Steady Beat Activities

This is a short list with four ideas for steady beat activities. Click on my link - and then in her blog there are four additional links.

It's always a good idea to have a different steady beat activities in your tool box.  I use these activities as class warm-ups, change of pace activities, or to fill time if we finish a lesson early! I also think they can be fun to use even with the older kids, like high schoolers! If you have a good time, they will too.

Steady Beat Activities

Calendars and Music Teacher's Helper

Whether you run a private studio, or are looking for a different way to manage your lessons and music schedule, here is a blog post about music teacher's helper and some of the resources it provides - particularly calendars for private teachers.

In either case, took a look! Calendar

93% of STEM Graduates from MSU Reported Musical Training

This is a 10-minute interview you listen to discussing a study completed on Michigan State University Honor Graduates that majored in STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering, and math - and how they were involved with the arts over their lifetime.

93% of STEM graduates from MSU reported musical training.

The study supports the notion that there IS in fact a link between arts education and entrepreneurship.  It also supports STEM AND ARTS education together.  The field of arts education can always use more support. 

Check out the interview here.

Quick Tips for Teaching Jazz and Blues

"They think that children who are eager to focus on it, need to learn sophisticated bass lines and intentional dissonances under the watchful eye of an expert and it isn’t considered to be something that an untutored teacher can offer."

The above quote from the article describes exactly how I personally feel: I have little to no experience with jazz and blues except singing a few vocal pieces and listening to recordings.  I am intimidated to even to try to teach it because I don't want to teach it incorrectly.  I would be learning as I went.

This article reminds us that we CAN introduce jazz and blues, even in just basic form, and reminds teachers like me to not be intimidated.  

Check out this link for some quick tips!

iPad Vocal Warm-Ups

Here's another post by the same author, Dr. Christopher Russell, but I just stumbled across his blog and am really enjoying it!

In this one he's created choral warm-ups that can be displayed on an iPad, or any other presentation software i.e. SMARTboard, Promethean.

iPad Choral Warm-ups

Technology in a Chorus Classroom

I found this post from a choral director discussing how he's using all sorts of modern music technology in his chorus classroom for rehearsals, recordings, notation, score editing, etc. etc. etc.  Some of the new things he talks about are way over my head, but he also refers to things like Soundcloud and MusicXML - both of which I'm learning right now.  

Check out this quick read about how he's connecting all the technology dots in his middle school chorus class. 

Forgetting and Remembering

As educators (and someone who is frequently forgetful), I think it's important to read articles such as the one I'm going to share with you reminding and/or informing us how our students process, remember, and retain information.  This short blog post gives a quick step by step on the process of forgetting and remembering so that we can make sure we are teaching most effectively so our students are actually REMEMBERING what they learn.  

Learning to Learn

Will Following the Bouncing Ball Help Students Learn Music?

As I mentioned earlier, I'm currently in a graduate level Technology for Music Education course.  I came across this article on music ed technology and 'should' we do things with technology just because we CAN? In this particular case it's referring to those 'bouncing balls' like in Karaoke videos to help students follow the music or lyrics and asking if it will truly help them learn the music?

The Bouncing Ball

Learning Noteflight

In my Technology for Music Education class, we are working with some of the different notation programs now available.  This exercise introduced us to www.noteflight.com.  Here is my first attempt at recreating an original score using this program.  

Click:
A Bicycle Built for Two 

After watching the tutorials, I thought this program was going to be fairly simple to use.  I still believe that it is, but it required more time than I expected.  It's similar in nature to MuseScore, although I like Noteflight's more 'current' feel.

I think Noteflight is a valuable tool for the music education classroom.  I already see myself using it create sight reading examples, ear training exercises, scales and warm-ups to practice at home, and the like.  I like how Noteflight offers the ability to embed files into blogs or provide links for anyone to use.  This will make it easy for me to share music, examples, etc with students and parents alike through class blogs, emails, and websites.  I am not sure yet how well this program will work trying to create longer pieces of music.  With a little more practice and experience I will be able to form a better opinion.  However, for short excerpts I think it is great!

NotateMe App for Instant Musical Notation

I haven't dug any deeper into this concept other than what's listed in the article, but it seems really neat! Recent articles in my Technology for Music Education graduate class have me excited about incorporating more composition activities into my lessons.  This might be one way to do just that- and fairly easily! Check it out!    NotateMe App 

Rhythm Blocks!

This music teacher uses Rhythm Blocks as part of her music stations rotation in elementary music.  I'm still trying to find where to order these blocks, but I think they are brilliant and look like fun! I wish I had them for my elementary classes last year.  I never thought about the idea of 'music stations' in a general music class.  It makes absolute perfect sense, I just never thought about it before.  What a great idea! Also, I think students in older grades just learning rhythm and music theory may find these 'fun' if you, the teacher, make them fun.  I see 9th graders thinking I'm crazy but secretly loving it! :)

Rhythm Blocks

What won't keep you happy is the number of 5's you get on an AP exam

"If MIT tells you you might be a little bit too obsessed with the academics... ... you might be a little bit too obsessed with the academics."

"What won't keep you happy is the number of 5's you get on an AP exam."

If you haven't seen this TEDx talk, you need to take 12 minutes to watch it.  I think it's important for any and all educators.  This young man is brilliant and really strikes a chord (pun intended) that resonates throughout our education system.

Why Taking Choir Kept Me from Being Valedictorian