Week 7: Google Docs

This week we focused on Google Docs. I was first introduced to Google Docs by a friend last summer when we were trying to share lesson plans with each other from across the country. Google now offers so much and it is all free and available on just about any device (iPad, iPhone, Computer). Over the last year, I have worked on transferring and organizing all my school files into my Google Drive. I have not done too much with Google Docs except as a word processor.

This week opened my eye to all that Google really does offer. I had no idea I could create slide shows in Google. I easily made a band PowerPoint that included pictures and YouTube videos. The videos were very easy to insert because all that is needed is the video’s URL. The bank of templates is great to get quick and easy slides that look nice.

Other features used this week were Google Calendar and the word processor. As I said earlier, I typically use the word processor for all my documents and love how simple it is to use. The calendar is very much like iCal, which is the calendar I currently use. Google Calendar has some nice features, including the fact that it is very easy to share and edit.

My favorite new Google tool is the forms tool. I have never enjoyed creating quizzes, because it takes forever to get them to look good and line up correctly. I like that the quiz can look nice and not take a lot of time. I also like the idea that students can take the quiz online instead of using paper and pencil. I hate having piles of paper everywhere; it just feels like a waste. Plus, most of my students through their quizzes out after they have been graded. The only issue I have with the online test is that I don’t have access to a lot of computers, so I was thinking I cold make taking the quiz as a center activity.  

Week 6: Copyright Laws and Google Sites

This week has been a little less interesting compared to previous weeks, though still informative. This week we covered copyright laws and Google Sites.

I remember talking about copyright laws in my undergrad, because as a music educator I feel we have to deal with copyright laws frequently. Copyright is in place to protect people’s work and with technology and the Internet you can find almost anything online, but that doesn’t mean it is all public domain. Learning what can be used and what can’t is important. I found a link on copyright that is appropriate for elementary general teachers: http://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2015/09/copyright-laws-how-much-do-you-know.html?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss

Google Sites are a great tool for educators. Having a free online resource to post information for parents and students can be extremely beneficial in today’s tech savvy culture. I know the first thing I do when I want to know something is look online, so I’m sure my student’s parents would benefit from me posting important information online. I can easily get a free website to post information about instrument rehearsals, lesson schedules, practice information, and concert dates and attire.

The other great way I came up to use Google Sites for is teaching purposes. I could have a chorus website with information about the music we are learning and sound clip or YouTube videos of the music we are working on. Another great thing to put up is accompaniment tracks for students to practice with. Asking students to practice their chorus music without an accompaniment can be difficult, especially when they come back and have practiced the music incorrectly because they forgot how it sounds. I could put up clips to practice with, like me singing the parts we were working on that week.

Overall, Google Sites seem easy to work with and a great resource for my students. The only thing to watch out for are copyright laws especially when posting music for students to listen to or practice with.

Week 5: Social Bookmarking and Zaption

This week we utilized two wonderful programs online. The first is Diigo, a social bookmarking site, which is a wonderful too for educators. Diigo is a way to save all the neat blogs, games sites, lesson plan ideas, and curriculums. I know that I am always finding ideas online and have a ton of bookmarks on my school and personal computers and I never have what I need on the computer I need it on. I also am very good at bookmarking a site and going back to it and finding out I have no idea why I bookmarked it or I can’t find what I liked on the site. Social bookmarking with Diigo solves this problem and makes bookmarking, I think, easier. Being able to highlight and put stickies on the sight you are bookmarking is so wonderful, no more searching for what you need. Plus, you can access your bookmarks from any computer. The social sharing of bookmarks is a nice feature, but not something that is high on my priority list.

The other site we utilized this week was Zaption, a cool way to make presentations and quizzes using YouTube videos. This is my favorite site thus far, it is beyond easy to use and makes for nice listening activities with the ability to ask questions and put in discussion breaks.  I constantly am pulling up YouTube videos in class to give students a visual experience to go along with listening activities. I usually will point out instruments or musical elements by speaking over the video or pausing. This means each class gets a different experience, because I will sometimes get distracted and miss something I wanted to point out or I will pause to late and have to rewind (rewinding can be difficult in YouTube). By quickly adding in speaking points, discussion questions or multiple choice questions I can eliminate all the fuss and have well organized videos for my lessons.

The other nice part about Zaption is students can access the videos outside of class as assignments or “show-n-tells” at home. I can also easily give quizzes without collecting and having to grade tons of papers. The other nice feature is being able to create simple sub plans that can be accessed from any computer. Many times when I am out, the principal with have my sub travel to the classroom instead of using my room. She does this because the students’ behavior in my school is very rough for subs to handle and my room has the most valuable material in the school, which she doesn’t what the students to break. Usually the subs show a movie from my collection, but now I can set up listening activities that the sub can easily access and show to the class, it’s almost like I will be there with the class.

Here is a link to my Zaption tour for you to check out:

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" Zaption Tour

Week 4: Audacity

This weeks activities using Audacity were a lot of fun and a wonderful experience.  During my undergrad (many years ago), I worked for the universities concert hall recording and editing concerts and performances using Pro Tools. I loved Pro Tools, but could never justify spending the money to buy my own. Audacity has many similarities to Pro Tools including many of the shortcuts, from what I remember.

I have been in in need of a way to edit and cut concert material for my choir a few times and have sent it to work with my husband to edit it more me (he is a TV news photographer/editor and has access to editing software). I love how simple it is to use and get around without much direction. It has all the functions that I would use in Pro Tools but without the cost.

As for a teaching purpose, I can definitely come up with many lessons to utilize this software with my students in elementary school. Though, I do feel this software would be more appropriate with older student due to the complexity of the software. Though I could see elementary students following the step by step instruction from the “Bart” assignment and doing quite well with what would be expect of them.  I could see utilizing this software to teach form and composition at the middle or high school level.

Overall, Audacity is amazing and free. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to buy Pro Tools who don’t really need the full version of Pro Tools. I can’t wait to do more with this software in the future!

Week 3: Soundtrap

It is truly amazing how much cool technology is available for free. This week it was great getting to explore Soundtrap, what a fun program. Honestly, I started working with the free version before upgrading to the premium trail version. I thought the free version had a lot to offer. I really enjoyed playing with all the loops, and could easily spend hours exploring all the neat sounds it has to offer.

As an elementary teacher, I could easily see some of my older (4^th and 5^th grade) students loving this sight. I wish I had some extra computers in my classroom (I only have one) so small groups of students could work on creating pieces of music as a center based activity. I could also see using this software with my talented and gifted small group of students. The program is not too complicated and offers so many sounds and options.

I could also see me using the program to create loops to back up impove singing activities with my younger students. I am not great at piano or guitar, my main instrument is clarinet, so this offers me a way to accompany my students that is easy to use.

I have always loved technology, but feel I am out of the loop now that I have been out of college for eight years. I have found games for my students and create simple activities using my smart board, but I never thought I would find cool programs to create music that are appropriate for elementary students. I have to say that creating music with my students has always been an area that I do not spend as much time on as I feel I should, but have found myself getting excited about creating now that I have found fun new ways to do it with. I definitely feel my students will be doing a lot more creating this year and I don’t think they will be nearly as apprehensive about it because of all the cool software they get to utilize.