"Genie, you're free."

I have been seeing this quote on Twitter in the last several days since the news of Robin Williams' death was announced. Like most, I was stunned....shocked....upset. I grew up watching his movies and especially loved his embodiment of the Genie in Disney's Aladdin. He didn't just provide a voice to an animated character....he became the character. The film's title character may have been a boy looking for his princess, but the Genie stole the show.

Even before seeing the movie, I can remember getting the soundtrack and trying so hard to learn each and every song....his songs and parts were the most difficult. I tried to copy his inflections, his nuances....nope, couldn't do it. Not even close. He was one-of-a-kind. His funny, endearing vocal performance in this movie is what began my long love and deep appreciation for Disney movies and music.

RIP Robin Williams.

Scared to jump in?

My son is 9 years old and just got his first actual iPhone. I didn't buy it for him, but in this day and age, I'll admit that he's perfectly "old" enough for it. He is thoroughly proud and protective of it...and has made sure to point out that it's better than mine. Nice one, kid. :)

This started a fun conversation in the car though. I told him that I was pretty excited about this upcoming year in school. Our school principal is really onboard with integrating devices (appropriately!) in class and I'm really thinking ahead about how to do that even in music. Not only am I thrilled that he'll be prepared with his device, but I've already laid claim to his old iPod touch to use as another device in my music room. Hooray!

That's not the interesting conversation though. We talked about technology and people and teachers who are likely to embrace it. I told him that I just knew his teachers on his upcoming grade level team would be excited about using technology (um, sorry....no pressure!) but not everyone in every school feels like this. Some are hesitant because they just didn't grow up with technology like his generation obviously has. We talked about typewriters, early computers and I even described the fascinating machine my grandparents used to communicate with my hearing-impaired aunt over the phone in the 1980's. Technology has changed so quickly that it's impossible to keep up even for those who have an interest. For those who don't have a particular interest?....I can't even imagine!!

I am lucky that I grew up in a "plugged-in" home. In fact, I have never known a home without a computer. (And I grew up through the 80's before PC's were really popular in middle-class homes.) My dad is a techie. We had a Radio Shack TRS-80 (I think?) as early as I can remember.  

Radio Shack TRS-80

Funny story....my dad subscribed to some sort of programmer's magazine and I can remember one that arrived in the mail. He asked if I wanted to program the computer. He sounded really excited about it and convinced me to type in a couple lines. I was pretty young and barely knew my letters (much less the arrangement of the QWERTY keyboard!) so it took awhile....I thought for sure something magical would happen when I was done! When I was finally finished, he ran the program and I thought it would talk to me or play a game of Pong with me.....ha ha, nope. It went "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP." Now, the nostalgic techie nerd in me would like to say that I was filled with wonder and awe, but.....but.....I felt a bit ripped off. But hey, our memories can't all be winners.

I've gotten off track. Needless to say, I was inspired by my dad....and later my mom.....and my brothers (all tech nerds in some way or another).....to pursue my interests in the tech world somehow. Not because I have to, but because I want to! 

I realize not everyone likes or understands this stuff, and that's okay. But the greatest thing about modern technology is that you don't have to be an expert. In fact, there is no such thing. I love the blog entry linked in that last statement....read it and be assured by Angela Watson's words! Stamp "life-long tech learner" on your forehead and dip your toes in. It's okay to try and fail. In fact, that's how I learn about 80-85% of my tech skills....no joke! User manuals and help menus are my last resorts. (Should I admit that?) I click buttons and I explore menus....if I don't find what I need, I Google my exact question and usually come up with the answers I need. 

If you're having trouble integrating technology into your lessons, set some small goals. Practice your lesson with a teammate or with a family member at home. It doesn't have to be complicated to be great!! Ask around and have an open mind. You're not alone and there's someone (like me!) in your school or community willing to share resources or skills to get you started.

Please share your personal fears and/or victories about integrating technology in the classroom by leaving me a comment!

ETSI

I had the honor of being selected to attend my district's first Educational Technology Summer Institute and it sounds cheesy, but….my life will never be the same! :) I know, I'm being a bit dramatic, but really, my mind was blown by the innovation, collaboration and pure energy of being surrounded by all the best edtech leaders in my district. I have to give a major shout-out to my principal for giving me this opportunity and to the tech team for accepting my application. We spent three days diving into augmented reality, mystery Skyping, virtual field trips, 3D printing examples, BYOD, digital citizenship, Twitter, flipped classrooms, and much much more. I was even able to lead a class in our Mini EdCamp morning! Yikes, I was so nervous thinking no one would show up or find any value in it but I think they did? :)

This experience was perfect timing for the new school year. Let's face it…sometimes we get comfy on the couch, catching up on our favorite TV shows on Netflix, visiting the pool with our children (guilty of all three!!) and we start to think that we could get used to that kind of life. :) Sure, I love my students and I love teaching music but I'm not going to lie….my couch is pretty nice after all. :) 

However, this training was just what I needed to get me back into the swing of things this year! My focus is back with a vengeance and not only that…..but I'm armed with new techie ideas, apps, websites, tricks and gadgets!  Better yet, I'm even more inspired and determined to share with my coworkers and anyone willing to listen. In fact, if you follow me on Twitter (@KellyParrish605), you have probably seen all my crazy comments followed by #pisdetsi. Follow that entire hashtag and you'll find some amazing insight to the last three days of our crazy adventure!

So in the next couple of weeks before school, I will be working on adding to my Websites and Apps pages  to share all those great resources we talked about and I will share some more specific music ideas as well! Check back with those soon!

By the way, if this is what an EdCamp is like, I have to (obviously) recommend it!! I hope to go to the next one in my area whenever it may be!!

I'm a believer

Even though I was a die-hard Monkees fan as a kid (and still am), this post has nothing to do with the song of the same title. Sorry.

Instead, let's talk Twitter.

I'll admit, as tech-obsessed as I am, I never really jumped on the social-media bandwagon. I'm a bit introverted in real life, so I guess I follow suit in the cyber world as well. I did not join (and subsequently quit) MySpace. I'm not on Instagram. I read Tumblr for the funny stuff once in awhile, but I don't have an account. I'm not even on Facebook. No, really! I always joke that I work very hard to avoid certain family members in real life....why would I want them to find me easily on the internet? :) I did chat on AOL back in the day and I used ICQ in my college years. But then networking got crazy and I stepped back from instant messaging. Email was about all I used to communicate to others.

Fast-forward a bit and I guess you could say that I definitely had some misconceptions about Twitter in particular. I will admit that I thought it was only used by people to report what they were having for breakfast or what their cat was doing. I had no idea educators posted useful ideas, lesson plans, thoughts and support. I didn't know that I could find music teachers going through the same ups and downs that I experience in a day. Even though I have a great support network here in my own district, it's been amazing to meet people all over the country that share my passion to teach music to children. I meet (or try to meet) weekly to chat with them through #musedchat and I recently joined Dave Burgess's Teach Like a Pirate chat or #tlap chat.

I was introduced to Twitter by my principal. She brought in a great presenter who works in our district and I jumped in. When I got there, I was a bit confused with the @'s, #'s, the RT's....I'll admit, it has it's own little language and lingo. And don't even get me started with keeping it down to 140 characters! But it's worth stepping out of your comfort zone to grow as a professional. It took a couple weeks to get used to the whole thing and I still mess up and forget the hashtags...oh well, who cares? I still get to read some amazing stuff and connect with some fun, smart people! So to all of you who peek in and get confused by these things, keep going....push through and try again. Ask questions. It's worth it! Even I, the self-titled Anti-Social-Media Queen, am not completely anti- now. Yes. I'm a believer.

But I'm still not going to join Facebook. And you can't make me. Take that Zuckerberg. :)