adventures in BYOD

I have been wanting to try some BYOD lessons in 4th and 5th grade this year and I finally got myself organized enough to start with 5th grade!

I believe very strongly in building, teaching and enforcing digital citizenship so it was important to me to pass out student contracts for my kids and their parents to sign. The one I used came from Forney ISD (used and changed with their permission). I will honestly say that I haven't had much luck getting all the copies back, but I'm being tough with my students. No contract, no device use. Period. The first group today discovered how fun the activity was and that we'll be continuing next week.....suddenly I have a lot of promises for more returned papers! :)

So here's what we did! Fifth grade has been practicing reading, writing, and dictating dotted quarter/eighth note combinations, so I thought I'd use the beautiful theme from the Largo movement of Dvorak's New World Symphony. It is one of my favorite pieces of music and it also connects with fifth grade's immigration lessons. Of course, there are several ways to write and interpret the rhythm of the theme, but I used dotted quarter in 4/4 time.

I asked my kids to read the theme's rhythm for practice. I explained that it came from the New World Symphony and asked what is meant by the "New World." After talking about this very briefly and why and when Dvorak wrote the piece, I started the music and asked them to quietly get out their devices. I gave them a web address on the projector leading them to a discussion via Answer Garden.

If you've never used Answer Garden, it's a great, easy way to get short answers. It's also an easy way to share if you only have a device to two. Ask a question and get answers that end up as a word cloud on your screen. You can set it up so that students can answer more than once. In this case, I asked the kids, "If you were heading to the New World, how would you feel?" I got answers such as :

scared ~ anxious ~ excited ~ nervous ~ happy ~ in awe ~ thankful ~ scared ~ proud ~ curious ~ amazed 

It was great to get their answers quietly through their devices while listening to Dvorak's hopeful theme instead of having to wait until the end to discuss. 

After ending that portion of the lesson, we went on to something else that we had practiced in a previous lesson. We had already learned the folk song Whistle Daughter Whistle. We talked about changing the lyrics as such:

Whistle daughter whistle, and you shall have a cow.

I can't whistle mother, because I don't know how.

to

Whistle daughter whistle, and you shall have a                         .

I can't whistle mother, because                                                  .

We did a practice verse or two last week where I filled in the first blank with a different animal and they had to fill in the second blank. However, in today's BYOD lesson, I gave them a link to a Padlet and they were free to fill in both blanks. They could choose another animal (like the original song) or an object....it was up to them as long as their text was appropriate. I left one more example of my own on the Padlet wall so they'd know what was expected. I should also point out that I only had a few kids with access to devices (due to turning in paperwork) so they worked in groups. Everyone contributed, but only certain students were able to handle the devices. I would normally have them work in small groups for the lesson anyway though.

As soon as they all found the Padlet website, I switched the projector over to it so they could see their answers pop up. All their answers came up in real time. I could see their faces light up as their peers reviewed their answers and smiled or laughed in approval. (Most of them tried to be as funny or clever as possible!) They ended up singing other group answers as they worked. They laughed, sang, smiled, and did I mention they actually worked? Without complaining? :) I'm going to give them a bit more time to edit their verses next week and I'm looking forward to posting their finished work on EdModo next week so they can show their parents at home.

I would say that our first BYOD lesson was a success. :)

What are some of your favorite BYOD activities in the music room?

Time-Out from Music

ETSI your friendly neighborhood robot

I'd like to dedicate this post to something that doesn't have much to do with music....at least not directly. However, it has everything to do with pure creativity, innovation and imagination -- ideas that all musicians young and old can benefit from!

I am extremely fortunate to have connected with an amazing art teacher in my district through the technology institute that I attended this summer. Becca Bailey had attended the Cardboard Challenge class and created ETSI, the friendly neighborhood robot. Made from cardboard, tape, markers, imagination and nothing else, ETSI inspired Becca to hold her own Cardboard challenge here in the district. (If you don't know where this idea of a cardboard challenge originated, check out Caine's Arcarde....this kid is the best!)

Working with her coworkers Lara, Megan and Nancy and Clara from district admin, they put together a crazy, beautiful event. From the chaos of cardboard flying everywhere, I saw kids, parents, grandparents and volunteers working with each other to create games, robots, dogs, buildings, working (yes, working) elevators, a replica of the State Fair Ferris Wheel, dresses, airplanes, and so much more. Kids were laughing and smiling....there was no fighting over supplies (!).....we were all one team working towards having fun and making something out of nothing.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. I'm working on a video of some footage that I took, but I'm having trouble with my video software so check back for that. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

This doesn't even begin to cover the magic of the morning. It was one of those "you had to be there" kind of things. :) An experience of a lifetime, you might say! Thank you, Becca and Team, for hosting this challenge. I know it wasn't easy but you all are reminders of why we need arts in education. 

Please follow Becca and her cohorts on Twitter...you won't regret it!

@artwithbailey

@gagorogers

@mliveng

@techclara

@NancyWTech 

@planocc (the event's Twitter handle)

and of course, the originator of the Cardboard challenge @CainesArcade

And don't forget to search #planocc for all the action from the event itself!

GoPro fun!

This post is a bit awkward because I can't actually post my proof....but I promise it's all good!!

I recently purchased a GoPro camera. If you've never heard of it, click on the website link in the name and check out their videos. Mine are nothing compared to that, but I'm still having lots of fun with it in my own way!

Basically, it's a very small video camera meant for stunts, action shots or on-the-go video. I even have a water-proof case for it. (You know, for the next time I teach underwater folk dancing?) What I like best is that you can attach it to a hands-free strap or mount and you're good to go. So that's just what I did this week. I buckled it onto a student and we started up a round of a Liza Jane. We did a dance version that I learned from a coworker. The result was a first-person view of what we do in the music classroom! The kids had a blast - and yes, they were a bit goofy and some waved at the camera - but they tried their absolute best so they could watch themselves later.

Like I said, I can't post my proof right now, simply because some of my students do not have waivers signed to be posted on the internet, but you'll have to take my word that the video is really awesome and really valuable feedback for me and the kids. I can't wait to show it to them! (In case you're wondering, it is very easy to download from the camera and keep on the computer. In my case, I did put it on Vimeo, but it is currently set to private and password-protected for my use only.)

I'm trying to think of other uses for it. I think a passing game would be great to capture on it. A friend on Twitter suggested recording a program or concert, which is a great idea. I never get good video of those since I'm always busy directing!

Which other folk dances would have an especially good point of view? I really want to try Great Big House! Leave me a comment!

Augmented Reality

So I've always felt like I live in a bit of augmented reality, but I should be clear that today's blog post is actually about the technology kind.....

At tech training this summer, I went to a session covering augmented reality or AR as it is sometimes known. All I can say is WOW. This stuff blew my mind. There are several AR apps to choose from - some free, some not. There are some kits to buy as well, such as Osmo....I like that one a lot! It is so much fun! As great as they are for the general classroom, they aren't quite as applicable in the music room. (Unless you have tons of free time to really, really use some creative license in your curriculum...I don't have that much wiggle room in the schedule!)

This week, I found a pretty good use for one called ColAR Mix. I had to miss a day this week and needed a fail-proof sub plan for a non-musical sub. I thought a musical story book and a quick AR coloring sheet to go along with the book would be perfect. I don't normally do this kind of lesson, but I thought it would be a perfect way to introduce the kids (and parents) to some new technology! ColAR Mix's website provides a handful of free worksheets to go along with basic app and provides the directions already at the bottom of the worksheet. So when the kids took their worksheet home at the end of the day, the parents could follow the directions to get the app themselves. (I told them if they don't have a device at home, they can bring it back and I'll show them what it does.)

So I chose the book "De Paseo por la Selva" with CD included so the sub didn't have to sing it. It is full of great animal sounds, which is wonderful for vocal explorations. Not to mention it has a woman's solo voice, a man's solo voice and then a chorus of voices. This is perfect for differentiating between various voices and timbres. Cross-curriculur-wise (is that a word?!), the main character travels to the jungle, the desert, the mountain, the ocean, the river, and more. All of this is in Spanish, but even my non-Spanish speakers could figure out the basics of the story by following the pictures and animal sounds. The song is very catchy as well!

I then paired it with the tropical bird coloring sheet from ColAR. I left directions for the sub to ask them to imagine that the main character had met this bird on her travels. What color is it? What sound would it make? Does it have a song that it sings? Once it was colored, they could take it home, follow the directions at the bottom, and bring it to life.

When I returned to school, I felt a bit bad that some kids got to do this cool lesson and the others didn't....so I continued it today! I'm so glad I did too because they really had a great time. And it was so fun to hear them give voices to their birds. I also got to see their reactions to the AR in person. I was able to activate their birds in class rather than just sending the coloring sheets home. Take a look:

This is not the greatest video; I had my iPad in one hand, and getting this video on my iPhone with the other hand. Multitasking at its best. Sort of. :) If you're careful, you can even put your hand in front of the camera and make it look like the bird is sitting on your finger. The kids just went crazy for that!

So give some AR a try if you have a chance! Even if you're just exploring it for yourself or your children at home for fun, these apps are unbelievable.