Aaron's+Page


 * WEEK 4:**

**Competency:**

**Musescore: [|musescore.org]**

Musescore is a free, music notation software useful to any musician, music teacher, or teacher of any content area looking for an interesting way to teach a creative technology lesson. Watch the tutorial below to see how to get started making your own piece of music. Even if you do not know what a time signature is, anyone can use the default template for a score (a piece of music), add notes any which way, and come up with something. For non-musician students, Musescore can be an interest piquer as well as provide a wonderful and easy way to write music and get a taste for this type of creativity. The free download takes about 5-10 minutes depending on processor speed and set up is a breeze.

media type="youtube" key="0mh6m2mbVHs" height="349" width="425"

I made this lovely piece of music with my colleague/lyricist, [|Simon Bar Sinister] in about 10 minutes:

To hear, you have to download Musescore, download and open this file: All proceeds go to Dr. Bar Sinister and myself.

Fun and relatively easy. It would be advantageous for a teacher with little or no musical experience to instruct students to try different types of instruments, notes, and rests in their score. Again, music is music. Who's to say that one note in the middle of a page is less relevant as a piece of art as two notes over on the side :) But for the music teacher, this program can be incredibly useful for a large number of purposes: exercises, tests, score making, transcribing, composition instruction, etc.


 * Resource 1:**


 * Gizmo.com**

This appears to be a fantastic resource for discovering and rating freeware of all types. Check out their [|educational links page].


 * Resource 2:**

Education Week is full of teacher, educator, and administrator writings and blogs on many different issues within education. I plan to look toward resources such as this to find answers, advice, inspiration, and well... some odd form of virtual companionship when a live cohort, colleague, or teacher/drinking buddy is unavailable. But after reading some of these blog entries, honestly, I found many of the titles misleading and the writings simply abbreviated introductions to a topic. It's difficult to find writers whose tones are copacetic to my own sensibilities but I did notice that there were many topics of interest important to me. The best thing about most entries I looked at was that they provided links to related resources that likely provide more complete information on the given subject. I still plan to look to similar resources for information, but there must be better ones out there (with less ads) to delve into. **If anyone knows of any, please send my way.**

**WEEK 3:**


 * Competency:**


 * Dropbox**

Dropbox rules. It is quite simple to use and a good way to share files between computers, back up your files online, and have a way to access your files from any computer that has internet connection. Any file that is saved in your Dropbox folder on your computer will be immediately available, in that form, on any computer that you install Dropbox onto. Also, you can access their documents/media from any connected computer just by going to the site. Here is a speedy, mildly annoying yet entertaining tutorial from the Dropbox website: Dropbox Tour.

The free version of Dropbox is quite good and could easily be used to collect online assignments of students or as a sharing site for student work, like a Wiki. These files are actually stored on your computer in a Dropbox folder when you download the software, but they are only updated on a different computer (with the software) when that computer __is__ online or __goes__ online.

Marketed on the simple idea that you'll never need to email yourself another file, Dropbox offers storage for other media as well. If you need more space you can buy it but you get quite a bit of space for free. Dropbox has many sharing possibilities as well. You can make available any folder in your Dropbox to other members making this a perfect venue for group or partner assignments in the classroom. Having students use this site for group projects would be a reasonable way to also teach about cloud computing. As long as you can get online, cloud storage and sharing can be an invaluable tool for any teacher, if for no other reason than to manage your own documents.

Careful, though, because some schools, like my school site, that block Youtube also block Dropbox. In my case I can use the file sharing features of School Loop for similar purposes.

**Resource 1:**

media type="custom" key="9262646"

Above is a video found on **Teacher Tube**, a fantastic resource for any teacher searching for refreshing curriculum ideas, "how to" videos, or videos that actually teach a lesson to students. I have always been curious about the //Smartboard// and here was an easy way to find a good classroom example of the technology (complete with kids!). After doing a few searches using the search field at the top of Teacher Tube's home page, one can get an idea of what a vast array of educational resources are at your fingertips on this website. Granted, it seems, like YouTube, one would also find many items unrelated to their issues of interest, but I guess that is the beauty of it as well: one might stumble upon other good things in the process. For instance, I did a general search for "History" and a Jazz History video came up, which would have been a welcome result for myself as a music teacher. But on the homepage are multiple categories one can search.

It is free and seems simple to register, in which case you won't have to sit through time-consuming, mandatory ads. At that point you can also upload your own items to site adding to the community. Students also upload their own videos and media-based assignments.

More information about the site can be found at Wikipedia


 * Resource 2:**

Classroom management will be a challenge for everyone when they find a job. In my classroom, currently, it is a daily issue. Every class discussion with teachers and/or fellow candidates is great for me as I can listen to others who share aspects of my situation and I can air my own. One year of the credential program does not seem like enough to become truly skilled in this art, but with experience and reinforcement, I believe we all will become stronger in this facet of our teaching. A great place for reinforcement of classroom management ideas is: MiddleWeb. Focusing on Middle School classroom management issues and Middle School reform, this site offers the below menu and more:


 * [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="10" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="7" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="158" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="7" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="7" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="21" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="76" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="16" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="34" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="49" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="9" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="46" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="8" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="66" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="31" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="35" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="50" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="7" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="10" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="650" height="10"]] || [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="10"]] ||
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 * |||||||||| [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/interest.gif width="174" height="36" caption="of interest" link="http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaOfPartInt.html"]] |||||||| [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/news.gif width="120" height="36" caption="news" link="http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaNews.html"]] |||| [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/diaries.gif width="83" height="36" caption="diaries" link="http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaDiaries.html"]] |||||| [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/chat.gif width="63" height="36" caption="chat" link="http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaChat.html"]] |||| [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/resources.gif width="97" height="36" caption="resources" link="http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaResources.html"]] |||||||| [[image:http://www.middleweb.com/mw/images/links.gif width="93" height="36" caption="links" link="http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaHotLinks.html"]] ||  ||

MiddleWeb is an extensive classroom management resource for Middle School but certainly applicable to High School as well. I will definitely be browsing this site for reminders and good ideas about classroom management. They also have different types of information for teachers (lesson ideas, etc.) and links to other relevant, useful resources.


 * WEEK 2:**


 * Competency/Resource:**

Hi, here is a snippet about Morton Subotnick from his website: [|Morton Subotnick]

Morton Subotnick is one of the pioneers in the development of electronic music and multi-media performance and an innovator in works involving instruments and other media, including interactive computer music systems. Most of his music calls for a computer part, or live electronic processing; his oeuvre utilizes many of the important technological breakthroughs in the history of the genre. In the early 60s, Subotnick taught at __ Mills College __ and with Ramon Sender, co-founded the __ San Francisco Tape Music Center __. During this period he collaborated with Anna Halprin in two works (the 3 legged stool and __ Parades and Changes __) and was music director of the Actors Workshop. It was also during this period that Subotnick worked with Buchla on what may have been the first __ analog synthesizer __ (now at the Smithsonian Museum). In 1966 Subotnick was instrumental in getting a Rockefeller Grant to join the Tape Center with the Mills Chamber Players (a chamber at Mills College with performers Nate Rubin, violin; Bonnie Hampton, cello; Naomi Sparrow, piano and Subotnick, clarinet). The grant required that the Tape Center relocate to a host institution that became Mills College. Subotnick, however, did not stay with the move, but went to NY with the Actor’s Workshop to become the first music director of the Lincoln Center Rep Company in the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. He also, along with Len Lye, became an artist in residence at the newly formed Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. The School of the Arts provided him with a studio (__ pictures __) and a __ Buchla Synthesizer __. During this period he helped develop and became artistic director of the __ Electric Circus __ and the __ Electric Ear __. This was also the time of the creation of __ //Silver Apples of the Moon// __, __ //The Wild Bull// __ and __ //Touch//. __

Subotnick has created a very simple, user friendly, child friendly, SPED and EL friendly music learning and creation website that I would consider a competency and a resource: [|CreatingMusic.com]

Go ahead and try out as many activities on the site as you have time for. It's really fun, feels like brain games, and it's clear after using the site for a few minutes that it could be quite enjoyable for young students in many content areas. Not only can this site be used to pique student interest in a music class, but also to teach/reinforce use of technology. The activities are basic versions of more complicated music recording and notation software.

Best of all, one does not have to be a musician to use the site. What if a math teacher simply wants to be sure her students are involved in music on some level because of the many studies proving that musical training boosts student performance in other content areas?

The ear-training games are especially fun. Try 'em out!! [|Hearing Music]


 * Resource 1:**

Here is a link ([|Teachers.net]) for various resources for new teachers. The article I read consists of classroom management strategies and techniques we have been learning all year. I have seen how these simple organizational rules have lent themselves to a reasonable level of proper functioning in my sometimes rowdy classrooms. Start at this link and explore by scrolling down or: [|First Day].


 * Resource 2:**

The following is the mission statement of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles:

The J. Paul Getty Museum seeks to further knowledge of the visual arts and to nurture critical seeing by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting works of art of the highest quality. To fulfill its mission, the Museum continues to develop its collection through purchase and gifts, complementing its impact through special exhibitions, publications, educational programs developed for a wide range of audiences, and a related performing arts program. The Museum strives to provide its visitors with access to the most innovative research in the visual arts while they enjoy a unique experience in viewing works of art at our Getty Center and Getty Villa sites. While benefiting from the broader context of the Getty Trust, the Museum also extends the reach of its mission via the internet and through the regular exchange of works of art, staff, and expertise.

Their extensive website includes an education link with lesson plans and other resources for teachers and students. Start here: [|K-12]. Then go to Resources for the Classroom in the upper left. There you can find lesson plans for any grade in most content areas. Since I would like to include visual arts in my music classes (I feel the two are heavily related) this could be an excellent source for me to find lesson plans to use or tweak.


 * WEEK 1:**

Hi, this week I will be exploring the idea of using video in guitar class for the purpose of creating:

An **instructional video** for use in clarifying the proper ways to play various repertoire and to display proper technique.

A **blog** to post this video (and other relevant materials). This would be a place where students can go to view such a video.

A service for student and teacher to use **video conferencing** for online, live question, answer, and musical sharing and instructing during non school hours.


 * Competency:**

How to create an **instructional video** with a Mac or PC laptop:

Let's start with PC. Wikipedia offers a ton of information on how to use **Windows Movie Maker** to make a video that you can share via youtube, blogs, or other means:

@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Movie_Maker

Windows Movie Maker comes with Windows XP & Vista and once opened will take the user step by step through the process of making a video. This website also has much information:

@http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/windows-xp

For Mac users, use **iMovie**. Simply open iMovie and go to File (drop down menu) and choose Import From Camera. As long as an external camera is not connected, the computer will use its own camera automatically. You will be prompted to "create new event" and will see the image of yourself in the window. You can adjust your laptop screen to the correct angle. When ready, hit the Capture button to begin filming. When finished filming, hit the Done button. Your film will automatically be saved as an event in iMovie that you can edit or "share" (export, really) as a YouTube video or a file of various, possible sizes. First you must create a New Project in iMovie then drag your video from the event window to the project window (you can edit, if need be, in either place). Once your "project" is ready, go to the Share drop down menu and select how you would like to "share" your movie.

Here is an abbreviated and far too informal video of myself teaching a popular type of guitar strumming. I have already "shared" this video to my YouTube account so it can be viewed by the public. One can choose various levels of privacy as to who is able to view their video:

media type="youtube" key="lMoujzMsqZQ?rel=0" height="195" width="320"

This entire process on a PC (with Windows) is quite similar. Probably not as straightforward as on the Mac.

I think that sharing videos online with students is a useful way to augment and differentiate instruction in ways not always possible in the classroom. The simple fact that students can stop, rewind, and view again allows them to work differently and at their own pace.

Just as I embedded the above video into this wiki page the same can be done in a blog. At [|problogger.net] there are many explanations as to what a blog is. I think my favorite is:

//A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.” Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly.’ (http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html)//


 * Resource #1**: Keeping a class blog.

After doing a little searching around on the web I realized that it's quite simple to start a blog in which one can discuss issues, post videos and links, and attach other media related to classroom curriculum. I feel this would be a good way to generate excitement about a content area, esp. since students spend so much time online. There are numerous sites that allow one to start a blog for free. Some seem simpler, some more in depth in how they function and posting and privacy possibilities. Here are a few sites: [|Wordpress], [|Weebly], [|Thoughts], and [|Blogspot]. You can start your own blog from the home page of any of these sites. I tried Blogspot (or blogger.com) and it was pretty simple. Here is the beginning of what could be a general music class blog:

[]

Blogspot (link above) takes you through the initial steps of attaining a URL, choosing a prefab look for your blog, and getting you ready to post in about 30 seconds. The initial process is very simple. The rest took some trial and error and reading tutorials. It's quite similar to this wikispace.


 * Resource #2**: Skype []

The free version of Skype seems completely useful for a music class. In a guitar class such as the two I teach, with 32 students in each, it is very difficult to give individual attention and instruction. If it is possible for my schedule, when I have my own class I will offer video phone call instruction at certain times of the week. This way, motivated students who are not able to come in at lunch or after school for help can use this resource to stay caught up or advance ahead. Whomever has a computer with a video camera and a free Skype account will have access to video conferencing with the instructor. I imagine that it would look a lot like the strumming video I posted above but a two way conversation. If it is realtime, which I believe it is, playing music together would be possible.