PLN: Resources, Resources, Resources!

Have you ever just wanted to go to one website that had a multitude of free resources for your perusal? Hickory Tech is the answer you've been looking for! With a multitude of resources for all different areas and grades of music education, it is definitely a website to turn to if you have no idea what you are looking for. My favorite part of it personally was the fact that each website contained a description of what the website was about, and how you could use the resource. It also shows if the website is new to the website and what it should be used for. It is a great resource for music teachers of all specialties!

PLN: Sphinx Kids!

        As this a technology of music education class, I have worked to find as many websites as possible to get students more involved in music, using technology. Music education is first and foremost about the children, and by allowing students to vitalize the resources before them, instead of having technology used only by teachers students can become much more connected to music.
      My find this week is Sphinx Kids! This website is full of interactive programs to get more students involved in classical music. The graphics are kid friendly, and there are many different sections to explore including matching games, practice sessions, and instrument discovery rooms. If you ever get the chance to use it in the classroom, I would highly recommend it! Kids go crazy for technology, and using it for educational purposes is always a great tool!

Presentation Feedback

Becki Walter:

• good statistics, good intro
• looked at phone a lot, but also had goof eye contact
• moved around the room a lot
• good flow, quick to the point 

Alex Wallace

• good graphics and points, trouble communicating them to the class.
• confidence is key
• funny graphics
• don't say sadly, it was a good presentation!

Ben Scanlan

• I liked the take you had on the project, doing a presentation thats useful to us in later lofe. 
• Used an example from home, great example.
• nice statistics 
• good humor, nice segway

Mike Papa

• nice different topic
• nice tieback to NAFME
• good examples
• try to stray a little away from NAFME, talk about what you think, it's really interesting!
• I liked your connection to technology
• Comedy was nice!

Rob Piertzak

• Excellent humor!
• I loved how light and entertaining your presentation is, while still being informative
• honestly didn't take much notes because I was so engaged in it. 

Audrey

• dont look at your phone so much
• good information and delivery 
• make more eye contact
• you seemed very knowledgable on your topic

Gabe 

• It is clear that you know your material, so you don't need to look down so much!
• Try to avoid saying "uh"or "um"
• good hand gestures 
• I really like you're an animations and slide transitions.
• Good idea bringing your performances to the town.
• I liked how you summed everything up in the end. 

Adam

• good humor from the beginning
• incredibly engaging, doesn't look at the presentation.
• you seem really into the subject, makes it that much more interesting 

Becky

• LOVE your topic choice. So different
• you were incredibly prepared! It was evident you liked the topic, and rehearsed your presentation.

Tessa

• really informed on the topic 
• lots of pausing, but seemed like you were trying not to say um which was good
• make eye contact 

Jamie

• Try not to say um, or look at your presentation. Its clear you know your material so it's not necessary
• Lots of information about Kodaly, well presented and nicely put.

Kristen 

• love your graphics. everything is clean and well placed.
• I really liked that you weren't looking at the slides, and everything was in your head.
• Move around the room
• Good idea having notecards

PLN: Orchestra For Kids

      With the internet being at our fingertips, it seems like an incredible waste not to use it to its full potential. Often times, websites can put things in a way that makes much more sense than if you tried to explain it yourself; a good example of this is SFS Kids. This website explains the basics of orchestras, symphonies, and music in general in a way that children can easily comprehend. The website is inviting and full of pictures, and animations designed to catch a student's interest. 
       By engulfing students in music from a young age, we can help students develop a love of music, and in turn an appreciation of its purpose. Websites such as these can be very helpful in doing so. By using sites such as SFS kids that have a goal of helping students understand music concepts, we can use technology to create better musicians for the future. 

PLN Soundtree

         With this class being specifically designed for the purpose of furthering the use of technology in music education, I found it appropriate to do a PLN this week on a foundation who's purpose is to integrate music technology into the classroom. This foundation would be SoundTree. Specializing in integrating all aspects of technology into the classroom, SoundTree provides "advice, planning, sales, complete installation services, staff training and after-purchase support." The website contains lesson plans, lab curriculums, articles, as well as key information on how to find and acquire grants. What more could a music teacher ask for?

         In this day and age, it is crucial for music teachers to venture into the realm of technology. However, many do not even know where to begin. By turning to organizations such as this to find different aspects and curriculums one could use teachers may begin to embrace technology, rather than shun it.

PLN: Pop Theory?

         I am a strong believer in the concept that you often find resources when you least expect it. This happened to me today as I was starting to outline what to do for a powerpoint presentation on how pop music can be used in schools. Haphazardly, I typed "Justin Bieber Music Analysis" into Google, thinking that there was no possible way to get more poppy. I then stumbled upon a great resource called  HookTheory. This website takes different pop songs and analyzes them and there chord progressions, so while you listen to the song it shows what chords are being played, how they are being inverted, and where the notes are in relation to these chords.

         I believe that using tools like this in the classroom would be incredibly beneficial to music education as a whole. Whether you scoff at Taylor Swift and One Direction or secretly listen to them in your dorm, like it or not if you are placed in a middle school classroom and have to teach them the value of music, using music that they like will be a way to connect with them. Sometimes as music students we become "music snobs" and deem anything that isn't of complex, integral structure to be inconsequential. However, as a music educator we need to break past those ideas. We must spark an interest in music in order to get children to wish to continue, and pop songs have a tendency to do that. Even if you ask your students for their favorite songs, then analyze them yourself and have half of them sing the song, and the other half say the chord progression. Any little steps you take to involve students on a personal level will help. I promise, you won't regret it.

PLN: NPR

      As music educators, we must always remember that behind the students desire to learn how to sing, the culture engulfed in music, and the necessary techniques to be a good musician is a child who fell in love with music because of the connection they formed with music on an emotional level. For this reason, as music teachers we must continue to show different styles and genres of music in the classroom, even if its just for five minutes while we are taking attendance. For this reason, I love NPR, or national public radio. With a multitude of different styles, and a constant free source of music you can expose your students to new styles and still keep your lesson on track. In additional to the free music feed, there is a multitude of articles and videos to use in your classroom. We must always remember the love our students have for music and try to incorporate it into our lessons as much as possible. By using these free resources, we can enhance our lessons and hopefully engage our students further.

Warmup: Doo Bah

A Change of Focus: Guitar in the Classroom(PLN)

            How often do teenagers say, “I really wish I could play guitar!”?  Guitar is one of the most popular instruments in the United States with hundreds of thousands of kids attempting to teach themselves each year. Why then, is guitar not implemented into the high school, or even middle school classroom? Surely it would draw a huge crowd. The answer appears to lie in the fact that many teachers rely on older proven teaching strategies. While Kodaly and Orff undeniably are geniuses in the field of music education, we must begin to look towards the interest group of our students and form a curriculum that encompasses them.

            For this reason, I believe implementing a guitar program would be incredibly beneficial towards music programs in schools. I know that when my school started a beginning piano class there was a fifty-person waiting list in a school of five hundred kids, and guitar is even more popular than that! By incorporating guitar into the program, the music department will be able to draw students who usually would not be involved in ensembles, but still have the desire for musical skills.

            Therefore, my PLN for this week is a website that shows individuals the basics for guitar. GuitarTricks is a website in which many guitar specialists have posted videos teaching the fundamentals to guitar, as well as other important skills. There are 24 videos free of charge, and each video goes in depth explaining the skills slowly and clearly. What’s great about the fact that it is online is that one can watch the videos again and again if he or she needs additional practice or help.

            As a future music educator, I definitely want to take the time to learn guitar, for though it isn’t taught in most colleges, it is a key advantage in getting a job. If I were to have knowledge of guitar, and the desire to create a program in my school, that would certainly give me a leg up on the competition.

Giddy with MIDIs: A Response to Mouricio and Oppenheimer

        With technology becoming more infused in music exponentially, it is critical as a music educator for my knowledge of different music technology to grow at the same rate. I always knew of MIDIs as a wonderful tool in aiding music composition, but Mouricio and Oppenheimer's article really opened my eyes to the new things on the horizon in terms of MIDI technology.
         There are many benefits of MIDIs, including their smaller file size, easy switching of instruments and keys, and above all the multitude of ways they can be used. Different programs can use MIDIs, and therefore they can be used as a method to communicate between programs. 
         MIDIs can be exceptional beneficial to music education because by using the correct music notation software, you can create a score for your ensemble, input notes using a MIDI keyboard, and adjust parts of a given piece. I would highly suggest using MIDIs in music education, and embrace the technology that is before us. 

PLN: Theta Music; Tone Deaf No More?

            Whenever someone finds out that I go to a music school,  the most common reaction is “I wish I could sing!” Many people claim to be tone deaf, or that they have zero musical talent. Personally, I don’t believe in the concept of tone deaf. I think that there are definitely some people with a higher natural talent then others, but anyone can learn to sing at least decently. For this reason I made it my mission this week to find a resource that could help people who have trouble with basic fundamental music skills. I just happened to stumble upon trainer.thetamusic.com/en/content/matching-pitch!

            The website is an online resource that can help people who have trouble doing the basic fundamental pieces of music. And it’s really fun in the process! There are different games that include a pitch matcher, pitch memory, scales, intervals, melody and so much more! All you need is a microphone on the computer, and adobe flash. Also, all of the basic levels are free!

            I have already shown this website to a couple people who claimed they were tone deaf and saw some basic improvement within minutes. This proves that it could be an incredibly valuable resource as a music educator for those who may have an issue with a student who simply is not capable of performing at the same level as others. I believe it is a very valuable PLN as a future music educator and hope that you all check it out!

PLN: Culture and Music Collision

            As future music teachers, we all know the value that music education has on teaching other core curriculum classes. Music is a universal language. Sure, the accent may vary but when it comes down to it, people from every walk of life can make a beat on an object, or feel certain feelings when listening to a piece. Why then, is there not more of a push to integrate music into classes on history, culture, or language? If we as music teachers look outside of our comfort zone and join forces with teachers from other subjects, we can increase a child’s learning capacity ten fold.
            Imagine a lesson on slavery in the south, where the student’s walk into the class where sad, or minor spirituals are being played to set the tone of the lesson. The history teacher leaves the music on, but lowered and continues on by talking about slavery. When she gets to talking about the slaves in the field,  she could perhaps share with the class a lively spiritual in which many slaves would partake in singing while they worked. And when she talked of their escapes, show a song like “Follow the Drinking Gourd” which displays the freedom trail. Think of how much more enriching and engaging that lesson would be.
            In my opinion, subjects are much to separated. Each school subject connects to the others in some way or form. If we were to link these subjects together, maybe students would not walk out of the classroom wondering why they were bothering to learn what they were learning because they would never use it in the future, but rather understand the purpose behind the lessons they were taught.            
            For this reason I believe that teaching the cultural aspect of music is imperative to a child’s curriculum. Yes, it is important to be able to play, listen to, and analyze pieces, but there is so much more to music education. For this reason, I love the website http://www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/cultures.html. This website contains links to explanations of the different cultures of music, and gives a brief history. It also has a page devoted to explanations of different instruments from other countries because while symphony instruments are wonderful, it is also fascinating to learn about other instruments native to different areas.
            I would highly recommend that you check out this website, and think about what I’ve said as you look towards your career as a music educator. Remember, we are not only trying to teach the musicians of the future,  but are also responsible for teaching the past, and cultures that got us here.