Welcome to the 2011-2012 School Year!

JH Panther Band on Spring Concert 2011

California Set:

American Spirit by Michael Story

Pirate’s Cove by Gene Milford

Suncatcher by James Curnow

Breakdown Blues by L. Taylor

5th Grade and Blue and White (6th) Bands on Spring Concert 2011

Centurion by Mark Williams, Alfred Publishing Inc, 1998

4th Grade Band on Spring Band Concert May 5th, 2011

3 Note Doodle from Heather Dziczek's Beginning Band Method

Stand Up, Sit Down/Down By the Station/The Note-Rest Game all from Heather Dziczek's Beginning Band Method

Dr. Joseph Pisano Rocks!

Thanks to another student in our Music Technology class at Kent State, I heard about Dr. Joseph Pisano's blog.  I subscribed to it and have been reading his updates.  This post is great because there is a listing a bunch of blogs relative to the music educator.  Many of these I had not heard of or even considered to look for.  I already had a Sound Tree blog, but it was for my PLC Training.  There are Finale, SmartMusic, JWPepper and NPR blogs that are great on this list!

Enjoy!

Thanks Dr. P!


Great Links for your PLN

Uses of the iPhone in Music Education

Through the Music 4 Education Blog, I found this posting from the TI:ME OMEA conference that was held in January of 2011.  One of the sessions  held there was about the various uses of an iPhone in the Music Classroom.  I know at he AzMEA Conference in February, we had a similar session about the iPad in the music classroom.  This link is for his slide presentation and handout.


When is an Phone not a Phone?

Theta Music Trainer

Thanks to Thomas J West Music Blog, I just learned about a new website that will help my students with ear training and other musical skills.  I think this would be a lot of fun to use if a teacher had a smartboard.  It's free to sign up and tends to our students desire for video games in the classroom.  Gotta love games with a learning purpose!

Thomas J. West's Blog - TMT Review

Theta Music Trainer

Education Winners and Losers in the Federal Budget Agreement

When the government threatened a shut down, the members of congress had to make some quick and hasty decisions about programs to cut.  The link below will take you to the winners and losers in the education realm of that budget cut.  Programs such as Arts in Education and the Special Olympics have been eliminated.


Education Winners and Losers in the Federal Budget Agreement

Rhythm board game for young students

From Susan Paradis' Piano Teacher Resources blog, here is a template for a rhythm board game.  It's meant for private piano lessons but easily could be used in a general music or beginning band or orchestra class.  This game could also be modified for more advanced ensembles.  Enjoy!

Rhythm Board Game

Google Rocks!

As we have learned from taking this class, Google is an amazing resource for teachers.  We have already learned about Google Docs, Google Websites, Google Reader, Blogger, and more.  This article outlines 15 items in google that are great for educators and the classroom.  There are a few items in this article that we have not covered.  I know I am in the process of creating a Website that I will be able to use for my private lessons students thanks to Google!

Enjoy!

15 Little Known Ways Google Can Help Teachers and Students

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir with "Sleep"

In continuation from my post last week about Eric Whitacre's virtual choir, here is the completed YouTube video.

Eric Whitacre's Sleep

Follow this link to Thomas J. West's post on this amazing video. 

Thomas J West's Blog Link

10 Stats on the American Teenager

Click here for website used

What Makes a Master Teacher

Here is an article I found in the Edutopia blog about Master Teachers.  The author discusses how to be effective.  This has to do with day to day routines as well as overall goals.  Enjoy!


What Makes a Master Teacher?

Bicycle Built for Two

Here is my version of Bicycle Built for Two.  I really enjoyed using Noteflight.  I actually think I liked it better than Finale.  I think I am going to begin using either Noteflight or MuseScore for my school arrangements from now on.  They are both fully functioning and very easy to use.  I also already have a project planned for my Jr. High Orchestra to use this program to write out their 12 major scales and for transcribing simple melodies.

Eric Whitacre: A Virtual Choir 2,000 voices

This is an AMAZING and awe-inspiring video from TED.com. Well-known composer, Eric Whitacre, is actually doing what we discussed in Week 1 during our virtual Field Trip.  On this video he discusses how he got the idea to do this and the process it took.  The video is absolutely breath taking.  The second video is just the piece with the virtual choir if you don't have time to watch the whole thing.  The last video is a multi-track video for the next Virtul Choir that Whitacre is discussing in his TED.com talk.  Please look at all three.  They're fantastic and will absolutely move you.

NoteFlight Experiment #1

Woo! 10 minutes of trying to figure this out, I did it!

Great Flute Repair Tip

I just found this really great site for music educators, particularly for those of us that are instrumental educators.  Thomas J. West's website is neat site with lots of great information for music educators.  There is are webcam lessons, practice tips, great performances, free original compositions, videos, photos, podcasts, teacher tips, technology tidbits and much more.  Below I have added two links for his recent posts. 

Enjoy!

Flute Repair Tips

A Demonstration of the Value of Performing Music

Teaching Large Groups to Improvise

Here is an article presented by ICAAP about a "Radical Concept" of teaching large ensembles how to improvise.  It is not really a new idea, but I like the methodology behind it.  I know that improvising is not one of my strong points and I would personally like to attempt this in my own classroom.

Large Group Improvisation

Music Education is Vital in our 21st Century World

I received this link from both mustech.net and from a fellow classmates blog.  This is a brief article that confirms the necessity of music education and technology for our 21st Century students.  Both are vital and both help them become more rounded citizens.  In a world where music is being cut from our schools, this might be good to share with your principals and board members!

Music Education: The Indispensable Core Subject Needed in the “21st Century”

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Being of Irish descent and being engaged to a handsome Irishman that plays in Arizona's premier Irish Rock Group (They're opening for Flogging Molly tonight!), I am a little proud of my heritage.  I work in inner city Phoenix and love to expose my students to other cultures.  Therefore, today I did an eartraining lesson along with a brief history of St. Patrick for all grades 4-8 band and orchestra.  For my littler ones, we took the song "My Pretty Irish Girl" from Darby O'Gill and the Little People (my go to St. Patty's movie) and we learned the lyrics and figured out how to play it by ear.  Here is an article on the movie (featuring Sean Connery, then known as Sean O'Conner, in his first American feature).  Happy St.Patty's Day!  Enjoy!

Darby O'Gill and the Little People

Obama Makes Education a Priority in America

Obama will be making some changes to NCLB that will be implemented as early as next year.  He will be "revamping the education law" so that students know that their education is top priority to his administration. 

Obama and Education

Article #2

The U.S. is Urged to Raise the Status of Teachers!

In a speech made by President Obama on Monday, he discussed the need to improve education in this country.  He believes that in order to do so, we need to upgrade the status of educators in America.  He is quoted to say, “In South Korea, teachers are known as ‘nation builders,’ and I think it’s time we treated our teachers with the same level of respect.”  Let's see if we can work towards that common goal so we can improve our students' education!

Click Here for NY Times article

Let the Kids Rule the School!

Here's an interesting story from the New York Times.  It about a school system in western Massachusetts where the students were allowed to create their own curriculum for the year.  You would expect that chaos woul ensue, but kids want to learn.  When given the chance, they might surprise us!

Kids Rule the School!

PLN Find #2, Week 1

What an inspiring story!  Through the Music Matters Blog, here are two video clips of 106-year-old Holocaust Survivor, Alice Sommer Herz, talking about and playing Bach.  This would be a really great video to show our students when we are having a hard time getting them to practice on a regular basis.  Enjoy!

Playing Bach at 106 (years, not bpm!)

PLN Find #1 for Week 1

Here is a great story from NPR.com that you can read or listen to.  Here is a school in Miami that went from a failing school to an acheiving school.  President Obama visited this school to mark their success.

Miama Success Story on NPR.com

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello everyone!

I'm very excited to begin a journey to further my technological knowledge.  According to the terms used in the Bauer article we read this week titled A Conceptual Framework for Technology-Assisted Music Learning, I would have to label myself as a "Digital Immigrant."  Granted I grew up with technology in the classroom and in my home, I feel that I am not a "techie."  I would love to learn more!

Musically Yours,
Mandi