Noteflight

This is the first time in a very long time that I have worked with notation software.  Noteflight is a great online resource.  I found it easy to use.  The tutorial videos were extremely helpful.  If I were to use this program with my students those videos would be and excellent resource for students.  When working on this week's assignment I was rather surprised there was not a vocal option on the free version.  I would personally consider the voice to be ae main instrument and should have been included.  It was nice to be able to use my computer keyboard to input the notes.  Switching note values took me a while to get used to but it became easy eventually.  Overall, this is a great program that I will be using  in the future.  Here is my version of A Bicycle Built For Two.  

http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/7d33fc16dbd3b15a327f167a468521df4b298abe

People generally describe musicians and artists as creative. My high school band in a rural Illinois district is full of creative students, but we still aren't able to utilize technology in our classroom as much as I would like.

Personally,  I've had experience with programs such as GarageBand. It has allowed me to create mix downs and fade in and out and send it on to iTunes.  I think the software can be a very useful tool and would love to expose my high school band of 70 students to it. However,  we would have to get creative simply because our school computer lab isn't nearly large enough to accommodate everyone. In fact, next month, voters in our district will have a chance to okay a renovation project to our over 100-year-old building that would include a new media center. Maybe that could allow for some more availability. 

Some of more core subjects are able to utilize technology and different software to expose students to different forms of learning. Bauer (2014) makes the case that music software can allow young musicians to explore their creativity and also teach them to attempt new things which could lead to great new and exciting results.

Moving forward, I think I would like to allow some of my students to utilize some programs such as GarageBand, even if in small groups. If we could incorporate this in our elementary school, it might help increase numbers and interest in our program since the younger generations are so used to technology.

As for now, field show software and Facebook are about the only tools I'm able to use to flood messages to my band and parents, but I also think it's just a matter of time before that can improve.

A new beginning......"Technology and Me!"

            At Harrisburg High School, it is safe to say that my classroom is filled with what Bauer (2014) describes as digital natives. For the post part, all of my students have computers at home, or at the very least easy access to a computer with Internet, and it is guaranteed that nearly 100 % of my students have a smart phone.  As I travel to my elementary school to teach 5^th grade each afternoon, digital natives again surround me.  Several times a week when I am working with my younger students, I am reminded how normal it is for them to work with technology and how most of them would be lost without it.  On the rare occasion my phone rings or I get a text during a beginning band lesson that I have to respond to, I will take out my phone and it never fails that a student comments on how they either have that same phone or how they just upgraded to the most recent iPhone.  I always think to myself that at the age of 10 in 1994, I had never “upgraded” or even heard of a cell phone.   Like most people my age, it wasn’t until I got my driver’s license that I used a cell phone regularly and that was only for emergencies when I was driving.
           In 2015, technology is not a luxury to most. It is a necessity.  It is everywhere we go.   Although I would consider myself a digital immigrant, I enjoy my iPhone and on the extremely rare occasion I leave home without it, I am completely lost!  I try to remember what I did before being able to text in mere seconds.  I’m sure life was much simpler, but not nearly as convenient as it is now.  That being said, I know there are many ways in which I can improve my own technological understanding.  Incorporating technology is something that I can vastly improve upon in my own classroom.  Lack of resources and my classroom set-up deter me from using any technology in my classroom with any sort of regularity. 

            After watching this week’s lecture, I found myself reflecting on my own classroom.  During my time as an undergrad, I was not exposed to nearly enough music technology.  I was fresh out of college when I got my first teaching job, and I have stayed in that position ever since.  The first year it felt like the goal was just to survive.  Now that I have been there for six years, I am always trying to look for ways to improve.  Incorporating technology is now my number goal.  I strongly feel my students need this in order to receive the best and most well-rounded education I can offer them.  Sights like Feedly allow teachers to explore and get new ideas for their own classroom.  I have loved reading through articles on iPad and technology in music education.  I use my iPad regularly so these tips and articles are relevant to my current teaching practices.  With all of the recent changes to education exploring the NAfME site has been very helpful.  While watching the edutopia video, I was particularly struck by a statement from Adam Bellow;

            “If you can do this lesson without technology that’s great, but if you can do it better with technology then that’s why you use it.  That’s why you use tools.” 

            While I feel I am offering my students a solid music education, technology can make me a better teacher and give them a stronger education, and that is something we should all strive for.  This class is providing me that opportunity.