Websites

I'm always looking for great interactive websites that I can use in class or pass along to my students to explore at home. I'm also constantly on the lookout for helpful websites to help make my life as a teacher easier or more organized! Here's what I've found so far!

• Incredibox – one of our favorites!! Create your own a cappella ensemble with the click of a button. (Don't forget to try all three versions!)
• The Rhythm Trainer - great for rhythm dictation or recognition individually or as a class. Different modes and levels to choose from.
• Whack a Note - identify note names in carnival game style.
• Isle of Tune - I recommend this for home use since it's blocked at our school....it's a cute game where you can build a musical city.
• Melody Street - cute interactive and informative games for K-2.
• Auditorium - This puzzle game is so intriguing and my 5th graders loved it. It would be a great motivator -- earn minutes to play by finishing your work, for example.
• PBS Kids - all kinds of music games for all ages.
• Artopia - explore music and the other fine arts as 
• Creating Music - some fun, simple games such as same/different melodies
• Lots more! This part is definitely under construction!

• Google - my #1 go-to site. For everything. This includes YouTube and my Google Drive, which allows me to create documents, spreadsheets, forms and also allows me to store and share these items easily. (And don't forget that Blogger, which hosts this website, is part of Google.) A new favorite? Google Hangouts! Connect with your PLN face-to-face!
• Dropbox - this is web-based and can be synced on your mobile devices. I love that I can simply upload and store my pictures, files and recordings and then access them on other computers or devices. I can also share them easily to Twitter or through email (for example).
• Twitter - or, "...the best PD out there." You come across lesson ideas, valuable research, helpful experience from educators and so much more. Within a couple weeks, I had already joined up with a large group of music educators and now meet weekly to discuss current issues pertaining to music education.
• Pandora - sounds crazy (or not), but sometimes during my plan/lunch time, I just need some down time. I know my art teacher uses this in class as they create too. How can you pass up free internet radio?
• QR Stuff - makes QR codes, which are fun to hand out to students as shortcuts to YouTube videos, websites or just plain text (ex: "You did a great job in music today!")
• ViewPure - when you might need to clean up a YouTube video and present it free of comments or other recommended videos on the sidebars, purify it with this website.
• The American Folk Song Collection - an amazing database for Kodaly educators; includes master copies and recordings.
• Vimeo - full of wonderful videos; I'm not sure it's the right description, but I think of Vimeo as the classier, more artistic cousin of YouTube (no offense to YouTube, of course!)
• MailChimp - I used this one to send an informative newsletter to my coworkers; very easy to use and would be a useful tool to communicate with parents!
• Planbook.com - I first heard of it through my first grade team leader and then from a fellow music teacher in my district. It costs about $12 a year, but it is well worth the money! Plan your lessons according to your unique set schedule, take notes about how that lesson went and much much more! 
• Evernote - Though it is similar to Dropbox, there are some differences. One big thing that I've noticed is that I can take notes directly into it and I can also email items (such as receipts) straight into certain folders (though this feature is limited in the free version). My favorite option is the scanning button! It's so easy to take automatic scans of pages and pages of documents and they come out looking great. File them away digitally and you'll have them for later!
• Plickers - Wonderful edtech gadget/app to take assessments, polls, etc.! I love this one so much I bought the Amazon.com versions of their paper clickers. (Update: they have been recently misplaced in a move and I'm so sad about that.....I'm thinking of putting missing posters up around the neighborhood.....)
• Kahoot! - SO MUCH FUN! Why not make learning a game? A little competition is motivating as well! This awesome site turns your student devices into a (competitive and timed) multiple choice quiz or poll.
• Smore - Similar to MailChimp, Smore is a great newsletter distribution site....and plus it worked on my former district's filters! (That is always an important distinction when deciding on a resource!) Smore is simple to use and makes your newsletters and communications really pop!
• Zaption - stop your videos mid-frame to ask questions, take a poll or just give some extra information. It take analytics too so you could use this as an assessment!
• Thinglink - take a picture and make links all over it.....these links lead to other bits of information, videos or sound files! Great stuff for music teachers especially.
• Unsplash- great source of copyright-free photography! Are you singing about a river? Put a picture oneto relate to your folk song into your presentation......no worries about permission needed when using Unsplash.

Even though I've updated this, it's a major work in progress. Give me some more time. :)
But please introduce me to something new by leaving me a comment!