Jungle Beat Animoto Video

Check out a quick Animoto video I made of our recent First Grade Performance, "Jungle Beat" by Lynn Kleiner. I love Animoto!

Other People Using Korg NanoKey!!

Two weeks ago I blogged about my discovery of the Korg NanoKey. I have the article "Redefining Music Tech" in the current issue of Teaching Music, an MENC Publication, to thank for this discovery. Two days ago I submitted my Capstone Project Proposal, which included the purchase of 9 Korg NanoKeys!! I am so excited.
So I am super behind on reading my Google Reader, of which I subscribe to many music, technology, education (and some random!) blogs. One of my favorites is of Amy M. Burns (she has my same last name...no wonder we blog about similar things!). On March 11 (two days before me....I promise I didn't read it before I posted), Amy posted a reflection on using Korg's NanoKeys in her classroom. I was so excited to see someone using them in the elementary music classroom and being happy with them. Also, Amy praised the NanoKey for its ease of use, accessibilty for students, and affordability. Its so uncanny how someone with the same last name was blogging about the same thing...unknownst to one another.....us music educators think alike!

Make sure you check out Amy's website.....so many resources (Podcasts, examples of student work, blog, handouts from her lecture, etc.)!!
http://www.amymburns.com/

March is MIOSM - "Music In Our Schools Month" - sponsored by MENC, Music Educators National Conference. As a music educator, obviously I support music education in school. However, it is interesting to hear what other people think about music education. Check out these Public Service Announcements from MENC's MIOSM website.

Clay Aiken's PSA





Sara Evans' PSA





Edgar Meyer's PSA

Cool Web Elements

Check out webfetti.com. A cool web elements generator for free. I am sure all you Facebookers and MySpacers know all about this service, but I am slow......there are really cool animated lettering graphics, postcards, photo slideshows, and tons of other stuff! Lots of fun! Check it out! (the only catch is they make you install a toolbar in your browser....I don't mind....)

Korg nanoKey

So I am working on a Capstone Project proposal for a technology endorsement called Teach21. While selecting the hardware and software I will need for my project, I stumbled across this cool little piece of hardware called a nanoKey. I am so excited about this little guy for a number of reasons....

• It is small so it does not take up whole lot of desk space for my classroom computers (I will have 8 desktop student computers when the hardware for my project is installed)
• It is USB powered so I do not have to worry about MIDI interfaces
• It still uses MIDI information, so we can use these little keyboards to input music or record songs with any instrument of our heart's desire
• You can daisy-chain them together to get consecutive octaves
• They are portable, so I can set them up when we need them and remove them when we don't (so the little 5 and 6 year olds to destroy them!!)
• It is extremely affordable, retailing at $62, on sale right now at $50!!

So needless to say, I am extremely excited about the potential of this little gadget in my classroom. I am looking forward doing composition units with my students next year, once I get all of my new equipment. Obviously I love music technology and I can't wait to share new experiences with my students.

March 2009 Music Education Carnival

Please check out this month's "MUSIC EDUCATION BLOG CARNIVAL" at Tanbur Music Education Blogspot. My post "Using Audacity to Have Fun with Folk Dances" is one of the featured articles this month.

From the Carnival, I also like Joseph Pisano's article "Should we Utilize Technology in the Music Classrooms? Questions to Ask First." This is especially pertinent to me right now as I am working on my Capstone Project Proposal for a technology endorsement called Teach21 with my county. I am considering what technologies to use to implement a composition unit for next school year.

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Last week 2nd grade was studying the instrument families in the orchestra. My student teacher did a great job of introducing the four families and the instruments that belong to each family. He chose some really cool listening examples from Play Music. Then we worked together to create a listening map for Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to Orchestra." We made the listening guide interactive by making it a flipchart page for ActivStudio on the interactive white board (Promethean Board). Each student was given a copy of the listening map and a bingo chip (click on the image below for copy of this listening map....you are welcome to use as you choose!). As each family or instrument was featured in "Young Person's Guide," the students would move their chips to the instrument/family they heard. The teacher would show the correct answer on the board after all students responded. It ended up being a fun, challenging, and rewarding listening activity for the students. And it proved to be an effective learning activity as well as an authentic assessment!!

Also, see David French's post on Tanbur Music Education Blogspot called "Orchestra and Opera." He has posted some cool links and resources for Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide."