In this course, I discovered the GAME plan for personal productivity. It ties into the goal setting strategies I have used during my career. In this case, it became a system where I could be successful. By establishing goals, taking actions toward these goals, monitoring my actions and results, then evaluating my performance in achieving the goals, the system taught me how to better monitor and evaluate my actions. It was effective enough for me to teach my students how to use the game plan for their projects and goals. This system taught me to be flexible, to think about my end result, and to make adjustments to my goals as needed to improve the outcome I desired. This has become an integral part of my success toolbox, and eventually for more of my students.
My discoveries during this course have been numerous with one idea that stood out: Be flexible. When our instructor had us evaluate where we were along the continuum toward our goal or goals in weeks five through eight, he was using the monitoring concepts in the game plan to have us look at where we were, and how we could improve. He taught me to evaluate my unit plans and gradually add further complexity and academic demand to each level of the plan for my students.
To adjust my teaching practice, there are two areas that I am incorporating in the next term for my students. These include improving my unit planning to incorporate many of the tools I have learned in this course, as well as to have my students learn to become Game managers as well. My unit plans will be more complete due to this class, integrating my curriculum standards as well as the NETS standards for my students. In this way, my students will cross curricular lines for both music and technology. Adding complexity will allow me to create more demanding projects and work for my students, offering a more real world experience in recording, music creation, and composition. My students will be more successful by implementing the Game system of thinking in their individual and group work. By adding goal, action,monitoring, and evaluation tools into my unit planning, the students will be using the goal oriented system to their advantage while they work in my class, and in other classes as well. Tying the two elements together will allow my students more opportunities to establish their learning agenda, as well as their success in school.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Using the ISTE-S Gameplan
My first priority of the ISTE-S standards is to create responsible digital citizens. The computer keyboard has become at times, a tool to bully, or shout down a dissenting response. Students need to be taught that all people will not agree, yet respect for the other opinion must be granted.
Communication and collaboration tools are able to be used via a blog, a wikipage, or text message. Digital students use these tools daily to talk with their friends. I have witnessed High School age students text each other on a bus to a performance event. In some cases they were sitting two seats in front of them. These tools need to be utilized and taught to students to use them in an ethical and responsible way.
Critical Thinking, problem solving, and decision making are all part of working in a digital workspace. While not there physically, their thoughts, and ideas are communicated via the internet. Working with students in facing these challenges is where I think education will be heading toward. Online High Schools are already starting to work for students. They still have to use their intellect to create something from nothing.
Using the GAMEplan, students can set and achieve their goals, whether with technology, personal accomplishment, or any other area of their life. By establishing a goal, taking actions, monitoring your achievement, and evaluating your performance, students can apply these concepts to every aspect of life. I like to think of the parable about the tiger, who can do it all, yet must teach the younger tiger to do what he can do. In many cases with technology the kids have an advantage, yet I show my students daily tricks and tips that will assist them in being successful in music and in life.
Communication and collaboration tools are able to be used via a blog, a wikipage, or text message. Digital students use these tools daily to talk with their friends. I have witnessed High School age students text each other on a bus to a performance event. In some cases they were sitting two seats in front of them. These tools need to be utilized and taught to students to use them in an ethical and responsible way.
Critical Thinking, problem solving, and decision making are all part of working in a digital workspace. While not there physically, their thoughts, and ideas are communicated via the internet. Working with students in facing these challenges is where I think education will be heading toward. Online High Schools are already starting to work for students. They still have to use their intellect to create something from nothing.
Using the GAMEplan, students can set and achieve their goals, whether with technology, personal accomplishment, or any other area of their life. By establishing a goal, taking actions, monitoring your achievement, and evaluating your performance, students can apply these concepts to every aspect of life. I like to think of the parable about the tiger, who can do it all, yet must teach the younger tiger to do what he can do. In many cases with technology the kids have an advantage, yet I show my students daily tricks and tips that will assist them in being successful in music and in life.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Gameplan Week 6
In this week's reflection, there are many new opportunities for my students to learn about authorship. Using the Clemente "Night Before Christmas" poem, students created a rhythmic map and melody from their map to write their own melody for the poem. I was able to connect to a real application of their work with the website http://www.minimumnoise.com/Projects.aspx, where creative people can submit their musical work, and get a chance at being paid for their work. My students became quite interested when a commercial project on the site was valued for 1500.00. I let them hear some of the "winning" submissions as well. I think my students became aware of opportunities they did not know existed in North Georgia.
As for pushing forward with my NETS standards, I want to take my class blogs and wiki pages outside our school, connecting with other regional schools first, then expand it to the worldwide community. Two projects that I have begun to work toward include a flatearth music composition page, as well as wikispace pages that can be used for music composition and music performance. Students will be able to use NETS and Music standards in conjunction to create music. This will give a wider audience of people to offer suggestions, encouragement, and networking opportunities for my music students. It is taking the big fish out of the little pond and putting them into a larger pond with bigger fish. This is going to be exciting!
As for pushing forward with my NETS standards, I want to take my class blogs and wiki pages outside our school, connecting with other regional schools first, then expand it to the worldwide community. Two projects that I have begun to work toward include a flatearth music composition page, as well as wikispace pages that can be used for music composition and music performance. Students will be able to use NETS and Music standards in conjunction to create music. This will give a wider audience of people to offer suggestions, encouragement, and networking opportunities for my music students. It is taking the big fish out of the little pond and putting them into a larger pond with bigger fish. This is going to be exciting!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Gameplan Week 5
This week, I used many cited references in my teaching. One example was the citation for Clemente for the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem in my work. I cited at least three musical transcriptions of this work as well.
In reading my technology related reader stories, I discovered that Apple has created a 3D screen that does not need glasses, that Google is coming out with a social networking site called "Emerald Sea," and that Ion Audio has created an duo flip camera that will be available for consumers. What a cool time we live in.
In reading my technology related reader stories, I discovered that Apple has created a 3D screen that does not need glasses, that Google is coming out with a social networking site called "Emerald Sea," and that Ion Audio has created an duo flip camera that will be available for consumers. What a cool time we live in.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Game Plan Update
My gameplan this week ran into a bit of a snag this week due to a personal illness. I was able to post encouraging words and work to my wiki pages for my students even ill, however, it was between runs to the bathroom. With only two days of school this week before Thanksgiving break, my classes were redirected to the gym as substitutes are not hired to cover teachers this year as a money saving measure. When I checked my rss feeds about new technology I discovered an improvement for a tool I already use.
I became quite excited about Apple's new 4.2 operating software for my Ipod and Ipad this week. I use my Ipad during the school day in my class, as I can move around the room with it helping students. As my gradebook is web-based, I can grade students as I walk around the room. Of course the new print function does not work with my printer yet, so I just bump it over to word, or excel to print. I am sure this will change quickly, as more printer companies jump on board with this.
As far as my students being more cautious of authorship, I had them create their own story, script, record, and edit their turkey story. They then posted their story up on the class wikipage. The students had gone through the entire process that any creative artist goes though in order to create their finished story. When I asked them what their reaction would be to someone using their story without their permission, they became very adamant about protecting their work. I asked them to consider this feeling the next time they considered downloading or copying someone else's work.
I became quite excited about Apple's new 4.2 operating software for my Ipod and Ipad this week. I use my Ipad during the school day in my class, as I can move around the room with it helping students. As my gradebook is web-based, I can grade students as I walk around the room. Of course the new print function does not work with my printer yet, so I just bump it over to word, or excel to print. I am sure this will change quickly, as more printer companies jump on board with this.
As far as my students being more cautious of authorship, I had them create their own story, script, record, and edit their turkey story. They then posted their story up on the class wikipage. The students had gone through the entire process that any creative artist goes though in order to create their finished story. When I asked them what their reaction would be to someone using their story without their permission, they became very adamant about protecting their work. I asked them to consider this feeling the next time they considered downloading or copying someone else's work.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
GAME plan for this week
I have subscribed my RSS feeds for PC magazine, Macworld, as well as Android, and Ipad/phone apps. With this topic there is much to read every two days. I find the topics that are directly related to educational technology are my filters to look for. In doing so, I have found that google voice will now work on an Iphone. Tethering seems to be a short term fix for quick email looks, and the Galaxy Tab will cost you over the long haul with a dataplan. I also found that the next software update of Ipad will include midi capabilities.
Additional things I need to do to achieve my goals include using MS office for more of my assignments to have my students upload files to the class wikipage or dropbox. In this way my students can make the best use of the software the county has provided for personal productivity, as well as respect copyright and creative commons licenses.
In an assignment today, I requested a citation for references for their web searches. Three teams successfully integrated the citations to there work. When the students uploaded their turkey podcasts in Music Appreciation, one group had had their finished product altered by a student later in the day. I had the original saved on a thumb drive and quickly helped them to recover the work they had done, as well as help them import their music from www.freeplaymusic.com. Once there, the students finished their work , and uploaded their project to the class wikipage.
Things I have learned:
1. Create a seperate wiki or blog site for each of my classes.
2. Always have my students save their work to the thawspace drive and my flashdrive.
3. Purchase four flash drives for my classes
4. With only two rooms for recording, allow more time to complete the project, as well as
meet the needs of my IEP/504 students.
Additional things I need to do to achieve my goals include using MS office for more of my assignments to have my students upload files to the class wikipage or dropbox. In this way my students can make the best use of the software the county has provided for personal productivity, as well as respect copyright and creative commons licenses.
In an assignment today, I requested a citation for references for their web searches. Three teams successfully integrated the citations to there work. When the students uploaded their turkey podcasts in Music Appreciation, one group had had their finished product altered by a student later in the day. I had the original saved on a thumb drive and quickly helped them to recover the work they had done, as well as help them import their music from www.freeplaymusic.com. Once there, the students finished their work , and uploaded their project to the class wikipage.
Things I have learned:
1. Create a seperate wiki or blog site for each of my classes.
2. Always have my students save their work to the thawspace drive and my flashdrive.
3. Purchase four flash drives for my classes
4. With only two rooms for recording, allow more time to complete the project, as well as
meet the needs of my IEP/504 students.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Achieving goals via the GAME plan for NETS-T
NETS-T Standards
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
Standards 4a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
Standard 5c. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. Teachers:
evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.
GAME Plan
Goals -
My first goal is to have all of my students’ and my work use reference pages in their projects, power points, in their online, as well as written work. By doing this we create a culture of respect for authorship. My second goals is to peruse two articles a week on how existing and digital tools are being used in student learning. Articles will include respected research journals from the Walden library as well as online scholarly publications for technological use and educational settings.
Action Steps -
The action steps I plan on taking will be to use RSS feeds to my google account to peruse new uses and products that affect educational technology. I currently subscribe to a radio hosts podcasts concerning technology, as well as feeds for PC magazine, Macworld, and sites related to my portable devices. I plan on accessing these sites once per week, scheduling one day for PC oriented devices, one day for Apple oriented devices, and one day for my portable devices.
Monitoring -
I will monitor my action steps, realizing that I must plan for time to peruse my RSS feeds for each type of device, and budget at least thirty minutes worth of time to peruse new and existing technologies.
Evaluating -
I plan on evaluating whether the product will enhance student productivity in my classroom, allow students to create something tangible out of nothing, and look at how my students can grow from using the technology. I plan on keeping a journal in Microsoft Onenote for three months, where I can place interesting items and technological concepts.
References-
Cinnamon, K., Ross, J., Ertmer, P., Technology Integration for
Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach,
Cengage Learning 2009
ISTE Website, http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx, accessed November 11, 2010
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
Standards 4a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
Standard 5c. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. Teachers:
evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.
GAME Plan
Goals -
My first goal is to have all of my students’ and my work use reference pages in their projects, power points, in their online, as well as written work. By doing this we create a culture of respect for authorship. My second goals is to peruse two articles a week on how existing and digital tools are being used in student learning. Articles will include respected research journals from the Walden library as well as online scholarly publications for technological use and educational settings.
Action Steps -
The action steps I plan on taking will be to use RSS feeds to my google account to peruse new uses and products that affect educational technology. I currently subscribe to a radio hosts podcasts concerning technology, as well as feeds for PC magazine, Macworld, and sites related to my portable devices. I plan on accessing these sites once per week, scheduling one day for PC oriented devices, one day for Apple oriented devices, and one day for my portable devices.
Monitoring -
I will monitor my action steps, realizing that I must plan for time to peruse my RSS feeds for each type of device, and budget at least thirty minutes worth of time to peruse new and existing technologies.
Evaluating -
I plan on evaluating whether the product will enhance student productivity in my classroom, allow students to create something tangible out of nothing, and look at how my students can grow from using the technology. I plan on keeping a journal in Microsoft Onenote for three months, where I can place interesting items and technological concepts.
References-
Cinnamon, K., Ross, J., Ertmer, P., Technology Integration for
Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach,
Cengage Learning 2009
ISTE Website, http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx, accessed November 11, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
New Course!
I am starting a new course and have new requirements for my blog. This is my cup of tea as we are integrating technology across different subject areas. I am looking forward to this course.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Reflection for 6711
Being exposed to new educational research and learning theories has been very beneficial to me as an educator. The concepts of constructivist and constructionist learning theory will create a dynamic and engaging classroom for my students. Project based learning is part of music, as the performance is the goal we are striving for. With music being very repetitive or behaviorist in nature, this addition of learning theories will certainly add to my toolbox.
Two technological tools that I will be using in my classroom will be voicethread and Smartmusic. Voicethread will be used to convey information , as well as have student dialogue and input into the lesson. The “lesson” information can be created allowing students access to the lesson at home to refresh their memory of how to play their instrument. Smartmusic will be used as a practice tool, an evaluation tool, and as a visual feedback station for my students to utilize. I plan on purchasing Smartmusic for each student in my band program this year.
My long term goals and changes in my instructional practices include creating a system that allows students to use technology to become more successful on their instruments via web sites links and assignments, as well as using Smartmusic to kick start the students playing abilities. I can give a weekly assignment to my students that must be completed on Smartmusic. Students that do not have a computer at the house, can come into the room before and after school. Students will also have opportunities in class to access Smartmusic. Friday’s will become a Smartmusic day to allow students to perform on the program. The challenge will be to have access to the gradebook portion of the program on the network we currently use in the school system. I will contact the technology head for the system to discuss the issues and problems we can fix, so the students have access to this part of the program.
Two technological tools that I will be using in my classroom will be voicethread and Smartmusic. Voicethread will be used to convey information , as well as have student dialogue and input into the lesson. The “lesson” information can be created allowing students access to the lesson at home to refresh their memory of how to play their instrument. Smartmusic will be used as a practice tool, an evaluation tool, and as a visual feedback station for my students to utilize. I plan on purchasing Smartmusic for each student in my band program this year.
My long term goals and changes in my instructional practices include creating a system that allows students to use technology to become more successful on their instruments via web sites links and assignments, as well as using Smartmusic to kick start the students playing abilities. I can give a weekly assignment to my students that must be completed on Smartmusic. Students that do not have a computer at the house, can come into the room before and after school. Students will also have opportunities in class to access Smartmusic. Friday’s will become a Smartmusic day to allow students to perform on the program. The challenge will be to have access to the gradebook portion of the program on the network we currently use in the school system. I will contact the technology head for the system to discuss the issues and problems we can fix, so the students have access to this part of the program.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tools for the Teacher's Toolbox
The two strategies of instruction that I am going to really incoporate into my teaching practices more are to use more non linguistic representation in my classes, as well as having students use the “similarities and differences” concept presented in this weeks part one and part videos by Dr. Pickering. I have used the toolbox metaphor over most of my career for my teaching practices, so it was refreshing to have an expert confirm this concept for me. I have taught my students over my career that the brain works in a different way than our educational system does. We need to be able to read, write, and calculate, yet our brain operates in pictures. When we dream, usually it is like a movie being played in our mind's eye. My goal is to incorporate more mental and actual “pictures” into my classroom lessons. For similarities and differences the beginning band video from United Musical Instruments, the students are given a simple test asking the question “Is it the same or different?” for pitch, melody, and rhythm. I am incorporating more of this concept into my classroom. Using comparison and contrasting organizers in order to have students make more mental connections using the language of music I believe will be more engaging for my students. Taking two etudes out of a music book and having the students compare what characteristics are the same, and different will help cement the musical language and concepts learned into their playing.
The technology tools that will help me with incorporating these goals into actual practice will include MS office, Iwork on my Macintosh, Kidspiration/Inspiration, for creating materials and lessons, concept maps which I can create at home and use in class, as well as podcasts and as well as using Drop.io, Voicethreads.com, and Blog and wiki pages that I have already created for my classroom. This fall I will have a wikipage for each class I teach, which will be attached to my school webpage for students and parents to have access to.
To implement these concepts, I will use the Deming quality cycle of plan, do study the result, then act upon the results. Being able to plan the entire year out, I can put software tools into the plan that will assist students in learning the music materials and projects I have in store for them. During the year, as I impliment the plan, I can study the results and make adjustments to improve how the components work together. By following this cycle, I will be able to improve the quality of instruction that I am giving my students.
In conclusion, using more non linguistic representations of musical concepts, and having students engage in similarities and differences converstions and activities in my music classes, I will have the opportunity to improve my students retention of musical concepts and language development, as well as deepen their appreciation for music.
References:
DVD: Laureate Education, Instructional Strategies Part 1, 2009
DVD: Laureate Education, Instructional Strategies, Part 2, 2009
Pittler, H.,Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M. Malenski,K., Using technology with Classroom Instruction
Works, McRel Publishing, 2007, Denver, CO
The technology tools that will help me with incorporating these goals into actual practice will include MS office, Iwork on my Macintosh, Kidspiration/Inspiration, for creating materials and lessons, concept maps which I can create at home and use in class, as well as podcasts and as well as using Drop.io, Voicethreads.com, and Blog and wiki pages that I have already created for my classroom. This fall I will have a wikipage for each class I teach, which will be attached to my school webpage for students and parents to have access to.
To implement these concepts, I will use the Deming quality cycle of plan, do study the result, then act upon the results. Being able to plan the entire year out, I can put software tools into the plan that will assist students in learning the music materials and projects I have in store for them. During the year, as I impliment the plan, I can study the results and make adjustments to improve how the components work together. By following this cycle, I will be able to improve the quality of instruction that I am giving my students.
In conclusion, using more non linguistic representations of musical concepts, and having students engage in similarities and differences converstions and activities in my music classes, I will have the opportunity to improve my students retention of musical concepts and language development, as well as deepen their appreciation for music.
References:
DVD: Laureate Education, Instructional Strategies Part 1, 2009
DVD: Laureate Education, Instructional Strategies, Part 2, 2009
Pittler, H.,Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M. Malenski,K., Using technology with Classroom Instruction
Works, McRel Publishing, 2007, Denver, CO
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Voicethread Link
Our school has some communication issues at times. This is one tool I can use to have a team meeting even when all members are not present due to conflicts in scheduling.
http://voicethread.com/share/1191294/
CD
http://voicethread.com/share/1191294/
CD
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Students are a Reflection of their Peers
During my teaching career I have been curious why people who were capable of performing music well would self sabotage their efforts toward success. I had a student this past year who had potential to become a very solid player. He was talking about challenging the first chair player one year ago. When the school year progressed, I had noticed that he was hanging with peers who were not motivated to improve their playing. While still capable, his playing started to suffer, as he would not practice his instrument at home. He missed performances just as this group of peers he was friends with would do as well. This student reinforces for me how he constructed his meaning in musical performance through his friends versus his abiity on the instrument.
In the cooperative learning chapter of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the author shares the five ways to group students. With every student at a different level of development, technological tools can help even some of the disparity among the students. In my experience, some of the students come to me with poor reading and writing skills, yet their computer skills are well developed. This helps the student feel important in his or her group and contribute toward the groups success. I had not thought of the “group processing” aspect for student groupings. I can apply a Facilitative Leadership tool called a “plus delta chart” for this type of grouping, When they finish working each day, they list the things that went well, as well as the things that need changing at the next meeting. Giving the kids the responsibility to share and save their reflections on a blog, wikipage, or drop box is one way in which technological tools will help these students. Currently, my school system uses the web as a reference only tool. Using citrix, the kids were unable to upload anything due to restrictions issued by the system. I did finally find that creating a drop.io box worked great, and it forced the students to use their citrix account to upload their work. When they went to the drop box outside of Citrix, they could not find their work. The students were surprised how easy it was to turn in their work. Voicethread looks like a really excellent interactive tool for me and my students. I thought that the teachers differentiation plan was excellent, and could see how it can make any teachers day easier.
In many years of teaching, I have observed that excellent organizations grew out of postive interactions with one another. When the students were able to rely on each other to perform well, the performance level was higher than when problems eclipsed the purpose for being there. Students develop their sense of worth in many of these instances based upon these associations. In many cases that is why a band student will do what is neccessary to participate in a high performing ensemble as it builds both the ensemble as well as the student.
Reference:
Interactive Associates, Facilitative Leadership, 1997, Boston, MA
Pitner, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M.,Malensonski, K., Using technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. 2007 Mcrel Publishing, Denver, CO
Voicethread retreived from voicethread.com on June 1, 2010.
In the cooperative learning chapter of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the author shares the five ways to group students. With every student at a different level of development, technological tools can help even some of the disparity among the students. In my experience, some of the students come to me with poor reading and writing skills, yet their computer skills are well developed. This helps the student feel important in his or her group and contribute toward the groups success. I had not thought of the “group processing” aspect for student groupings. I can apply a Facilitative Leadership tool called a “plus delta chart” for this type of grouping, When they finish working each day, they list the things that went well, as well as the things that need changing at the next meeting. Giving the kids the responsibility to share and save their reflections on a blog, wikipage, or drop box is one way in which technological tools will help these students. Currently, my school system uses the web as a reference only tool. Using citrix, the kids were unable to upload anything due to restrictions issued by the system. I did finally find that creating a drop.io box worked great, and it forced the students to use their citrix account to upload their work. When they went to the drop box outside of Citrix, they could not find their work. The students were surprised how easy it was to turn in their work. Voicethread looks like a really excellent interactive tool for me and my students. I thought that the teachers differentiation plan was excellent, and could see how it can make any teachers day easier.
In many years of teaching, I have observed that excellent organizations grew out of postive interactions with one another. When the students were able to rely on each other to perform well, the performance level was higher than when problems eclipsed the purpose for being there. Students develop their sense of worth in many of these instances based upon these associations. In many cases that is why a band student will do what is neccessary to participate in a high performing ensemble as it builds both the ensemble as well as the student.
Reference:
Interactive Associates, Facilitative Leadership, 1997, Boston, MA
Pitner, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M.,Malensonski, K., Using technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. 2007 Mcrel Publishing, Denver, CO
Voicethread retreived from voicethread.com on June 1, 2010.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Constructivist Theory in Education
I have found over my career that constructivism and "project" based education did more to cement the skills required to be successful in my classroom than any lecture I could deliver.(Laureate, 2009) To have a group of students work toward a goal, run into obstacles along the way, have to solve problems for those obstacles, then continue to perform them for evaluation, has catapulted many of my students to achieving their dreams. For these students, they learned to embrace the challenges that the world presented to them, especially music. Students that followed the path that I suggested, they became successful as performers and music educators. For the students that became successful in other career areas, they told me they had used many of the techniques we used in performance to become successful with their particular specialty.
Many years ago. I had a suspicion that the rating or score at music festival was related to the number of minutes spent on music making during rehearsal, versus the director speaking during that time. I tracked myself over a one month period using an excel sheet to calculate the number of minutes spent working together versus the number of minutes that I "taught" during the rehearsal. I found over time that the scores at an adjudicated event became surprisingly close to the percentage of student on task time in rehearsal, or the more time they played in rehearsal the better the score. With performance being a goal oriented activity that used collaboration, cooperation, and character development in each rehearsal, we were able to see the fruits of our labors. This is a concept that I still use today in my preparation for performances for my band students. It is also one I use for my general music classes as well.
Constructivism is another tool for an educator to use that will increase learning in the pupils we teach. The constructivist learning will do more to help these youngsters remember the "lesson" than anything else we can say. The concept can be summed up with this: Have students do more than you speak during a class.
References:
DVD: Laureate, 2009, Contructionism and Constructivist Learning Theories
Many years ago. I had a suspicion that the rating or score at music festival was related to the number of minutes spent on music making during rehearsal, versus the director speaking during that time. I tracked myself over a one month period using an excel sheet to calculate the number of minutes spent working together versus the number of minutes that I "taught" during the rehearsal. I found over time that the scores at an adjudicated event became surprisingly close to the percentage of student on task time in rehearsal, or the more time they played in rehearsal the better the score. With performance being a goal oriented activity that used collaboration, cooperation, and character development in each rehearsal, we were able to see the fruits of our labors. This is a concept that I still use today in my preparation for performances for my band students. It is also one I use for my general music classes as well.
Constructivism is another tool for an educator to use that will increase learning in the pupils we teach. The constructivist learning will do more to help these youngsters remember the "lesson" than anything else we can say. The concept can be summed up with this: Have students do more than you speak during a class.
References:
DVD: Laureate, 2009, Contructionism and Constructivist Learning Theories
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Cognitive Learning Theory
The idea that we possess multiple intelligences which are developed at different rates has a direct link to the concept of practice from behaviorism. Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences learning theory seems to have a natural extension to the hehavioral theory we discussed last week. I will develop my motor cortex by practicing body movements over and over again. My musical intelligence is much more developed due to exposure, practice, and performance over the long term. This still effects my motor cortex, however repetition makes it permanent. Using these intelligences to tap into my student's strengths as a preferred learning style will help me reach their potential at a faster rate. It also gives me another tool with which to reach my students.
Reference:
Lever-Duffy, J., McDonald, J. Theoretical Foundations,Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA 2008
Reference:
Lever-Duffy, J., McDonald, J. Theoretical Foundations,Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA 2008
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Behaviorism in the classroom
Behaviorism is widely used in our schools. The emphasis Dr. Obey had in the video for this weeks class told of creating opportunities to reinforce positive behaviors much more than negative ones. Behaviorism is the concept of practice, defined as repeating a system or process to acquire a skill. Teaching the students games or practice strategies that help take the boredom of repetition is a key component for success for the learner, especially when learning a new skill. The repetition is the key component in behaviorism.
Repetition for a young musician is developing the four major lobes of the brain. The use of the occular cortex for translating the musical language, the motor cortex to coordinate all the muscles being used, the temporal cortex to determine correct pitch and length, and the frontal lobe to decide how to interpret the music, are all being used while playing an instrument. Marzano's study show twenty-four repetitions to attain an eighty percent recall is the magic number for me. One of my trumpet texts states that in order to really learn a new piece to play it twice very slowly, then to repeat the piece another "fifty times" gradually speeding up from time 25-50.(Jacoby, 1990) At this stage the piece begins to feel comfortable. The repetition is what cements it to the lobes of the brain.
Reference:
DVD: Behaviorist Learning Theory, Laureate Education, 2009
Pitler, H. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works McRel, 2007,
Denver Colorado
Jacoby, J. Jake's Method, Jockobotz Publishing, Denton, TX 1990
Repetition for a young musician is developing the four major lobes of the brain. The use of the occular cortex for translating the musical language, the motor cortex to coordinate all the muscles being used, the temporal cortex to determine correct pitch and length, and the frontal lobe to decide how to interpret the music, are all being used while playing an instrument. Marzano's study show twenty-four repetitions to attain an eighty percent recall is the magic number for me. One of my trumpet texts states that in order to really learn a new piece to play it twice very slowly, then to repeat the piece another "fifty times" gradually speeding up from time 25-50.(Jacoby, 1990) At this stage the piece begins to feel comfortable. The repetition is what cements it to the lobes of the brain.
Reference:
DVD: Behaviorist Learning Theory, Laureate Education, 2009
Pitler, H. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works McRel, 2007,
Denver Colorado
Jacoby, J. Jake's Method, Jockobotz Publishing, Denton, TX 1990
Sunday, April 18, 2010
State Testing
As I watched four young people take the mandated tests that our school is so worried about, I thought about how these kids are affected by how they perform on this one test. The results of their tests will determine a large portion of the direction these 8th graders will head in High School.
One student had was so worried about doing well on the test that it had stressed that student to the point of illness, as this student had failed two portions of the test last year. What happens when a student has a poor day on testing? They are labeled with that test score for their HS career.
I like the idea of an International Baccalaureate program where each student must complete projects in each area of education, creating a portfolio of accomplishment that will carry them wherever they want to go. This is how we change education for our kids. Use testing as a tool versus having that test have that much of an impact on a students future.
One student had was so worried about doing well on the test that it had stressed that student to the point of illness, as this student had failed two portions of the test last year. What happens when a student has a poor day on testing? They are labeled with that test score for their HS career.
I like the idea of an International Baccalaureate program where each student must complete projects in each area of education, creating a portfolio of accomplishment that will carry them wherever they want to go. This is how we change education for our kids. Use testing as a tool versus having that test have that much of an impact on a students future.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Smartmusic with Instrumentalists
What a cool program. It is a shame it took three quarters to get the registration taken care of to use it in a practical way for my instrumentalists...gotta love it!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Course Reflection-Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts
In reflection of this course in Integrating Technology into the classroom, there are many things I have learned in developing my technology skills, including creating blogs, wikis, and podcasts, as well as how I can incorporate them into music making in individual, as well as group settings. With the web becoming a means of collaboration, as well as communication, it allows people to work together in an online forum to create something together that one person may not have been able to do alone. I have learned to incorporate technology into my class, as well as my lessons. I am having my Music Appreciation students finish a podcast assignment about their favorite music group. They had to research the material, create a script, record, edit, and upload their project to Podcastmachine. com. They also are using a Google form in order to evaluate their group performance in the creation of their podcast. In this regard, I have information to improve the assignment in the future as well as help my younger students adapt to using technology in more ways. Band students are creating recordings of their own, posting them as an mp3 file on Podcastmachine.com, and evaluating their performance, as well as get comments from others. This will help my students learn to perform at a higher level. My ELT students are creating a wiki page for the school, where I facilitate the means for them to create. It has taken about three weeks; however, the content has improved, as well as the student’s ability to work with technology in a new way.
Student achievement is important at our school as our school is one of the schools in our state that has not made AYP in the past two years. Our Students with Disabilities population is large enough to be a subgroup. We are using technology to help these students achieve by having them practice using Study Island to improve their reading and comprehension skills, software for reading and comprehension, and programs such as Kurzweil to assist our readers. Some teachers are creating podcasts for our students to refer back to when an explanation or review is needed. In this way, our students can use their phone/mp3 player as an educational tool to help them achieve in their classes, as well as on the tests that seem to drive education now. Students let me know of other host sites for podcasting, wiki page creation, as well as the applications in Google that will take time to learn to use. These will be areas that I work on in the future. One of my students that have a history of low achievement is having trouble creating his podcast. I had to teach him to work on one thing at a time, and not worry about what comes next in order for him to be successful. He will edit and upload his project tomorrow. He did not think it was work, as Dr. Thornburg stated, just “fun” to do. (Laureate, 2009) In this regard, technology can assist our students, and provide teachers with another means of refreshing their memories away from school using portable media.
Two goals which I am setting for myself are to create blog sites and wiki pages for my students to upload and create their own musical recordings, and to create podcasts for my curriculum that the students can refer to from their home computer. In Social Media in Plain English, the author creates a community where discussion, evaluation, and improvement are created in a community.(Common Craft Show, nod) The School site software our school system uses for our web pages, will host mp3 files. I can add short lessons for developing their musical vocabulary in their ability to read rhythm, which is half the musical language, and staff systems for pitch, the other basic language element for reading and performing music, which will be posted for their review at any time. I can create an online library as well as refer my students to other experts via their web pages. Many musicians are now offering online lessons, where you send a video or audio recording where they can assist you to develop your skills playing the instrument. This takes geography out of the picture, and opens opportunities to study with some of the best players and musicians online. Creating a site where my students have access to these online experts is another goal that I have for my students. The more I can expose my students to professional musicians and players, the more they will be able to learn from them to develop their skills to carry them as far as they choose to pursue it. There are many more opportunities; however, these two goals are a super place to begin to work toward.
DVD: Laureate 2009, “Bringing the Fun into Teaching with Technology”
Common Craft Show (n.d.). Social media in plain English. Retrieved November 7, 2008 from http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia
Student achievement is important at our school as our school is one of the schools in our state that has not made AYP in the past two years. Our Students with Disabilities population is large enough to be a subgroup. We are using technology to help these students achieve by having them practice using Study Island to improve their reading and comprehension skills, software for reading and comprehension, and programs such as Kurzweil to assist our readers. Some teachers are creating podcasts for our students to refer back to when an explanation or review is needed. In this way, our students can use their phone/mp3 player as an educational tool to help them achieve in their classes, as well as on the tests that seem to drive education now. Students let me know of other host sites for podcasting, wiki page creation, as well as the applications in Google that will take time to learn to use. These will be areas that I work on in the future. One of my students that have a history of low achievement is having trouble creating his podcast. I had to teach him to work on one thing at a time, and not worry about what comes next in order for him to be successful. He will edit and upload his project tomorrow. He did not think it was work, as Dr. Thornburg stated, just “fun” to do. (Laureate, 2009) In this regard, technology can assist our students, and provide teachers with another means of refreshing their memories away from school using portable media.
Two goals which I am setting for myself are to create blog sites and wiki pages for my students to upload and create their own musical recordings, and to create podcasts for my curriculum that the students can refer to from their home computer. In Social Media in Plain English, the author creates a community where discussion, evaluation, and improvement are created in a community.(Common Craft Show, nod) The School site software our school system uses for our web pages, will host mp3 files. I can add short lessons for developing their musical vocabulary in their ability to read rhythm, which is half the musical language, and staff systems for pitch, the other basic language element for reading and performing music, which will be posted for their review at any time. I can create an online library as well as refer my students to other experts via their web pages. Many musicians are now offering online lessons, where you send a video or audio recording where they can assist you to develop your skills playing the instrument. This takes geography out of the picture, and opens opportunities to study with some of the best players and musicians online. Creating a site where my students have access to these online experts is another goal that I have for my students. The more I can expose my students to professional musicians and players, the more they will be able to learn from them to develop their skills to carry them as far as they choose to pursue it. There are many more opportunities; however, these two goals are a super place to begin to work toward.
DVD: Laureate 2009, “Bringing the Fun into Teaching with Technology”
Common Craft Show (n.d.). Social media in plain English. Retrieved November 7, 2008 from http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia
Link for podcast Evaluation
Hi,
Please fill out this form for me concerning your podcast. Thanks!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHB0YV9OS1VLbTRzQURCYlRPMDhZU0E6MA
Please fill out this form for me concerning your podcast. Thanks!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHB0YV9OS1VLbTRzQURCYlRPMDhZU0E6MA
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Twenty-First Century Skills for Student Commentary
My reaction to the 21st Century Learning program is one of identifying strengths of student development. Many of the strengths we currently work with in our classrooms include thiinking and problem solving, having to communicate and collaborate in a group to create a project, and learning to be creative with our students. Music rehearsal and study do this each day individually and collectively. The process of collaborating to create projects brings out these skills for these students.
The weaknesses that our current system of education has include a lack of global awareness, Economic and health literacy, and failure to embrace technology as a web 2.0 tool. Some of our students do not venture out of the county and town we live in, limiting experiences beyond the local area. How will a student know of other places unless travel occurs, or technology is provided that allows a student to see other places? Our population is labeled obese by the health officials of our country, yet when we eat somewhere other than home, the portions we receive in many places can feed two people. Education addresses these problems, however cannot solve them. Economics is not taught in our schools as part of the mandatory curriculum for graduation yet this is one of the goals set forth by this coalition. Currently my school system uses the web as a Web 1 tool. Everything is locked out for the students. Many of the programs we expose our students to on the web are based upon getting permission from an administrator at the central office, versus trusting the professional judgement of the educator. This locks 21st century education out for many of the students I teach.
The weaknesses that our current system of education has include a lack of global awareness, Economic and health literacy, and failure to embrace technology as a web 2.0 tool. Some of our students do not venture out of the county and town we live in, limiting experiences beyond the local area. How will a student know of other places unless travel occurs, or technology is provided that allows a student to see other places? Our population is labeled obese by the health officials of our country, yet when we eat somewhere other than home, the portions we receive in many places can feed two people. Education addresses these problems, however cannot solve them. Economics is not taught in our schools as part of the mandatory curriculum for graduation yet this is one of the goals set forth by this coalition. Currently my school system uses the web as a Web 1 tool. Everything is locked out for the students. Many of the programs we expose our students to on the web are based upon getting permission from an administrator at the central office, versus trusting the professional judgement of the educator. This locks 21st century education out for many of the students I teach.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Graduate School Blog Questions
This blog can be used in the following ways for my students. First, it helps students with their writing, as they are writing across the curriculum. A quality check is built in, as their work is accessible by everyone on the internet, therefore making sure they sound smart to the audience. It is in a familiar format for the students as it uses the same responses they use for a social networking site such as facebook or twitter. They have access to their instructor and their classmates 24/7, as we can check the blog page at any time. I can provide web links for my students as a web dig for information for an assignment or homework.
It is also a place where I can post musical examples for my students. Students can interact with me using the blog space as an online learning lab. The students can have links to online instructional videos, creating links to experts for their musical instrument.
It is also a place where I can post musical examples for my students. Students can interact with me using the blog space as an online learning lab. The students can have links to online instructional videos, creating links to experts for their musical instrument.
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