think that free, any time accessible lessons on any subject make students less likely to want traditional classroom style instruction.  Their attention span is shorter because they're used to "consuming" what they learn quickly similar to how they consume anything online.  They're less likely to believe they have to commit anything to memory because the answer to any problem they encounter is on a device in their pocket.  Why should they put it in their brain?

If we look at how Napster and iTunes changed the recording industry by eliminated record stores, and Netflix killed video rental stores, it can be safe to say that YouTube may be putting many private lesson teachers out of work.  Why pay a guitar teacher or travel to a music store for a lesson when I can learn my favorite song for free at my house on my phone?  The universal access to free information on YouTube is exciting and convenient, but scary at the same time. 

YouTube also gives students another source for hearing music.  In chapter 5 this week Bauer discussed the difference between hearing and listening.  I really appreciated this distinction.  As a band director I stress constantly the importance of listening throughout the ensemble for balance, blend, intonation, style etc.  Listening can be hard work.  Hearing is easy.  The digital music age has made hearing even easier.  I think music educators have a real challenge today to get these digital native students to "slow down" and listen to music.  This is counter-intuitive to putting ear buds in and consuming music. 

Week 5 reflection- Backward is Forward

When I first heard the phrase "backward design" in the lecture this week I was apprehensive to agree with the methodology associated with it.  My initial assumption was that this kind of teaching would fall under "teaching the test" or designing everything in curriculum to get students to score high on a test.  For me, our educational motivation and goals should be student learning, growth and maturity.  When the priority becomes test scores, we lose sight of this and instruction lacks real meaning.

The philosophy of backward design as outlined by Bauer in Chapter 7 however, begins with identifying the goals and desired outcomes of a unit or lesson.  Once the end results have been clearly established, the assessments, or "means of evidence" are designed in such a way as to measure accurately and effectively how well the students meet those results.  So, the lesson does begin with designing and sometimes even taking tests, but not just so we can teach what's on going to be on it.  The assessment becomes a tool to reach the goals, NOT the goal itself.  

Our instruction will naturally reflect what our goals are.  As a band director, I should apply these same concepts of making the musical development of the students my primary objective, not contest ratings, trophies, or reputation.  When these are the goals instead of student development, rehearsals can become tedious, less student-centered, and have a heavy diet of literature with few fundamentals and method exercises.  Performance outcome is very important, but will be even more enhanced when rehearsal instruction is student-centered and goal-oriented.  Backward design seems like a natural and very beneficial method to apply in a band class. 

I've been referring to a great article recently by Kenneth Beard when I prepare for my rehearsals.  He says, "Every rehearsal should be like a private lesson."  This statement is very student-focused, and the concepts in this article help achieve that end.

http://banddaddy.com/uploads/Performance_Evaluation_Preparation_1_.pdf

I also came across this article from SmartMusic when I was considering how integrating technology under the framework of backward design might look.

http://www.smartmusic.com/blog/teacher-tip-using-technology-rehearsals/

Chromatik and SmartMusic

The combination of instructional and play-along videos on Chromatik make it an excellent tool for instrumentalists of any ability level.  The sheet music/video combination gives students a new option for learning their favorite charts online free of charge.  Many of my students already use YouTube tutorial videos for learning certain songs, particularly on guitar, bass and piano.  Chromatik now gives wind players quick access to pieces they can hear on YouTube but may be unable to find "how to" videos that guitar players have available.

When playing along with a chart, the pages turn automatically on the screen which prevent you from having to stop playing and turn it yourself.  I thought this was a brilliant feature on the site.  The Chromatik iPhone app allows you to set a speed for the sheet music to scroll along while you play.  The app has a lot of other great features, including a practice log, a metronome, and chromatic tuner.  It also gives you the ability to upload and share 15 seconds of yourself performing.  You can keep a running list of favorite tunes as well to play so you don't have to search back for them later.

One downside to Chromatik is that the sheet music for wind instruments only contains the melody line of each song.  This can be limiting if there are other lines in a chart you would like to see music for a play along with.  The database in Chromatik is almost exclusively popular music.  This is great for getting students excited about practicing at home yet can limit them from practicing music or method material designed to improve their skills on their specific instrument.

SmartMusic seems by all accounts to be the most comprehensive and beneficial interactive practice tool available to instrumental students.  The motto description on the website, "Focused Practice.  Instant Feedback. Documented Progress.", sums up all that SmartMusic provides.  The videos and testimonials from students, educators and parents are remarkable.  SmartMusic boasts a database of 30,000 works for solo and ensemble as well as 50,000 method exercises.  It allows students to practice with or without accompaniment from a home computer or iPad app.  The most impressive feature is SmartMusic's ability to evaluate mistakes they make AS they play through a piece.  Students can perform their assignments and send them to their teachers online.  Teachers can check student work online or from the iPhone app SmartMusic Inbox.  The one year subscription cost of $140 for educators and $40 for students is a worthy investment.  After exploring Smartmusic thoroughly and hearing the first hand accounts of its benefits, I am sold on adding it to my band program.   

Week 4 Reflection- performance and practice

I would have practiced trumpet much more consistently as a middle school student if the technology that exists now were available then.  The software and online resources available to music education now are so versatile and beneficial to students and teachers.  I have always planned to get SmartMusic "eventually" and have even attended several GMEA seminars about it through the years.  Getting a subscription to it has just moved to the top of my priority list for next school year.  

I was able to relate most closely this week to the topic of recording rehearsals and performances.  I have found this to be one of the most important tools for my students and myself, in both improving our ensemble awareness, and preparing for concerts. When approaching a performance, I typically record each piece or a run of the program two to three times a week.  This allows us to hear our development and improvement on each piece.  It also gives me the chance to listen closely for areas we need to perfect.  I make detailed lists of these specific spots and address each of them at the next rehearsal.  Sometimes these are simple things for students to mark in their parts and don’t require any rehearsal time.  Other times we have to dig deeper into the areas of weakness and spend more significant time working sections of the music.

To get the most accurate and helpful representation of how the band sounds it is crucial to get the best quality recording for the environment.  Since we rehearse most often in the band room, I have to consider levels, EQ, reverb, and mic placements to ensure that I will hear all the parts accurately and authentically.  I have a small 4-channel Presonus Audiobox with USB input so it’s easy to plug in my laptop and use any audio recording software or DAW.  I use Garageband because I’m most familiar with it and it’s convenient to navigate multi-track recording and levels.  I have one centered overhead condenser mic and three directional condenser mics mounted on the front wall of the room close to the ceiling.  Recording with each mic on its own mono track allows me to balance the band, and sometimes mute or solo tracks to hear things I would not usually hear from the podium.