Week 5

This week, we learned a lot about software programs and how to evaluate them to assist in teaching in the music classroom. I enjoyed playing around with Music Ace. Although the graphics were not all that great, I could still see this approach being extremely effective in a music studio setting. If I were in a school district or school that focused on music, I could see it being useful as a classroom tool, but overall felt it's primarily focus user was in the private piano studio. I think the sequential areas of the software lessons were well thought out and met a lot of different learning styles. I also liked how the Music Ace had both the lesson mode and the game mode. Giving students an opportunity to gain new knowledge, reinforce knowledge taught in private lessons and then asses that knowledge in a fun format. I am definitely going to look into this more, once I start teaching privately this summer. When looking for other software programs, most of the lengths for the free trials that I was interested in, did not work. One that did work, was GNU solfege. I think that if this program could get a little more up to date, it would be a useful tool. Right now however, the graphics were prehistoric and I could not see my students getting interested in that. With video games as the number 1 source of entertainment for most students in the 6-8 grade range, it is important to find programs that match that style. Otherwise, they think...... "This is boring school stuff. With these thoughts in mind, is why I chose to do my software review over Smartmusic. As I have previously mentioned, this is a software program I have begun to implement in my classroom and I have fallen in love. I love that Smartmusic gives immediate feedback and allows the students to practice individually. The Diigo resource looks to be something I would like to explore more. Finding a certain amount of websites to bookmark for an assignment gave me a good sense of how the tool worked, however, not much in practical application. As I come across things that I like, I will continue to use this resource to see how I can implement this in my classroom more. This resource reminded me of the academic version of Pinterest. Much like Diigo, we bookmark things we like with the hope of returning to things once we need them. Pinterest also allows us to be social and see what others are pinning as well just like Diigo does.

Week Four Reflection

This week, we learned about several resources to help aid in student feedback, composition, and continued to learn about different ways to incorporate composition in the classroom. This week featured several tools that I already use in my classroom. First, I integrate Smart Music for sight-reading practice nearly every day. I really love this resource because it gives students immediate feedback. Another resource within Smartmusic that I really enjoy is the built in metronome, as well as the clicker that follows the music. I find this clicker especially helpful with my lower grade level students. Many times, my students are reading at a much lower grade level than they are in and are unable to read the words fast enough to follow along with the song when teaching music using the music. The clicker follows a long with the notes so that students always know exactly where I am. I also integrate Smart Music for individual practice, and accompaniment tracks. Another valuable resource I find is the ability to write my own exercises with Finale and sync them with my Smart Music. This allows me to focus on specific spots my students are having trouble with. I also found it interesting, that metronomes, auto tuners, and recording devices were considered technology integration. These are also things I use on a daily basis, however, I do not consider them to be great technological advances in music education, but they are classics that help with practice and perfecting performance. One thing I will try and integrate more, is the use of an audio recorder to record my rehearsals and let my students listen and give feedback. Audacity is something that I have used sporadically, mainly for recording rehearsal cds. Through these assignments, I learned about more of the features that were available and the effects. One other thing that I learned about Audacity at a workshop, was that you can take the voices out of certain file types. As a choral director with a little budget, this will be especially helpful as we begin rehearsals for our pop show. This week, helped me learn about new features in several programs that I already use. As I continue to grow as a music educator, I will continue to explore these programs and integrate them into my curriculum. Although most of my focus is on choral music making, it is important to me to nuture the whole musician and these programs will help me do so.