Hey there everyone! I must apologize for my lack of a blog update last week, it was very hard to find any time on the computer as I was spending literally 19 hours a day at school everyday last week (not an exaggeration, unfortunately). Our production of "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" went Amazingly and I could not have been happier!!! Now it is back to real life...
The topic of my blog last week had to do with the NETS*T2 standard. According to this standard a teacher in the 21st century classroom should
a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and
resources to promote student learning and creativity
b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to
pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their
own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own
progress.
As I have stated previously, I often find myself wondering how exactly to incorporate digital tools into my music classroom as a way to help the students learn and create in a different way. But I would like to focus on one tool that I have actually personally designed which has helped me in the past. I was sitting at home watching television one night and I flipped past the game shows "Don't Forget The Lyrics" and "The Singing Bee" both of which were helping to bring the art of live performing/singing into a new type of entertainment. As I watched these show I thought to myself, what an interesting way to challenge my new singers, into developing the drive to make music independently (Which is one of our National Music Standards).
So I started to think of a way to incorporate a game similar to these shows in my classroom, and after hours of playing around with PowerPoint I was able to design a touch game based on "The Singing Bee" using a mixture of popular songs from the radio, and songs that we were learning in class. I introduced this game to my classes with a very positive outcome and response.
That was my first real experience with designing a relative learning experience which Incorporated this sort if Digital Tool, but now I am still looking for even more experiences similar to this, which can help break up the every-day routine of the music class.
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Scott,
ReplyDeleteWow, how did you use the power point to create this game idea on your wikispace? I would love to check out your space once you get it up and running. I'm not a music teacher, but my sixth grade students love--absolutely love music!
Programs such as Power Point and Smart Notebook are good tools for creating interactive presentations or games. Smart Notebook has the advantage of a content gallery that contains a number of flash based interactive tools. For more information on Smart Technologies go to http://www.education.smarttech.com
ReplyDeleteScott-I too was missing in action last week. I was moving from Milford to Wyoming. No moving van, just six trucks and a crew of friends. Like always I like your updates because of my interest in music. Nice "brain-storm". I think when I finally subscribe to the Internet I am going to instruct my children to copy your idea. We could have a lot of fun with it. You could take that concept and really develop it. It reminded me of the "Music Memory Contest" I won when I was a kid. You had to learn/memorize a series of classical composers and their work and identify them through small soundbites at the local music hall. I have no idea why I was so interested back then but I was. Totally out of character for me at the time. My parents were baffled. Thanks Again.
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