Okay, so it hasn't been all that bad in class these past two weeks. I had been expecting a very challenging course involving everything from easy math problems to downright complicated statistical mathmatics. I am happy to say that I have been able to keep up with the assignments and learn some of the basics of statistical analysis.
Thankfully, I have a wonderful group that is supportive and helpful. Although we have faced many challenges in our profession recently, we have found that not only are the group meetings needed to complete our various assignments, but it has also been a place for us to chat (or vent I guess) about the political happenings around our state. I am blessed to be a teacher, I am proud that I have chosen to continue as a lifelong learner, and I glad to be with such a great group of professionals and friends.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Stats? Ah!
I have been wrapping my head around this for a few days now, but I am pretty worried about this course. You might think that hey, you're a musician, shouldn't you be pretty good at math?!? Well, I never have been and dealing with numbers worries me.
I am looking forward to learning about charts and how I can add this information into my conversations as factual data and I hope that we learn how to bring firm numbers to our administrators and technology personnel to help improve our technology in our schools.
I am looking forward to learning about charts and how I can add this information into my conversations as factual data and I hope that we learn how to bring firm numbers to our administrators and technology personnel to help improve our technology in our schools.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
SMART Goal
There is one goal that I want to do with my band students and that is blogging. I have said it before, I think it is a very useful tool and I believe the students at my school are not getting it at all, so why not in band.
I would like to see my students reflecting on several things throughout the year. It goes without saying that all performances would have a blog post attached to it. However, I would also show YouTube videos of performances and ask them to comment or respond in some way that relates to the performance. I want to begin by starting up a blog post for their solo & ensemble performances and then get a reaction to how they felt the preparation was compared to the performance. I am firm believer that the process is more important than the product and I want to help my students see how this can be fun and reflective and how it might impact their next performance.
Since I want to start one up for our solo & ensemble festival, that means my time line is here. I want to begin this immediately. However, in an effort to make it more realistic, I believe I will ask for volunteers on this trial basis and see how it goes.
I would like to see my students reflecting on several things throughout the year. It goes without saying that all performances would have a blog post attached to it. However, I would also show YouTube videos of performances and ask them to comment or respond in some way that relates to the performance. I want to begin by starting up a blog post for their solo & ensemble performances and then get a reaction to how they felt the preparation was compared to the performance. I am firm believer that the process is more important than the product and I want to help my students see how this can be fun and reflective and how it might impact their next performance.
Since I want to start one up for our solo & ensemble festival, that means my time line is here. I want to begin this immediately. However, in an effort to make it more realistic, I believe I will ask for volunteers on this trial basis and see how it goes.
Web 2.0 - last class
This was a great class. I really enjoyed learning about all of the possible web 2.0 tools that are available, and also where I can go to research new tools for the future. I plan on implementing a few of these tool very quickly.
The first tool I began using during this class is a Google Site. I started a few sites that will coincide with specific classes I teach but the one I will use immediately will be for the solo & ensemble festival that Mukwonago hosts every year. I am the festival manager for this festival which brings in over 1,000 students from SE Wisconsin to perform either solos or ensembles, or both, within a day and a half festival. This is a big undertaking and I created this web site to assist students, parents, teachers with common information regarding our festival. There are many pieces at work during this festival and it is vital to have the right information for a successful festival.
The second tool is blogging. I plan to begin using this tool in phases and slowly incorporate it into our curriculum. I believe it to be a vital and power reflection tool that can be used in my music classrooms. People may think, why in a music class, shouldn't you be performing? Well yes, but there is also a great deal of reflection that can occur to help the student improve on an instrument. I believe that without reflection and understanding of what I just did, or just practiced or performed, there is little ways in which we can develop a plan for improvement. As with all subjects, music and band are not different. With reflection, and in this case blogging, positive improvements can be implemented.
The first tool I began using during this class is a Google Site. I started a few sites that will coincide with specific classes I teach but the one I will use immediately will be for the solo & ensemble festival that Mukwonago hosts every year. I am the festival manager for this festival which brings in over 1,000 students from SE Wisconsin to perform either solos or ensembles, or both, within a day and a half festival. This is a big undertaking and I created this web site to assist students, parents, teachers with common information regarding our festival. There are many pieces at work during this festival and it is vital to have the right information for a successful festival.
The second tool is blogging. I plan to begin using this tool in phases and slowly incorporate it into our curriculum. I believe it to be a vital and power reflection tool that can be used in my music classrooms. People may think, why in a music class, shouldn't you be performing? Well yes, but there is also a great deal of reflection that can occur to help the student improve on an instrument. I believe that without reflection and understanding of what I just did, or just practiced or performed, there is little ways in which we can develop a plan for improvement. As with all subjects, music and band are not different. With reflection, and in this case blogging, positive improvements can be implemented.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Podcasts/Screencasts
This was a lot of fun this week. I learned about podcasting or screen casting and I have to say, I am really excited to bring this technology to my program. I joined screenr and recorded my first screen cast video that involved how to log into our Charms Office Assistant program. This online portal is a location where students and parents can discover information about calendars, finances, forms, schedules, etc. This is also the place where teachers go to send a quick e-mail and all students and parents in the program. It's a wonder and easy tool for us to keep in better communication.
The screen cast was fun, but also had its issues. I found that I tried several different screen cast sites, but liked Screenr the best. I liked it best because I could manipulate how much of the screen is recorded, which for me was very important - I didn't need to show everyone my shortcuts, and I could also post this video anywhere I needed.
I'm positive that this will be used more frequently in my school band program. We have several technological tools we use and this will be a great addition to helping students/parents get around using those tools.
The screen cast was fun, but also had its issues. I found that I tried several different screen cast sites, but liked Screenr the best. I liked it best because I could manipulate how much of the screen is recorded, which for me was very important - I didn't need to show everyone my shortcuts, and I could also post this video anywhere I needed.
I'm positive that this will be used more frequently in my school band program. We have several technological tools we use and this will be a great addition to helping students/parents get around using those tools.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Ahh, RSS.....where have you been?
I set up RSS without really knowing what I had done. When we started this journey of working towards my Master's in Instructional Technology, I wondered upon this thing called Google Reader. After messing around for a short while and adding the blog locations of all the other students in the cohart, I quickly realized I wasn't sure what this all does for me.
After reading this book and the chapters leading up to this point, I now understand what I should be doing. BTW, I think I'll finally go bookmark my Google reader location now. :) Where has this technology been all my life? Well maybe not all my life. RSS is probably the coolest development since You Tube, and probably more useful than You Tube. I think that this is something that should be taught to students in middle school or early high school to help keep all of these important website organized.
After reading this book and the chapters leading up to this point, I now understand what I should be doing. BTW, I think I'll finally go bookmark my Google reader location now. :) Where has this technology been all my life? Well maybe not all my life. RSS is probably the coolest development since You Tube, and probably more useful than You Tube. I think that this is something that should be taught to students in middle school or early high school to help keep all of these important website organized.
Microblogging
This week we learned about microblogging (Twitter) and photo sharing options. I found that the most useful things we discussed this week that I can apply to my teaching position is the use of a blog (Blogger.com) and the photo sharing site.
I have used this blog for this Master's program, however after reading the text about how blogs can be a useful reflection tool and can allow students to understand what blogging can do for them, I began using one for my own class. I now blog about my activities in class and have shared the site location with my students. I think the students will enjoy it and I will eventually use it for a way for my students to comment on topics given in class.
The other topic was the use of photo sharing. I have used one before for school pictures, however I use a different one for my personal use than school use. I believe I will now move entirely to my personal one and then link my school photos to my Picasa site location. I never use students full names and actually rarely even put a name by the photo. I have found that in order for me to use these photos online, I should be more strict with how I post photos, that way I have protected myself even beyond what the district policy states.
I have used this blog for this Master's program, however after reading the text about how blogs can be a useful reflection tool and can allow students to understand what blogging can do for them, I began using one for my own class. I now blog about my activities in class and have shared the site location with my students. I think the students will enjoy it and I will eventually use it for a way for my students to comment on topics given in class.
The other topic was the use of photo sharing. I have used one before for school pictures, however I use a different one for my personal use than school use. I believe I will now move entirely to my personal one and then link my school photos to my Picasa site location. I never use students full names and actually rarely even put a name by the photo. I have found that in order for me to use these photos online, I should be more strict with how I post photos, that way I have protected myself even beyond what the district policy states.
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