Productivity and Professional Development

I found this week's reading on teacher productivity and professional development both reassuring and helpful.  I will admit that I lean towards a Type A personality (don't tell my husband I said that!) and I find a great deal of value in organization and planning.  There are several technologies mentioned in the book that I already use and some that I am excited to try:

1)  I have several Google calendars broken down into different "life" categories and then shared with the appropriate people.  For example, my home calendar is full of my non-professional life events (doctors appts, social plans, etc) and linked with my husband.  It is SO much easier to stay on the same page with our commitments this way (and it keeps him a little more organized, too!).  My professional calendar has all of my work commitments and is linked with both my husband and my other choral department colleague.  It is very convenient to have them automatically update on my smartphone and I often find myself using my smartphone to update the calendar more than the actual computer.  Next year, I would love to see this calendar shared with the entire music department, so we can see the entire calendar and better support each other. 

2)  I have just started using Google Drive to store documents, recordings, etc.  It is really helpful during the day because I switch classrooms every period.  We do have a drive at work that I can access from any computer, but Google Drive has been a great addition to that-especially when I am doing work from home and need it to appear at work the next day.

3) I do have a class website using wikispaces.  It is useful in posting materials, notes, and YouTube videos for my students.  I have not tapped into the collaborative aspect of a wikispace page and would like to look into that further.  I would also like to look into creating a music department website, geared more toward communicating with students in our ensembles.  This could include all the necessary paperwork (that never seems to end!), calendar of events, announcements, etc.  Along with this, we could also create a quarterly newsletter, which we currently do not have.  Together, this could be a much more efficient way of communicating information, rather than hoping that the stack of informational papers made it home to mom and dad.  It would also, hopefully, generate more attendance at our events and be a great way to advocate and advertise for our program throughout the district. 

When reading the section on professional development, I found myself really resonating with the following quote: "Professional development needs to be relevant to a teacher's personal interests and needs; it should be sustained; it is often social-we learn from others; and it can be formal or informal in nature" (Bauer, 2015, p. 175).   I think this quote resonated with me, in general, because it paints a picture of how professional development is supposed to be, not how it currently functions (at least in my district).  I am very rarely able to engage in professional development that applies specifically to my content area.  Instead, I sit in meetings regarding the school improvement plan, reading and writing strategies, and data walls.  I really long for more professional development that I can apply directly to my classroom and my students musicianship.  However, I did appreciate some of the PLN ideas (Google+, Facebook groups, Twitter) listed in the chapter and will look into how they can apply in my teaching situation.  In all, I thought this week's chapter was extremely relevant to my teaching and am looking forward to using more technology tools in my professional life.

Responding to Music

"When we discuss music listening, we have to make a distinction between hearing and listening.  hearing is generally considered to be a passive process, most often thought about in terms of the basic perception or awareness of sound.  Listening, on the other hand, occurs when active attention involving focused cognition is provided to sounds" (Bauer, 2014, 106).  I was particularly struck by this point when reading chapter five.  All the classes that I teach have a critical listening component as it is extremely important in the development of the musician.  However, I find it is a real struggle to teach students to go beyond merely hearing the music and becoming active listeners.  When students listen to a piece of music in my class (which is usually once a week), they write their responses down to turn in as an assignment.  There is no real "right" or "wrong" for this assignment, but I do ask them to write with detail and include comments regarding tempo, dynamics, texture, mood, and tone color.  In general, here is an example of what I read from their assignments:

"The tempo was fast."
"The dynamics were loud."
"The mood was happy."

Really?!? That's it?!? That's all you heard?  Throughout the semester we work listening to the whole piece and describing how certain aspects of the music change throughout the piece.  I also ask them to try to connect the different concepts.  For example, I would ask my students, "How do you feel the mood of the piece is connected with the tempo, dynamics, texture, etc?"  This way, students are viewing the piece as a whole, instead segmenting it into small pieces in order to use the write vocabulary words. 

I have often sat and wondered why students do not engage in this assignment as much as I would like them to.  I don't want to generalize, some really love it and are extremely descriptive and insightful.  But, as a whole, this is not the norm.  There are several reasons why this might be case:

1) Some of my students just don't like to write.  They want to complete the minimum requirement and be done with the assignment, even if they have more thoughts in their head.  Furthermore, some students have very poor writing skills and have a hard time expressing themselves on paper.

2) I play a variety of different genres and styles from different time periods.  Some students tend to "tune out" when they decide they don't like how something sounds.

3) Students are still trying to figure out when some of the musical concepts really mean in context.  The one my students struggle with the most is texture.  Its a loaded concept for sure, and I think some students just get overwhelmed or afraid to be "wrong."

Despite all the challenges, I have found that students like to talk about the music.  Our discussions after a piece is over are often much more detailed and fruitful than their responses (besides a few shy ones who were afraid to share).  This is when I can pull more information out of them by asking "Why do you feel that way?" 

I'm wondering whether the incorporation of technology into critical listening could help students open up a bit and think more deeply about music.  I'm excited about the idea of a class forum or blog where students can listen to a piece of music and type their responses for the class to see.  Students could also respond to a peer's post, expounding, disagreeing, or simply supporting another's response.  If they have more than me as an audience and it doesn't feel like such a formal assignment, I wonder if we could generate more intuitive listening and discussion.  "Formalized  listening experiences in schools are usually very teacher-centered and analytical, often focusing on musical elements, formal structures, and other facts related to music.  Dunn wonders whether students' preferences for listening to music at home rather than at school could at least partially be the result of formalized listening processes interfering with those attributes of intuitive listening that make the music listening experience meaningful and enjoyable" (Bauer, 2010, p. 108).  I'm wondering the same thing.

Assessment and Instructional Design

This week's reading focused on assessment and instructional design.  I was comforted to see that I employ many of the assessment and instructional strategies in my classroom already, just never used the official educational title (ex: authentic assessment or backward design).  However, there were two things in particular that came out of the reading this week that I would like to explore.

First, I would like to look into implementing working portfolios in my ensemble classes.  As I was saying in a previous post, I see a tremendous amount of growth in my singers throughout the year.  They often come into my class singing timidly with only basic musical knowledge.  By the end of the year, they most often leave more confident, mature singers with a much larger knowledge base as a result of all their hard work.  I get the privilege of watching this growth throughout the year and experiencing it from an outside perspective.  They, however, do not get as much opportunity to really examine and reflect on their own growth.  By implementing portfolios, students can track their own progress, both individually and as an ensemble.  Keeping a more "official" record of their progress throughout the year will not only help them reflect, but will also give them confidence that their hard work is paying off!  I am hopeful that it will also make my SLO for my teacher evaluation more useful and meaningful.  In a perfect world, I would love to see my seniors create a presentation portfolio that shows their growth over the number of years they were in choir.  I think it would be extremely worthwhile to look back on where they started and reflect on how far they have come.  I am sure it would add much more meaning to their experience as well.

Next, I am interested in looking further into Driscoll's constructivism model.  According to Bauer, "Driscoll (2002) describes learning as contextual, active, social, and reflective" (2014, p. 147).  I think I concentrate a lot on the contextual piece.  In our district, we are constantly assessing students' prior knowledge through pre-tests and using the data as a way to track student growth.  I also believe there is a huge amount of active learning in my classroom.  Students have to synthesize all of their musical knowledge and use it to accurately perform a piece of music.  This is not something I can do for them.  They must take the time to sit, focus, and put in the practice time.  In my general music classes (piano and guitar),  I am often a facilitator during this time, making my way around the classroom answering questions, modeling sections of music, correcting mistakes, and asking them to explain and demonstrate expressive aspects of the piece (dynamics, tempo, articulation, etc).  In my ensembles, I facilitate conversation between students about concepts such as tone, intonation, balance, blend, and expression-all concepts the students need to work as a team to successfully perform.  I believe active learning is something that comes very naturally in the music classroom.  However, I would like to brainstorm ways to bring in the social and reflective elements more often in my classroom.  I often have students practice in groups in my general music classes, using student models as group leaders.  I also often have students write about their performance in order to reflect on the things they did will and where they need to improve.  However, I think I can extend the social and reflective aspects of class beyond the classroom through the use of technology.  I would love to see if I can incorporate blogging into my classroom through the use of a class website.  This way, students can be reflective while sharing their ideas with the entire class instead of just handing in a piece of paper to me at the end of the class period.  This could really enhance musical dialogue and active use of their learning throughout the semester.  

Both portfolios and web-based social reflection are exciting ideas.  With excitement comes a little bit of anxiety because I do feel it will really stretch me beyond what I have implemented in a classroom so far.  But, I am excited to learn and grow with my students as I continue to try to include technology into my curriculum!

SmartMusic Review and Comparison

SmartMusic is music software with a variety of benefits for both student and teacher.  There are two versions of this software, “SmartMusic for Educators” and “SmartMusic for Students.”  Each requires a yearly subscription in order to download and use.  Information about SmartMusic can be found on it's website by clicking HERE.

Through the use of SmartMusic technology, teachers are able to send scores to their students for individual practice.  There is a database of songs and method books already programmed into the software, or teachers can create and upload their own scores into the program.  All of these scores can also be shared with other colleagues through an online library.  After students send their recordings to their teacher, the program allows the teacher to track each students’ progress through individual portfolios, keep a grade book with all their assessment scores, and give feedback to each student.  The teacher can track how much each student is practicing and parents can log in to view their child’s grades.  The program offers accountability for the teacher through physical proof of student achievement as well as documented student growth, both of which are helpful for teacher observation and evaluation.

The software for students focuses primarily on improving students’ musicianship and skills through interactive practice.  Students are able to practice in real time with the music on the computer screen and a microphone.  There is a built in metronome and tuner.  After choosing the piece they are assigned to practice, students have the ability to hear the piece as it should be played.  When students are ready, the program records their practice, gives them a score, and displays incorrect pitches and rhythms on the screen.  Students can then go back and work on a specific section by adjusting the tempo, looking up fingerings, or using the “loop” tool.  Students are also able to practice with accompaniment to learn how their part fits in to the piece as a whole.  Students can save their recordings and send them to their teacher for assessment or to family members and friends.  A version of SmartMusic is also available for iPad, so students can practice anywhere they choose.  The computer screen from a students’ perspective looks something like this:

As an educator, I feel that SmartMusic is a great tool for use in the music classroom.  It helps in student motivation to practice and gives individualized feedback to each member of the ensemble.  It can be used inside the classroom with the use of a Smartboard, in a practice room at school, or at a child’s home.  The testimonials on the website speak to improved ensemble sound as well as the ability to play more challenging music.  However, there are some difficulties to being able to use this in the classroom. First, it comes at a cost.  A teacher subscription costs $140 a year.  Each student subscription is $40 a year.  This can be a hindrance for any teacher who does not have the budget for this program.  It can also be difficult for a student to afford.  Personally, teaching in a low-income district, this would be a really hard thing to implement simply because of the cost requirement.  SmartMusic does offer a “Practice Room Subscription” for school issued devices, but this has the potential of dramatically reducing the effectiveness of the program, in my opinion, if students are not able to use it at home.  Perhaps some students would have the ability to purchase the program, while those who cannot would commit to practicing at school.  Also, I do feel that this program is mostly geared toward an instrumental ensemble, rather than a vocal ensemble.  I did see on the website that there are choral directors that use this software, but I would have to look into its usefulness before considering purchasing it for my vocal ensembles.

It is hard to compare Chromatik with SmartMusic, as I feel they have two different purposes.  SmartMusic seems to be much more academic in nature, concentrating on the building and tracking of specific skills.  It includes the assessment component for teachers and is used primarily to improve overall ensemble performance.  From what I can see, the repertoire mostly includes method books or music for ensembles.  On the other hand, though it does have these useful features, the cost to use it can add up quickly.  Chromatik, on the other hand, has a database of songs from a variety of genres and styles.  Most of these pieces seems to be more solo oriented ensemble focused.  It can be used for band and orchestra instruments, but also includes guitar, piano, ukulele, and vocals.  Students can still record their practice, but it does not offer an assessment option and does not interactively show mistakes.  Overall, I feel Chromatik would be a better fit for general music classes (or as supplemental material) and, because it is free, is widely accessible to students who want to practice a diverse array of music.  SmartMusic would be an extremely useful tool, and a much better choice, for an ensemble setting.  

References:

SmartMusic-Music Education Software.  (2015). Retrieved Aprill 11, 2015 from http://www.smartmusic.com/

Chromatik Review

This week I was able to explore both Chromatik and SmartMusic.  Both are useful tools for the in a variety of ways.  For clarity purposes (and so my post isn't extremely long), my first post will review Chromatik and my next blog post will review SmartMusic.

Chromatik is an online database of free sheet music for a wide variety of instruments including instruments for band, orchestra, voice, guitar, and ukulele.  Navigating the website is extremely intuitive user friendly.  First, you much choose an instrument by clicking the instrument menu at the top right hand corner of the screen, to the left of the “log out” option.  The icon looks like this:

When an instrument is selected, the music is transposed into the corresponding key.  There is a diverse selection of musical styles and genres to choose from, though the song choices within each category are not very extensive.  Below is a screenshot of the first two rows of categories for example:

You also have the option of searching a specific artist or song title by clicking the magnifying glass on the top left of the screen.  The icon looks like this:

Once you click on a song, the music appears.  In the bottom right hand corner, a Youtube video also appears with a recording of the song.  There are two menus that appear on the top of the screen and bottom of the screen when you scroll over with your mouse.  The menu along the bottom of the screen features the ability to play the recording, rewind, fast-forward, replay, adjust the volume, and make the music full screen.  You can also zoom in on the music further by using your browsers “zoom” feature in the main down menu.  When you are finished with a song, simply wave your mouse over the top of the screen and use the "back" button in the top left hand corner.  This brings you back to the main page where you can choose another genre and song. 

Another great feature is the ability to access Chromatik on your mobile device.  The icon looks like this:

When you click on this icon, a screen comes up that gives you the option of sending a link to your smartphone or accessing the app from the Apple store, Amazon, and Googleplay.  These options give you access to Chromatik on all your mobile devices and tablets:

On a tablet, there are a few more features such as the use of a metronome, annotating music, recording your own video or audio performance, and saving your work.  See below for a glimpse of the features on the tablet:

For more information, you can also visit the “Help” page by clicking on the bottom left of the main page or clicking on the following site: Chromatik Help

Overall, I feel that Chromatik is an extremely useful tool in the classroom.  The website version can easily be projected on a Smartboard for use in classroom activities.  If the class has access to tablets, students can access the app on their individual tablet for practicing music of their choice.  They can also access the app at home, record their practice sessions, and get feedback from teachers.  Their own personal recordings can also be shared on social media sites, giving the entire class access to a student's work.  In a general music setting, such as piano or guitar, I see this software as a great supplemental tool for students who have the ability to move beyond the curriculum or for use with an individual or collaborative project.  In an ensemble setting, through the use of tablets, I could see chamber groups of various instruments using the app to play pieces together.  Also, my inclination is that, once students have access to Chromatik, they will have fun with it outside the classroom on their own as well.  Through the use of this technology, there are a wide variety of exciting ways to implement this software into classroom curriculum-especially because it is free! 

Reference:
Chromatik-Explore Free Sheet Music Collections and Play More Music. (2011). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from https://www.chromatik.com

The Value of Recording Ensemble Rehearsals

This week, I really appreciated reading about incorporating technology into music performance.  I thought all of the resources mentioned were helpful for both individual practice and ensemble rehearsal.  Some of the technologies mentioned I already use during rehearsal time.  One of these, is the use of a hand-held recording device.  Bauer states, “Research states that middle school and high school students are not always aware of mistakes and when they make them during performance” (2014, p. 87).  I have found this statement to be absolutely true in my rehearsals.  I have also found that, because students are learning and perhaps do not know what exemplary performance sounds (or feels) like, they need to be constantly encouraged not to settle for mediocrity.  Being about to play back a live recording for them to hear gives them a totally different, outside perspective.  Some of the best conversations about balance, blend, intonation, phrasing, and dynamics happen after the students have listened to themselves perform and realized that it’s not as “good” as they originally thought.  It pushes them to work harder as a team, develops their aural skills, and encourages more introspective listening.  Being able to record during rehearsal really is an invaluable tool. 

On this topic, I have an idea that has been floating around in my head to try for next year.  I haven’t worked out the details, but here’s what I have so far.  I teach Treble Choir during the school day.  They come into the class as beginning singers and, because it is a small ensemble, we are really able to work on developing their individual (as well as corporate) musicianship during the school year.  They often leave much more confident singers than when they started.  I would like to create a portfolio of live recordings to track our corporate progress throughout the year.  This way, they are able to see where they started from and where we progressed to by the concert.  I could definitely use audacity as a tool to accomplish this.  It would be really easy for me record and save files and then upload them to a class website.  Then, students would be able to reflect on our performance progress, give feedback about what still needs work, and hear their growth as an ensemble.  It would add a totally new dimension to our classroom rehearsals and I’m excited at the possibility of piloting that next year.  Eventually I could even see it evolving into the integration of individual student performance portfolio’s as well to track their sight-reading and part-singing progress.  I would love to get feedback on this from teachers who may have integrated something like this into their classroom already.

Lastly, I’m really intrigued by Smartmusic and Cyberbass.  I will keep my initial thoughts about Smartmusic to myself for now, since I will be looking into that software more thoroughly this week.  However, I looked into Cyberbass a bit on my own, and the midi recordings seem to be extremely helpful for each piece included on the website.  I love that they are immediately downloadable in tutti or for individual voice parts.  My only thought was that there was not a very comprehensive collection of choral repertoire on the site that I could see myself using.  However, it has intrigued me to look into creating midi recordings for my specific repertoire choices.  It seems daunting and time consuming, but hopefully I will learn to use technology quickly and efficiently for this task!  I do think it will be worth it in the long run!

Soundation Project-"Spring Cleaning"

                 This week, I was extremely uplifted by the warmer temperatures here in Connecticut!  The snow is finally almost melting, the birds are chirping, and the air smells like spring rain.  Along with spring, comes all the necessary clean-up, both inside and outside the house.  In honor of my rekindled motivation to air-out, dust, and organize, I decided to title my composition “Spring Cleaning.”  My main consideration in creating this short piece was to have it sound like a soundtrack, something I would listen to while cleaning around the house.  I began with a fun drum track, added some claps, wrote a simple bass line and chord progression using the midi features, and then added some lead guitar (everybody has a dance party to a lead guitar while they’re cleaning, right?!?).  The goal was really to come up with something lighthearted, celebrating the warmer weather that is coming!

                I signed up for the free version of Soundation and was extremely surprised at how much it actually has to offer.  There were many pre-recorded sounds and loops to choose from and I had no problem creating and mixing as many tracks as I wanted to.  I actually spent a lot longer on this project than anticipated because I got so distracted listening to all of the loops available.  It was really entertaining and, after I had completed the musical part of the project, I actually went back and found some sounds to add to the beginning and end of my composition.  The sounds of the birds chirping, church bells ringing, and coffee pouring all helped add to the “spring cleaning day” theme.  I also found a pre-recorded clap which I triumphantly added at the end as I pictured a productive, successful day’s work.  I did discover a couple of challenges.  The program was not picking up my microphone, though I have one on my laptop.  I also could not get the program to let me use my midi keyboard, even though I downloaded the plug-in that it asked for.  I used the built in midi keyboard, but it would have been more efficient to use my own.  However, at the very basic level to which I used it, I was very pleased with how user-friendly it really was. 

                Soundation has some really exciting educational implications.  I love that it is free and web-based, so you can access your work from any computer, anywhere.  The program is very easy to use and I believe students would be quick to learn and explore all the possibilities.  I was thinking, especially as I was listening to the prerecorded sounds, that students could create an entire musical story that includes sound effects, loops, midi, and digital audio recording.   This composition project would go beyond putting “beats” together, and would really challenge them to share original, creative ideas about a given topic with their audience.  Students need no knowledge of music notation, so it takes the pressure of the signs and symbols out of the equation and makes it really easy to transfer their musical ideas from their mind to the computer.  Students could then publish, share, and collaborate about their projects, giving peer feedback and support.  If I had access to this in my classroom, I would most definitely try a project like this.  Overall, I feel that this is an extremely valuable program for music students and would love to add this to my curriculum.

Listen to "Spring Cleaning" Here!