Book Buddy Pro in the Music Classroom

http://melodysoup.com/2015/08/music-classroom-library-meets-book-buddy-pro/

Check out this post about how to use the app Book Buddy Pro in your Music Classroom Library

Top 10 things to Remember When Recording Student Work in Music Class.

I've noticed that more and more teachers, both music and general education teachers are recording their students.  It's easy to do.  Both voice recording apps and hand held digital recorders have become so common place that it's almost as popular as it once was to record using a cassette tape and tape recorder.

 But it's been so long since we had the habit of recording that I think it's important to be reminded of some very important ideas in regards to recording in the classroom. 


1.  Always tell your students that you are going to record.  This may keep some studnets from participating, but it may also improve the effort of others. 

2. Alway allow students a way to decline the opportunity. If they don't want to be recorded, then any value that could be gained by the process is lost. 

3. Always provide an alternate way to get the assignment done.  My recorder students could earn belts in 3 ways, in person, by email using an online digital recorder, or by phone messaage.

4. Always keep parents informed.  Even if they have signed a release at the beginning of the year, they need to know that recording is one of your arsenal of tools that you use to teach and assess student learning.

5. Always have a plan for anything that is recorded.  Is this recording for a daily grade demonstrating a specific skill?  Is this simply a scratch recording for rehearsal that will be deleted?  Is this part of a private digital portfolio? Is this a formal performance assessment like a concert or recital?  Anything without a specific purpose should be discarded.  Keeping a strict eye on this will save time and space on your harddrive 

6. Always take care with sharing settings.  Only share with the people who need to hear.  My favorite place to share recordings is actually in a "garden-walled" website hosted through google apps that is actually run through my school district.  I set it up so that it is only by invitation only. 

7. Always use the latest available platform for saving recordings.  If you are creating a digital portfolio you want it to last.  My college senior recital is on a little cassette tape!  People have used CDs since I was in elementary school, but the portfolio of my entire college career of vocal study is on a cassette tape????  What a shame!

8. Always be ready to record.  You never know when your students will be ready to preserve a special musical moment.  Having multiple modalities of recording on the ready will enusre that you don't miss anything that you won't want to forget. 

9. Always keep track of those release forms. You don't want to accidentally share information that you don't have permission to share..... These days everyone is having to make daily choices about their own online presence.  It is not our job to make those decisions for parents so check!  then record!  then check!  then check again! THEN post with tightly controlled privacy settings.  

10.  Always let students enjoy their own recordings. When I was growing up, I spent hours with a tape recorder. Now days students really don't do that.  Since we sound different to our own ears, recording is a very powerful tool and well worth the extra mindfulness and effort it takes to use it as a tool while teaching.

Bonus:  Don't stop recording just because you and your students decide to start over.  Stopping the recording often breaks momentum.  If you get a take that you are satisfied with, you can always trim off the parts that are "practice" with a program like Audacity. 

Bonus + Don't forget to have a good look at your district policy that concerns sharing of student images, voices and work.  Do more than read it..... understand it! :) 

I bet that you might have some ideas of some other things are good to remember when recording student work.  Please feel free to share them in the comments. :)

Voice plus for iphone - my new right hand

 OK, so i find this title little ironic since I'm left handed.  However, I want ya'll to know that I really love this app.  The best part is that I got it as sort of a joke because I thought it would be fun to make funny sounds with it..... But now I find that it is the app that I use almost daily. 

Last summer I got my very first iphone.  I have always had an "un"smart phone before, so to say that I took a technological leap in my personal phone capabilities is an understatement.  I really don't know how I functioned as an adult without an iphone. 

One reason why I got an iphone is that I knew that my school is always looking for new ways for students to use technology in the classroom and I was pretty much entirely unfamiliar with apps....
So I got an iphone and started exploring. 

I think that this might have been the first app I actually paid for.  Now I know that you can do all sorts of goofy things with the effects to change what you record.... BUT, here is what this program does that makes is useful to me virtually every day. 

1. It records with pretty good sound quality.  I'm certain that if I attached some real microphones to my iphone I could get a cleaner sound, but for on the fly, in the moment recording, it's amazing!

2.  The saving process is EASY!  The sharing process is EASY! No fuss

3. The files are easily retrievable and can be played back.

4. AND THE BEST part is that when you send the file to yourself on email..... The file is saved as .WAV which means that I can actually DO something with it without any problems. 

As a .WAV file, my scratch songs can go directly into audacity where I can edit further or do nothing. 

The difference between using this app and other digital recorders that I use in class is that I almost always have my phone somewhere on my person.  I can also send whatever I record to myself without having to plug my phone into my computer first, so it's quicker. 

Kickin' it "old school" - how "old school" is keeping things fresh in the music classroom.

I love how MP3 files and music editing software make the life of this music teacher easier. 

But I also love the simplicity of just singing and playing with students.

I love how my macbooks help me create environments for my students to learn in where classroom walls become transparent and students can access the world through the click of a button.

And yet, I love the simplicity of reaching for a globe when my students want to know where something is.    There is something special about "touching" China with your index finger and measuring the vast Pacific ocean with the palm of your hand.

I am grateful for my own ability to embrace and utilize technology in my own personal daily life. 

All the while I miss the smell of old paper and books from the library.

I think I'm feeling a little nostalgic about the way things used to be because our new afternoon music teacher Rosemary who is quite a bit older than I, ha
s brought with her  many of the "old fashioned" ways of doing things..... I'm glad she has, because I'd forgotten how important many of them are. 

The first thing she did when she came to my school was ask where the autoharp was..... I've been at my school for four years and I had NO IDEA!  Do we have an auto harp?????? 
Well she found one and I've never seen students more entranced than my students were when she showed them how to play the autoharp..... it was wonderful. 

Then she told me that she wanted to do a little performance called Peter Rabbit. I knew the story because I'd heard it as a child, but my students have never heard the story at all so suddenly what was old is brand new and exciting!  As it turns out another great music teacher friend of ours, Tobey Unrath purchased the music for this operetta for children while on a trip to London England in 1981 when I was in kindergarten....... Several years ago, Tobey and Rosemary did Peter Rabbit as a performance and it's been one of their favorites for years because I've had the pleasure of hearing them talk about if for a long time. 

So Rosemary wanted the 2nd grade to perform Peter Rabbit and all we needed was a date.  We got all the details worked out and we have started teaching the music to the children.  They LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  It is the sweetest thing I've ever heard and the melodies are just right.... they aren't overly simple and they are interesting without being too challenging.  I can't wait to start working on the staging.



I think my favorite part is that there is no recording.  Rosemary is going to play the entire thing while I conduct.  She was not at school today, so I got to play it while the students were in the room today and even the piano accompaniment is just right and fits well in your hand. 

Of course I couldn't leave the technology entirely behind.....I did talk her into creating a practice CD so that students can rehearse the songs at home.  I know they will be glad to have the chance to practice at home..... IF IF IF IF IF they can find a CD player to play that old fashioned CD on! 

Caution! Primary Music Centers Under Contruction! - Part 3

Quiet Please We're Testing!  Those are not the words a music teacher wants to hear when she shares a wall with a testing room........ ALL my speakers are on the "testing" wall..... My instruments were bleeding through to the other side...... what to do.... what to do....?????? 

This next set of centers were developed out of pure necessity.

We've been working on composition centers, but many of my composition centers require students to either play or improvise melodies and rhythms on instruments.  Basically, I came up with these  in a pinch ideas when I had a room full of students and not enough centers to go around. 

Before I scrapped all of my composition centers, I first modified most of them.  Instead of using un-pitched percussion, my students used body percussion, instead of pitched percussion, my students sang.

I'm pretty sure we did ok, because no one came to the door to tell us to be quiet. 

Additionally, I added a couple of centers to replace some of the more rambunctious centers.  Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. 

Finale Notepad!

Set-up - headphones and headphone splitters allow for more than one student to hear their work while working on a computer.  I use Finale Notepad quite a bit with my older students, so the FREE! download is already on my computers.  The trickiest part is getting students logged on.  I try to pair a student who I think will be independently successful with one that needs some support.  The more independent student uses their log-in credentials.... Since my students have easy access to computers in their classroom they are well used to logging in. 

Kinder - nope, didn't do this one with kindergarten..... during kindergarten I just added an extra person with my other centers.  They didn't miss it, they were having too much fun.

1st/2nd - I helped them log in and find Finale and then after a quick tutorial on how to manipulate the application I left them alone to doodle and listen to their doodles.  I wanted them to have the experience of notating something and then playing it back to see how it sounds.  I told them to start with quarter, and eighth notes and they did pretty well.  When it was time to go, I helped them save their work. 

Rhyming Books
Set-up ...I have a great collection of books.  I asked my students to read independently and with each other.  I  chose the books that are rhyming because they are more rhythmic than others and they are ones with which the students could add instruments if we were allowed to be loud. 

Kinder-2nd grade I was shocked by how intrigued and on task the students were.  They REALLY enjoyed getting to read my special music books that they don't see everyday.



CHECK OUT!

Reflections upon centers in music

Caution! Primary Music Centers Under Construction Part 1

Caution! Primary Music Centers Under Construction Part 2

Melodysoup Video Wednesday - Week 5

THIS is my favorite music career video because I learned some things too!  Having never been in a recording studio, it's hard for my to explain all of the jobs related to the work.  This is basic and clear AND interesting!