3 things to record with children in general music

As I've mentioned in previous posts, having an app that makes it easy to record on a device that is easy to use and easy to carry means that I am more mindful and therefore have found myself recording MUCH more often than I used to.  Here are my favorite
things to record. 

1. Solo singing - Although I still haven't found enough time to formalize this well...... I record soloists MUCH more often than I used to.  I record them during class, I record them as we line up when they want to share a song they know, I record them when they drop by during their recess and I record them when they audition for a special part.  I only have limited success in capturing recordings from everyone so at this point as long as I am required to give participation grades rather than content mastery grades, I mostly use these solo recordings as positive reinforcement for students who are VERY motivated to share what they know AND as a way to formalize any auditions that I have. 

2. ensemble work - No one is prouder than the class that has mastered an ordinary song on a ordinary day to the point that the work is beautiful and ready to share.  For years I have motivated students to work even to the end of class by gambling that their home room teacher would pick them up a little early with the time to hear our performance.  NOW I don't have to hinge our class motivation on a classroom teachers ability to telapathically read my mind and know that her class is axiously hoping her meeting will get done early.... As you can imagine..... we don't often have an audience..... BUT when I record something wonderful, I can share it in a variety of ways with the homeroom teacher who can then watch at her convienance. 

3. Student thinking - Sometimes the best evidence of learning is found not in the performance, but in the process.  I've found that some of my favorite moments of audio this year have come out of our composer centers where my students talked through what they were thinking.  

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. 

It's SO EASY! Easi-Speak Digital Recorders!

 

This fall I had a project funded through donorschoose.org  for a pack of small handheld digital recorders. Since I have never had anything like this before in my classroom, I was filled with all sorts of dreams about ways that we could use them in class to create digital portfolios of student work.  

Well, I'm here to say that the reality is even better than I had hoped.  

When I received my Easi-Speak  pack I was right in the middle of 5th grade show and then it was the holidays and well....... I'm just now getting around to playing with these little guys with any sort of intentionality.   So far I'm just giddy with possibilities! 

Here is what I've tried so far! 

Scratch Group Recordings:

The 100th Day of school sort of snuck up on me, and since I had my guitar with me that day, we made up a song.  It was pretty cute as far as ridiculously on the fly song go, so I thought I’d record the children singing it with me.   I thought that the digital recorder did a good job of capturing the entire class singing.  It’s by no means a quality for public sharing and it is no replacement of "real" recording equipment, but it is a good representation of the “daily” work done in class and certainly a good addition to a digital portfolio.

Individual Recordings: 

I REALLY like this, probably because this is how the microphones were designed to be used.  So far, I’ve only had one recorder out at a time, but I think that soon I’ll have all of them out at once.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to create an accurate record of student singing that is a concrete support of your qualitative rubric?  The nice thing is that since these recorders are designed to be used by one student at a time, even with background noise, you still get a REALLY nice sound.

Emergency Practice Tracks:

There you are with only about 1 class left in your voice and that afternoon you have your less than independent choir students coming in for rehearsal.  I wore the recorder around my neck and recorded a rehearsal track for my students who sing part 2. Now granted, I was at a piano with a volume control, but it was so much easier than any other option available to me at the time.

Discipline documentation:

So I have to admit that I discovered this by accident. It’s that time of year where the chatty cats and cathys in my class have gotten rather bold and the effectiveness of those natural consequences that worked just last week is slipping.   Creativity is in order to keep my students from "spring breaking" too soon. 


I’d been playing around with my little recorder when my class with my favorite chatty cat who uses ALL of my creativity came into class ready to see if I had any new ideas.  Lucky for me I still had my little recorder in my hand.  I smiled hugely at him, pointed out the red “record” light and said, “This microphone will record all of your good work today, why don’t you wear this around your neck and sit close by me today.”…. He was literally stunned into silence. And THEN he asked good questions and did his work.  It was a PERFECT day!  Not to mention the fact that a few of his “chatty cat crew” wanted a microphone too…. I told them truthfully that my microphone would catch all of their good work too.  They were good as gold.  Eventually one caught on and said, “What if we aren’t good?”  I said, “Oh, it will catch that too….”  PRICELESS!  

Ideas that I haven't yet tried! 

·     Record instructions for an independent activity or EVEN record your sub plans, burn it to a CD    and you are all set!

·     Auditions – now that my students are learning how to use it, the next step will be to formalize the procedure.  I either have to figure out a way to create blind auditions, OR I have to train my students to always say their name and teachers name before they start singing or speaking because the whole idea would be to have them do their preliminary audition just outside where I can see them but they can’t be disturbed during their audition.  I’ve still got some figuring out on how to make that work realistically.

·     I also want to use this for small group interactions.  I want to give each group a task and have them record their conversation.  It would be a great way to keep record of who was really involved and who was more passive.

The possibilities are endless..... What if you recorded your private lessons and gave your student a CD of the lesson?  What if students interviewed their teachers about their musical experiences?  What if students used these little recorders as a tool for music composition? I need one for each student!  

What happens once you are ready to hear what you recorded?

 

·     You could choose immediate playback which is useful for immediate feedback for students.

·     You use the USB port on your computer and when you do all the MP3 files come up.  They are in a folder and are numbered.  I had to rename them because I'm not organized to remember what I did when......

·       If you record for a long time, it will record in small seamless chunks

·      You could choose just to rename them and keep them as a record as they are. 

·     OR you can import them into Audacity.  Audacity  is loaded on each microphone and if you want to edit the files, you can open Audacity immediately from the folder.  EASY!