Module 7

This week I have been working on my WebQuest design.  When I proposed my WebQuest, I originally proposed the title "Creative Composition" and students would have to learn how to use 4 different composition programs that were on the computer.  However, according to some feedback, this was too vague and there wasn't a true assessment for it.  So I have refined my WebQuest.  Students will learn to use one program: incredibox.com.  And Students will then have to compose a piece of music and present it to their classmates.

This week we discovered all the things that google.com can do for us.  We have used different things from google so far in this class, but we really got to know the different functions this week.  We learned how to use a form to test students over the computer.  We also used their equivalent of powerpoint and learned how to use and share the calendar feature as well.  I have used googles features many times over the years.  I can't say it's my favorite program.  Some of the features in the program kind of annoy me.  The biggest one is that when I would copy and paste a text into a document, it would enter it with a white highlight.  So when I went to get rid of the highlight, it was the same button as changing the text color...and I kept mixing them up which caused some frustration.

We were also told to check out dropbox.com this week.  I really love dropbox and use it for a lot of things!  In addition to teaching music, I actually create pixel art for a website.  I use dropbox to hold all the pixel art files in addition to sharing lesson plans with friends who are also music teachers.  It is a place that I can store my lesson plans in case I lose them on my computer.  This is a great safety net as well as a way to share my documents.

We talked about assessing using technology as well.  I think it's very interesting that I can create an assignment on google or other sites (such as surveymonkey) and I can have the students work at home.  That would be very helpful.  I don't assign grades in my class.  I really wish I did.  But I would love to have my students keep a portfolio of their work that they complete in music from the time they start Kindergarten through the time they complete 6th grade in my school.  This would be a great resource for them.  They could see how much they have grown as musicians during school.  In addition, this would provide insight into what my students learn in the class and prove to my parents and administrators that my students learn actual music in my class and we aren't just an activity to have to give the classroom teachers a break!

Week 6

This week, we began a project on WebQuests.  WebQuests are defined as "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing" (Dodge).  There are two types of WebQuests: Short term and Longer term.  Short term WebQuests are designed to be completed over a few class periods whereas longer term WebQuests can last a week to even a month!

We will be building our own WebQuests over the next week.  I will be creating a webquest about creative composition for my students.  This will help them utilize several programs that will enable them to compose music in creative ways.

We also learned about copyright laws this week. “Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of ‘original works of authorship,’ including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works” (Bauer pg. 161-162).  Teachers need to be aware that there are copyright laws and we must make sure to observe them.  Especially with digital copyright laws!  If you were born after January 1, 1978, your copyright is in effect during your entire lifetime and for 70 years following your life.  You automatically have copyright of anything you create and do not have to apply for a copyright.  Copyright laws are in place to protect creators.  We must abide by the copyright laws. There are serious penalties if you do not.

We also went over some information that I have previous learned in other classes of mine through my undergraduate and my graduate studies.  One of those topics is Backwards Design.  This occurs when you start a lesson plan "with the end in mind."  This unit design makes sure the teacher creates a lesson in which the students will learn and demonstrate the skills they are supposed to be learning at that point.  

“Technology is a means by which music teachers can differentiate instruction, providing different paths for students to achieve learning outcomes” (Bauer pg. 159).  I am interested in differentiated instruction in the music class because my school has pushed differentiated instruction in the entire school this year.  While I KNOW I differentiate instruction, sometimes it’s hard to pin point into words exactly what I do.  The fact that I can differentiate music instruction through technology is incredible helpful.  Teachers can use programs and websites in order to help students learn their history and their theory.  Programs such as SmartMusic allow students to use and create “loops” which allows them to compose. 

Week 5

This week we reviewed music education software and programs.  There are many kinds of programs.  According to the Wikipedia link provided by the class, "Freeware [...] is software that is available for use at no monetary cost or for an optional fee" (Wikipedia).  I chose to focus on freeware for this module because I am always interested in programs that are free to use.  As a teacher in her second year of teaching, I don't have a lot of money to buy programs for myself.  I have many bills including student loans.  And my school budget is a whopping 324 dollars a year.  Unfortunately, that won't cover the cost of many music education programs.  Because of this situation, I am always on the look out for programs that are free or have a very minimal fee.

We were charged with locating and reviewing a program.  Using the lists provided by my Professor, I discovered a program called "Drum Station" but a company called D-Lusion.  D-Lusion had a few different programs however, since my students are really interested in drums, I chose to use Drum Station.  When I first downloaded the program, there was a tutorial on their website on how to download and install the program.  However, when I opened the program, I discovered that it was incredibly confusing.  There was no tutorial on how to actually use the program.

I began to play around the program and could not figure out how to make a sound.  It took me about 7 minutes to discover how to actually begin composing music in the program.  When I actually discovered how to compose in the program, it was incredibly simple.  The program could benefit from either a tutorial on how to use it or an updated look that makes it easier to spot where you need to press in order to compose.  

In this program, you were given four "measures" with four possible places to make a sound.  There were 8 instruments you could use including closed and open high hats and claps.  The user simple presses where in each "measure" they would like the instrument to play and it begins to play and loop the sounds over and over again.  I discovered that you could adjust the tempo, dynamics, and the effects on each of the instruments as well which was a nice touch!

Overall I found the program incredibly confusing at first.  But as I played with the program, I discovered it was incredibly easy to use.  This would take just a little bit of explaining to my students and they would be able to create short loops using percussion instruments.

In addition, we used Diigo.com this week.  Diigo.com is a website that you can bookmark website and webpages all in one place.  There are also tools that enable you to highlight certain passages on the website so that you can easily identify what you bookmarked the website for.  This is an incredibly helpful website for keeping all your resources in one area, rather than bookmarking each page individually.  Users can create "folders" so that you can keep track of multiple things without mixing up your categories!

Audacity

When I first learned I was taking a music technology class, my first thought was, “Oh no, not again!” I took a music technology class when I was an undergraduate student and really did not like the class. I felt the professor moved too fast and used only programs for macs (I use a PC so MAC programs didn’t help me at all). The programs we used were all programs that you had to pay a lot of money for and I was a poor college student! In addition, I just thought I wasn’t that good at the technology. I realized, when I first started taking this current course, that I really actually do enjoy music technology. I am finding many ways to incorporate technology in my elementary music classroom. From Band-in-a-Box to SmartMusic to incredibox.com and soundation.com, I really thought I was getting the hang of the technology! Unfortunately, I felt a little snag this week. We worked with Audacity. Audacity is a free program that allows you to edit music. That sounds like a dream come true! Unfortunately, I had so many problems while working with this program. Every time I tried to copy a selection of my song, I would try to highlight the portion and it would end up moving things all around instead. I would press un-do and it wouldn’t un-do what I did. I was getting easily frustrated with this! In addition, when I finally did get the selection highlighted, I would press control+copy, because it’s just a habit I have in order to copy things, and I would go to paste only to find it didn’t copy. So I would have to try to highlight the portion again, and once again I would have trouble with it moving things around, and then use their copy button instead. I was getting easily frustrated with the program. However, I can see many benefits of the program! There are many times I wish I could edit a song we are using for a concert or in class and there is no way to do it. The experience I have with editing music comes from my undergraduate music technology course which utilized very expensive programs. To find a program that is FREE and allows you to edit a program is really very handy! I am impressed with all the tools Audacity provides you because it is free! In addition, we learned about a couple other programs as well this week. Band-in-a-Box and SMARTMusic are programs that allow you to plug in chords to create an accompaniment. They allow you to choose from many different instrument types to play these chords. They are not free programs, but they aren’t too expensive either. Both are just over $100.00 to purchase. If you are like me and can’t really accompany very well, this program will be very beneficial for you! As a vocalist and flute player, I have a hard time accompanying on the piano. I didn’t start piano until my undergraduate degree and even then, my hands are so small, I can’t play an octave! So finding programs like this that aren’t insanely expensive is amazing!

Week 3 - Soundation.com

"Successful teachers are subject matter experts and have a deep knowledge of pedagogy" (Bauer pg. 23).  It is difficult to teach a subject you have no knowledge of or to teach a subject that of which you have a minimum understanding.  Most school districts now require that teachers use technology in the classroom.  But most education programs in colleges are not preparing the teachers for this.  It is hard to use technology in the music classroom when the teacher has no knowledge on how to use technology for music.

This week, we were introduced to a website called soundation.com.  This is a site that works in the cloud and allows consumers to sign up for a free account.  In order to obtain more options with the program, you may purchase the program as well.  Soundation is similar to incredibox.com in that it uses loops.  However, this program is much more complicated than incredibox.  There are many more options from many loops and midi files to creating your own midi file for your song.

I have many 6th grade students who aren't so interested in music.  However my 6th graders are incredibly interested in technology and what they can do with it.  The opposite if true of many of my 4th and 5th graders who LOVE music and can't get enough.  But with my 6th graders, it's like trying to pull teeth to get them interested in anything musical.  My 5th grade choir has 45 students and my 6th grade choir has only 21.  When I introduced incredibox.com to them a couple of weeks ago, they LOVED it.  I got emails from teachers and parents alike asking what the program is called because their students wish to use it at home.  The students kept asking all week if they could make another composition because they enjoyed it so much!!

The program itself it definitely more complicated than incredibox.  The biggest problem I encountered was the yellow loop button.  It was explained in the tutorial video that in order to create the loop, you must click the loop button and then drag the yellow bar across the parts you wished to loop.  However, when I would click it and try to extend the loop bar, it would drag it instead of extend.  It took me a while to get it to work!

I think I could use soundation.com in my classroom with my 6th graders.  I definitely don't have computers for every student to work on their own.  However, we could explore the program as a class and create a class composition as we did with incredibox.  My 6th graders are incredibly tech savvy and this would really peak their interest!

Music Technology Week 2

"Using technology to facilitate music learning does not require excessive amounts of money" (Bauer pg. 40). I am beginning to understand that I CAN utilize music technology within my classroom while not breaking the bank in the process. My original point of view regarding music technology was that, in order to incorporate it, you needed to spend a lot of money. However, after being introduced to www.incredibox.com and understanding how www.musescore.org and www.noteflight.com works, I can see that there are quality free programs out there that music educators and students can use and enjoy.

My technology goal for my classroom is now to create a small music technology center.  I have never used centers before for my students.  But this may be something to look into because of the benefits.  I do not have a big budget to purchase 2 or 3 computers or IPADs for students to use.  However, www.donorschoose.org is a great way to earn these materials.  We could definitely utilize the free programs and I could have small groups compose music together in a safe environment.  In addition, if we invested in Ipads, we could utilize the Apple program called Garageband.

This week, we talked about using improvisation in the music classroom and I am proud to say that I try to utilize it as much as I can!  I never had the privilege to improvise when I was growing up.  My first introduction to improvisation was through my undergraduate music technology class.  We were split into groups of four or five.  We had to record ourselves into a music composition program and it had to just be improvised.  I froze when it was my turn because I had just never done it before.  I had no idea where to start.  Following several failed attempts at improvising over the other students in the class (who were all instrumentalists while I as a vocalist), someone suggested I just TALK and tell a story.  So I made up a story on the spot.  We ended up playing with my voice a bit with vocal effects and ended up with a very cool song!

I decided then and there that my students HAD to be exposed to improvisation.  I didn't want them to feel like me when I went through 22 years before ever having to improvise and freezing when I had to for the first time.  So I try to incorporate it when I can!  I used to think that because improvisation was such a huge deal to me, I had to think of BIG ways to incorporate it within my lessons.  However, I have come to learn that I don't need to do that.  I can have improvisation in small ways.  For one thing, my younger students and I play name games such as the teacher asking, "What is your name?" using only Sol and Mi pitches.  And the students need to improvise back saying "My name is _____" using Sol and Mi pitches.  They can copy the melodic pattern if they don't feel comfortable, or they can make up their own Sol-Mi pattern.

In addition, we my older students, I like to incorporate improvised conversations.  I know I felt more comfortable the first time when someone just suggested that I TALK instead of sing.  So I have them improvise conversations about different things.  One way is to show 5 pictures on the board that have to deal with a certain composer.  However, I don't tell them what the pictures mean or who they are learning about.  So they have to pair up and in 1 minute make up a story about a person using those 5 pictures.  About every 15 seconds, I will ring a bell and the partners switch who is telling the story.

In addition, another great way to get the students to improvise is to begin with echoing.  For instance, I will say and clap a pattern using just quarter notes and eighth note pairs, and students echo and clap it back.  When they are comfortable with that, we move on to a question and answer.  Students clap and say MOST of what I said but maybe change the last 4 beats.  Then we move onto the entire answer being made up.  We then transfer that to drums.  It really gets the students comfortable by using parameters (only quarter notes and eighth note pairs at first) and gradually expanding those parameters.

I think if teachers give improvisation some thought, it isn't so hard to incorporate it into their lessons.  Most of the teachers probably went through what I did: they were not experienced in improvisation.  But I used that as a challenge to get better so that my students could be great improvisers!  And my students are definitely improving!

A Bicyle Built for Two

Music Technology Week 1

According to Bauer, "evidence suggests that most music educators are not making extensive use of technology, particularly for instructional purposes" (Bauer pg. 20). When I first began this course last week, I was under the impression that, in order to include technology in the music classroom, one needed a hefty budget.  Bauer went on to state that, "many of the music educators want[...] to utilize technology with their students, but indicated inadequate budgets and facilities were obstacles they needed to overcome" (Bauer pg. 21).  I have felt this true since I began to teach music a couple of years ago.  I have been told by my administrators that we must incorporate technology into our classrooms.  However, I have always asked myself, "How am I supposed to use technology in the classroom when they don't give me a budget?"

It is hard to incorporate technology in a music classroom when you do not HAVE the technology readily available.  I have one computer in my classroom that is hooked up to a doc-cam and a projector.  I have previously thought how nice it would be to have a computer station in my classroom with music composition software available for the students to use.  Most compositions softwares I am familiar with have been programs you have to pay for such as Finale and Sibelius.  I am also familiar with MuseScore as well because I don't have the money to purchase Finale or Sibelius for my home computer.  So if I must compose on a computer (most times I do it on paper), I use the free program, Muse Score.  However, I find that music compositions programs such as Finale, Sibelius, and MusicScore are incredibly time consuming and confusing.  I opt to compose on paper because it is so much faster and less about the "where is this button?" and more about the composition itself.

All of these things combined made me think it was impossible to include music technology in the classroom other than maybe adding a SMARTBoard to my room.  However, I was introduced to incredibox.com this past week.  It is a very simple and free program that my students would definitely be able to use successfully.  You may dress up to 7 "dudes."  Each outfit represents a "loop" and once the dude wears the outfit, he starts singing the loop.  You can play with the controls - have only a few of the dudes playing at a given time and then have them all come in together.  

This program has really opened my eyes to the possibility of including technology in my classroom.  With my one computer, we, as a class, could come up with a class song.  The students would have a very easy time learning exactly how to use the program.  It would be a great way for my students to experience composing with technology while not having to worry about the theory as well as the "where is this button?" stuff you have to deal with when using Finale, Sibelius, and MuseScore. 

In addition to learning about this great tool, I had to sign up for many different accounts online for my class.  Using social media for my classroom isn't something I have really ever thought of before.  I have been a member of blogger.com for quite a while, however.  I follow many elementary music teacher blogs because I find they post lessons online.  For example, Amy Abbott has a wonderful blog that she updates often: http://www.musicalaabbott.com/   If I ever need help with a lesson plan idea or need something fast, I find that utilizing the resources these teachers put online can be very helpful!

The first account I had to create was a feedly.com account which would send all the new updates of my favorite websites to one place.  This would cut down a myriad time that goes into clicking on each website individually.  This is very helpful when I wish to save time.  I have been trying to find ways to cut down the amount of time I work on things for lesson planning because I spent a lot of time doing this.  I feel this will be helpful to manage all of my online resources when creating lesson plans for the week.

I also had to sign up for my first Twitter account.  I must be honest, I am not a fan of Twitter.  I have managed to avoid signing up for a Twitter account until now.  I am personally interested in seeing how this will help out in an elementary music classroom.  I know that it would be helpful to create a Twitter feed for high school students and parents to follow regarding updates to the music program.  But for elementary, we tend to stay away from the use of social media when communicating with our students and parents.  So I am interested in seeing how this will play out.  

I also signed up for the Google Plus UF Digital Music community.  I haven't used Google Plus much to be honest with you.  I actually haven't use many online "communities" much in regards to my profession.  In my undergraduate music technology course, I had to create a tumblr blog in order to communicate as a professional musician and found that I never used it.  I learned some things about music technology in my class but I really am not understanding how to take that knowledge and integrate it in an elementary music classroom.  Bauer states that, "teaching is complex, necessitating the skillful application of sophisticated knowledge and skill that can take years to acquire" (Bauer pg. 22).  Taking a one semester course in my undergraduate years in college taught me a lot about music technology.  Without years of training, however, it is hard to make sense of it in terms of integration.   However, I like the ease of the Google Plus community.  It's very easy to follow what is posted to the community and is a great way to interact with other music professionals in the field who carry the same interests in music technology that I carry.

I have learned a lot this week in regards of how to incorporate music technology in my classroom that goes beyond my computer, doc-cam, projector, powerpoints, and www.youtube.com.  I have found that, if I dig deep enough, I will find many resources that will enable my students to learn music through technology.  I don't need to have a hefty budget in order to incorporate the technology into my lessons.