Pinterest in Education

It amazes me how much technology has made a difference in the education world as it slowly grows more accessible to every individual in the world. There are many out there that are just a golden area for ideas to benefit the classroom. In this case it is the social media website known as pinterest. Many women that I currently know have one and are constantly scanning it for everything from craft ideas to fundraising concepts. Pinterest has a lot of adaptability as far as what the users want to see. After cruising around on it myself for a little while I  found numerous amounts of ideas to include in my future classroom. There are websites for finding ideas and criteria for lessons, videos to show how students are reacting, and actual assignments that you can make and give your students. It is a great resource for future teachers just because there are lessons from every side of education. If you cannot find it there then you aren't looking hard enough. I could definitely use this in a music class to educate kids on everything from how to write music, too the childhood and history of our most prolific composers. It is amazing what a young mind can learn.

Here is an activity that I completed myself to make sure that I was as fluent in rhythm as I like to think I am:

The project was very simple, I just needed to match the words in the corresponding rhythmic columns. I tried sounding it out in my head, however it really helped to vocalize it out. That definitely made a difference.

The further I got the hungrier i became. It might be a wise idea to do this immediately following lunch so the kids don't get hungry.

The assignment the asked me to come up with my own words to follow the rhythmic patterns. This was a bit of a challenge, now that I knew how to put the words into the categories I had to think backwards with my own personal touch.

Of course I then confirmed with the grading rubric and got an adult to look over everything for me to make sure everything was right. I want an A of course!

If I were in a classroom setting we would then share our made up words with the rest of the class and then find a theme that everyone could use to use in depicting rhythm in the future. It was incredibly neat and I think that in the future I will use my own words and maybe a few others that I can make up to help my kids, as well as my bands, to help them understand rhythms on a higher ability.  

Here is the link if you want to look at the assignment yourself:

Rhythm Worksheet

Learning Music Online

       I simply cannot wait to be a teacher. As I go through my classes I learn more and more ways on how to make teaching easier for my music classes in the future. Every day there are new technologies and programs developed for making learning easier. I'd like to share a few things that will help me in the future as I head out into the music teaching world.

Jam Studio

       Jam Studio is a unique way for anyone to make music no matter what level of education they have in music. At no point does the tool ask you to notate music on a staff. By simply using an individuals' ear you can create music of you own taste and genre. In the classroom this would be a great way for y students to open their ears and develop their own taste. This would also be a great way for them to get interested in writing and developing their own popular music.

Ujam

       ujam is a website that allows you to compose and arrange a song around a tune that you have in your head. By simply singing the melody that you have had on your mind, you can put it into a recording and manipulate it. You can remix what other have done or allow others to do the same just to look for the next biggest song. I would love for my students to come up with their own stand-tunes for football games. This would also give them the chance to hear what others have done and expand upon it.

Mougg

       Mougg is a cloud storage for any music that you have saved in your computer. It can wirelessly store any scores or recordings which you want to keep to yourself. The best part is that as long as you can access your account you can upload your things from any computer. In the classroom this would go great with the two programs that i have already mentioned, my students could write or remix original works and keep them protected. this would also be a great way to ensure they have access to their stuff in case they want to expand upon what they have already done.

Olefa Sound Recorder

        OLEFA is simply a basic recording program. It allows you to record anything you want and then save it directly to your computer for easier access to share your files. It is made especially simple so that kids are able to operate it well. The kid-friendliness helps my students operate it easier, which makes them more inclined to use it, and allows me to assign homework without having to worry about their ability to operate the program. The easy ability to save it to a computer also helps them share their assignment with me so that their isn't any tricky system that they have to use in order to get the assignments to me.

   

SoundCloud

       Soundcloud is also an audio sharing sight with the ability to visually show the viewer what the sound waves are doing. This works with any audio recording that produces a sound making it easy to analyze he direction of a conversation. These waves that are being measured can also be used in science-based projects to study sound. I could definitely assign the class to record conversations and music works for scientific study of a piece or conversation. The visual aspect also helps my visual learners understand some of the phrasing described in music.

MyBrainShark

       This is a cool site in which you simply upload a presentation and record your voice to present it accurately. You can add your voice or place in a downloaded audio file in the presentation. This is easily created and easily shared abroad. In the classroom this is a great tool to help students understand a musical concept by setting recordings as examples in my presentation. Best of all I can show my class how they sound versus what we want to achieve as an ensemble.

My Studiyo

       This is a site to create an interactive quiz for anyone take. There are quizzes already on the site that I can pull from, or I can create and share my own. The quizzes are easily shared so if one of my colleagues would like to take it themselves then they could. I could make these interactive quizzes for my students and they would stay engaged in what they are doing causing them to actively learn. it would be a good way fro them to make quizzes for each other as well to help them study.

Fluidsurveys

       You can create surveys for whatever purposes you need. You can place these surveys out on the web and collect results or restrict it to a certain amount of users. It is free and easy to create a survey to share with already graphed results. I would like to see what my class thinks of certain subjects in order to find out where their interests lie to teach to them better. I would also like to see what other teachers are doing as well.

Google Docs

       In this you can create documents and presentations online. This allows easy access from any computer and allows groups to work together. The files can be edited and arranged from different computers in different locations allowing for more home-based work to be done. Having my students work together on projects without taking up too much class time would optimize classroom time. 

Info Please

       This is a search engine full of content from multiple research areas. It provides a vast amount of places to pull from like biographies and encyclopedia. This allows for straightforward access to what you want to learn on whether it be in depth or highlights of a subject. I would like for my students to research the pieces they are playing and also the composer and this is a good place to start. I like that you can look at multiple sources in order to get facts from several stories that my students can then draw up their own opinions on specific subjects. 

Music

       Old Mcdonald had a farm.......

       I'm sure as you read this you an hear the rest of the song going in your head. Amazing how our brains are constantly hearing music and committing it to memory. I bet there is some artist either new or old to the producing world of music that you could sing along to almost anything that the artist has ever vocalized in their lifetime. Whether the song or piece comes from a recently released movie, came rocking out of bass -heavy speakers, or from the finely tuned strings of a world-renowned orchestra everyone has that group or genre that speaks directly to them on some level. 

       Let me ask you this: the last time that you got angry or upset was there a certain song or piece of music that you wanted to listen to? A musical selection that just pulled the exact emotion that you wanted to explode out of you? I know that when I get angry the first thing I go to is a song from the rock band Skillet. There is some sort of quality of the music that reaches down to that part no human can go. An understanding that can only be non-verbal. Something that is so deep i cannot be described, but simply.....felt.

      Many have sought after what makes that very connection deep inside of you. Countless hours have been spent trying to attain that musical touch that goes straight to a persons core. No matter how hard someone tries they can never obtain what other's feel, but most of the time the ones that come closest to it resolve to simply be content with themselves and how they feel within the music.

       Music is something that we all can relate to. It is a universal language that can be found understanding you in ways that you could dream of. It is a relationship in which you know exactly the right words that needs to be said to you at the exact moment they need to be said. It is an emotional expression without lingo, slang, or grammatical error. A way to express oneself without the judgement or criticism of others. Take a moment today to find a new song or piece that places you into a good mood and lightens your spirits simply by being your friend......

Air

       When was the last time that you got to sit outside on a cool day and listen to the birds chirp and everything that happens outside of human intervention and interaction?

       I find myself with a constantly busy mind and sometimes when I get still I shove everything out of my mind and just listen. Listen to trees sway in the wind, birds chase each other, squirrels foraging for their next meal, or if you are lucky maybe even a deer foresting for a bite to eat. It is very easy with all of the technology that we have access too that our minds try to stay constantly in motion. If you think about all the games and texting we do on a daily basis between our scheduled out items then you will realize that at one point people actually had nothing but their imaginations to fill in their downtime. What games do you play on a handheld device that you might be guilty of filling time with?

       We even get so caught up in filling our downtime that there is a ton of money being spent on personal entertainment. Take a moment today to get away from the complexities of your responsibilities and obligations and enjoy something that works simply. Something that does not require a charged up battery or an electrical source to operate. It could just be a small line of ants or if you can go way out into the woods away from human influence. You'll be surprised how taking a moment to let your mind rest and stop worrying for a minute might help you keep from pulling your hair out.

                              

Simplicity

      It seems that every day we go through we encounter many people an things that function in the society of today. We are so enthrall end by what we see and interact with, that we forget how a simple thing that we take for granted can really upset the balance of how our day is going. For example, it is amazing how a kind word either read in a text message or heard by an individual can shape your day. I want to begin appreciating the little things as a personal goal and would enjoy sharing what I find with you in the hopes I'll help anyone who reads this to appreciate things that we've taken for granted.

       For the first day, take a long moment to think about everyone which you have made an impression on. Think about every individual that you may have presented a topic in front of. What might you have imprinted onto them that they may have looked up to or aspired too?

        Take another minute to think about any and all connections that you have made in the past week. Who have you talked to? Who have you been seen by? How have you acted in public? Have you set an exemplary model for someone to follow? What might you have taught someone else about your culture?

       Have you thought about how much you might actually be watched or seen on a daily basis? How often do you think you are unaware of someone seeing what you are doing?

       There are many transactions that occur on a daily basis. For the first simple thought on this blog, I would like for you to realize that you set a good impression in someone's eyes today. Even if you don't agree with me, there is someone that saw you do something that in your mind might be simple. We show much more respect and courtesy to others than we give ourselves credit for.