Free Online Resources for the Music Teacher
By janice | March 15, 2010
Here are a few of the resource sites that were part of the latest Music Education Twitter Chat which took place on the 9th March, 2010. The topic up for discussion was:
“What are the best web 2.0 tools to integrate in the music classroom and how do they show their effectiveness?”
These are a few highlights of the chat and are all free systems that may be useful in any classroom or studio setting.
“JamLegend is cool.It’s an like online form of guitar hero.You could use it to teach elements like rhythm. Kids would love it too. “- andrewritenour
Myna is an online audio editing resource where you can remix tracks,apply sound effects easily and record your own voice or instruments. It has a very easy to use demonstration to watch and some tutorials to help you get started Here’s what one of the participators of the chat had to say about it.
“Love Myna my kids love it too which is even better! ” – kgard
“Making Music Fun has some great resources that you can print off and use. Used it in class today actually”- kgard
The free online music listening library called Grooveshark sparked some debate towards the end of the twitter chat. Here’s what was said about it:
“Grooveshark is an awesome way to listen to practically anything you want!”-Cb6014
“I love grooveshark! I think it’s the best option online”listen to music online for free: – actinggirljt
“Grooveshark won’t last – just you wait. Ads can’t pay for that kind of traffic. RIAA will get ‘em.”-kevinschellhase
“Actually Grooveshark is already being taken to court – expect them to become a paysite SOON”- kevinschellhase
 | No Comments » |
Topics: Classroom Music, Mus Ed Chat, music teacher resources
Teaching Ideas For Using STOMP in a General Music Class
By janice | March 12, 2010
I just found this STOMP Clip that would provide great inspiration for students in the music classroom of approx junior high school standard.
Lesson Plan Ideas
Make A STOMP Ensemble
Have the class watch a portion of a dvd about the group STOMP. Afterwards, the kids should form small groups and pick out unique objects from a box and create their own verison of STOMP. Near the end of class each group has to perform their creation in front of the class. It covers the National Standards of playing instruments alone and with others, improvising, creating, listening, and showing respect for other’s performances.This idea was written by Joy Shreckengost who is featured in the e-book called Substitute lesson ideas for the Music Teacher
Play The Cup Game
This fun game could involve a few students or the entire class and the only props you’ll need are a few paper cups! It takes time to practice, but encourages co-ordination and rhythmic skill. For instructions on how to play, just have a look at these you tube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grb1oa72kmk
To see it played as a large group, look at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFyQjVsq3U.
This game is featured in the e-book “40 Lifesavers for the Music Teacher“
Play a Junk Percussion Piece
I know this piece really works because: a) my very talented husband and percussionist, kevin wrote it and b) I watched him take some classes with a special needs group- and they just loved it! All you need to do is get together some sticks, buckets, water bottles and other junk percussion items that the kids can find around their homes and mount them on some frames and you’ll be set! This piece called “Hittin It”would work well with special needs as well as mainstream classes. Kevin has put together all the materials such as handouts, recordings and teaching notes so that non- percussion teachers (like me) can easily implement it into their classrooms. When you listen to the recording, I know that it can sound a bit scary to us non percussionists, but let me assure you that it’s much easier than it sounds and as I said before, the experience of making this piece together is very memorable to the students!
Make a Worksheet
If you’re looking for some comprehension questions to answer while your students watch the video, you’ll find some good questions on the TeachNet Website
The Stomp Official Website
There are a lesson plan few ideas and a fact sheets you can download as a PDF on this site.
Here are a few junk related video’s and ideas that are just a bit of extra fun!
| 1 Comment » |
Topics: Classroom Music, Fun and Games, Music Education Articles, Music Teaching, Video, lesson ideas, music lesson plans, music teacher resources
Should We Be Grading Our Students At Young Ages?
By janice | March 8, 2010
This was a question that I came away asking myself after the first ever Music Education Twitter Chat which took place recently on March 2nd, 2010 involving approximately thirty music educators worldwide. It was a very busy hour with interesting tweets coming from all directions and loads of different opinions, resources and articles to check out.
Throughout the talk we discussed what effective methods of assessments were currently being used and are available to a performance based class or teaching situations. There were many different ways of tracking student’s progress highlighted and loads of resource options to use throughout the talk which are definitely interesting to use and look at.
Grading certainly has it’s place with older students, however I have strong feelings when it comes to young students. I feel that grading a young child with anything lower than an A can harm much more than it helps.
I believe that it doesn’t really matter how good our students at younger ages are at the subject, it’s the enthusiasm and motivation the student has for it that counts most.
If a student is enthusiastic, progressing and is having fun then this should deserve an “A” and as specialized music teachers, we should be able to provide the interest, variety and fun to the lesson so that every student can succeed at a high level in their own way.
I would love to have a discussion of your thoughts on this issue. I know everyone has different teaching requirements within their school settings and studios and I would love to hear your ideas and stories. Just leave a comment in the feedback box below.
Click here to get a full written transcript of the talk.
Some useful resources and comments:
“Smart Music is worth every penny – I make my college students use in techniques classes”-MiamiFlute
Just got a Promethean Board. Using the ActivExpressions for “instant” assessments has been eye-opening!-@FamiliarLtlFrog
“I once set up a BLOG and had all of my students list 3 pros and 3 cons in the comments of what/how they were learning.”-@Zweibz7
Check out” Jim Frankel’s Blog Post about the future of iPads in music ed ”
-@katiesw1
“I’ve had good success with Hyperscore. Kids seem much happier with their songs”- @Guitarguy73
There’s an interesting TED talk by Tod Machover and Dan Ellsey which I found on the Hyperscore website about about making music accessible to everyone and what various programs and interfaces do.
| 1 Comment » |
Topics: Classroom Music, Music Education Articles, Music Teaching