PLN- Things to do in your first year of teaching

In the "So You Want to Teach?" blog there was an article about what to do during your first year of teaching. Some of the great ideas it suggests are to stay at the school through the entire year, remember that you have days set aside as "sick days," avoid the temptation to gossip, avoid the temptation to live excessively (such as overeating, smoking, living for the weekend), talk to friends, do less (but do what you do exceptionally well), try to slow down, become friends with your administrator, keep complaints out of your vocabulary, and set aside at least one day a week to completely leave work by 4:00.

With these suggestions, first year teachers will be much healthier both physically and mentally.

Response to MIDI articles

According to one of the articles we read, MIDI is one of the the two most important breakthroughs in music technology of the twentieth century. Thanks to MIDI recordings we can create recordings of songs online. Even though they are synthetic and can sound very dry and toneless, they can be good for students who need help with rhythms, or the pitches.

I also never knew how MIDI files worked, and that how good of a recording/file you produce depends on what you enter it in on. Basically it is software that can recreate notes by inputting them into the computer through a MIDI keyboard.

Like mentioned earlier, MIDI files could be helpful to students who need help with rhythms or pitches. MIDI files, also take up less room on a computer, allowing you to store more files. MIDI keyboards can also be used to play along with students during band, orchestra, or choir class. In my high school our band director would play along with us when we would have trouble with rhythms or would be out of tune. He could also make recordings of his MIDI "accompaniments" and could run them, to keep a consistent tempo in the group.

MIDI is all in all a very useful tool in not only music education, but music in general too.

Reaction to "Why Does a Melody Stick in your Head?"

On my google reader account today was an article about why a melody sticks in your head, and about the psychology and cognitive science behind it. To this date, we can only still hypothesize about why this happens. They compare it to studying deja vu. Though they haven't found an answer yet, they have found certain aspects of songs, such as being simple in terms of harmonic structure but having a striking moment, that are in common with most songs that get stuck in people's heads. Maybe we'll never know for sure about this phenomenon!

Response to the Vermont MIDI project

The Vermont MIDI project is an online source where students in grades 1-12 can and are encouraged to post compositions of their own. Creating and composing a piece is one of MENC's national standards, and should be applied to every classroom. Most music teachers have little experience with composing themselves, and have trouble teaching to their students because of it. What the Vermont MIDI project does is allow students to post their compositions online, and have peers/mentors edit and look through their piece and make suggestions. There are also moderators to make sure that the feedback given to the students is always constructive, and does not put the students down.

In the end, everyone benefits from using the VMP, the students become better listeners, musicians, and performers, and the teachers become better composers, critical listeners, and become better at teaching composing. The VMP is a good resource and I wish I would have known about it back when I was in high school, it could have given me a chance to get interested into composing!

PLN Week 2

This week while searching through google reader I found a subscription for a blog called "so you want to teach." It is a blog for any kind of teacher, about how to prepare to teach, what you should expect when you get into the field, and helpful hints about teaching. I found this very helpful because being hearing new ideas from as many sources as possible is going to prepare us all the best for teaching.

Notation Software and its uses in the Classroom

Music notation software is a very useful tool that music teachers can use for their own personal use in addition to in their classrooms. Teachers can assign projects for their students with the use of music notation programs. For example, teachers can assign their students to an arranging project. This would consist of students copying music note for note, and transposing it for other instruments, or even making an original arrangement. Some other projects could be composing projects, where a student could compose their own one line piece, or even a duet or small ensemble. The advantages of using a notation software as opposed to writing freehand is that it is much more legible, easier to transpose, and you can hear immediate results when editing.

In addition to projects for students, music notation programs have many uses in the

classroom. For example, if parts are too hard for students the teacher can use the software to

edit the part and make it easier. They can also hear the parts instantly to check themselves.

Also, they can make the parts harder if the students are not challenged enough.

In addition to rewriting parts teachers can compose their own music, and make warm-ups

and technique books for their students. Warm ups for the entire ensemble can be easily

transposed from instrument to instrument using certain features of the notation programs.

All in all music notation software has multiple student, teacher, and administrative uses

that can enhance any music program/class.

TPACK Reading

The TPACK article, written by Dr. Bauer, was about how technology can be assimilated into the classroom and information on current teachers and technology. I believe that using multimedia and music notating software in the classroom is extremely helpful. Our generation and the one below us is very technology savvy. We carry around laptops, cell phones, have multiple email addresses, and have iPods that we use nearly every minute of the day. In the classroom technology can be used for notating music, for giving multimedia examples of excerpts, and even for accompaniment.

At my high school, my band director used technology in the classroom very often. In concert band and wind ensemble after our music theory unit we had a unit on music technology. Our teacher had us compose a 16-32 bar piece for a small ensemble. We had a music technology lab with about 20 computers, each with Finale 2009 installed, a midi keyboard, and music theory training programs. In addition to the music technology classes that were offered at our school our band director used Finale 2009 to archive and arrange music for marching band. For example, he arranged our alma mater, and our whole pregame show through finale and handed it out to us each year.

When I read the article and found out that less than 10% of music teachers use technology in their classroom. This surprised me. In high school I was spoiled with a good technological program. I believe that using a keyboard in class, giving recordings to students, and having students arrange pieces using a notating software, are all ways to involve technology in the classroom.

Noteflight!

Noteflight is an online notating software that is free. When I first started using it I found it easy to work through and did not even need to use the tutorials. The program was much easier to use than Finale was when I started using it. It was much easier to add instruments and to edit score information, as opposed to other programs where you have to set those aspects in stone when you start writing a piece. Also, I like how Noteflight stores your scores on the internet, so you can easily access scores at computers outside of your home. Overall Noteflight is a successful easy program to use!

http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/67990824d7d4010837775e54d8b92c4854021ed5

PLN Entry

For one of my PLN resources I added OMEA Website's news feed. OMEA is an excellent resource for undergraduate and graduate music education majors as well as music educators throughout Ohio. The OMEA website has recently listed future events such as the 2009 professional conference and advertises that the adjudicators for marching band have been announced for the 2009 season. Overall, OMEA is a solid resource for information that will be useful to music educators when doing adjuticated events and professional conferences.