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. 

Can you keep a secret?

That's okay, neither can I right now!

I'm so excited about tomorrow! I'm going to be presenting during the Genius Hour portion of our professional development at our school. I'm so honored to be presenting to my peers and to ensure a good "review" of sorts, I'm totally bribing them with door prizes! Ha!!! :) Just kidding!! Well, not really....I do have door prizes and that's the secret!

My presentation is about BYOD classrooms, which I've never actually had myself. But I'm going to be attempting it this year. I say attempting because there will be some obstacles to navigate, but that's a whole different story. Either way, that doesn't mean the classroom teachers of my school can't learn about it! I'm using Nearpod to give my presentation (with a little bit of Lino thrown in too). If you've never tried Nearpod, check it out now. It's a really amazing program!! Anyway, since a major part of BYOD is teaching and modeling digital citizenship, I was inspired by a pin that I found on Pinterest and I made this:

I changed the word speak to comment mostly because I wanted it to apply to digital citizenship and in-person interactions. (I have also seen this sign with, "before you Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - etc.....") After all, a major part of music education is commenting on what we hear. Let's face it, kids don't always think before speaking their mind on someone else's performance. That is something we have to work on a lot throughout elementary school.

My little sign turned out so well that I decided to make two more (in slightly different colors)....one for each session that I'll have in the morning. I found an online name randomizer ready to choose my winner. 

(In case you're wondering how the sign was made, it's a canvas that I painted with black paint. The colored letters were cut out out of cardstock using my Silhouette Cameo and the white letters are made with adhesive vinyl, also cut with the Cameo. I mod-podged the cardstock letters onto the canvas.)

By the way, are you a BYOD music classroom? If so, leave me a comment! I will definitely be posting more on that later!

Time flies....

Summer is officially over. Usually I'm really sad about this, but this year is fairly different. As I've mentioned before, I'm energized, focused and ready to get started! Well, not completely ready....my room is a mess and bulletin boards are half-done.....but I'm getting there. :) I do have one bulletin board done, waiting for my students' contributions:

Since taking this picture, I've asked some of my Twitter followers to tweet some examples to have ready for the kids. I got some inspirational responses such as, "What can lift your spirits when you are feeling down?" from @trudy_fern and "What brings life to my soul?" from @MusicHeather. I will be sending home squares of paper so that they can write down their questions for the board. I won't be able to fit all 500+ on this small board though, so I'll have to pick out a few a week to display and rotate them out for the first few weeks of school. I can't wait to read some of their thoughts!

Other than that, I've been busy working on my window that greets the children as they enter my room. For the past few years, it has always said the same thing. It has always had my signature quote, "If you cannot teach me to fly, teach me to sing." Before leaving for the summer, we had to remove everything from the walls so the school could be painted. Unfortunately, I had to just about destroy my old window display. It wasn't in the best shape anyway due to its age so I'm remaking it and updating it a bit. I was worried that it would seem a bit stale to go back to the same old quote and display, but several coworkers walked by and said, "NO! Why are you taking it down?! Are you going to put it back up?!" So if they liked it as much as I did, I think it's safe to say the kids maybe did too. :)

So here I am on a Saturday, hoping my new best friend Oscillating Fan will help me finish my room a little more. I'm really hoping to share some more pictures soon. I have really enjoyed searching through some of my favorite blogs seeing everyone else's rooms.

Here's to a welcoming space to make some great music during this new year!!