tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29953647138958129212024-03-13T13:29:33.010-05:00Elementary Music 3T - Tips, Technology, and Tricks for the Music TeacherNormhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-66825012654949657242015-10-31T11:16:00.000-05:002015-10-31T11:16:06.952-05:00The Bittersweet Year of RetirementI have been remiss about keeping up my blog...mainly for one reason: this will, without question, be my final year of teaching elementary music. I have been doing this since 1985 and it's time to step away from the classroom, spread my wings, and enjoy my life a little before I reach the "too old to go jumping out of airplanes" phase.<br />
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A dear friend (now retired) told me, "Don't view events as 'the last' but rather as 'the ultimate.'" While there was humor in this and I joked often about it, just this past week it has actually finally hit home. This last week was the ULTIMATE time I would sing any of the Halloween songs my students had come to enjoy over the years. Never again will I sing my "Scary Hello" song (simply "Hello There" sung in c minor using an electronic keyboard set on a pipe organ sound, finishing out with a fully diminished c chord resolving into a c minor). Never again will I experience the various "dress-up days" associated with Red Ribbon Week. I will not watch firemen shoot off the fire hose in front of the school as part of their demonstration for Fire Safety Week again.<br />
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All of these "ultimates" have stirred emotions within me...and they are polar opposites. I am thrilled to death that I never have to deal with any of these again (I'm tired) but, simultaneously, there is this a heavy, melancholy feeling deep in my heart. I know it is not up to me regarding what fate awaits the music program I have spent so many years building - but I worry. Despite local, state, and national accolades for my program, current leadership has deemed it appropriate to diminish what I had worked so hard to build. I will not go into the details (this is not a "griping" post and there really is no room for such negativity here), but my unhappiness with poor educational decisions by our "leaders" is one of the many factors solidifying my decision to leave. With all this joy, melancholy, worry, and angst...I am certainly feeling more than a little emotional confusion.<br />
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In Texas, the Teacher Retirement System currently has (for us "grandfathered" folks) a retirement eligibility of 80 - your years of service plus your age. Because I had four years here and there where I was not working directly in public schools (but often "education-adjacent" activities) I will have 27 years on the Texas books (10 of them purchased and transferred in from Pennsylvania). Because I will be turning 53 on March 11, 2016, that WILL be my final day in the classroom. It is also bittersweet. While I will undoubtedly feel the sadness of saying good-bye to a major chunk of my life, it will be a Friday, it will be my birthday, and it will be the last day of classes prior to Spring Break! Clearly celebration will be in order.<br />
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So, for those of you music educators nearing the same phase I say to you, "Enjoy it. Let the small stuff go. Appreciate every moment." And for those who have a long way to go, I say the same. It goes by in a flash. There will be plenty of things "wrong with the system" but there is SO much good you can do. Focus on the good! Savor the moments...there will be a time when they won't be there any longer.<br />
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What's next? I'm not sure. I will, without question, be keeping my finger on the pulse of music education. I will continue to write, present, and compose music for children and teachers. That aspect of my professional life continues to bring me satisfaction beyond measure. This blog? I have no idea. I'm going to leave it up (too many of you have sent me private emails expressing your gratitude) but the direction it will take is unknown at this point.<br />
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Teach on, my music friends, teach on!Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-3299400405090428412015-04-03T07:32:00.001-05:002015-04-03T07:32:35.824-05:00Hello!With my lower grade students, I begin each lesson with our "greeting song of the month." I have found over the years this has multiple benefits for the students.<br />
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1) It provides consistency of format. Students learn better when they know what to expect. My lower grade (PK-2nd) students know that when they arrive in my classroom, I will quickly take attendance (using my iPad and the iDoceo app - discussed in an earlier post), then we will sing our greeting song of the month. This will be followed by me stating the objective for the day. A series of activities related to that objective will follow. Then we will close the lesson by revisiting the objective and reviewing what we did to address it.<br />
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2) It can provide great content for your objective. For example, we sang "Gilly Good Morning" in February. My first graders were working on their melody skills. "Where in the song did you hear this pattern: so-mi-do?" Then we played a do-so ostinato to accompany the song. I will be reviewing the concept of tempo this month with my kindergarten students. We are singing "I Will Sing Hello" and I put the recorded accompaniment through Audacity and made one version with an extremely fast tempo and another with an extremely slow tempo. When the students arrive, I will have them sing the greeting but use one of the altered recordings and ask, "Something didn't sound right. What do you think it was?"<br />
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3) Because I change the song on the first day of every month, it is a great way to make that connection to the regular classroom (especially for pre-K and kindergarten). "Today it is no longer March. What month follows March on the calendar? Yes! April! So, you know what that means...it's time to change our hello song...<br />
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Songs I use:<br />
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"Hello There"<br />
"Hello There" (for October, I play it on an electronic keyboard using a pipe organ sound and change the key to C minor...the students love it)<br />
"Howdy" (from <a href="http://www.musick8.com/store/alphadetail.php?product_group=1141&findsong=howdy&search_type=song#.VR6Ec8JFB9A" target="_blank">Music K-8 Magazine Vol. 14 No. 1</a>)<br />
"Hello" (from <a href="http://www.musick8.com/store/alphadetail.php?product_group=29&findsong=hello&search_type=song#.VR6Ez8JFB9A" target="_blank">Music K-8 Magazine Vol. 1 No. 5</a>)<br />
"Hello, How Do You Do?"<br />
"Gilly Good Morning"<br />
"Fanga Alafia" (from <a href="http://www.musicexpressmagazine.com/search/search.do?keywords=fanga+alafia" target="_blank">Music Express Vol. 7 No. 4</a>)<br />
"I Will Sing Hello"<br />
"It's So Good to See You"<br />
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Since we begin school in August (usually for just a week) I use the same song for August/September. If your school year continues into June, you may wish to do the same (May/June) or...if you go further into June, you can always use that time to use each of the previous songs as a review. Of course, if you are in a year-round situation, you can always add more!<br />
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Until next time...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-82526606872661307672015-03-23T18:33:00.000-05:002015-03-23T18:33:07.205-05:00Accentuate the PositiveGreetings blog followers and others...I have been remiss about posting - primarily because I haven't had much to say, but also with the holidays upon us, family emergencies, etc. I've been a little preoccupied. However, I was thinking of posting this a while back but my memory was recently jogged through a professional conversation.<br />
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In my school, teachers have "parent contact logs" and these are monitored regularly. For classroom teachers, it's not as daunting of a task (they have a certain number of contacts required for each student in their class during each grading period). For those of us teaching in "special areas" it's a little bit overwhelming due to the number of students we service. It was decided a few years ago by a previous principal that we needed to have 50 parent contacts for every grading period. In my school district, this means I must have 50 contacts every six weeks...or...300 contacts per year! Currently the focus is on "positive contacts" versus calls about behavior, missing work, truancy, etc. I have always preferred the positive to the negative when writing or talking to a parent. Nothing makes a parent's day more than hearing, "You child did ____ in my class today and I thought it was great!"<br />
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Yes, there are times of year when the duty of contacting parents is easily fulfilled - like the beginning of the year when I send notes home about purchasing a recorder. One goes to every fourth grade student - BAM! 130 contacts in one fell swoop! Notes go home when performances are nearing, etc. But what to do during the rest of the year? With full color process printing becoming ever more affordable, I decided to get a handle on this whole parent contact thing once and for all.<br />
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I designed this "postcard" that I can quickly fill out and send home with a student. My main mistake: I had them done on full glossy print. Newsflash: almost NOTHING writes on this gloss (no, not even a Sharpie marker). I did a little research and discovered the "Slick Writers" from American Crafts. These wonderful little pens will write on ANYTHING! So...there are times throughout the grading period when I focus on getting these sent out. While we are singing, playing instruments, or just working on a concept, I keep my eyes peeled for those that are really doing well. I whip out my Slick Writer and jot down the name and a brief description of what they did and the date on this...<br />
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My students are generally THRILLED to get one AND I just made a parent contact - and a positive contact to boot! The ones I had printed actually have my signature printed on them so I don't even have to sign them...(I didn't want the evil doers of the internet signing my name to all sorts of documents so I redid the design for this post). </div>
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I paid a very talented Canadian artist to create the caricature you see of me a few years back. Included in her incredibly low price she was willing to provide me with several versions (including the one you see as my "picture" for this blog). If you want one for yourself or a gift for another person, here is her website: <a href="http://www.leighyoung.com/" target="_blank">http://www.leighyoung.com</a> or perhaps find a local artist in your area. All I needed to do was email her pictures of my face (front and each side). There was minimal "back and forth" until we reached the final product and she was able to be paid via PayPal. Believe me - it was money well-spent! I have used these caricatures for SO many things. She even gives you full rights to use them at will. Of course, you could always just use a photograph or any clip art, but as elementary people, we know what our kids like ("Mr. Sands! You're in a cartoon!"). If you decide to contact Leigh Young, mention my name...it will probably have absolutely no effect whatsoever, but feel free to mention it anyway.</div>
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The cost? $30 for 250 of these (plus $7.99 shipping). Yes, for about 15 cents I can make someone's day. Worth it in my book!</div>
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Happy contacting! Until next time...</div>
Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-23496553916724446192014-12-16T20:08:00.000-06:002014-12-18T19:57:06.625-06:00Dueling with the DualApproximately six years ago, my school district decided to become a "dual language district." The initial plan was that all students would be instructed in both English and Spanish. We did have parents who insisted their children only be instructed in English, so the dual language model in our school is not "pure" - we do have classes in each grade level that are taught solely in English.<br />
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However, as music teachers know, we teach ALL the students in the school - not just the English, not just the Spanish/English dual language classes (and all other languages that may arrive in our classes). How does this affect our classrooms? Many become even more concerned because we are music classes in the United States and our textbooks and other materials are generally in English.<br />
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First, if this becomes a reality where you teach, I will advise you - DO NOT PANIC! This advice is especially for those native English speaking music specialists who do not speak Spanish. I have lived along the Texas/Mexico border for nearly twenty years now. I can assure you that this Pennsylvania native knew very little of the Spanish language prior to making the 2,000 mile journey to live here. Through various programs, interactions with friends and colleagues, and sometimes just plain osmosis, I have picked up enough Spanish to hold a conversation, conference with parents, and generally speak with minimal "accent" and can do so without much effort. I am a far cry from a "native speaker" but I can hold my own. Using online resources that translate English to Spanish have also helped a great deal. <br />
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If such a situation comes your way, find a language learning program you like and be diligent about learning the language. Do not rush. Learning Spanish, for me, has been a long and on-going process. Being a musician gives me an advantage as my "ear" is much more analytical and can more readily reproduce sounds I hear. Knowing a different second language was also helpful. After all, I took four years of FRENCH in high school...if I had only known...<br />
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The dual language model in my school district is the 50/50 model - 50% of the time we speak Spanish, 50% of the time we speak English. Certain subjects (math) are delivered solely in English. We use a "language of the day" which means in the fall semester we speak Spanish on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with English being the language on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This reverses in the Spring semester. A few years ago I began to question the exact nature of music's role in the dual language environment. Basically, as long as the "social language" used is in the language of the day, you are satisfying the dual language environment basic requirements.<br />
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To satisfy this basic level of compliance with the dual language process, familiarize yourself with simple commands you use daily, "Please sit down, turn to page, raise your hand, choose another student, open/close your books, pass out the instruments, line up..." Just knowing these few phrases will take you quite far in complying with the dual language program.<br />
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However, I wanted music class to be a bit more than just "meeting the basic requirement" so I got busy researching musical terms in Spanish. This was a daunting task as there are times in music when there simply ISN'T a word in Spanish for what we are talking about. I particularly had difficulty locating a word for "beat" ("ritmo" is what you will encounter) but after having a discussion with a colleague who was born in Mexico, I learned a fitting word that I have been using - compás. I have always kept a word wall in my room - it is color coded by topic to assist students but I also use these when posting my objectives for each class. In the dual language program, English words are to be written in blue, Spanish words in red. Here is a glimpse at my word wall (I realize the photo doesn't allow you to read many of the words, but my word wall takes up a lot of space!):<br />
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These are laminated and have magnets attached so I can simply grab one and place it by the appropriate verbs for my objective for the day. Here is the way I have these same statements in both languages (these were created before the red/blue instructions were given and I never changed them since they work just fine for my students):<br />
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Using this method, it is quite simple for me to have on my board, "Hoy voy a ser capaz de identificar, tocar, leer, y cantar ritmos con corcheas." (<em>Today I will be able to identify, play, read, and sing rhythms with eighth notes.</em>) without writing a single thing. Plus, the students frequently see where I pull the word from the word wall so they know where to find it if they need to reference it later in the year.<br />
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Last year and continuing into this year, I have started delivering my Spanish classes (on Spanish language days) almost entirely in Spanish. If I come to a bump in the road and don't know a particular Spanish term, I simply ask the students. No, I do NOT change my lesson plans to solely incorporate Spanish music. If a song happens to be in Spanish, then fine, but I don't make two separate sets of materials. After all, in music class we sing music in many different languages. When teaching music in English and I use the song "Tanabata" I do not translate the song's words or title into English - the song is Japanese, so that's how it stays. This means a second grade Spanish class may begin like this:<br />
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"<span class="hps">Buenos días</span>. <span class="hps">Los siguientes estudiantes</span> <span class="hps">deben pasar</span> <span class="hps">los libros</span> <span class="hps">hoy ...</span> <span class="hps">cuando usted recibe su</span> <span class="hps">libro, por favor</span> <span class="hps">vaya a la página</span> <span class="hps">...</span> <span class="hps">la canción</span> <span class="hps">se titula 'Lemonade'." (<em>Good morning. The following students should pass out books today...when you receive your book, please turn to page...the song is called "Lemonade.") </em>So I don't need to keep repeating the page number, I have this section on my board as well:</span><br />
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The student books are sectioned in colors, so I write the page number in the color of the section next to these sentence strips that remain on my board - this helps the students get to the page more quickly - especially younger students who have difficulty finding pages like 366! <br />
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Years ago we were trained in a discipline program that involved asking four questions. I keep these posted in my classroom as well. Again, these were made prior to the red/blue instruction so I have kept them in their original colors which were basically reversed (but the "red" is actually pink):<br />
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When reviewing classroom rules, I have adapted the Whole Brain Teaching concept of using hand motions that go with my five classroom rules. These five rules are posted solely in English (a poster I had created long before the dual language program was introduced in my district); however, I go over these rules in Spanish on Spanish language days and the hand motions also help the English Language Learners grasp the meaning of the English classroom rules. Next to the rules I have a large poster of our school Values Code which was given to me in both languages.<br />
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Adapting to the dual language environment has been a process. I have had to do a bit of "front-end investment" work, but it has paid off. I make use of online translation sites and Spanish/English dictionaries quite often. A great tool for businesses (but not necessarily solely for businesses - educators can benefit too!) is Smartling. They provide translation services and <a href="http://www.smartling.com/use-cases/translate-websites/" target="_blank">translate websites</a> for business communication. If you find yourself doing more translating than teaching, you may want to check out the services Smartling has to offer.<br />
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By adopting this new, more intense adoption of the dual language model in my music classes, my students whose first language is Spanish have a whole new respect for me and my class. Prior to me going "whole hog" with the dual language integration, many of my students would ask, "Do you speak Spanish, sir?" Since I have been conducting my classes in this manner, I don't think I've had a single student ask that question.<br />
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If a dual language situation comes to your school, relax, flow with it. You CAN do it. And you and your students will be all the richer for it!<br />
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Until next time...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-74725570871110560352014-08-31T19:55:00.000-05:002014-08-31T19:55:00.307-05:00School Runs In...Love Runs OutHere is a quick and easy play-along for the start of the 2014-2015 school year. The song is "Love Runs Out" performed by the group One Republic. There is much good news with this popular song, not the least of which it is in G dorian mode. Our Orff instruments are all set for this - all you'll need is B-flats and you're good to go! The other good news is the lyrics have no "bad words" so you're safe to use it completely in tact in your classroom.<br />
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Please be sure to PURCHASE THE SONG before using this play-along. A $1.23 investment isn't much. Once you have it, you can use it as-is, there is no need to alter the key or tempo using a program such as Audacity.<br />
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This song follows a very simple I, IV, V chord progression, but in case you're not quite clear on the chord changes, I've posted the beginning play-along below. Once you try it out, I'm sure you'll notice where the changes occur throughout the song. Feel free to add or subtract instruments at will. This is a fantastic review for students to see and hear the difference between BEAT and RHYTHM. The hand drum part (or any type of drums will do) clearly plays the steady beat. The other parts are playing a rhythm pattern (some more intricate than others).<br />
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I did this with my students by having three groups that used the Boomwhacker colors - Green (the G minor chord) Red (the C major chord) Orange (the D minor chord). This was easier for them than having each student play all the chord changes. I placed the three colors on the board and pointed and called out the changes as the recording played. <br />
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There is a part in the actual recording where the bass line moves from C to B-flat and then to G, but I have only written "the basics" here for you.<br />
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Have fun!<br />
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Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-19290209940020969192014-05-18T12:10:00.001-05:002014-05-18T12:10:27.580-05:00SyncopaHere's a "quickie" that you can use as a syncopation review during the last weeks of school...<br />
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There is an artist named <span itemprop="name">Zoë Badwi from Australia. She has a hot dance tune titled, "Release Me." As with many dance tunes, there are a bazillion remixes available. The one you want to look for is the standard "Radio Edit." This song is PERFECT for reviewing the "syncopa" rhythm pattern! What makes it even better is...it doesn't use any inappropriate language or sentiments - so it's an awesome choice for an elementary lesson.</span><br />
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<span itemprop="name">The problem with this tune is it is in A-flat major. Unless you have a plethora of chromatic instruments at your disposal, you'll need to change that. A quick (literally 30 seconds) run through Audacity lowered the key to G major - perfect for classroom instruments! Save the MP3 and then add it to your library.</span><br />
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<span itemprop="name">Using any classroom instruments, keyboards, etc. your students can play Gs (or octave Gs) to the rhythm "ti-ta-ti-ta rest." </span><br />
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<span itemprop="name">You can literally repeat this pattern throughout the song and it will harmonically fit. There is a "raise your hands" section in the middle where I have the students raise their mallets and tap them to the beat. For contrast, you can have some students play straight quarter notes on drums (demonstrating the opposite of syncopation - "on the beat").</span><br />
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<span itemprop="name">I did this with my third graders and even the most hard to please loved this lesson. After a quick introduction and review of what syncopation is, I had the students get out several Orff instruments and locate "G." We rotated through to give students a chance on different instruments. One student even asked the name of the song so she could go download it. Following this, we closed out the lesson by singing "Jamaica Farewell" from their textbook. An excellent example of syncopation as well!</span><br />
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<span itemprop="name">Release Me (Radio Edit) is available on both iTunes and Amazon MP3 downloads.</span><br />
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<span itemprop="name">Until next time...</span>Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-41517337401011583492014-05-11T11:04:00.001-05:002014-05-11T11:04:49.188-05:00Getting It Together - Part II
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It's a very busy time of year...and posting "part II" has been on my mind for weeks...some days you just have to make time!<br />
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<strong>Let Go of the Desire for Absolute Perfection</strong><o:p></o:p><br />
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As musicians, it's in our nature - if it's not perfect, it's WRONG!
But...there comes a time when you need to be realistic. In the case I
just mentioned in the last post, I had almost NO time to prepare and the students I would be
working with would be YOUNG. You need to step back and say, "If I
were watching this as a non-musician, what would I think of it?" For
most people, it would barely be a blip on their personal radar screen (unless
their own child was in it) and for even more people, it would probably be
little more than background noise. The Academy would not be watching
this. The daytime Emmy's would not be weighing in. I knew I needed
to simply do the best I could and let the chips fall where they may.
Guess what? They were STELLAR if I do say so myself. And it was all
done with virtually no stress.<br />
<br />
So when life throws you it's challenges, do your best, don't freak out, and move on.<br />
<br />
<strong>Get a System</strong><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
I find that people who seem to always be running are victims of their own
circumstance. These are the people who frequently misplace their
keys. They forget appointments. Sometimes even their personal
appearance is disheveled. While we can't prepare for everything and we
all forget something sometimes, the best way to avoid this happening on a
regular basis is to get a system.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
What I mean by a "system" is to set places and times for regular
things you have to do and use. For example: my cell phone. I
have basically two (sometimes three) places where it will be at ALL times - it
is either on the docking charger next to my bed or in my pocket. These
are the ONLY places it goes. I don't take it out because I "need
more room" and leave it sitting somewhere - NO! This is how I know
where it is. If you become picky about having things in your pocket or
wherever, you'll need to get over that. What would you rather do - have
peace of mind about an expensive item or go running around like a chicken three
out of five days wondering where you placed it? I do this for other
things - my keys (they're either on a special hook by the front door, in my
pocket, or in the ignition of my vehicle - I never have to look for my keys very
long!), my brief case, my wallet, etc.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
I'm sure at your school you have "duty." The way it is set
up for us is that we have duty one day out of the week all year long.
Mine is on Mondays (guess why I was assigned that day?). Duty day
requires that you be at work a little earlier than usual. There was a
time when my day was Thursdays. So...what are the options here? Get
up at a certain time every day but on that ONE day get up a little
earlier. Maybe, but no. That doesn't work for me. I get up at
the SAME time EVERY day so I know I can get to work without panicking that I
will be late for duty.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
My lesson plans are due every Thursday. I make sure they are complete
by Tuesday - this means: creating the plans, preparing any materials I
may need, setting up iPod playlists, entering the assignment in my online
gradebook, and creating an online backup copy of each plan. <br />
<br />
Having certain places for items and systems in place will make your life MUCH calmer - trust me. Set these things up, and DO NOT deviate. However, sometimes deviation is necessary. This takes me
to the next part...<br />
<br />
<strong>Plan for a Change of Plans</strong><br />
<br />
Murphy's Law rules the world - if something can go wrong, it probably will. If it does, what will you do? Panic? Throw your hands up and yell, "Why, why, WHY!?!" Or, will you take the second option - to steal from the Boy Scouts: be prepared. I realize that "planning for a change of plans" borders on paranoia, but it is a fact of life. What will you do if something changes?<br />
<br />
This is especially true at this time of year. The end of the school year is NUTS. Music teachers like to talk about the frantic month of December, but...if you ask me, it's May that runs me into the ground. Disruptions in schedules due to testing, field trips, end-of-year performances, awards ceremonies, closing up your classroom, and on and on and on. Add to that the fact that we're all just really, really TIRED! The answer to remaining together during these turbulent times is to first be flexible. You had a really cool activity planned out for your fifth graders and your classes got canceled due to re-grouping for re-testing? Oh well...put that one in the archives and move on. Freaking out won't do you or anyone else any good. Relax. It is what it is.<br />
<br />
The second problem I see more often in teachers - they just go on the assumption that the Internet will be working, those electronic devices will function properly, the projector bulb won't burn out, and the batteries won't die. They assume the fire drill won't happen, the power won't go out. They build an entire lesson around these assumptions. Then one of the above mentioned things happens and...OH NO! And, I think we can all agree, there is NOTHING more chaotic than a room full of elementary children with nothing to do! So...you may have something alternate planned or you simply may have something in the back of your mind, "Well, if this doesn't work, I'll be able to have them do this instead..." ALWAYS having a "plan B" will keep you together. When preparing something important, think through the possibilities of what could go wrong and work from there. A good example is this blog. Here I am spending a good part of my Sunday typing and typing away. What would happen if the power went out right now? What would happen if my computer suddenly failed? I'm not worried. Why? I am comforted to see that little flash in the upper right corner of my screen that simply says, "saving" every minute or so.<br />
<br />
I hope at this busy time of year these few words in parts I and II can help you get through it with ease. And always remember...summer is nigh!<br />
<br />
Until next time...<br />
Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-43882035386738081282014-03-30T10:26:00.001-05:002014-03-30T10:29:44.118-05:00Getting It Together - Part I<br />
I started this blog post months ago…then life got in the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, as I sat down to finish, I realized it
was WAY too long, so it’s another multi-part series. This post is for
everyone - not just music types.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
I have spent the latter part of my career hearing things like, "Well, you're a morning person..." and "Well, you don't have kids at home...that's why you're so organized..." Ummm...no, and NO. You see, despite all outward appearances, there is nothing I would like more than to become a professional lounger and sleeper. I love sleep. To quote Rita Rudner, "I love sleep...one time I dreamt I had insomnia...I woke up and though 'Now I can get some sleep..."<br />
<br />
I haven't always been the master of disguises (most recently the "gee you're so organized and a morning person" disguise). I am ashamed to admit, that I was one of those teachers racing to get the last parking spot. I was one of "those teachers" who, if we had to be there at 8:00, it was a GOOD day if I arrived in the building at 7:59 and 45 seconds. No, I most certainly was NOT (and still am NOT) a "morning person." I love the night. I do my best thinking and have the most fun in the wee hours, but...as I got on in age and in my career, I started to realize, "Uh...this ain't workin'."<br />
<br />
So...if you're one of those people who wishes they could get themselves together, a chronic procrastinator, or one who seems to always be chasing their own tail, this post is for YOU!<br />
<br />
<strong>Do it NOW</strong><br />
<br />
Here's the thing...as teachers (or basically, as American human beings) we get hundreds of things flung at us on a weekly basis. Deadlines, bills to pay, forms to fill out, yards, cars, and homes to care for, ailing relatives...there is ALWAYS something to do. Enter "The Deadline Dilemma." When busy people are handed something to do, there are two responses: 1) Oh good, it's not due until next Thursday, I'll set it aside for later...and 2) Let me do that for you immediately, while I'm thinking about it. Here's the thing: the latter of those two is not doing that to try to be a people pleaser. As I've amassed some years and (hopefully) some wisdom, one thing is for sure - there will forever be something in that "to do" pile. If you put it off because it's due later that's fine; but what I have discovered in my half century on the planet is that pile never shrinks. It grows. And sometimes it grows exponentially. So, while you might be slightly pressed for time at the moment, take the extra time to GET IT DONE NOW. Do you really want to set it aside, then get another task to complete, another, and then another, and then (this always happens) the "I need this TODAY!" request? Then what? You allowed all those things to pile up, you need to get them all finished at approximately the same time, and now you have the "I need this NOW" person breathing down you neck. Now what happens? You get stressed. You get angry. The stress makes you tired. You take it out on others...it's quite the vicious cycle. Additionally, unless you have a good system, you run the risk of forgetting a deadline altogether. Do I feel like composing that email for a teacher who has a tech support problem at 4:30 while I'm STILL at school and dog tired? No, I don't. But I know if I DON'T do it right then, I'll be even angrier and more stressed later when I'm busy and possibly forget I had that to do. Which takes me to the next part...<br />
<br />
<strong>Never Underestimate the Power of the "Front-end Investment"</strong><br />
<br />
As teachers or even other professionals, there are things that come our way without fail each and every school year. We know we will have to put on that Veteran's Day concert or we know our lesson plans will be due each Thursday. Years ago my school district adopted an online lesson planning program. It was quite elaborate and it seemed that all sections of it were "mandatory." The beauty of this program is that I knew it would archive any lesson I created - FOREVER (until I deleted it). Knowing this, I took a good look at my monthly planning grid. I keep mine visible at all times by my desk in my classroom. It's a simple grid that shows major concepts I want to cover in each grade level by each month. That first year we implemented the lesson planning program, I was maniacal about my lesson plans. Why? Not because I loved pouring over what level of Bloom's Taxonomy the lesson would be addressing or how much I adored the state standards. NO! I did it because I know that in the following years, it would be quite simple to pull out the archived plan, give it the once-over, and be DONE. My lesson plans are very elaborate and it would appear that I spend hours and hours each week preparing such wonderful pieces of literature. The maximum time I spend using this system now? Maybe 30 minutes but often less - and that's creating plans for seven different grade levels.<br />
<br />
Also as a music teacher, spend time going over new music. You don't have to use EVERY song or game or activity RIGHT NOW. Look over the things you have, order new things, search the Internet. Make notes somewhere or, if you want to get really meticulous about it, create a spread sheet. Here's where that kind of thing really comes in handy. Two months ago we were in the middle of benchmark testing. This meant most of my classes were cancelled for that week. I was turning in some of my student tests when the principal said to me, "They are coming from the TV station to film something for School Board Appreciation Month and I thought you could put something together with singing..." <br />
<br />
My response, "Sure. When are they coming?" <br />
Principal: "Monday morning at 9:30."<br />
<br />
Now...bear in mind this was THURSDAY AFTERNOON when I had this dropped on me. Yes, I had the rest of the day Thursday and all day Friday (when I could fit it in, I still had classes to teach!) to prepare a performance FOR TELEVISION with small children (the older kids were testing). I did not panic. I knew the perfect piece and I quickly mentally choreographed what it would look like, then I selected two classes that I thought could pull it off. This takes me to another important factor to bear in mind as a music person...but that will have to wait until next week's installment.<br />
<br />
Until next time...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-55045027197345993112014-02-02T15:48:00.003-06:002014-02-03T19:11:11.397-06:00Happy!It's been a while since I posted anything that you can take right to your classroom. Here's a new one that you can use right away - well...with a little work on your part.<br />
<br />
The song "Happy" from "Despicable Me 2" by Parrell Williams is a very catchy tune. I feel it's a great teaching piece for many reasons. For one, it's a catchy, popular tune with lyrics you can actually play in the classroom! Another reason I like it for teaching is that it illustrates a very important concept when learning music. So often we tell students "major" songs sound "happy" and "minor" songs sound "sad." Well...here is an example that flies in the face of that logic. When you hear this song you can't help but feel "happy" even though it's actually in the key of F minor!<br />
<br />
First: BUY THE SONG. Please don't use a free service to play the song. It's available from most music services of your choice (Amazon, iTunes, etc.). Now, if you have a plethora of instruments at your disposal with a full compliment of chromatic notes, then by all means, transpose what I've provided here and use it as-is with the original. Most folks with Orff instruments are limited with the only accidentals available being F-sharps and B-flats. For this reason, I needed to transpose this song down a half step to E minor. Not to mention my fourth graders do not have any idea of how to play A-flat or B-flat on the recorder and I have no desire to confuse what we've already started by teaching those pitches. The way I have it here fits beautifully with the fact that my fourth grade students have just learned the pitch E, so this will be excellent (and fun) practice.<br />
<br />
"But...how do I get the recording in the correct key?" you may ask. There are options. I transposed mine with a program that I love called "Wavepad." Transposing it down took a little trial and error (it goes by percentage rather than actual pitch or half steps - 94% did the trick) and yes, the result sounds slightly different than the original - but as I find myself saying so often when I have to make do "It's close enough for this side of town!" They do have a free version available here: <a href="http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/" target="_blank">Click here</a>.<br />
<br />
Another option that many music teachers like is to use Audacity. You can download Audacity completely free <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">here.</a> To get you going on how to transpose music with Audacity there are several resources available on the Internet. Simply Google "transpose with Audacity" and you should be well on your way if you need help figuring that task out.<br />
<br />
So here's the play-along notation for the transposed version in E minor. If you have instruments at your disposal with lower pitches (for example, I have some of the bass Joia tubes) I recommend changing the pitch B in the bass xylophone part an octave lower - but that's just a personal preference. The unpitched percussion part can be anything you have - sticks, hand drums, tambourines, etc. The alto xylophone part also provides a great opportunity to teach the famed "syncopa" rhythm pattern in the second measure. <br />
<br />
The ostinati laid out here can be played throughout and the wonderful thing about the original recording is that it gives you a nice set-up count-off at the beginning. <br />
<br />
Enjoy and...be HAPPY!<br />
<br />
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<br />Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-16847547214454445472013-09-29T09:21:00.000-05:002013-09-29T09:21:16.884-05:00The Primary ObjectiveI have been hearing a lot of panic and concern lately over the writing of personal and lesson plan objectives. This has come up in local conversations as well as national (on the Music K-8 mailing list for example). Some states are requiring "SLO's" (student learning objectives) and some are also requiring professional objectives for growth.<br />
<br />
Fellow music specialists, I am here to tell you two things 1) There is no cause for concern - if there ever were an area of education that was objective focused, music is it and 2) By all means, this is certainly nothing "new."<br />
<br />
I have posted before about music teachers using the old "well, that doesn't pertain to me, I teach MUSIC!" excuse. That's what it is - an excuse. Any subject - ANYTHING worthy of being taught is done so the exact same way. If you aren't doing it that way, you may need to re-think your game plan. Further, if you perpetuate the myth that "music is different" you are going to drum your subject right out the door (both literally and figuratively). If fellow educators and administrators as well as parents fail to see the relevance of music instruction and think of it as "something different" - guess what, it will be seen as irrelevant and by some, even expendable.<br />
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Do we address multiple objectives simultaneously? You bet we do! Do other subjects do the same? Yes, indeed, they do. However, you cannot just approach the task with which you have been trusted haphazardly and cross your fingers that magically "learning will happen." You must, must, MUST have a plan in mind. If you're not 100% (or more) prepared before that class walks in, you are doing those children a disservice. Do we have programs to prepare? Do we have mandates to follow? Do we have grades to give? Yes, we do. But that doesn't mean a sequential, logical approach for good learning to occur goes out the window.<br />
<br />
<b>Step one: The Big Picture</b><br />
<br />
You need a curriculum. I'm not talking about the state's learning outcomes that come rolling out after a committee has mulled them over and then changed them because, well, that's what education must do. After all, if we're not changing something every five years, we must not be doing our jobs, right? (yes, heavy sarcasm is intended) Putting one's trousers on one leg at a time certainly can't be effective year after year. Let's try jumping out of a tree and landing straight into them. Or maybe lying on our backs and then letting the pants slide down over our legs. My point is - the outcomes of teaching music should always and forever be the same. As new technologies (and even instruments) are developed, yes, the objectives should change to INCORPORATE those, but the basic learning should not. Music is, to over simplify, music.<br />
<br />
Your curriculum should be a big picture with broad objectives for each grade level laid out month by month. It can and should include your state's standards. If your district hasn't handed you one or you have not served on a committee to create one, then put one together for your own (and your students') sake.<br />
<br />
<b>Step two: The Narrower Picture</b><br />
<br />
From the curriculum comes a timeline. What should be taught, to whom, and when? Here you can lay out the outcomes week by week (as opposed to month by month). The objectives start to show up in this part - you get specific. The timeline shows specific skills that should be demonstrated in the areas of beat, rhythm, meter, melody, harmony, and tone color. This can also include other music-adjacent topics like composers of a certain era, etc.<br />
<br />
<b>Step three: The Nitty Gritty</b><br />
<br />
Now we get to the daily lesson plans. These include all the fun stuff that we as music teachers love to impart to our students: movement, games, instrument playing, software, etc. BUT...all of these things that we love to do need to be done with a purpose - an <gasp> objective! Some of you are saying "But, but...I love to teach Snail, Snail..." yes, so do I. But you don't just throw it in because it looks like something fun and musical to do. You play the game with an end goal in mind. "But, but, there are so many goals that one game can address!" Indeed. But you need to focus on one in your lesson.</gasp><br />
<br />
Let's take "Snail, Snail" as an example since I mentioned it. WHY did you put that in your plan? To keep the short people engaged? It is, in fact, engaging, but that shouldn't be the <i>reason</i> for teaching it. Here are just some possibilities for that one little, simple game: so-mi melodic patterns, rhythm patterns using quarter and eighth notes, stepping to the beat of the music, playing a simple ostinato on barred instruments, using singing voice. When you think of the elements of your plan in this way, they relate back to the objective for the day. If I am working on steady beat with first grade, I can write as the objective "Students will demonstrate the presence of a steady beat by successfully playing the game 'Snail, Snail.'" or "Students will play the steady beat of 'Snail, Snail' by playing a bordun on the bass xylophone." <br />
<br />
You see, by doing the above, I don't throw out the game "Snail, Snail" - I use it as a teaching tool for reaching the goals laid out on my timeline. This can be done with any musical material. If you are preparing a performance, check your timeline and curriculum. Ask yourself, "How can I address the objectives on the timeline using the materials for the program?" and proceed from there.<br />
<br />
<b>Remember the Spiral</b><br />
<br />
Since "Snail, Snail" seems to have taken over my post, let's look at the spiral once again (see last year's posts regarding curriculum). Remember to check back over your curriculum, timeline, and lesson plans to be sure you've hit everything you need to. The elementary music curriculum "spirals" - that is to say, you teach a topic at a low level, then address it at a deeper level the next year, then deeper still the next year. For example: meter. In early grades it can be as simple as identifying the feel of meter in 2 and meter in 3 as "march or sway." In first grade - place barlines to divide written rhythms into meter in 2 or meter in 3. By second grade, identify the time signature in a piece of music and be able to place barlines accordingly. By third grade, write the numbers under each beat in a measure. By fourth grade read time signatures using traditional (number over number) markings and explain their meaning, and by fifth grade identify meters as duple, triple, compound, or unusual. <br />
<br />
<b>It's a Simple Process</b><br />
<br />
Every lesson follows this structure: tell them what you're about to do, do it, check to make sure they understood what you just did. Write the objective on the board. Be sure your objectives contain OBSERVABLE verbs and avoid words like "know" or "understand." How can you check to see if a student "knows" something at the end of a lesson? You really can't (except maybe by giving a paper and pencil test). Instead of "The students will know rhythm." a better objective is "Students will read and play rhythm patterns using quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests." By writing that as your objective, you can actually SEE them doing this and you will be able to tell if learning has occurred or not. Will you address other musical objectives during the lesson? Sure - singing voice, beat, reading simple melodic patterns, etc. will all be addressed; however, that is NOT the focus of that particular lesson. It's not what you are looking for TODAY. You can provide gentle reminders, "Remember to use your singing voice, not a yelling or speaking voice..." but that is not the focus for the day. At the end of the lesson, refer back to the objective. "Boys and girls, today did we..." and bring their own focus back to the reason they just did all the fun things you had them experience.<br />
<br />
If you approach your lessons this way, I promise you: not only will your lessons be fun and engaging, but students will actually leave your classes saying things like "Today I learned about tempo in music class..." rather than "We played 'The Old Gray Cat' in music class today and it was fun!"<br />
<br />
Finally, take a quick look at everything you've done with each grade level over the year. Check for "holes" in the curriculum and in your lessons. "Did I miss anything?" If you take this approach, you will have sent your students out the door with a solid foundation in musical knowledge as well as an appreciation for the art itself while simultaneously assisting them in all their academic endeavors. We are, most certainly, super teachers!<br />
<br />
Until next time...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-87903258961792056912013-08-31T18:45:00.000-05:002013-08-31T18:45:48.829-05:00Using the iPadI have been hearing different circles of teachers and music teachers talk about the app "iDoceo" for some time now. For the past two years, I have used the Smart Seat app for managing my seating and daily attendance of my classes. I made it a goal this year to give the acclaimed iDoceo a whirl. Monday was the first day of school, so I decided to do a "baptism by fire" and jump right in using the app for this brand new school year.<br />
<br />
<b>Overview</b><br />
<br />
iDoceo is like having your schedule, seating charts, calendar, and student information binders all in one neat little place. You can set up your classes, then your schedule (assigning periods of the day to particular classes you've set up), take attendance, assign grades, and make annotations all in one easy-to-use interface. <br />
<br />
<b>Learning Curve</b><br />
<br />
I am fairly quick to pick up on most things techy. This app takes "on the fly" learning to a whole new level! INCREDIBLY easy to use. There were a few things here and there that caused me some confusion, but nothing that touching the "?" or doing a quick Google search didn't fix. I would give this app for teachers an "A+" for user friendliness.<br />
<br />
<b>Importing</b> <br />
<br />
As music teachers, even if we work in a small rural school, we have a LOT of students. After all, more often than not, we see every child in the entire school. This makes keeping track of them all somewhat difficult. Combine this with required parent contacts, grading policies, behavior monitoring, etc. and it can get out of control in a hurry. <br />
<br />
The first thing that blew me away with iDoceo was its incredible ability to import data ACCURATELY from our school district's online grading system. We use Skyward, so getting my classes into iDoceo was as simple as doing the following: open online grade book, click a class, click "reports," click "Roster," then click "export to Excel." After opening the file in Excel, I did a quick highlight (click and drag) over extraneous information and hit the "Delete" key. Then I saved the file (first, middle, and last names, and student ID numbers) in the older Excel format (xls for 2003) with a simple title - name of teacher, a dash, and the grade (i.e. Sands - 2). I created a folder simply called "Rosters" in my Dropbox file (click <a href="http://dropbox.com/" target="_blank">here</a> if you don't know about Dropbox) which is where I saved all of the rosters.<br />
<br />
Using the Dropbox app on my iPad, I opened the "Rosters" folder. I selected one of the roster files and then touched the "open in" icon (currently upper right) and then selected the iDoceo app. BOOM! Not only were all those names and ID numbers immediately imported (like in less than one second), but the class was appropriately named as well! I cannot begin to explain the amount of time this little feature saved me. 800 students went into this app without a hitch.<br />
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<b>Seating</b><br />
<br />
After getting all those classes in, the next step is to get seating arranged. This was SO easy. On the first day each class showed up, I took their pictures to be associated with their names. In the upper left of the iDoceo screen, there is a "seating chart" icon. Tap it and you will see all those student names on rectangles that are reminiscent of Polaroid instant photographs. You tap and hold a student's name. Select "take picture," adjust the photo by "pinching" and just click "done." Then, to arrange the students, simply tap and hold, then drag the student to the appropriate area on your desktop. This is very handy especially for us music types as we don't ordinarily have the traditional row or table setup in our classes. Here you can see one of my classes (with the faces and last names blocked). I have four FlipForm® risers in my room, each with the capacity for three students on the top row and three students seated on the bottom. The risers are in a concert formation. The only thing I can't do in iDoceo is angle them in a semicircle. You can see here how I have the students in four clusters, each representing a riser.<br />
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<b>Scheduling</b><br />
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For years I had four things in front of me - my schedule (hard to remember, "Whose coming next?"), my lesson plans, my seating charts, and my iPod (or, lately, iPad). Now with iDoceo, you need only have ONE thing in front of you. After your classes have been created, it is very easy to set up your schedule. If your time periods run similarly each day, I recommend setting them up once then copying them to the other days of the week. Then all you have to do is change the class associated and you don't have to go through setting up the starting and ending times, picking a color, etc. Once you have your schedule set up with classes associated, that's all you need - iDoceo will do the rest! Simply have the schedule screen open. Touch the class and BAM! The roster and grades are in front of you. Touch the seating chart icon and there you have your class. Touch the icon in the upper left and then "+" and you can touch "Attend All" - double tap the check mark to mark a student absent, hold your finger down and touch "Text/Icons" and you can tap a symbol you'd like to add (like an hour glass for tardy, etc.). Touch the icon with the "X" to exit attendance mode. If you'd like to alter attendance later, when you are viewing the roster, simply double-tap the green check mark to change it to a red X (absent) or vice versa.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bN6k4hN1-40/UiJ3FMiEBiI/AAAAAAAAAY0/tZKwphCLhcQ/s1600/IMG_0401.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bN6k4hN1-40/UiJ3FMiEBiI/AAAAAAAAAY0/tZKwphCLhcQ/s320/IMG_0401.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 2013-2014 schedule. I touch a class and can immediately see rosters, grades, and seating.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Making Notes</b><br />
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This is perhaps the most AMAZING feature of this app (although, the other stuff is way cool in and of itself). In the roster view, tap and hold a student's name. Select "Edit student" (or just double-tap the student's name). A screen will appear with five options at the bottom. Touch "Resources" (far right) and then touch the paper clip icon in the upper left corner of the screen. Here you have SIX choices of ways to add data to a particular student. Take picture (maybe of a project), Add photo (maybe you took a whole class worth of pictures and you want to assign a particular one to a particular student - this will access your camera roll on your iPad), Add file (maybe a word document of a report the student wrote - you must first upload the file to Dropbox if you're going to use this option), Record video (how cool for us music types, right?), Audio recording ("Trevor left class without permission" - the recording is date stamped, or maybe "So-mi pitch match" for grading later), and Add URL (I'm guessing this is for older students who may have a Wiki or other site for assignments).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--5fsCPQKYag/UiJ7ARboFAI/AAAAAAAAAZI/da4dZ5ZOReI/s1600/IMG_0403.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--5fsCPQKYag/UiJ7ARboFAI/AAAAAAAAAZI/da4dZ5ZOReI/s320/IMG_0403.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "resources" screen for "Joe Student."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of course, if you just want to do standard text notations, you can do that too - just tap "Annotations" at the bottom and type away!<br />
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<b>Transferring Students</b><br />
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If your classes are like mine, they are an ever evolving, ever changing, living entity. I am challenged to have one week to the next where I don't have a student enter, withdraw, change to another class, etc. With Smart Seat, I was out of luck - if a student changed classes, I had to re-enter their data, take a new picture, etc. iDoceo has magically solved this. When viewing the roster view, tap the settings icon in the upper left (looks like a screw driver and wrench), tap "students," touch the circle next to the student you would like to move. Touch "copy" in the upper left, then a list of your classes will appear. Simply tap the class you'd like him/her moved to - VOILA! You'll find that student there with all their data (grades will not transfer). Once copied, you can simply delete the student from the current class.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HXlzlW75QrA/UiJ6wAnZW_I/AAAAAAAAAZA/jS93UWIOnC4/s1600/IMG_0404.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HXlzlW75QrA/UiJ6wAnZW_I/AAAAAAAAAZA/jS93UWIOnC4/s320/IMG_0404.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "copy" student screen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
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I am an app fan. There are so many that are so useful in our personal and professional lives. Rarely do I get THAT excited about an app, but after spending just one week with iDoceo, I can tell you it is the best $5.99 I've spent in quite some time.<br />
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Until next time...<br />
Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-42350449317762064872013-08-12T13:13:00.001-05:002013-08-12T13:13:47.419-05:00Here it Comes!I started teaching elementary music in 1985. From the first day in the classroom to this week before school begins again for me, there has been a constant fear among music educators - that our programs will be cut or eliminated. You've heard the arguments, "Why don't they cut the football team? Music is important! How could they do this to our children who are expected to be creative thinkers!" Yes, it is true that music instruction in schools is important. I fear, however, that sometimes "music people" can be their own worst enemies. They do their work effectively, quietly plodding along, then WHAM! What happened to my program?<br />
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As we approach this new school year, keep these three things in mind and they MIGHT help keep the fear of being on the chopping block at bay:<br />
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<h3>
1. Get Involved</h3>
Outside of your regular classes or program preparation, how involved are you with the goings on at your school? Your community? Your state? Do you stick to music-alone activities (preparing school programs, writing music curriculum, assisting classroom teachers with finding songs about this or songs about that)? Or do you immerse yourself in your school? Do you serve on non-music committees? Do you keep abreast on the latest trends in education? Are you viewed as an instructional leader in your school? Or do you plod along, continuing to do things the same way because your methods have been tried and true and you have no desire to change or take up your time? Do you find reasons to not be involved? "I have a family!" or "I have a life!" Yes, we all have lives, but that doesn't mean we abdicate the work that needs to be done to "somebody else." We are, after all, professionals, and with that title comes some sacrifice.<br />
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It is important for colleagues, students, and community members to see that you have many capabilities. Yes, you are knowledgeable about music and you should be the "go-to" person when matters that concern music and music education are at hand. But do you really want to be known only for that one thing? Do you want to be a "one-trick pony"? I am certain that anyone reading this blog right now has many, many talents and skills that so many may not be aware of. Let others see your value as a member of the faculty at your school and in your school district. Be known not only as "the music teacher" but also as "an educator."<br />
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<h3>
2. Be Relevant</h3>
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I saw an Internet meme that was passed my way by my niece. It was certainly meant to be humorous and I understood that. But there was something deeper under the surface. "There is many a true word spoken in jest." The meme was simply a picture of a recorder with the text "How did THIS help further my education?" OUCH!<br />
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Frequently as artists, we tend to think, "Well! The importance of my art is OBVIOUS! I shouldn't have to EXPLAIN its importance!" I have news for you: yes, you do have to explain it. Over, and over, and over again - in social situations, in your classroom, with administrators, with parents, ALL THE TIME! Take every opportunity to show the cultural relevance of musical knowledge. Cite studies that show how the study of music is beneficial in oh so many ways. Always be on the lookout for data that will help build your case. Do not assume everyone will just "know" how important your program is.<br />
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When you complete a lesson, what do you think your students would say about it when asked by an adult? Would they be able to relay some valuable musical knowledge they learned solely because they were in your class? Or will they simply relay a song name or a dance? Will they say they played instruments? Or worse will they simply say, "We watched a video..." Every word spoken in your class needs to be spoken with a purpose: for children to learn. I am not saying that learning songs and dances are not valuable experiences - they are. But how are you <i>connecting</i> those experiences to musical learning and then to life learning?<br />
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<h3>
3. Be Kind</h3>
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Teaching is stressful - very stressful. And it seems to become more and more stressful with each passing year. I'm still not sure if "things have changed so much" that's causing the stress or if I'm just getting old. Regardless, it is your JOB to always be "the better person." Are you or your students best served by getting upset? How will carrying gossip around your school help your students in the end? How does confrontation help? How does bottling up a perceived injustice and then venting it off to someone who has little or no power to change it help? These things will rob you of your joy, they will rob your students of a positive musical experience, and they certainly won't further the importance of your music program. When it comes to thinking of "the first people to eliminate" how do you want others to perceive you?<br />
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Students are professional button-pushers. Don't let them. Remain calm. Address the situation the best way you can (and I know, in today's classroom, this can be an awesome challenge). Getting upset can backfire in oh so many ways. Don't become a victim to "reaction." Always, always "respond" rather than "react."<br />
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Colleagues can get under your skin. When something happens, did they really act any way other than what they normally do? Probably not. Do not allow them to get to you. Smile, be kind, don't get caught up in the drama of others, and carry on. If it's something serious, address it calmly and head-on. Do not go around talking about the colleague, approach them (kindly) face to face in a private setting.<br />
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When it comes to education as well as life - change will happen. This is a given. So what will you do about it? Freak out and complain to anyone who will listen? How did that help? Did you feel better? My guess is that you probably didn't feel better and, in fact, you probably ended up even more upset than when you started to relay the situation. Instead of railing against change, find a way to make the imposed changes fit with procedures and routines that you already find comfortable. Why are changes being made? For the sake of change? I know, sometimes this happens; but when it is <i>that</i> kind of change is it worth implementing to the best of your ability? Usually changes are being brought about for a reason. Look beyond the change itself, find the reasoning behind it, and then see how you can address the problem by either implementing the change or integrating it into your current methods, routines, and structures.<br />
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Be kind to yourself. Pick at least one day of the week where "I will leave the building on time." Get enough rest. Exercise. Smile. Eat well and eat sensibly. Instead of "How on earth do they expect me to...." think "I can do this, I'll adjust. What an opportunity to broaden my experience..." <br />
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As the school year begins, remember YOU control your reaction to things. You can't control the things others say and do, but you can control your <i>reaction</i> to what they say and do.<br />
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When you find yourself being involved, relevant, and kind, you may be amazed at how little effort you have to put forth to justify your program, and that will be one less stressful thing in your teaching life. It's gonna be a long year (I still haven't experienced a short one).
Hopefully you can keep these three tips in mind and it will help you
sail through it with flying colors.<br />
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Until next time...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-60628913505570733172013-06-01T20:10:00.001-05:002013-06-01T20:10:55.649-05:00From the Personal SideGreetings blog readers. Okay, so I've been really, really lame about writing new posts. I'm going to make some excuses now. But before I do, I want this to be a testament that I do "walk the walk" with all this stuff I write on here. This post has little to do with teaching music. But since it comes from a music teacher, I guess it does. And I just know many of you will be able to relate.<br />
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The entire month of May was a blur. Much of April was spent worrying about what was going to happen in May. So here goes...<br />
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<strong>Field trips</strong>. Folks, there is a definite downside to being one of the few males in a teaching situation. This is especially true if you are listed as "no sub required" on the district substitute reporting website. Yes, when I'm gone, so are my classes. They just don't happen. Is this a bad thing? I'm thinking it's not. What's better for children - more time with their teacher or time in the music room with a non-music person?<br />
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During the month of May I chaperoned ten (yes, that's one-zero) field trips. The brutal part of this is that these were no down-the-street, run-of-the-mill field trips. Many of these were big, long-distance trips, ALL on school buses! The longest was the fourth grade trip to the Texas State Aquarium. For you non-Texans, that's located in Corpus Christi. My school is located in La Joya, TX. I'll save you the Google map search. That's 170 miles. In a car? Not a big deal. In a school bus that is limited to 55 mph, it's horrid (4 hours each way - remember to factor in the immigration check point and restroom stops!). Departure time: 7:30 a.m. Return time: 10:00 p.m. Time the last student was picked up: 10:45 p.m. I got home at 11:30 p.m. The only saving grace was: the next day was Saturday.<br />
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Other highlights - the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville. That one is only 78 miles on a bus - each way. Third graders enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, was considering offering a "donation" to the zoo for a new exhibit. The scorching Deep South Texas heat added to the pleasure. Oh yes, I almost forgot, we were about two miles from the zoo when our bus broke down on the way there (we were one of two buses on the trip - I'm always the lucky one!)<br />
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Schlitterbahn Water Park, South Padre Island. A mere 77 miles. Departure: 7:30 a.m. Return: 7:00 p.m. and, naturally, the requisite waiting time for all to be picked up. This one was also a Friday, so I got to collapse and sleep in on Saturday. Fun trip, however. We take our "millionaires" on this one - students who read one million words (word count from books) or more during the year!<br />
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Disney on Ice! Forgive me ice skating fans, but any entertainment-related event followed by the words "...on Ice" makes me physically ill. And the best part is...I got to do that one TWICE! Once with pre-K and once with kindergarten. The good news about those two is that tiny bladders in a chilly environment meant I became very familiar with the location of restrooms. I didn't get a whole lotta seat time. Darn, and I really wanted to see Woody from Toy Story rescue the others while ice skating.<br />
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Roller skating. Now here's the deal, many of you know that I turned 50 a couple of months ago. I used to skate EVERY Saturday as a kid. That last phrase is important - AS A KID. When we arrived at the skating rink, I was seriously thinking, "Oh it has to be like riding a bike. Bend your knees, lean forward, keep your head up, not down..." Sure. Sounds good in theory. I'm here to tell you, if you haven't been on skates in 40 years, you may want to re-think the whole idea.<br />
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Bowling. One short sentence: Seriously consider the attention span of a second grader before undertaking this type of field trip. 'Nough said.<br />
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<strong>Summer School</strong>. My school district is large (about 30,000 students). They hold elementary summer school at four locations. My school is usually one of the sites due to its central location for the area. My principal had requested that I apply to be the lead teacher. It is helpful for the person in charge to be from the school in which summer school will take place (they hire teachers from throughout the district to relocate to the various sites for summer school). I had applied a few years ago and didn't get accepted, so I felt free to go ahead and register for the ISTE (International Society for Technology Education) Conference that will take place in San Antonio at the end of June. This was all good - until I got the letter saying that they had decided to hire me as lead teacher. The deadline for cancelling the conference hotel had long past - "cancellation fee." I was within the window for cancelling the conference registration...but of course, with a "cancellation fee." Fortunately, the registration was covered, the hotel: out of my pocket.<br />
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The month continued with meetings, creating schedules, creating class rosters, trying to get bus routes, assigning teachers to classrooms, etc. I finally had a handle on it and thought I could breathe for today's "work day" (half day for summer teachers to prepare their classrooms) but oh no, that wasn't about to happen...the second round of test scores came in from the state. This meant re-doing ALL of the rosters based on need by subject, transferring teachers that would not be needed, etc. all while simultaneously trying to distribute a plethora of materials to teachers eager to get started. First day of summer school is Monday, June 3. I am taking deep breaths and looking into some serious meditation (note: that's "meditation" not "medication").<br />
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<strong>Talent Show</strong>. What's the end of the year without a school-wide talent show? In between field trips, I held auditions and emceed our talent show. I gathered all the various music, approved costumes, made sure parents were aware of performances, etc. I even managed to accompany one of my singers live on the piano - we had a whole 5 minutes just before the curtain went up to practice together - but hey, I'm a professional.<br />
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<strong>School obligations</strong>. Yes, even though I was the master of field trips and summer school, I still had to prepare lesson plans, teach classes (when I could), attend committee meetings, submit grades, pack up my room for summer, and do all the things a teacher has to do at the end of the school year. As I said before, I'm a professional.<br />
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<strong>Family obligations.</strong> Several of you know, when you reach a certain age, it's time to reverse roles when it comes to your parents. It makes it difficult when you are 2,000 miles apart and tends to compound the worry. I am blessed to have my siblings still close in proximity to my parents. Nevertheless, I will be making the long trek home to do what I can later in the summer - in between the trainings I must both teach and attend.<br />
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<strong>Community obligations</strong>. Through it all, I remain faithful to my duties with my homeowners' association (I am the bookkeeper). I also have been managing the estate for a deceased close friend and finally managed to finish the last big part this past week - selling his house.<br />
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So folks, when you say, "Gee, Norm hasn't posted since March!" I'm hoping this post helps explain why. For those who may see me in person, please: smile, wave, then politely pull me aside and say, "Norm, remember...the underwear goes on the INSIDE of your pants."<br />
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Until next time...<br />
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Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-65220278720405409272013-03-23T09:43:00.002-05:002013-03-23T09:43:38.010-05:00First, Be a TeacherAs a music specialist, it is often frustrating when you see "those days" on the school calendar - the dreaded "teacher in-service training" days. Music teachers frequently don't like these days because 1) rarely is there anything on the agenda that is music-specific and 2) we usually have 900 things on our plate that need to be accomplished and we feel that sitting and hearing about the latest trend in math instruction is not the best use of our time.<br />
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There are certain things that are unavoidable - you know, like death and taxes. In-service days should also go on this list. Rather than making these days a source of boredom and frustration (if you do, indeed view them as such) view them as opportunity days. When the latest classroom requirement is handed down from above, I often see colleagues put up the argument "but music is different." Yes, music is different. Music is also not on the state-mandated tests (yet). However, after spending nearly 30 years in this business, I am here to tell you if you put your time and effort into proving how "music is different" and finding crafty ways to convince your principal to let you out of certain meetings and trainings, guess what? You've just helped solidify any opponent's point of view. You've just verified any suspicion that "music is different."<br />
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There seems to be two camps when it comes to elementary music types. One camp feels they are viewed as an integral part of their faculty. The other feels the "odd man out" syndrome. Regardless of which side you find yourself on (or any part of the spectrum in between), there is something you can do make others view you as "a teacher too." Rather than spending your energy fighting against school or district requirements for you to attend trainings that "have nothing to do with music," take the opportunity to go. Find out what's going on in "their" world. As you are sitting and listening politely (secretly planning your next program in your head), stretch your brain and creativity. Mentally start making connections between what you do (or could do) in the music class that is similar to the topic being presented. Participate in the discussion. Show your colleagues that you, too, ARE a teacher!<br />
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Another strategy is to find out what the "hot topics" are for the year. Check the direction in which your school or district is headed. If you are so inclined, see if you can talk to your principal or the person in charge of in-service trainings to be listed as a presenter or being part of a presentation team. Here is one example:<br />
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There was great concern last year that poetry was to be a topic included on the new state test (personally, I was under the assumption that it always was). There was some scrambling on the part of department leaders as to how this topic was to be addressed effectively because "poetry hadn't been addressed before." I had a discussion with a department head for the district and told her that poetry is a large part of what we do in music. Then I set out to show her the similarities.<br />
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Fortunately, my principal came through a program where arts integration was a big part of her personal learning. She approached me prior to the start of this school year to see if there was something I could do during our opening days to expose teachers to classroom arts integration. She wanted to see more arts as part of standard instruction, not just when students were in my class. I did a short presentation on A) the importance of the arts in brain development and presented brief data (emphasis on "brief") from studies related to arts instruction and academic success and B) did a couple quick and fun activities related to meter, phrasing, and stanza (verse) using nursery rhymes.<br />
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By doing things like this, you are accomplishing much. First, you are showing that music is a vital part of a child's development and you are thus doing great PR work for arts education. Secondly, you are showing others who may be skeptical that teaching and learning actually does go on while students are in your care. It's not just "fun and games." And finally, your are elevating your own status among your peers. You are establishing yourself as an "education expert" not just a "music expert." <br />
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I have discovered over the years that by making sure music is included in every educational discussion, my own teaching has improved. Instead of saying, "Well, that doesn't pertain to me, I teach music..." I found a way to see how it DID pertain to me and my classroom. Good teaching is good teaching. Period. There is no distinction between music teaching and teaching other subjects.<br />
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I can assure you, if all music specialists took this approach, there would never be an "us versus them" situation in any school and, as enough students came through such programs, there would never be another discussion about whether or not to cut arts instruction from a curriculum. It would be viewed as the vital aspect of every child's education that it truly is. To quote Ben Franklin, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." We must "hang together" as teachers, not "hang separately" as arts educators.<br />
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Happy Easter! Until next time...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-33541279561526416642013-02-24T11:42:00.001-06:002013-02-24T11:42:27.643-06:00To Video or Not To VideoFirst, apologies for not posting. As the song lyrics say, "life happened."<br />
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As we head into the spring season (in Texas, that means one thing - testing time!) and other distractions like the end of the school year, the "videos in the music class" topic rears its ugly head. I say "ugly" head because it all depends on how you use them and how others see you using them. For me personally, the concept of a video in the music room has traditionally been taboo, a big "no-no" if you will. I certainly don't want my colleagues spreading information that "all he does in there is show them videos..." Rest assured, in Mr. Sands' class, we are DOING 95% of the time.<br />
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Now, there are exceptions. First, there are things that are available on video that I simply cannot impart to my students without the aid of video (or at least a still picture). I just don't have the funds or the storage space for a full set of orchestral instruments in my music room. Here, a video clip of a professional playing the double bass or bassoon is a must. How can a student truly grasp the concept of the size and the sound by looking at a picture in a book? How can they truly see "vibrato" in action from a sting player without video?<br />
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Video has its value as a learning tool. How many things have I personally become stumped about, gone to YouTube and searched out the topic, and BAM there I have someone showing me exactly what I needed to know how to do? Learning at its finest level.<br />
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There are new supplementary materials that use video exactly as I would use them - short clips (no longer than 10-15 minutes maximum). I once attended a two-day seminar on making use of Gardner's seven intelligences and the leader of that seminar suggested having students (high school students) present the one 5-minute clip from a movie that encapsulates the movie's message and be able to explain it. I think we can all agree, THAT takes some thinking! Not just passive watching. If you are preparing to show a video in your class, I suggest you take this concept to heart. Find that one clip from the video that captures the essence of what you want your students to gain from it, then move on to something non-video. Ask yourself these questions: Why am I showing this video? Does it have true educational/artistic value? Am I advancing my students' musical knowledge by showing it? Or am I simply avoiding having to deal with antsy children?<br />
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Yes, there are video performances of musicals and other performances that our students would otherwise not know of, this is absolutely true. However, given the age of the students we are servicing (elementary) is it necessary or even appropriate to show a movie musical in its entirety? Yes, you can create worksheets that help guide their watching (and that's certainly better than just popping in a video and letting it go at that) but...consider using a clip to stretch students' thinking rather than showing a video for the sake of entertainment or "infotainment." How 'bout briefly discussing the storyline of a musical, comparing it to present-day productions to find similarities in plot, then showing one song/dance number from the video of each example and then asking "What part of the story do you think that was from? Why do you think the composer chose the style/instrumentation/tempo/etc. to express this part of the story?" Then, perhaps parlay that into a student creation of a way to tell a similar story.<br />
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Of course, this post regarding video use in the music class is strictly related to elementary music professionals. I am fully aware of the substitute music teacher situation and, sometimes, showing a video is the best we can leave with what we are given. I am fortunate in my current situation. When I am absent for any reason, music is simply cancelled and there is no substitute called (after all, there really IS no substitute for ME, right? LOL). <br />
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Another good use of video is to take advantage of the many electronic devices at our disposal. Try creating a center using a tablet device. Take a short video of YOU explaining something. I have done this for review purposes on the class page of my own school's website. I took a few moments to walk my fourth grade classes through the navigation to the video then showed it (about 3 minutes). The video was a brief review of reading and fingering the left hand notes of the recorder. I was amazed...it was still me, still saying the same things I had been saying, but because it was on a screen, they were mesmerized! <br />
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Until the next post...(see how I learned not to say "next week?")Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-75041060724682045012013-01-15T18:53:00.001-06:002013-01-15T18:53:42.056-06:00iPod Touches...Snug and SafeI recently consolidated my classroom budget to augment the technology I have available for my students - especially on those "free days" mentioned in one of my posts earlier this school year. I had hoped to purchase four iPod touches but, alas, I learned my district requires that you purchase Apple Care for each, so I was only able to get three - but I'll take them.<br />
<br />
Once they arrived, I knew I didn't want to spend the money on sturdy cases for all three of them (besides, my budget was wiped out and I've already spent WAY more out of my own pocket this year than I ever have in years past). I had an idea rolling around in my head about using a piece of Styrofoam packaging, some soft packing foam, or something similar to create a safe storage space for these little delicate devices. I knew I would be storing them in a locked drawer in my classroom, and I also knew if I didn't do something, they'd start sliding around in there every time I opened the drawer - possibly scratching them or worse, one sliding under something else so I couldn't find it right away.<br />
<br />
Lo and behold, I was entering Costco one Sunday afternoon when there, sitting by itself in an otherwise empty shopping cart, was a piece of that newer packaging foam. You know - it's kind of a cross between Styrofoam and soft bedding foam. It was the perfect size (about 14 inches long, six inches wide, and about four inches deep) so I snatched it up and dropped it into my own cart. My favorite price for projects such as these - FREE!<br />
<br />
I was a little concerned about cutting this stuff to make it right for my iPod storage purposes; but, luckily when I started to have at it, I discovered I didn't have to do much. The new iPod touches are so thin and this stuff has enough give, all I had to do was cut a slit the size of the iPods about two inches deep into the foam. It worked!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EBMSG3OuQQE/UPX4umTl9lI/AAAAAAAAAS0/2RIPf-2R1WM/s1600/IMG_0821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EBMSG3OuQQE/UPX4umTl9lI/AAAAAAAAAS0/2RIPf-2R1WM/s320/IMG_0821.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 3 iPod touches safely stored in their drawer (ignore the other clutter in there!)<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The iPods fit very snugly inside the foam and are easy to retrieve when I need them. As you can see by the photo, I could add several more to my classroom set and still have plenty of room in this one piece of foam to store them.<br />
<br />
Until next week...<br />
<br />
Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-6420168699433982812013-01-06T16:26:00.000-06:002013-01-06T16:26:02.583-06:00A Healthy New YearAs we head back to school for another semester, those evil winter colds and flu are lurking in the air (literally) as well as on our door knobs, instrument mallets, and everywhere else.<br />
<br />
A teacher recently asked the question on the Music K-8 list about staying healthy in school during the winter months. I'm cheating for this week's post as it is a re-post of my reply to that question. Also, on a side note, if you are following my blog and not a member of the Music K-8 list, I highly recommend it. We are certainly stronger as music specialists when we draw from the "collective brain" of those who do what we do every day. I have gotten some amazing tips from that list.<br />
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Here is my reply to the question about how to stay healthy as a music teacher:<br />
<br />
<div>
<span>First, it depends on how long you've been teaching. At the beginning of my career I got things I had never had in my life (like strep for example). As time goes on, you build up quite the immunity to all sorts of things!</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>Second, sleep. Americans are some of the most sleep-deprived people in the world. GET YOUR SLEEP! I know staying up until midnight to finish this or that or play on Facebook may seem like a great idea even though you have to get up at 6 a.m. (or earlier in my case) THAT IS NOT ENOUGH SLEEP. You'd be amazed the illnesses you can avoid just by getting a solid 8 (or at least 7 or 7½) every night.</span></div>
<div>
<span></span> </div>
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<span>Third, exercise. I know, I know, with the billion things we have going on in our lives, it seems nearly impossible to find the TIME. Find something you like to do and make it a "non-negotiable." I finally had to make my workout time 5:15 a.m. - I discovered that most of the world is still asleep at that hour and can't interrupt me, call a meeting, etc. Find a time that works for you and do NOT deviate from it.</span></div>
<div>
<span></span> </div>
<div>
<span>Fourth, nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. If you're not getting enough nutrients from the food you eat, you need to seriously look at supplements. Everyone is different when it comes to this, so it takes a while to get it all balanced out. I personally take handfuls every day - but that's just me. It's nearly impossible to get ALL of the recommended daily intake of all vitamins and nutrients from food alone (if you ever try it, it's a boatload of food!) so supplementing is almost mandatory.</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>And finally, one of the best bits of advice I have ever gotten from my doctor - DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE! How do germs find their way in? Rubbing your eyes, swiping your itchy nose with your hand, scratching your ear, biting a nail...when you pay attention to this, you'd be amazed how many times a day you touch your face! Of course hand washing and hand sanitizer is a must, but unless you're washing your hands every five minutes, that's not going to cut it.</span></div>
<div>
<span></span> </div>
<div>
<span>One additional thing I do (again, advice from my doctor) I started doing a few years ago after one NASTY episode of staph infection. I keep a spray bottle of plain rubbing alcohol in my shower. After every shower, every place there is a fold of skin gets sprayed with alcohol. I also rub some in each nostril and each ear with my finger. You'd think this would be very drying for your skin, but actually it hasn't really affected mine and I rarely get sick...if I do, it's usually so mild I barely notice it.</span></div>
<div>
<span></span> </div>
<div>
<span>One final tip I heard just this morning on the radio: swipe the inside of each nostril with Neosporin ointment. Your nasal passages dry out during the winter months and this will not only keep them moist, but will also thwart any germs that may find their way in!</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>Healthy New Year to you all!</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
<div>
<span>Next week I'll be back with something more "original." Until then...</span></div>
Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-46043396877477161322012-12-16T20:25:00.003-06:002012-12-16T20:25:37.400-06:00Follow-up to "Perfect!"Well folks, here it is two weeks after that last post (but it feels like six). Yes, it's "that time of year" and, well...I just didn't get to it last week. So sue me.<br />
<br />
I felt it appropriate to follow up on that last post since it seemed to strike a chord with many. So here goes...<br />
<br />
The first week back at work was rough. Believe me, if you're told "you should take two weeks" don't play superhero if you can avoid it. I consider myself a "trooper" but I was quite floored that first week back - even though there were two days that I only taught half a day. That being said, I survived it. AND...after much fret from my hospital bed about how my Music Memory team would perform at our final meet on Saturday, Dec. 9, I am proud to say they pulled through. Not only did they pull through, but in a big way! My fifth grade team took first place, and one of those students placed first as an individual. The other team members all placed. My one and only third grader not only took first place, but the judges were in shock - he had an absolutely PERFECT paper! (there's that word again)<br />
<br />
I only called one "extra" rehearsal (to make up for the one I missed while in the hospital the previous week) to prepare my students for their winter musical. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately, who knows) my principal decided that we should NOT have any in-school performances due to the number of disruptions already existing in the daily schedule. I didn't argue. I usually like to have in-school performances on the day of the show because it gives us a great dress rehearsal complete with an audience. At one point during a rehearsal less than one week from the production date and after yet another lead speaking part dropped out, one of my assisting coworkers said to me, "You must be heavily medicated." I asked why and she said, "If that was me running that rehearsal, I would have been a screaming lunatic - you have tremendous restraint!" I explained to her that me ranting and throwing a tantrum would have accomplished one thing: to make ME more upset. It wouldn't have made things any better, and it certainly wouldn't have helped the kids. I had totally resigned myself to just getting through this performance. I had made up my mind that it would be one of the absolute WORST performances I would ever lead in my entire career. But...I was just going to have to deal with it and hope the audience wouldn't be the wiser.<br />
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I'm here to report that I was absolutely, 100% WRONG about that! The evening of the performance arrived. I had the usual amount of absentees (I'm used to that) and one lead part that had decided not to come to school that day was among them. The students were in a panic. I told them not to be concerned with anyone else and just perform their own parts to the best of their ability. I read his part from my director's seat in front of the stage - and no one knew it was anything that wasn't <em>supposed</em> to be there. My students sang brilliantly - on pitch, with enthusiasm. They smiled. I smiled. They delivered their lines with feeling and strength. The flow from one scene to the next (props, movement, and all) was as if it had been rehearsed since August. It was, frankly, one of THE best performances I have ever led in my life - EVER! Parents congratulated me and I even got a call from my principal asking me what exactly did I think the problem was (we had had discussions in the weeks leading up to it) - she thought it was fantastic. I told her how wrong I was.<br />
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I should also note that to heap on a little more stress, our annual "Winter Festival" is always held the same night as the performance. Each grade level is in charge of one food item and one game. I am the grade level chair for my group ("special populations") and I had to attend meetings, purchase items needed to pull it off, and deal with a last-minute possible failure of the hay ride that we were to provide. It all went beautifully, the parents had a great time, and the school made money.<br />
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To further test my limits, I have been waiting for a year for a probate court date. A close friend passed away last year and since the family is scattered to the four winds, they asked ME to administrate his estate. Wouldn't you know after waiting all this time, I got word of the court date while lying in a hospital bed? I made it to court and was able to get the initial efforts started for sewing up the estate of my deceased friend.<br />
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The point I'm trying to make here is...I could have spazzed. I could have yelled. I could have screamed and yes, I could have just given up..."Sorry, I'm recuperating from surgery and have personal matters to attend to." But I didn't. I approached it with resolve and continued to reaffirm quietly to myself, "Just do your best, just do your best." And wouldn't you know it? My best turned out to be just enough to pull it all off.<br />
<br />
So when you are in the midst of the frantic month of December as a music teacher, relax...go with the flow...it will be what it will be...and if anyone has anything to say about it, they'll need to take a few steps in your sensible teacher shoes.<br />
<br />
There may be a couple weeks lag in my posting as I am going to enjoy my holiday hiatus from the classroom. If I get inspired, I may write a post over the holiday break, but if not, I will be back after the new year.<br />
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Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, and wonderful holiday season. The tragedy in Connecticut is weighing heavily on our minds this weekend. Do not fret. Keep those souls in your prayers, keep your heads up, and move forward with resolve to make a difference in your students' lives. Turn off the news. Turn away from the media frenzy and take a moment to reflect on how your light will be one of the many that will help make this world a brighter place. Focus on the light and love, not the darkness and fear.<br />
<br />
Until next time...<br />
<br />
Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-75142638252585576332012-12-01T21:54:00.000-06:002012-12-02T13:48:57.671-06:00Perfect!It's December 1 as I sit down to write this week's post. This is the time of year for almost all of the past 27 years that I would go into full-on PANIC mode. It's "that time" for music teachers across the country, time for (insert evil music here) <insert evil="evil" music="music"> <i>The Christmas Program</i>.</insert><br />
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As my years in this profession have been increasing almost exponentially lately, I have been trying to make the conscious decision to do one simple thing every day in my lessons and in my rehearsals, meetings, etc. - RELAX! Well, I have been having only mild success with this concept...until this past week. Here we are, the first full week back after Thanksgiving break...and on Sunday evening before going back to work, I was rushed to the Emergency Room at one of our local hospitals with acute appendicitis and had an emergency appendectomy early Monday morning on what turned out to be a ruptured appendix.<br />
<br />
Instead of thinking about the fact that A) Had we not gone to the hospital when we did, I could easily not be sitting here writing this and B) I needed to focus on gradually increasing my strength and stamina and rest to get a full recovery, I was thinking about (insert evil music again) <insert again="again" evil="evil" music="music"> the Christmas program! I was also thinking about the UIL meet my Music Memory team will face next Saturday and how, oh how was I to get everything done when I'd already lost a week and the doctors were threatening me with having to miss yet <i>another </i>week to recuperate at home? What would happen? How could I get everyone ready?</insert><br />
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Then it hit me, "You said you needed to learn to relax. You weren't doing it. Well, here's your chance." The bottom line for elementary music teachers is this, folks: I have had holiday programs when I prepared, and prepared, and fretted, and fussed, and lost sleep, and got cold sores, and had near-nervous breakdowns...and they were fine. I've also had others with less stress and fretting (but still some) and guess what? Those were fine too. The bottom line is: you can worry all you want, but it's not going to change the outcome. If you are prepared and organized, your students are going to do as well as they can - and even if "as well as they can" is not up to your Carnegie Hall standards, the parents' camcorders and phones will be running, they will be smiling, and absolutely thrilled that their child is on the stage.<br />
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We cannot blame ourselves. It is the nature of our chosen profession. What is "good" music? Well, it certainly isn't music with mistakes all over the place, forgotten lyrics, flat pitches, and off-rhythms. Take a look at this YouTube video in case you haven't seen it...it addresses the necessity of perfection in music to a tee:<br />
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We strive for that perfection with every piece we attempt with our students. We know in our mind's ear exactly what we want our groups to sound like. We fight for rehearsal times and work around family illnesses, families going out of town, assemblies, school holidays, testing, and the occasional bad attitude or bad behavior and strive to get that "perfect" sound. When it doesn't happen, we get frustrated, our anxiety rises, and sometimes we even make ourselves sick. How does that help the students' performance? It doesn't.<br />
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One of my most favorite books <i>ever </i>is "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. It jumped off the bookshelf right into my hands one day many years ago when I was looking for some inspiration. Little did I know after I selected it how many of my friends had read it (gee, thanks for letting ME in on it, guys!). The fourth agreement is one of the simplest - Always Do Your Best. The book goes on to explain that some days your "best" might not be the same as others - and that's okay. You may be tired, you may have many responsibilities, you may be sick, you may be well-rested...all of these things will change what your "best" actually is. He writes:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Regardless of the quality, keep doing your best...if you try too hard to do more than your best, you will spend more energy than is needed and in the end your best will not be enough...if you always do your best, there is no way you can judge yourself...</i></blockquote>
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I have been given all sorts of advice (mostly unsolicited) regarding how to handle my upcoming events in December with my convalescing period in the middle of it - cancel classes, cut numbers, postpone performances, etc. No. That's not going to happen. First of all, it's Christmastime and parents don't want to see performances for the holidays in January. Secondly, regardless of my new-found laissez faire attitude, there will be a small level of anxiety directly related to "the show." Do I really want to destroy my own holiday season by dragging that on? Absolutely not - my sanity is more important. So, we will press on, we will do our best, and the snowflakes will fall where they may (even though we don't have snowflakes in South Texas).<br />
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So, if you're reading this and have "that December music teacher feeling" do not despair. First, you are not alone, but more importantly - stop stressing about "the program." Continue to do your best and all will be well. <br />
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Until next week...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-57454486025394439212012-11-23T17:25:00.002-06:002012-11-23T17:25:49.591-06:00You, too, Can be a Guitar Hero!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In 2008 I made the decision that it may be time to
begin a guitar program as part of general music instruction at my school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The popularity of the instrument in music
programs was growing, there was a great deal of interest because of the
guitar’s traditional connection to popular music, and I felt my fifth graders
who were reaching the usual “too cool for school” point could use a little
motivation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must also add that living
on the Texas/Mexico border was a key motivator for me to begin this
program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mariachi tradition is rich
here and given the instrument’s prominent place in these groups (along with its
cousins the guitarrón and the vihuela) made the decision to start teaching it
in elementary school a no-brainer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
middle schools and high schools have award-winning mariachi and conjunto
programs, and it is, after all, our duty as elementary music specialists to
prepare our students for what lies ahead once they leave our instruction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As a keyboardist/vocalist/saxophone player, the
guitar was always the “mystery instrument” for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The piano has always made sense to me
visually and since that was my first instrument at the age of 10 it was easy to
transfer my piano knowledge to other instruments – including my voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the guitar was just “weird.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I marveled at those who could play it and
play it well and knew that picking one up to play would be a challenge due to
the fact that it was unlike any other instrument with which I was
familiar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But…as we are to instill that
“life-long learner” attitude in our students, I put my fears aside and decided
to model this ideal and learn the guitar for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, I certainly didn’t want to
embarrass myself in front of a “real” guitar teacher because I was an accomplished
musician (Old dog, new trick?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, I
have my pride!), so I took the guitar to the woodshed as it were, and got to
it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I prepared by getting a decent, inexpensive, steel
string guitar for myself along with a “learn-to-play-guitar” method book that came
with a play-along CD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was rough
going, but I gave myself a few months before the actual start of the 2008-2009
school year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, when it comes to
teaching elementary students, you really only need to stay one or two lessons
ahead of your students, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><sarcasm definitely="definitely" intended="intended"></sarcasm></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eoTeuC4IrAM/UHsNLBsm0EI/AAAAAAAAARQ/4jKRs_QxW7s/s1600/IMG_0733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eoTeuC4IrAM/UHsNLBsm0EI/AAAAAAAAARQ/4jKRs_QxW7s/s320/IMG_0733.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Preparing
for the "Big Buy"</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I knew if I was going to do this, I was going to go
at it all the way – I wasn’t about to have six guitars with four students
sharing each one – especially in fifth grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This being my mission, my next step was to consolidate my budget
accounts so I could actually purchase 24 guitars. If your experience is
anything like mine, you know that transferring monies from your 54321 account
to your 12345 account usually requires an act of congress and a promissory note
to sign over your first born child upon completion of the transfer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this was important, so I was willing to
endure whatever “the system” was willing to throw at me for the sake of getting
this program off the ground.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I made the decision to buy twelve ½-size, nylon
string guitars and twelve ¾ -size guitars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Learn from my mistakes if you have not already begun the guitar
adventure in your own classroom:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the ½
-size guitars work just fine and they’re not really all that different from a
full size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am six feet tall and have
absolutely no problems maneuvering with a ½ -size guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ½ -size guitars are less expensive too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you're going to go as big as getting an entire
class set of guitars, keep storage in mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was able to purchase 24 guitar wall hangers for a reasonable
price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take the time to set up
procedures for students getting guitars as well as returning them to their
proper place <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">carefully</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This "ounce of prevention" will
avoid headaches and mishaps that could easily drop your 24 guitars down to 18.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Prepare
to Repair</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As every music specialist is well-aware, you not
only have to be a crackerjack teacher when it comes to music, but you also have
to be somewhat of an instrument repair person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When you are using nylon strings in this setting, you have to expect a
broken string here and there - have some spares.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, learn from my pain, get yourself a
string winder!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They only cost a couple
bucks and save you loads of frustration in an already packed-full school day,
not to mention avoiding the contraction of a case of carpel tunnel
syndrome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, I have learned that
Gorilla Glue® is my best friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had
the saddle of a couple of my guitars come off while hanging in place over the
weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also had the wood on the
saddle crack and cause the bridge to fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gorilla Glue® <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has saved all
guitars involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just remember to read
the directions - it's not like any other glue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It does expand (like the directions say) so use sparingly, and rather
than "clamping" as suggested in the directions, I found setting a
couple textbooks on the saddle while the glue dried over night did the trick
just fine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How
to Avoid Doing Your Best Pete Townshend Impersonation (Out of Frustration, Not
to Be Cool)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I began my classroom guitar adventure thinking I
could approach it in traditional lesson-by-lesson fashion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I diligently went about preparing lessons
incorporating the first pages of the guitar method that had so aptly taught me
my way around the first, second, and third strings of the guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a stickler for copyright, so I would
never photocopy a book – but I can project a page from it onto the screen using
my document camera for my students to view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Besides, the method book worked for me, so it should be a breeze for my
fifth graders, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WRONG!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not certain what, exactly, caused this to
be such a failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though guitar
was to be included as only a portion of the day's music lesson, it just wasn't
working the way I had imagined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it
was too much information on one page, maybe my expectations were too high,
maybe my conservatory-approach training caused me to be too much of a
perfectionist, or maybe it was a combination of all of these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever it was, it was definitely not what I
wanted my classes to look like.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year
arrived, I decided to get a handle on this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The start of a new school year is always the same for upper elementary
grades - review concepts from previous years and then start to build on
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's always a challenge to have
fifth grade students review very basic concepts and still hold their interest,
so I decided this would be the way I would introduce the guitar rather than use
the method book approach.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A
Tool for Review</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When reviewing basic rhythm reading skills, I
incorporated the guitar by having my classes play simple quarter note-quarter
rest-eighth note rhythms that I keep printed on homemade flashcards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By simply having the students play the rhythms
on the first string of the guitar (as opposed to clapping or playing classroom
rhythm instruments) I was able to accomplish two goals:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>first, the students were solidifying their
basic rhythm reading skills and second, I was able to introduce the guitar
without a lot of lesson book reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They learned how to hold the guitar, which string was the
"first" string, and how to play on only one string.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following week I augmented the review to
include patterns with whole notes and half notes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took this opportunity to introduce placing
the fingers on the fingerboard - first finger, first fret, first string (the
pitch "F").<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting the
idea of how much pressure was required to change the pitch on the first string
from "E" to "F," I had them identify notes by giving this
instruction:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"When I show you each
card, play E's for every quarter note or whole note, play F's for each eighth
note or half note..."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here they
were able to read simple four-beat rhythm patterns, identify notes by their
proper names, and practice playing on the first string simultaneously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The concentration required was enough to keep
them focused without being overwhelming which can sometimes cause the "I give
up" attitude with this age group.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Later we were reviewing basic meter - meter in 2 and
meter in 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the students practice
something this simple by having them open their textbooks to "Amazing
Grace."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We identified the time signature
and what it meant, discussed the concepts of "strong beat" and
"weak beats," then accompanied the song (which, thankfully, is in the
key of G major in our text) by playing the fourth, third, and second strings
(D, G, B) in succession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True, this
accompaniment doesn't fit the song <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exactly</i>,
but when you are learning how to pick individual strings on the guitar - it's
good enough!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Go
for It!</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These are just a couple of examples of using the
guitar to accomplish musical goals you were most likely already teaching in
your music class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When introducing an
instrument to young children, we need to buck traditional music instruction
slightly and get creative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teaching
techniques like peer evaluation, cooperative learning, and the use of
"centers" can all be incorporated to keep your students interested
and motivated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take a look at your
existing curriculum and take some "pondering time" to come up with
unique ways of including the guitar as a regular part of your general music
instruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still only include guitar
as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">part</i> of each lesson, and
occasionally we don't use them at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This keeps the learning less tedious and keeps the excitement fresh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you haven't already started this adventure and
are considering it, or if you have already started and may be feeling a bit
discouraged, I hope my experience will help you press forward with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your students will thank you for it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My next try is going to be with a few apps...I'll
give you the verdict after I've had a chance to try and fail at a few things.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Until then, happy strumming and I'll be writing
again next week...</span></div>
Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-61339747680348670232012-11-18T12:22:00.000-06:002012-11-22T08:04:34.349-06:00"The Plan" - Part VWhew! And to think when I conceived this that I was going to put it in ONE post...glad I woke up before I started it.<br />
<br />
This week, the final week for the curriculum series, I am addressing tone color and expressive elements as well as music-related topics.<br />
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<b>Tone Color</b><br />
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The basic understanding of this musical element is that: 1) Different materials produce different sounds and 2) We classify instruments by the materials from which they are made or by the way these instruments are played, and 3) The scientific concept that (generally) "larger items produce lower sounds, smaller items produce higher sounds."<br />
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<b>Pre-K</b> - At this grade level, students can have experiences with various tone colors that may be available in the classroom. Begin to point out that small, medium, and large sizes play high, middle, and low sounds. Practice using different voices - speaking, whispering, singing, and yelling (calling).<br />
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<b>Kindergarten</b> - Students at this age can begin placing sounds in groups - hit, shake, scrape, ring, etc. It is not important that they know the four families of instruments. Kindergarteners can also identify man's voice, woman's voice, and child's voice. Speaking, whispering, singing, and yelling (calling) voices are also solidified at this age.<br />
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<b>First Grade</b> - First graders continue classifying sounds and have much experience playing different sizes of instruments and relating that sound to pitch range. They also can begin with playing different instruments in different ways and discovering or identifying how playing the instrument in a different way changes its tone color (how will the xylophone sound different if we play it with a wooden mallet instead of a yarn mallet?).<br />
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<b>Second Grade</b> - This is the age when we actually start to discuss families. I never go into a comprehensive study of brass, woodwind, percussion, and string, but I do take the time to start to look at one or two of these families and several of the instruments contained in them.<br />
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<b>Third Grade</b> - Whatever families were not covered in second grade can be added in third grade.<br />
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<b>Fourth Grade</b> - In fourth grade being able to place instruments in their appropriate family is important. Not only "memorizing" what instrument goes where, but being able to articulate the "why" an instrument belongs in a certain family and not in another. Fourth graders should have a good understanding of the four main instrument families and what instruments belong in them.<br />
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<b>Fifth Grade</b> - In fifth grade, other "families" can be added (keyboard instruments, electronic instruments) as well as various ensembles and what instruments/voices are contained in them. This age can also intellectualize various aspects of sound in groups and why they are traditionally arranged in a certain fashion (i.e. why is the conductor in the center of the orchestra? Why are there so many strings and only a few brass? Why do the strings sit near the front of the stage?).<br />
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<b>Expressive Elements</b><br />
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The main expressive elements in music are dynamics and tempo. As mentioned in my first post, you really can't have either of these without connecting them with some other element of music. Perhaps the most difficult concept to get across (even to fifth graders) is the difference between "high" and "loud" and "low" and "soft." Use appropriate terminology at all times and whenever possible, sneak in those "music words" even in non-musical contexts: "Boys and girls, I need you to line up and be very pianissimo while getting in line." When walking in a line, "We are moving andante - be careful not be largo or allegro!" Connect types of music with various tempi, "If you were to sing a song that puts a baby to sleep, would you use a fast or slow tempo? Would you sing loudly or softly? Lullabies are usually slow and soft." Try singing songs in various tempi or dynamic levels. How did it change the way the song felt to you?<br />
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When discussing form in the upper grades, talk about elements of music that can contrast to create different sections - tempo and dynamics are two of these elements.<br />
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<b>Music-Related Topics</b><br />
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I once had a discussion with a very noted music professor about this. I was young in my career and was confused as to the importance of selecting topics for my classes and leaving others out (in elementary school, there simply isn't TIME to address them all!). He said, "I have found that whatever YOU are into, your students will be highly successful at that. I have seen teachers who are passionate about opera. They develop units of study about opera and their students are quite successful. Another teacher who is not as strong in opera could teach the same unit and it could end up being a total flop." I have carried this with me and it has helped ease my guilt a little when I realize, "Gee, my students are leaving me not knowing ____." If composers and facts about their lives really rock your world, then by all means, include them. Which ones do you include? Good question. At this point in musical history, I suppose it's completely up to you - there are far too many! I try to select "the biggies" to discuss (within the context of the study of other elements) - Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc. My music memory students are currently studying "O la o che bon echo" by Lassus. I will confess, I don't believe I've ever heard this piece of music (or heard of this composer) in my life. Sure, I may have crammed about Lassus for a music history class in college - but that is testament to how important it was in my overall musical life as an adult. I can tell by listening that Lassus probably wasn't a contemporary of Beethoven and his style is most like what I know to be renaissance music. Intellectually, isn't that good enough for what we want our students to know?<br />
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Once your students are well-versed in musical elements, you can discuss style very intelligently. Play some music. What style are you hearing? They are very aware of style - especially within the larger genre of pop music. They may not put a name on it, but they know. So this is a good time to start diving deeper into the topic since they know more about the elements of music. What makes hip-hop different from pop? What are some artists from each style? When they realize the topics they've learned about in music are universal, it is a little easier for them to grasp the difference between, for example, the romantic and baroque periods. Pick what your find meaningful for your students to have successful musical lives - either as consumers or musicians or professionals in a music-related career. <br />
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Well, there you have it. That's my take on elementary music curriculum. I have no doubt I have probably left out something. If I realize I have, I will come back and edit my posts. Feel free to leave a comment if there is something about which you feel strongly.<br />
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Until next week...<br />
<br />
<br />Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-66072253880832819852012-11-10T17:19:00.002-06:002012-11-10T17:19:34.187-06:00"The Plan" - Part IVThis week we look at the elements of harmony and form.<br />
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<b>Harmony</b><br />
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When developing harmonic concept in young children, baby steps are really important. Singing in harmony and aurally identifying it are not easy tasks for most human beings - especially at the age of elementary students.<br />
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Here is the breakdown by grade level of how I cover harmony:<br />
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<b>Pre-K</b> - I make sure I use lots of "harmony" words when speaking in class. "Let's sing that without the accompaniment...or...I am going to play an ostinato." It's also important that students at this age learn to echo appropriately (i.e. not sing your part with you - which they love to do!). It is important that young students get the idea that we "take turns" musically (my part, your part).<br />
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<b>Kindergarten</b> - In kindergarten we continue to make sure we know when our "turn" is and we develop the ability to identify the presence and absence of accompaniment. At this age I have students play simple ostinati to accompany age-appropriate songs as well.<br />
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<b>1st Grade</b> - Here we actually want to identify an ostinato. Later in the year we want to make sure students understand we can have rhythmic ostinati (that don't add harmony) and melodic ostinati (that do add harmony). We play them while the class sings, we play along with recordings, we also make sure that we know when an accompaniment is NOT an ostinato. Just because an instrument is playing along, does not mean it is an ostinato.<br />
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<b>2nd Grade</b> - In second grade we want to get to the point where we actually know what "harmony" is - two or more pitches being played or sung simultaneously. I want them to understand that just because an instrument is playing with a singer (or singers) it may not necessarily be playing harmony. At this age it's also appropriate to have students recognize simple chord changes in an accompaniment (I-V).<br />
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<b>3rd Grade</b> - Third graders really start getting into the nitty gritty of harmony. They do all the previous activities with harmony, but also identify a chord as "three or more pitches played together." We identify chord symbols when they are present in printed music and play them on classroom instruments. We look at what harmony looks like in printed music. In third grade we also work on identifying and singing canons (rounds) and partner songs.<br />
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<b>4th Grade</b> - In fourth grade I give my students more practice with all of the previous harmony experiences - accompaniment, ostinati, chords, canons, and partner songs. We may also play a recorder song in two parts.<br />
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<b>5th Grade</b> - Once again, this is the year when we can approach the more theoretical side of all the harmony experiences they've had since pre-K. We can add the idea of Roman numerals marking chords. We can build chords based on scales (identifying scale degrees, letter names, and syllable names of pitches). This is also the year when I introduce reading two-part written music (for singing) as well as the term "descant."<br />
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<b>Form</b><br />
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This element is one of the best for relating music to life. I usually start of my form introduction with the parts of a house - two squares for the windows, a big square for the actual house, a rectangle for the door and a triangle for the chimney. I say, "What do you think might happen if an alien came to you and had never seen a house? How do you think he would put these pieces together? I then go about making some ridiculous combination of the above-named shapes. Then I explain, "Because we know the <i>order</i> of the parts of a house, we can put a house together that makes sense. Music is the same way..." I also try to impress upon them that nearly <i>everything</i> has form (the body, the weather, visual art, buildings, etc.).<br />
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Here is the grade level breakdown for form:<br />
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<b>Pre-K</b> - Four-year-olds can identify "same" and "different." At this age I play small examples or melody fragments and ask the students to identify if they are the same or different. We also have lots and lots of experiences singing songs in AB and ABA form and do dance with "same" and "different" parts.<br />
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<b>Kindergarten</b> - In kindergarten when discussing form, I mainly want my students to know two words and know them well - these are: "verse" and "refrain." We make a big deal about "different words/same music" and "same words/same music" repeated.<br />
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<b>1st Grade</b> - In first grade we work on being able to identify AB and ABA forms in music. We also point out that some songs simply have an "A" section and nothing else.<br />
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<b>2nd Grade</b> - In second grade we can add slightly more complex combinations of "A" and "B" and continue to find the verse and refrain in music both aurally and when printed.<br />
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<b>3rd Grade</b> - Adding to AB, ABA, and AABA, this is the age when I like to introduce rondo form. It's also a time when we can actually discuss "parts" of a piece of music. "How did you know A was ending and B was beginning?" This is a perfect opportunity to review all the elements of music. "What can change in a song's parts? What if there is no singing, what can change?"<br />
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<b>4th Grade</b> - This is a good time to focus on printed music directions that give big clues to form - D.S., D.C., coda, and fine should all be parts of the fourth grade vocabulary when discussing form.<br />
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<b>5th Grade</b> - There was a time when I would use fifth grade to introduce more complex forms - sonata form, fugue...but...with new times come new demands and my daily lessons do not allow for this. Now I am content to add theme and variations to their form vocabulary and if we get that far (when combined with all of the topics from the previous years), I am satisfied.<br />
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Next week I'll get into tone color and talk a little about the "expressive elements" and "music-related" elements. Until next week...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-32820303787831502262012-11-03T19:52:00.000-05:002012-11-03T19:55:11.232-05:00"The Plan" - Part IIIAs promised, this week I'm addressing meter and melody.<br />
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<b>Meter</b><br />
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This element is a logical follower to beat and rhythm because they are connected. It's not a topic to be brushed over and can easily get confusing for young minds - especially as you dive deeper into it. The basic principles I want my students to know are that each of the two main meters (2 and 3) has a feeling - I choose "march" for 2 and "sway" for 3 but that is arbitrary. If you have something that works, have at it.<br />
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I want students to know that all meters are combinations of these two basic meters. I divide meter into categories: duple (2), triple (3), compound (6 or 12), and unusual (5 or 7). Any time you have a meter other than 2 or 3, it is simply a combination of these two. Meter in 4 is two groups of 2, meter in 5 is either a 2+3 feel or a 3+2 feel, and so on.<br />
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I connect meter with life and address the reasons why meter in 2 is so much easier for us than meter in 3 or any unusual meter. We have two legs and feet. Walking is a meter in 2. We would certainly look a bit odd walking in 3. Our heartbeat is a meter in 2 (or the compound meter of 6 if you want to get technical). Meter in 2 or 4 is relatively easy to grasp as opposed to other meters.<br />
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Here is the breakdown of how I address meter in each grade level.<br />
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<b>Pre-K</b> - At this age, I am mainly concerned with my students knowing that "Meter in 2" and "Meter in 3" exist. They are too young to really intellectualize much more about it. Because of this, they need lots of experiences playing instruments, singing, and moving to each. I often point out "This song was meter in 3."<br />
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<b>Kindergarten</b> - I'm not so concerned that students at this age give a name to "meter in 2" or "meter in 3" but if they can, that's great. My main focus for kindergarteners is their ability to identify "strong-weak" and "strong-weak-weak" patterns in music. Movement and playing of instruments is the best way to accomplish this. Visual representations are also a must (big and little sticks, large and small pictures, etc.). The repeat sign is also something I like to introduce at this grade level.<br />
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<b>First Grade</b> - In first grade, we begin to name beat groupings as "meter in 2" or "meter in 3." We identify the time signature (meter sign) at the beginning of written music. We practice dividing written music with barlines. We review the repeat sign and also learn about the double bar.<br />
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<b>Second Grade</b> - With the introduction of longer note values during the study of rhythm, this is a good age to focus on the written aspect of meter a little more deeply. We can see that other meters exist (meter in 4).<br />
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<b>Third Grade</b> - In third grade, with the introduction of syncopation, much experience with reading, singing, and playing or moving to meter is very important. At this age I stick to basic meters of 2, 3, and 4. We continue to identify the meter sign (still using a number over a note value rather than an actual time signature) and discuss what it means.<br />
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<b>Fourth Grade</b> - In fourth grade we can introduce the lower number in the time signature. Why? This is traditionally the year students begin to learn fractions in math. We continue to identify the feeling of various meters, practice interchanging note values for number values in the meter sign, and practice counting multiple measures of rest (this can be done in third grade - however, in my current situation, we play the recorder in fourth grade so it's a prime opportunity to learn to count multiple measures of rest when playing with recorded accompaniment).<br />
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<b>Fifth Grade</b> - We continue to study all the meter concepts from previous years, but add the concepts of compound meter and unusual meter. At this age, you can test the waters to see if they truly understand meter as it is written and as it is heard. Play a simple tune like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" then play it again - changing the meter. How was it different? You can have the students practice this in writing if your daily schedule allows time.<br />
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<b>Melody</b><br />
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I have a firm foundation in the Kodály method, although I have never taken the certification levels for this method. I prefer Kodály especially when it comes to developing melodic concept in children because of the hand signs. It provides a very kinesthetic aspect to the teaching of melody. Not only does each pitch "feel" different (the sign itself), but children gain the relationship of higher and lower that each pitch has in relation to the others.<br />
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My students learn these main ideas: The note head is the part of the written note that identifies the melody or pitch. Pitches are individual sounds (do, mi). Melodies are made up of groups of pitches (do-mi-so). Melodies can move in three ways - up, down, or staying the same. Pitches have four different relationships to each other - step, leap, skip, and repeat.<br />
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Before going into grade level introductions, it is important to note that singing a melody (not a short one, but one of any length) completely in solfege has little to no value to students at this age. You may want to try this type of activity late in fifth grade, but singing through music in solfege in the elementary grades has little to no meaning to a developing child. What we are aiming for here is that students begin to recognize patterns of sound and that music is, at the lowest level, a series of these patterns.<br />
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Here is my breakdown by grade level as to how I introduce melodic concepts to my students:<br />
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<b>Pre-K</b> - high, middle, low. This takes a lot of work. I also make sure to address that "high" does not mean "loud" nor does "low" mean "soft." We address melodic range in pieces of music as "high" or "low." We also do some vocal-visual work at this age - following abstract drawings (or actual drawings if you want!) with our voices.<br />
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<b>Kindergarten</b> - we continue work on high and low and upward and downward melodic motion. I do some visual representation of melodies (pictures, big circles) representing upward and downward motion, but don't get into actual notation at this point.<br />
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<b>First Grade</b> - In first grade we start to learn a few actual pitch names. I introduce them in this order: so and mi (together...if you prefer "sol" by all means, write it that way), then la, then do. We start to read so and mi on two lines, then on two spaces (three lines) and talk a great deal about "on the line" or "in the space." It's also important to strongly address the "left-to-right" nature of music reading. When writing melodies for the first time, it is common for students place notes on top of each other or place the first pitch of a melody then begin to write the second pitch before the first one. I demonstrate this by writing my name - left to right, then writing it again with the letters all jumbled up. I also talk about when the teacher says, "Write your name on the line..." it is quite different when we write music "on the line." We discuss how "so and mi are in spaces, then la goes on the line above so. When so and mi are on lines, then la goes in the space above so." After some practice with two lines and two spaces, we expand it to the full staff. We talk about the number of lines and spaces and how we number from bottom to top, not top to bottom. When I introduce do, I use the old Kodály "key" for finding do on the staff (present textbooks tend to write the word "do" at the beginning). We sing:<br />
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Then we sing the converse, "When do is in a space..."<br />
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<b>Second Grade</b> - In second grade we start looking at pitch relationships - step, leap, skip, and repeat. I introduce the pitches re and do¹. I have heard talk that this approach is best suited for Hungarian children and that American children should be introduced to the pentachord as soon as possible (do, re, mi, fa, so) but...the Hungarian way has worked for me for the past 27 years and I'm not about to fix something that isn't (for me) broken. If you want to do it that way, have at it...but you didn't hear it from me.<br />
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<b>Third Grade</b> - Third grade students continue to work on reading, singing, and playing the pentatonic and finding melodic patterns containing do, re, mi, so, la, and do¹ in songs that we sing. We practice reading the pentatonic (or its pitches) in various keys. This is also the age when we begin to look at tonality (major and minor) and pitches below do (low-la and low-so or la<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span> and so<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span>). We learn about "home tone" for major and minor - the focus or "home tone" for major is do, for minor it is la.<br />
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<b>Fourth Grade</b> - I introduce fa and ti in fourth grade. Fa and ti get saved for this later stage in development because of the concept of the half step. There are plenty of adults who could not tell you which pitch is higher when listening to a half step and hearing it can be tough. I introduce the meaning of "sharp" and "flat." After the introduction of these pitches fa and ti, we can talk about the order of whole and half steps in the major scale. "We were happy when we were home." Whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half. How will this order change if a song is in minor mode? We look at simple key signatures of C major, F major, and G major and their relative minors A minor, D minor, and E minor. Fourth grade is also the year that we begin to name pitches with syllables as well as letter names.<br />
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<b>Fifth Grade</b> - In this grade level we can address the full spectrum of key signatures and scales. We talk about the importance of key signatures ("Why not just write everything in C major?"). We discover the circle of fifths. We practice interchanging pitch names with syllables, letters, and scale degrees. This is kind of "heavy duty" so it's best to break this up over the year. Too much "theory" can make Jack a very dull boy - and Norm a not-so-fun-and-interesting music teacher! Find the most creative and fun ways you can to inject these rather heavy musical topics into each music lesson.<br />
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Next week...harmony and form...until then...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-82564713518600524912012-10-27T16:29:00.000-05:002012-10-27T16:29:45.367-05:00"The Plan" - Part IIThis week's post is a continuation of last week. This week I'll address two musical elements and the way I break them down by grade level.<br />
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<h4>
Beat</h4>
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Let's start with "the beat." In the broad sense, I want my students to understand:<br />
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<ol>
<li>The beat is steady, only speeding up or slowing down for expressive reasons.</li>
<li>The beat helps musicians perform together.</li>
<li>The beat is more often something that is felt rather than heard.</li>
</ol>
Because an awareness of steady beat is essential to all other elements of music (related to performance), it is the reason music teachers care so much about it. We've all seen it - some children walk into our classroom with a natural ability to detect the beat of any song. Others are more prone to responding to the rhythm, and others have no clue. I am convinced this is instilled from birth (or before). Children who are sung to and rocked by their parents or care-givers are more apt to walk into our classes with the beat all ready to go. For the others, we must play catch-up!<br />
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Because the beat is so basic, there really isn't a "breakdown" of what to teach at each level. However, here are a few suggestions...<br />
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<b>Pre-K</b> - lots of opportunities to move to the beat - dances, parachute play, clapping and moving body parts to the beat, playing the beat on rhythm instruments. For tempo, being able to identify the beat as "fast" or "slow" is good enough at the ripe old age of four.<br />
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<b>Kindergarten</b> - even more of the above. In this grade I do like to introduce the term "tempo" and practice identifying some basic tempo markings such as allegro, presto, andante, and largo.<br />
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<b>First through Fifth Grades</b> - more movement and playing of the beat and identifying tempo. In fifth grade I do try to make a stronger emphasis on the fact that the beat is <i>felt</i> rather than <i>heard</i> in many pieces of music. I address tempo-related concepts as they arise in the literature we happen to be using (accelerando, ritardando, etc.).<br />
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<b>Rhythm</b><br />
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The next logical progression from beat is rhythm. What they need to know at a core level:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Rhythm is the division of sounds and silences over the beat as variations of long and short. </li>
<li>We read rhythms by reading the "stick part" or <i>stems</i> of the notes.</li>
</ol>
<b>Pre-K</b> - being able to tell the difference between beat and rhythm. Classify simple words into groups according to syllables (blue and horse are one-syllable words, yellow and puppy are two syllable words). Identify short repeated rhythmic patterns as "same" or "different." <br />
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<b>Kindergarten</b> - still more practice identifying beat as opposed to rhythm and vice versa. I avoid actual notation reading at this level, but we address rhythms in terms of long and short as in B-I-N-G-O - long, long, short-short, long. I also use picture notation at this grade level - big pictures for long sounds, small pictures for short sounds, and we do actually read the quarter rest for a beat of silence. There are many good materials (old and new), and I have a book called Kinderjams! that is ingeniously listed on the J.W. Pepper website as a "recorder book" (see my bio on this blog about being pigeon-holed as a "recorder guy"). If you're interested, I still stand by the collection and its awesomeness. I still use it, and my kids love the recordings. Check it out <a href="http://www.jwpepper.com/5573456.item" target="_blank">here.</a> <br />
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<b>First Grade</b> - begin to read simple four-beat and three-beat rhythm patterns using quarter notes, quarter rests, and paired eighth notes. We read these using rhythm syllables but, experience has shown me that we need to drill, drill, and drill some more about the difference between what the note is <i>called</i> and how we <i>say</i> the notes in a pattern. I do not like asking, "What kind of note is this?" and getting an enthusiastic answer back, "TA!" No, it is not a "ta" - it is a quarter note. I also have learned that it is important to introduce rhythmic notation with the note heads on the notes. This way I can show students notes with stems up and with stems down and they learn there is no difference. Using the tradition "stick notation" from Kodaly does avoid this, but they will be seeing music printed with note heads, so why not start it off that way?<br />
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<b>Second Grade</b> - continue to read the first grade patterns, introduce eighth notes both with flags and with stems. Again, it is important to call things by their correct names so students don't have to do double the work. Calling things by cute names may seem like fun to an adult, but really...why teach young children it's a "this" when it's actually a "that?" It just doesn't make sense to me. This is also the year that we begin to read longer note values - half note, dotted half note, and whole note. I introduce the corresponding rest with each and we also discover the tie. Additionally we learn the dotted quarter-eighth note pattern. I don't get into the whole mathematics of the dot - it's not appropriate at this level (they really don't understand fractions at this age - some may, but I'm telling you, a true <i>understanding</i> of the concept just isn't developmentally there yet for the most part). What I do is put up a pattern with a pair of eighth notes in it. I separate the pair on the next line using individual flagged eighths, then write it again tying a quarter note to one of the eighths, and then saying, "We have a much shorter way of writing this..." Amazing. We also discuss the fermata in second grade.<br />
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<b>Third Grade</b> - we continue to review all of the note values from previous years. This is the exciting time when I introduce the concept of syncopation. This is a tough one to get across, so we visit the topic more than once during the school year. Third grade is also a good year to introduce triplet eighth rhythms. I don't really introduce much more new rhythmic material to their repertoire at this age because they really need to get a lot of practice in reading and performing rhythm patterns in all the various combinations using whole, half, quart, and eighth notes and rests as well as with ties and syncopation - that's a lot for the eight-year-old mind to get a handle on.<br />
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<b>Fourth Grade</b> - again, all of the previous and then I add the study of sixteenth notes in all combinations - two sixteenths and an eighth, an eighth and two sixteenths, four sixteens, dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth, and a sixteenth followed by a dotted eighth. We continue to read rhythms using only syllables at this age level. This is also the age when logical thinking can be addressed when related to music. I introduce the idea here that "we add something to the note, it gets shorter, we take something away, it gets longer." I demonstrate this with a hole note, add a stem, add some coloring, add a flag, and add another flag. You'll know you've hit it when they ask, "Can you have more than two flags?" and then you say, "Sure! What do you think the next type of note will be called?" If you get "Thirty-second!" on the first try, you're doing a whole lot better than I ever have. If I have a class that's really catching on, I'll go into the math side of it - dividing fractions! Oh my!<br />
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<b>Fifth Grade</b> - My students have the opportunity to study a band or orchestral instrument when they are in middle school. Before I send them off to the big and thrilling world of sixth grade, I make sure they know how to count rhythms using the "one-and" method since band directors as a group will never lower themselves to the elementary level of syllable reading (even though it makes a heck of a lot more sense!). We review all previous years' rhythms throughout the year and toward the spring I do a big "one-and" lesson and they get it. Why? Because at this point they are ready. They've had lots of experience with notation in the previous years (at least while they were with me) and now whether you call two-eighths "ti-ti" or "hotdog" or "one-and" it's kind of a moot point. They know when they see that pattern what it should sound like. I also take time to review the whole "add something to the note and it gets shorter" discussion from fourth grade.<br />
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Well, there you have my take on the elements of beat and rhythm. Tune in next week when we'll go into the mysterious realm of meter and melody.<br />
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Until then...Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995364713895812921.post-84181962846355462272012-10-21T11:49:00.000-05:002012-10-21T11:49:18.676-05:00"The Plan" - Part IWARNING: this week's post (and the weeks to follow) are not inundated with pictures, so if you're a visual type, you've been warned!<br />
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Due to a couple of personal emails and past concerns by music teachers, I decided that this week's blog post should be about curriculum. It seems with all the preparation and ear training combined with performances and exams, colleges and universities traditionally leave out one of the most important aspects of teaching music in their music education programs - <i>what</i> do I teach and <i>when</i> do I teach it? Imagine how wonderful it would be to exit college with a full year of music teaching under your arm for grades K-8...but alas, we're left to figure it out on our own or follow the outline in a textbook series. If anyone had a different experience than this, please leave a comment - I would love to give props to your Music Ed. program!<br />
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I've taught through four textbook series at this point in my career. And I have to say with all candor, until recently, not one of them has been worth their price when it comes to curriculum. I say "until recently" because the current text I am blessed with in my classroom comes the closest to getting it right. And I mean that...it comes "close" but it certainly isn't set up the way I could teach from page one to page two and so on and cover the curriculum. I've always used my texts as anthologies rather than curriculum guides. We could easily be on page 4 one week and page 397 the next.<br />
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I was fortunate enough to be one of the curriculum writers for my school district this year. Many teachers around the country criticize their state standards as being too vague. I will tell you this is done with intention to give you guidelines on what should be taught without dictating to you how and when you will teach it. If teaching ever came to this, I think I would run! I have the expertise and, after all these years, I have amassed the techniques and materials to impart my expertise (and continue to add to my "bag of tricks!"). I don't need a step-by-step dictated curriculum to accomplish this. However, I know early on in one's career something like this could be very much appreciated. When we wrote our district curriculum, I wanted a hand in it because previous guides seemed to lack "musical substance" and focused more on the materials (patriotic music, music for fall, etc.) than it did on the elements of music.<br />
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So, I was thinking this post over for the past few days. I was going to "lay it all out" in this one post, but realized it would end up being more like a novel than a blog post, so I'm breaking it down into chunks, hence the "part one" title. Not only will this make for easier reading, but it will also ease up on the time it takes for me to write it. I know you all think I sit and write my blog all day every day, but...um...no. LOL<br />
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Let's start with the lesson. What should a good general music lesson look like? I have always held this in mind and it has never failed me: every lesson should include some music reading, some singing, some listening, some movement, and some playing of instruments. If you can stick those five activities into your lesson - <u>all focused on the same topic</u>, you are almost guaranteed success in music teaching. Sometimes, through discussions with other music specialists, I think they think their class is "song class" or "singing/playing/moving" class without actually being <i>music</i> class. They prepare a series of activities to do with their students that are, indeed, engaging and fun...but if you were to pull one of their students aside and ask them "What did you <i>learn</i> today?" they will most likely tell you the name of the song(s) or dance. They will have no idea of a concept that was to be taught for the day. While not necessarily "damaging" to a child's learning (they may be able to "figure it out on their own" later on), music instruction should be focused on just one thing - learning music. The songs, games, dances, and instruments are not the end goal themselves - they are the means to the end: a deeper understanding of music. If you prepare each lesson with the goal being a deeper understanding of a particular musical element, your students will learn music. With this in mind, the materials (songs, games, dances, instrument parts) are irrelevant. You can use <i>anything</i> that you wish as long as it provides a solid example of the topic. If you're preparing a performance - that's fine. Use the song material to teach the concepts outlined in your curriculum. Don't let "the performance" be the only goal (although, on one level, it definitely is a goal - performance is important!).<br />
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This takes me to a side tangent that needs to be addressed. There seems to be two camps when it comes to music education philosophy - those who believe music exists in the school curriculum because it is an art that is worthy of study in and of itself; and those who believe music exists in the school curriculum because it enhances learning in the other core academic subjects. In case you haven't guessed by now, I am of the former rather than the latter. Our students get enough "academic subject teaching" in their day - if they needed more, why not just put more math and reading into their day, why music? If we as music educators perpetuate the idea that we exist for the sake of the other academics, we are surely shooting ourselves in the foot and putting ourselves in peril of being eliminated altogether. Does the study of music actually <i>enhance</i> and solidify learning in other academic areas? Absolutely! There are a multitude of studies on the subject out there (do a quick Google search). Is it the <i>reason</i> we study it? No. Enhancing and solidifying learning that occurs in other academic areas is a "happy accident" as a result of music study - not the sole reason we have music in the school curriculum.<br />
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<clump clump="clump"> There, I'm off my soap box. Now...back to the curriculum. In the coming weeks, I will be outlining what has been successful for me in teaching music. I will outline grade level by grade level what I include for each of the musical elements. I will not, however, be telling you <i>when</i> I teach it. That, dear reader, is up to you. Personally, I don't think it matters, as long as all of the material gets covered. Some teachers like covering the same topic with every grade at the same time - that's fine. For me, I get bored easily and like to mix it up. So while I'm teaching meter to one grade level, I may be teaching form in the next.</clump><br />
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I like to think music instruction is divided into two areas: musical elements and music-related topics. The musical elements are: beat, rhythm, meter, melody, harmony, form, and tone color. A subcategory can be included here that we'll call "expressive elements" - tempo and dynamics. I include these as subcategories because you can't discuss a tempo without having a beat and you can't perform dynamics without combining it with one or several of the other elements. Music-related topics are: style, composers, music history, and music as related to culture (other cultures, patriotic music, etc.). When teaching musical elements, the music-related goals can be addressed within those lessons. For example, when addressing the element of meter, you can include some listening examples from Strauss imparting the knowledge that Johann Strauss was known as "The Waltz King" and was a 19th century romantic composer from Austria. <br />
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Stay tuned for more details. Until next week....Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483100638195190736noreply@blogger.com6