Joey's+Page

=Week 4 Competency=

Blogs
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Students currently studying music where I teach are required to attend a concert every six weeks and write a two page concert report detailing the concert they attended. This report must contain a detailed description of the concert and include as much academic language as possible. With the current system in place, students hand in the reports, I read and grade them, and then they are simply returned to the students. I get to read about some pretty cool concerts but no one else gets to hear about them. If students were required to create a blog instead of handing in a report then everyone could have to opportunity to hear about all the cool concerts. Students could upload their program and include pictures of the venue. Other students could then read their colleagues blogs, comment about them, and/or attend a similar concert.

=Week 4 Resource= Managing Student Conduct []

Managing students in a nontraditional classroom, such as a music class, can be challenging. When most students sit down at a desk with a pen or pencil they are very often conditioned to be quiet and to pay attention. A music class does not have any desks and we give students instruments that make very loud nosies. This can often be a combination for disaster. Melissa Kelly offers some simple suggestions to help create an environment where learning can take place. First, create four to eight, simple and concise rules to be posted in the classroom. As always, my #1 rule is RESPECT. Next, you must develop a clear, effective, and fair discipline plan where the punishment fits the crime. = = =Week 4 Resource= MERLOT Music []

Merlot Music Portal is a great resource managed by the California State University System. If provides its users with links to well established websites that have been reviewed and are considered to have quality material. The site allows the user to search by using key words or to browse through different categories. This site is a great resource for any and all music educators and anyone interested in music.

=Week 3 Competency=

Rubric
[] This week, I decided to explore the rubric website. This site contains pre-made rubrics for many different content areas as well as ones you can design yourself. In the music category, there are nine different sections to chose from. I explored creating a performance rubric.

Every six weeks, students in my music performance class are required to perform a solo in front of their peers. It would be great to have the students evaluate each other using one of these rubrics. The rubric I created evaluates the student's ability in regards to tone production, rhythm, dynamics, expression and style, and articulation. These are all fundamental aspect of music and having students evaluate each other would allow me to assess my students' listening skills.

You can see the rubric I created at: []

Google Earth
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My students are performing music from all around the world but I'd be willing to guess that their geography is not all that strong. With this in mind, I could easily create a lesson plan that explores the geographical locations where the composers lived that composed the music we are performing. This could be used in addition to the virtual field trip or as a separate lesson. Students could study geographical areas of importance and decide if any certain geographical things might have influenced composers, i.e. rivers, mountains, oceans, cities, etc.

In class we are currently working on a composition by Darius Milhaud called Suite Francaise. This composition is composed of five movements, each named after a different region of France. On movement in titled "Provence." Using Google Earth, students could explore the area. A guide or questioner could be created to help students explore. Questions could include; What section of France is this located in? Is it near an ocean? If so what ocean? How far from Paris is it? The lesson could be expanded further and include questions such as; When was the area first inhabited? How many people currently live there? What is the area known for?

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This lesson would not only develop the students' geographical knowledge but would also help to bring a greater understanding and knowledge into the musical performance of a piece.

Week 3 Resource
Middleschool.net offers an enormous amount of information regarding all sorts of aspects regarding middle school teaching. After exploring the site for some time, I found a section called "Chill Out, Information about stress." []

This section contains three links to other sites that provide information about stress and how to better deal with it. As we all know, students (and teachers for that matter) are under a lot of stress!! Musicians often find themselves under even more stress due to performance anxiety before concerts or even when asked to play in front of their colleagues in class. The first link in this section([]) could be an extremely useful tool in the music class. The teacher could lead a session before a concert or class period to reduce stress, or could provide students with the information so that the student could themselves reduce their stress and clear their mind when ever they felt the need to.

=Week 2 Competency=

 Video Conferencing
[|Skype]

I consider myself to be a fairly regular user of Skype. I mainly use it to communicate with family and friends who live out of the country and think it's great! More recently, I used it with two other colleagues for a SFSU project. It was a very effective and efficient way for us to communicate due to the programs ability to both hear and see the people you are communicating with. I could easily see myself incorporating this technology into my music class.

While attending college, my school's wind ensemble would broadcast our concerts live using Skype and I know of more and more universities doing this across the country. My high school could easily do this. We could also partner with another school in another country and share concerts with each other.

This could also be a useful tool in assessing students' abilities. Students could Skype their practicing to either the teacher or other classmates who could assess their playing.

I really see this as a great opportunity to build a relationship with a school in a different country and learning and share with one another. The article below discusses using Skype in the classroom and connecting musicians to conductors (which is really cool!).

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=Week 2 Resources = Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary

One resource that I would like to add to the resource page would be the Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary. [] This site contains thousands of musical terms with definitions and an AIFF file that will actually correctly pronounce the word for you. It also contains musical examples, quizzes and simulations, videos, and an all encompassing appendix. Personally, this site was an invaluable asset to me during my undergraduate studies and continues to be everyday as a prepare for my classes. Every music students, at any level of performance, could find this dictionary helpful. A great way to introduce my students to this site would be to create a musical scavenger hunt where students are given clues or definitions and have to search for the correct word. Or students could be assigned an assignment were they were asked to explore the Instrument Classification appendix or drum rudiments appendix. The options are endless and I believe everyone, even those with an informal interest in music can find this resource useful.

The Kennedy Center ARTSEDGE

[] Over the past few weeks my concert band has been rehearsing Clare Grundman's //The Blue and the Gray//. This composition, written in 1961 to observe the centennial of the Civil War, includes popular folk songs from the time sung by people all across the country. We have been discussing the lyrics and historical context of the tunes over the past few weeks. The Kennedy Center ARTSEDGE Civil War page includes lessons and online resources that explore the songs and letters written during the Civil War. The suggested grade level is 5-8 but these lessons could easily be adapted for older students. One example lesson has students listening to a selected piece, having students fill out a True/False quiz, and discussing the importance of that piece for the people of the time. Students are also exposed to the great photos from the Civil War found on the website. Using these lessons in my classroom, in addition to the repertoire we are currently studying, give students a complete, well-rounded exposure to the unit we a working on.

=**Week 1** Competency= [] How to conduct virtual field trips.

As a music teacher, I am always trying to incorporate professional performances into my lessons for my students to listen to. We are blessed in the Bay Area to be surrounded by so many wonderful professional ensembles and musicians including the San Francisco Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, performances at Yoshi's, and countless others. Nonetheless, further exploration is necessary. By presenting my students with an in-class virtual field trip, we can explore countless other ensembles around the US and the world. I would begin by exploring the S.F. Symphony's education page. I would then move to the New York Philharmonic's website which allows you to watch past performances and listen to podcasts. Finally, I would visit the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall which is extremely interactive and user friendly.

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=**Week 1 Resources**=

 Video-Based Sites
** YouTube: [|www.youtube.com] ** **YouTube for Educators: [|www.youtube.com/edu] ** Teacher Tube: [|www.teachertube.com]

Although I prefer using videos provided by legitimate and professional websites such as those listed above, there are other alternatives that provide quality material. In my music classes I emphasis the importance of creating a characteristic sound on one's instrument. This basically means that a clarinet should sound like a clarinet and a trumpet should sound like a trumpet. This is not always easy for beginners. They often need to be exposed to the sounds that their instrument should actually make. These video based sites could help with this. There are some issues that must be addressed. The teacher would have to provide links to appropriate material. As well all know, anyone can post their own videos on Youtube. I do not want my students modeling their sound after a 5 year old who happens to have a video of themselves playing the alto saxophone. I would also want my students using quality speakers or headphone when listening so they can hear all the overtones being produced. Below are links to some quality videos I would want my students to listen to.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lC6VAIjXY74" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1Z9nBQ_sn8Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

<span style="color: black; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> Academic Standards
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> CA Content Standards: <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px; padding-right: 10px;">[] Advanced Music Standards <span style="background-position: 100% 50%; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;">[]

<span style="background-position: 100% 50%; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;">Every lesson is designed to meet specific standards set forth by the state which as teachers we are clearly aware of. Do our students know what standards we are addressing? Do students even know that there are standards? I think it would be interesting to project the standards on the board, teach a lesson, and ask students to identify the standard that was addressed. The teacher could then assess the students knowledge of what was taught and their ability to identify the specific standard.

<span style="background-position: 100% 50%; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;">An example of a lesson would be to discuss the composer of a piece we are currently working on. We could go on a virtual field trip of the composer's home town, discuss the current events of the time, and discuss the historical significance of the piece. From there I could ask the students what specific standards were meet. Hopefully they would be able to correctly identify the following standard.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px;">3.0 HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal;">Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of Music <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal;">Students analyze the role of music in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting cultural diversity as it relates to music, musicians, and composers. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: 41px; margin-right: 41px; margin-top: auto; padding-bottom: 1em;">Role of Music 3.1 Analyze how the roles of musicians and composers have changed or remained the same throughout history.