This week of my graduate course, Technology for Music Teaching is encouraging me to develop proficiency in MuseScore and Noteflight Crescendo. Both programs are user friendly and both offer tutorials via YOUTUBE. Viewing thse tutorials has been a game changer in my own education. YOUTUBE allows me to view the directions multiple times and also put directions on "pause" until I understand the concept. I need a lot of repetition and learning through viewing, listening, and doing is actually making the concepts stick. Also, MuseScore is free and I am able to use Noteflight Crescendo for about $8 per month.
My learning this past week has also inspired me to make sure I provide my high school choral students varying ways to learn. Within the past 2 weeks, I have recorded indivual voice parts for a barbershop and shared them with the students via email. This gives these singers an opportunity to put a voice part on "pause" and listen and isolate their problem areas. In an effort to provide my students with varying music experiences, I have provided them with 2 varying choral clinician experiences. Just today, a vocal group re:Voiced critiqued their performance and also performed themselves. These men all had varying microphones and ear monitors. re:Voiced was current, talented, and had a great visual presentation. Additionaly, a husband-wife team from UW-Madison, critiqued the choirs and then challenged the students to view additional performances on YOUTUBE.
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear more about the performance opportunities you wrote about in your post. Did these groups perform live, in house? or were they performing via the internet? I think there is a vast expanse of learning and teaching opportunity through audio/video internet communication, particularly real time. While it's not a music opportunity, the third graders at my school have been participating in a Mystery Skype project for the past few years. They Skype with a classroom somewhere in the US. Both classes ask questions the others answer. Each class has to guess what state they are communicating with. It is totally student-led once the technology is in place. How cool would it be to perform for each other this way when preparing for a concert! Even my elementary kids could get something out of critiquing another school. This would also be driving us toward the NCCAS in that the students are leading their learning rather than the teacher.
Great post!
Katie
Hi Katie- I haven't used Skype as a way to perform and connect with another music classroom. These performances were live, at our local school. Did you start Mystery Skype? You are very creative and brave to try it!
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