The Band Ed Tool Shed

I am headed over to MakeMusic this afternoon...

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:08:00 +0000

I am headed over to MakeMusic this afternoon...

Anything you want me to tell them about

SmartMusic?

Google at School

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:38:00 +0000

I know a very little bit about cloud computing. So I am hoping for some help here.

If Google offers mail, documents (word processing, spreadsheet), web pages, blogging tools, collaboration tools for free, why would anyone try to do these things in house?

I can see keeping sensitive data a little more secure by using server space that you pay to have secure. But how much of student work is really that sensitive?

I can see an advantage to someone else running the servers that hold the student work, run e-mail, host web pages... the price is right.

Has up-time been a problem? I have only heard of one time that G-Mail went down for maybe two hours. Is there more that I am not hearing about? I think that would be an amazing record for anyone and I am very amazed when I think of the number of users.

I know our IT staff is about one download away from being very seriously overworked. Is this something that would help us farm some things out?

SmartMusic Tip and an Interesting Motivator

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:24:00 +0000

Not all assignments need to have a point value.

My kids can get confused over deadlines. They are young. They also can use the help with their practice that SmartMusic provides. They are also inexperienced.

So when I look into next quarter and see a pretty hard assignment coming up (along with the concert and a bazillion other things), I get a little conflicted. Do I send an assignment early for next quarter? (and hope they don't try to turn it in before it is really ready... Mr. Whaley, it was the end of the quarter! I had to turn it in.) Do I tell them to use the new search features and practice this piece for next quarter? (and hope they can actually find the right one.) Hmmm.

My compromise solution is the "practice opportunity" that is worth zero points in the grade book. Turn it in if you want. The real one comes out next quarter. I do tell them why I am sending it with no points attached and tell them that practice now, will save a lot of sweat later.

Believe it or not, I get "thank yous" from motivated students.

I also get students who do turn in the assignment that has no points attached to it. Interesting. I think I need to talk to a couple of students about why they sent it in after reading up on intrinsic motivation. I do get to work with some neat kids.

Maybe my classes are too short...

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:21:00 +0000

The SmartMusic in General Music project slogs on.

So far it has taken two days to get everyone registered for most of my classes. There is a lot of information to populate into the program. Most of it is pretty important.

I wish there were a way for a teacher to put his/her kids into the SmartMusic Impact/Grade Book and be able to just tell the student what his login and password are.

By importing a spreadsheet. That would be nice.

If you are going to use SmartMusic strictly as a testing environment at school, leave lots of class time to enroll for class.

If you have it going out the door and into kids homes with parents helping to set the whole thing up, you will be saving valuable class time.

BASIC SmartMusic Troubleshooting.

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:22:00 +0000

http://smartmusic.custhelp.com/app/

It was a busy day for SmartMusic in my room yesterday. We are "Enrolling for Class" my general music classes and doing assignments before and after school. Really busy.

So at the end of the day, when one of my saxes was not seeing her red and green note feedback, I was mildly surprised. We really hadn't had a problem all day. But that must have been close to 40 people logging in.

Switching mics and restarting the program really didn't help.

Not to panic. I'll just go to the support site (http://smartmusic.custhelp.com/app/) and get a little help from the knowledge base. It is easily searched. Most of the clues I got from there though involved Windows. We run Macs in the practice rooms. Hmmm.

Still not going to panic. What is the first thing they will ask if I call? "Have you tried restarting the computer?" I am pretty sure that tech support people everywhere wake up in the middle of the night saying that. I'm pretty sure they have to get a tattoo with that on it someplace as well.

Make sure the USB mic adapter is plugged in ok and and do the restart. Sure enough, it works.

Always try the easy stuff before you call or panic.

SmartMusic, Microphones (and Macs)

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:29:00 +0000

https://www.smartmusic.com/Store/Microphone.aspx

SmartMusic needs a microphone.

I know that your computer has a mic built into it someplace, but the built in is probably not going to give the results that you want. It is way to close to a fairly noisy device! Have you listened to your computer?

The SmartMusic mics are a pretty good bargain. The mic cord length is generous and they get closer to your sound and farther away from the noise. It will boost your SmartMusic results by just doing that.

Mac users. That thing that LOOKS like a mic-in jack on the side of your computer is a line-in jack. There is a difference and it doesn't work to put the SmartMusic mic right into it. You need some other way to plug in.

You have a couple of choices.

The Griffin iMic is a pretty slick audio interface for a USB port. It features and in and an out and line/mic level switch. Plug your SmartMusic mic in and set the level to mic and you should be good to go. From what I have seen in the practice rooms, the downside to this gizmo is that kids fiddle with the switch and try to get it to work with the wrong setting. I'm not sure if that is kids doing basic trouble shooting or a prank on the next user.

The cheaper choice is the new SmartMusic USB mic. You only get the audio in and there is no line/mic setting. Could not be simpler. The downside I see to going this way is if you use your Mac for more than SmartMusic, it may be nice to have that level switch.

Well you can decide. iMic or SMUSB mic. No really wrong answer, but use a mic.

Google Wave Invites

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:48:00 +0000

http://lifehacker.com/5381219/google-waves-best-use-cases

http://wavety.com/do-you-want-google-wave-invitation/

https://services.google.com/fb/forms/wavesignup/

The scarcity of Google Wave invitations is creating a buzz. I'd love a crack at trying out the Wave.

Lifehacker has some good ideas for use already posted.

Wavety.com is hoping your writing for them will get you an invite. Really?

I've tried the official method, but haven't heard anything.

Put in for an invite. I wish you good luck. In the mean time, WOW! has this got the internet talking. I would like an invite, but I guess Google doesn't need my help testing it.

SmartMusic 2010 for General Music

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:55:00 +0000

I am going to be doing some singing tests with my general music class. Normally, this would have been a huge time sink. Stand at the piano and do your test.

I'm not so sure that the kids were able to do their best. I know I was distracted managing the class AND listening to the tests. Can't imagine what it was like for the kids. The documentation piece was a little thin as well.

I will be trying SmartMusic this time. The series we are using doesn't have built-in SmartMusic support, but it does have audio files on CD. Those can be ripped and used with SmartMusic. That is probably good enough, but I think I will be spending a little time with Finale 2010 and writing it out. Set the kids up with SmartMusic Gradebook account and we are ready to use our files on the practice room computers.

Able to do their singing in private, I am expecting my middle schoolers to do a better job. I'll let you know here!

Wireless at school

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:23:00 +0000

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/64186172.html

Interesting article in the Star-Tribune. (Yes, I still read the newspaper on paper.)

This article is about how high schools are moving to wireless access for their students. I'm inclined to say it is about time that this is happening. I'm glad it is. It is happening in my district too.

Think about it. The biggest collection of thought, ideas and concepts ever created by man is available wirelessly. Anywhere in the building. Is there any reason that kids shouldn't have easy access to ALL of that information and answers to their questions? That is the amazing thing about the times we live in, that collection of information. Talk about a learning opportunity! ISN'T THAT THE KIND OF WORK WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING AT SCHOOL?

I can understand why it hasn't happened sooner. How do you protect the network and provide access to kids. The Child Internet Protection Act makes administrators nervous as well. But because kids might create problems doesn't mean we cut all kids off completely. We have kids write evil notes all the time; we don't take their pencils. Kids may run into an idea that their parents aren't comfortable with; We don't close the library. Instead, we discuss/teach/learn/argue our way through.

As far as how much is the going to cost, I bet it is cheaper than pulling more wires. Kids bring their own devices to connect. That part sounds pretty cheap. Yes, there will be the very poorest we should help out, but with a little creativity...

Dilbert

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:53:00 +0000

Ever get the feeling you have someone watching you on the security camera? I'm pretty sure the cartoon industry has one in my house.

The 10/11/09 Dilbert did that for me. Panel Two to be exact. "As you know, a good process is a substitute for a good employee."

I don't think I can tell you which processes I have been involved in without getting into trouble.

Dilbert is one of my heroes. I'm trying very hard not to be Wally. And if I ever start sounding like the pointy-haired boss...

Twitter. Another List!

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:51:00 +0000

http://mustech.net/projects/musictwitter

Are you a music teacher using Twitter? I was wondering how this could help me with my teaching practice. Dr. Pisano has started a list of good examples at http://mustech.net/projects/musictwitter.

I am actually at the stage of following a number of Twitter feeds. I send the occasional tweet. But I haven't tied it into my classes yet.

I may want to start another account for my class related activities. Sending a shout-out once in a while about a student's success might be a good idea. Telling your class what you are up to in your personal life may be a little too close for the relationship. I'll be looking some feeds over for good ideas.

FTC, Disclosure, My Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:21:00 +0000

I see the FTC is going to have some rules about blogging, businesses, freebies, stock prices and disclosure. I saw it in the morning paper. (Yes, I still read a paper a day.)

I think it is a good idea to be open about such things.

No, I don't think I own any stock in MakeMusic. I say "think" because I do own mutual funds and who knows what they are buying from day-to-day. So as far as I know, I own no MMUS. I have thought about it and have joked about it when it was trading at about a dollar a share.

I mention MakeMusic, because they are small and I assume fewer people know or talk about them. I am sure some of you got here through a Google search on SmartMusic and are doing research. They are doing great things for music teachers, so count me as a MakeMusic fan.

I am pretty sure EVERYONE has an opinion on Apple and Google and my voice about them is less than influential.

I don't play the stock market, because I would be the guy buying high and selling low. I'll leave that to my professionals. If I change my mind, I will post it here.

I have been involved in some projects at MakeMusic as a beta tester. I have also done some consulting there. It is fun playing with the software and bug hunting. I sometimes get to see software before it comes out. I may even have some influence on the design process. I know they are talking to a number of teachers and musicians for their opinions. That's how good products are made.

I also get sign non-disclosure agreements. So, if you are reading this to get an insider's hot tip, you would be better off reading the MMUS web site. I figure if they announce it, it is safe for me to write about it. I take NDAs seriously as everyone should, so don't write or call and ask me to spill the beans. But do write!

So what are you reading if you read this blog? You are reading a music teacher's opinion of what is interesting and what has worked for me. I am enjoying the medium and I am having fun. I have had over 2400 visits from all over the world. That is pretty amazing to me.

Writing is good, because it does help you think about why you are doing what you are doing. That's not original with me, but I have found it true. I has helped keep me from going bonkers. No, I don't have a huge Seth-Godin-type following, but I don't expect that with my fairly narrow focus.

If you are thinking about blogging, do it, and be yourself.

Thank you for reading.

Funnest iPod ever

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:34:00 +0000

We got our daughter a new iPod Nano for her birthday. It has a video camera built in.

Steve used to say that the iPod Touch was the funnest iPod ever. I think it is now the Nano. The Touch does more things with all the apps. The Nano seems to be more spontaneous.

What about making quick movies of your friends would not be fun. Some quick improv with your friends. Very creative. A laugh a minute!

We weren't ready to give her a Touch just yet. You do have to consider the networking possibilities of the Touch as having two sides. Yes, very useful for e-mail, web browsing, App Store, iTunes. Too useful because you can't exactly lock the browser down and do you really want your 11 year old out there unsupervised?

What iPod are you?

I think kid internet access is improving. Helps with SmartMusic

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:18:00 +0000

We never order SmartMusic for every single student.

It makes no sense to order two subscriptions for a house that only has one computer. It makes no sense to order a subscription for a house that has no internet connection.

Send out the system requirements for SmartMusic and then do a survey. Ask how many will be able to do this at home. That will give you a better idea of how many to order than a straight-up head count.

I thought we could guess. We have a couple years of experience.

Nope. That doesn't work because kids are getting better access at home. Parents need a system to keep connected and pay the bills. My ratio of haves and have-nots was off by 20 kids. Nice problems to have in a down economy.

The Post Office loses out when parents get the home internet connected machine, but it helps our kids with better access.

Time's Top Ten Apps for Back to School. Another List!

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:19:00 +0000

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1919378_1919377,00.html

I AM a sucker for lists. Here's one from Time Magazine!

Time has put together a nice list of iPhone Apps for back to school. I would personally make it a top 11 and add "Things" or maybe substitute that app for the homework organizer. Why are these lists always 10 items? Do we blame Letterman?

This list makes the Touch/iPhone look like a powerful and adaptive tool for learning. No surprise, it really is.

Got to wonder though, would a kid be allowed to take out his iPhone (iPod Touch) without risking confiscation? How many schools allow these tools to be used? Can they be connected to the school wireless network? Is there a school wireless network?

Hey Time! Need a writing prompt for an article?

Chad Criswell and Music Ed Magic; SmartMusic

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:23:00 +0000

http://www.musicedmagic.com/

Chad Criswell has a review up about SmartMusic 2010 at his site Music Ed Magic. If you don't know about Chad's site, it is really worth a look. Get on his e-mail list and you won't miss an update. He gives SmartMusic 2010 a good review.

I think SmartMusic 2010 is a solid upgrade as well. It is much easier to navigate around to what you need to do as a teacher and a student. I think SmartMusic is worth serious consideration now if you thought it was too hard to use before.

I would like offer a some of tips and encouragement. Take the time to show everyone how to use SmartMusic. Parents and students will need to know install, activate and set up a SmartMusic Grade Book account. There are movies on the SmartMusic site that show them how to do those three key activities.

Using SmartMusic without the Grade Book account is a lot of unnecessary work. It is also how you can set the parameters of the assignments you give. It comes with the educator account and is worth every penny if you work in a school.

There are lots of ways to set kids up with free e-mail accounts. I was surprised by how many of my students had one already. Talk with the people who run the technology in your district for advice and policy help. What you want to avoid is supplying a student access to an email account that the parents don't have access to as well. As a parent I am monitoring what my kids do on the net and a private kid e-mail account doesn't help me.

The really important e-mail address is the notification e-mail. That address is how parents can find out about assignments and other grade book items. The login e-mail can be non-functioning. That can be a big help with families with more than one kid and one e-mail address.

Family computers with internet access are more common than ever. SmartMusic is better than ever. SmartMusic will change how you teach. Maybe now is a good time to start using it.

21st Century Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:34:00 +0000

So my school is looking at 21st Century Skills.

What do YOU think they are? Will they still be valid in 3 years? 10 years?

Who are the big authors in your mind?

Implications for educators?

Just Back From the Fire Drill

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:14:00 +0000

I am REALLY liking the iPod/FileMaker/FMTouch combination.

We just got done with a fire drill. It was very nice to have all of my class lists in my pocket. I have literally hundreds of kids in 12 different classes. This time, no worrying that I had grabbed the wrong clipboard.

Search for that section, sort alphabetical by last name, take attendance and wait to walkie-talkie it in. Pretty cool.

TED Fellows

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:03:00 +0000

http://www.ted.com/fellows

The folks at TED are looking for fellows. If you know someone that fits what they are describing, nominate them.

If you aren't familiar with TED, they are all about "ideas worth sharing." www.ted.com is really worth a look.

I really enjoy learning new things at this site. If you nominate someone with good ideas, I may be learning from them in the future. Hopefully, that doesn't sound too selfish.

Tablet Mac

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Does a Mac netbook/tablet make sense? I am hoping that the Mac Tablet rumor comes true at a resonable price point.

I like the interface design that the Apple folks do. I like that Macs just work.

Why haven't I purchased an Air, if I want lightweight? I need Firewire for those projects. I have a Firewire mixer for audio. Firewire camera for video.

Why would I like a tablet? I would love a great place to back-up my photos and video on vacation without a lot of bulk. I would like an audio recording studio, without a lot of bulk. I know it can be done on an iPod, but a little more physical room to operate controls would be cool. I would also like to hook it up to a projector for the occasional presentation. I do think that a tablet sitting on a podium would work nicely as a presentation tool. Do I need a full time keyboard and a mouse? No. A touch screen would take care of most of my needs in the field.

Just make it connect to anything that I want or need. Firewire, USB, Bluetooth and Monitors. I know that thin is really in, but more than one connector, please.

Which platform? I would hope that it runs the full OS well. I really want to be able use more than one program at a time.

Here's hoping.

So, What do you think about the new iPods?

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:17:00 +0000

I teach at a school and use an iPod Touch daily.

I have a thing for FileMaker Pro as well. I like to set up my own data bases and love the flexibility of FileMaker. FM Touch lets me share the data with my iPod. Very handy to have all your lists with you. I have my class lists in my pocket on my pod. I am almost looking forward to taking attendance at the next fire drill.

My students know I am a fan of my Touch. "What do you think about the new line-up?" came up between classes today. Hmmm.

I think I am going to get a new Touch when it is time. I like the idea of a little cheaper and lots more storage space. That combination works for me.

The kids think the camera appearing in the Nano first is backwards.

They might be right, but I wouldn't use the camera anyway. I like to have a "real" camera. An Optically versatile camera. I use my DSLR when I want to take pictures. I also have a tape based video cam that I am not really ready to get rid of.

I may use my iPod to display my visual work, but I don't know if I want the limits of it to do my visual work. In the question of what I would want... storage? camera? price? and if I can only pick two, I give up the camera.

I have a camera. I want the space to store songs, data and pictures. I don't want too big a price for the giga bites.

Mobile Me Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:41:00 +0000

I keep trying to figure out why I should keep MobileMe.

Yes, there are free or cheaper work-a-rounds. And I love trying to figure out the cheaper routes, even if they are a little more difficult. But boy, it gets harder to say good-bye to the MobileMe account.

If you use your iPod Touch for a PDA, having MobileMe account makes it easier to keep your calendar, contacts and mail synced. Nice.

Now, there is an iDisk app as well. Step into a friendly wifi hot spot and take a look at what's on your iDisk on your Touch. Nice!!

Oh. And that magic works on your iPhone as well.

But wait! The Google app! Does a bunch of this as well. The advantage of Google is the price...all free.

The MobileMe products do work when you are off the network, however. I am frequently in a place (work) where connecting my Touch to the wifi would be against policy.

Well, happy sorting this one out! It is nice to have choices.

Blogging via E-mail

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Did you know that you can blog by e-mail? It is one of the settings on Blogger. Cool. Get an idea, mail it to your blog.

New year. New version of SmartMusic. Let's go!

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:49:00 +0000

The beginning of any school year brings lots of excitement and not just for the kids.

We are just wrapping up our annual Middle School Band Camp Week.

Hard to believe, but we can convince 60 kids to give up a week of their summer vacation and come in for help with their chosen instrument.

Concert Friday! And it should be a good one.

We are doing a little demo of SmartMusic 2010 before the show for interested parents and all of our campers. We invited the parents so they can see what we want kids to be doing with their computers. We are also planning to do this demo during our "Back to School Night" as well.

I think 2010 is a nice upgrade. Big easy to find buttons for common tasks should make it easier for my students and parents to get around in this program.

I think the basics of installing SmartMusic, activating the subscription and registering for class are the main ideas we want to get across to families. Also on the list is the grade book.

Most folks understand the concept of putting in the disc or downloading the program. So the install portion always gets done. The concept of "subscription activation" may be a little different.

SmartMusic works on a subscription basis. You pay your $30 a year. This keeps costs down and makes the job of supporting the software easier (there is only one version active at a time.) When you think about it, we are renting software all the time if you keep up with the updates. Subscribing is a different business model than a lot of software licenses you use, but more honest.

Registering for class. Hmm. I think I am going to try a slightly different approach this year. Last year I had two sections of each level that I taught. A schedule change or a student picking the wrong section made more work for me. I use the same assignments for both sections and one can make assignments for specific students... do I really need to have them in two sections? So, this year, instead of two, I am going with one big section for each grade level. I think this will be less work. We will see.

The SmartMusic Grade Book is more prominent in this version. I like that for a number of reasons. Mostly because I DO LISTEN and COMMENT on EVERY recording. I hope kids and parents take advantage of that and complete the feedback loop by reading what I have to say! If you are planning your year (and what teacher isn't?) allow time at the end of the terms to listen to all those assignments. You will know more about your bands and your parents will know what you are thinking too. Use SmartMusic Grade Book as your communication tool.

New year. New version of SmartMusic. Let's go!

Where does Tweety hide?

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Whaley) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:28:00 +0000

So, where does Tweety hide?

This gold finch may have only one place he can hide...in the sunflowers.