Session Handouts for 2012 Conference and Workshops

FREE Technology for Musicians and Music Educators: FreeTech HO

iPads in Music Education: iPad HO

Screen Casting for Content Delivery & Assessment: Screencasting Handout

I am honored to have been selected as the 2012 Mike Kovins TI:ME Teacher of the Year.

Each year, the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME) recognizes an outstanding music technology teacher at the annual TI:ME conference. This annual award called “The TI:ME Teacher of the Year Award” began in 2005. I am grateful and honored to have been recognized by my peers and be amongst some of the most outstanding music technology educators as a TI:ME honoree. Thank you to TI:ME, Amy Burns, President, Jay Dorfman, President Elect and Mike Lawson, Executive Director.

Many thanks to my colleagues for their support. Special shout out to Jim Frankel of SoundTree for his faith in me and encouragement and Joe Pisano for even starting the Music Education Blogger and the Music Educators Professional Learning Network (MPLN). A special thank you to my Connecticut partners in music technology,music technology pioneers, Walter Mamlock & Gail Lumpkin and co-TI:ME honoree Wayne Splettstoeszer. Thanks to my personal support team including Edith “Ish” Bicknel, editor, and Andy Zweibel, website and tech guru extraodinaire.

I am grateful to the Greenwich Public Schools for recognizing the importance of music education in all it’s permutations and the importance of technology in all subjects. Special thanks to GHS retired teacher Ann Modugno for starting the very first high school Electronic Music class in the country in 1969, Jeff Spector, Coordinator of Art & Music, Chris Winters, Head Master, Rick Piotrzkowski, Assistant Head Master, Fran Kompar, Coordinator of Educational Media and the IT department of the Greenwich Public Schools especially Scott Parker, Jen Vitiello and Tony Tripodi for making all the technology work all the time!

Although listed last here, they are first in my hearts, my family and friends. Thank you for all your support and patience while I spent many hours away either out of the house or staring at a computer screen. I am blessed.

NAfME sports a great looking new logo and some changes to it’s website. As difficult as it may be for those of us referring to this organization as MENC for so many years, I really like the new name. Everyone knows exactly what this organization does and how it relates to me professionally by calling it National Association of Music Educators. No explanations needed.

Now about that short name… or nafme….

An interesting exchange has been taking place on Twitter. I first noticed this yesterday:

An expected response:

Today we had a few other interactions and an English lesson:

At this point I would have expected a lesson in manners but here’s what followed:

and then:

If anyone was keeping score, I’ll give extra points to NAfME for dropping this!

In spite of the English lessons, I’m still liking NAfME and I, for one, will take the Americanism of the acronym or initialism or whatever you want to call it.

Only time will tell how most music teachers will refer to their organization but no matter. I am looking forward to a new name ringing in a new era for MENC… oops! NAfME!!!!

Don’t forget to follow @NAfME on Twitter and “like” the new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nafme?sk=wall

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I have been teaching music with technology for the past ten years. I have been to many conferences and attend several each year. The TI:ME Conference is one of my favorites not just because I get to spend time with people who share my passion but because I learn so much from them every time I go. This article was supposed to be my recap of TI:ME 2011 and it still is but it’s really is a testament to why I attend the TI:ME conference every year.

TI:ME had it’s 2011 National Conference in Cincinatti, OH in conjunction with the OMEA & Central Regional MENC Conference. This was a pretty big convention and from what I could tell, well attended. It has a nice big exhibit hall and it seemed busy with business. The most exciting for me was the massive interest in music technology by Ohio music educators. TI:ME sessions overall appeared well attended. I gave two sessions that I considered extremely well attended. I saw some sessions with people sitting on the floor and out the doorway! There were also sparsely attended sessions as there are in any conference.

Even though I have been teaching music with technology for ten years, I always learn a lot at these sessions. I was especially impressed with Will Kuhn and Brian Laasko who took a very different look at music technology in education. They are well versed in several types of technology and bring a very fresh and contemporary approach to teaching with technology.

Will said to me, “Yeah, I heard this thing about Teach music. The technology will follow.. But I approach it the opposite. I teach the technology and then the music follows”. (Hey, Will, in case you didn’t know. That’s MY line.) Will has his Master’s Degree in Music Technology. He’s a real pro-user of technology especial tech used in popular music including drum machines, DJ devices and all kinds of software & hardware. I was at one of his three sessions. He is extremely knowledgeable, thoughtful in his how he prepared and presented his content and a dynamic presenter. By all accounts, his other session was equally superb. His student ensemble performed for a third session. What a fantastic opportunity to hear students perform contemporary styles on contemporary devices and having a great time! It was a real pleasure to spend time with Will hanging out or dinner with a group. We “met” on Twitter, as so many others I now know at these conferences. Will hit the nail on the head when he described his approach about teaching the technology. He knows how the technology serves contemporary music styles and he knows exactly what to teach to accomplish those styles.

Brian Laasko gave two sessions and I was able to be at one of them. Brian’s presentation was really remarkable. Brian discussed and explored the area of Remixing, a contemporary music style. He obviously knows a great deal about contemporary music and pop-music history. It was incredibly thoughtfully derived. There was so much content and detail that required an enormous amount of time to research, gather the materials, save as files that can be used from the Internet and compile for presentation (Brian, looks like you have a great thesis there). I really wish he had two hours to present then demo examples of how to accomplish what he presented on software and hardware that he recommended. It was so interesting and he was such an engaging presenter, I think everyone would have been thrilled to sit and watch him for two hours straight. Not something I can say about everyone! Again, the reports were glowing about Brian’s other session.

There were other outstanding and provocative presentations. Keep your eyes on:

VJ Manzo, is simple a brilliant musician and educator. He’s a tech geek of all tech geeks and that is said in the most complimentary of ways. I wish I could get my head around the technology and software engineering that he can. VJ a monster-mind of engineering, a brilliant and well spoken musician coupled with the heart & soul of a teenager make him a powerhouse teacher for all ages. Do not miss any opportunity to learn from him.

Andy Zweibel, the youngest presenter, is an encyclopedia of social networking & Web 2.0 knowledge. At the ripe old age of 22 (!) he PACKED his session. I heard some 70 plus people were standing outside the door looking into his room. On a personal note I would like to tell the organizers of TI:ME to please make sure Andy & I are not scheduled opposite one another again! Sure I would love to see him present (same thing happened at FMEA and I didn’t get to see his presentation!) but as they say in Show Biz, “You can’t compete against puppies & kids” (kidding Andy!)

There were so many great sessions including the pure genius Keynote address by Morton Subotnick. I am highlighting the above young men because I took away something very valuable. It was one of those “ah ha!” moments that will impact my teaching, presentations and writings. I have a classical music background. I was trained in a conservatory since high school. I learned music as a performer in a traditional conservatory-apprentice setting and I learned music theory with paper & pencil. There’s nothing wrong with that and it has served me well. I teach music through composition using computer software. I worked on developing what I do for ten years. It clearly stems from my background and experiences, but that’s just one approach. Will, Brian, Andy & VJ are doing and teaching what they love and what they are experienced and strong in. These guys found a way to learn about music and teach what they know growing up with electronic devices in their back pockets. They are native users. As native technology users they may have a different approach to technology than many of us. To some of us, it might seem backwards. I imagine native users look at technology and think, “Wow! How cool. What can I do with that”? They fit or create music after learning how to use the device. Many of use look at what we know about music and music education and try to fit traditional teaching styles & techniques into the technology.

Possibly my new mantra: Teach music or technology, however you are comfortable. The creativity will follow. For more on this idea, check out Scott Watson’s new book, “Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity” published by Oxford University Press http://amzn.to/nfQHc7

For more information about TI:ME ( Technology Institute for Music Educators), visit http://www.ti-me.org/

For more information about the TI:ME Conference 2012, visit http://www.ti-me.org/index.php/conferences/4-2012/177-2012

I am very pleased to announce my first book is finally in print. Published by Alfred Music Publishing and Korg/SoundTree, the Keyboard Lab Curriculum a curriculum/teacher guide for teaching music with technology and the Korg Group Education Controller, a specific technology tool for keyboard lab/classrooms. I was one of six contributing authors to the high school materials and about 40% of the lessons were written by me. Thanks very much to Jim Frankel and SoundTree for this opportunity.

For more information about the Korg Group Education Controller (GECIII), please visit:

http://www.soundtree.com/music-education/korg-geciii

For more information and to see the books available for elementary, middle and high school, please visit:

http://www.soundtree.com/music-education/keyboard-lab-curriculum

Thursday, April 7, 1:15 PM  TeachMusicHandout2

Friday, April 8, 10:15 AM – 12:15 AM GarageBand

Thanks for attending my sessions. Please let me know if I can assist you further. Contact me click HERE.

Thanks!

A Blog Carnival is when a host (that’s me this month) pulls together a bunch of related blogs posts/articles and makes them available in a central location (the host blog). The creator of the Music Education Blog Carnival, Dr. Joe Pisano (http://mustech.net/), states, “This carnival hopes to provide a “sounding board” and venue for publication for the Music Education Related Bloggers. Anyone who is writing about topics that are directly related to musicians, music performance, music education, or music technology are welcome to be part of this carnival”. For more information about the Music Education Blog Carnival and how to submit posts for future Carnivals, please visit (NOT NOW! Read this month’s Carnival posts first!): http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_4443.html

How to read this Blog Carnival

Once you start reading the articles, you may find yourself wandering through the author’s website and clicking on links that bring you to many a far away yet useful place. That’s a good thing and it is encouraged! There are dozens of articles and links for information and I do hope you spend many wonderful hours learning from each other. It will be easy to get a bit lost in the web and forget that you were going through the Blog Carnival so I suggest that you book mark this page to easily return to this Blog Carnival. OK, I also want you back to this website, so please book mark me anyway!

And now, (insert drum roll) the first Blog Carnival of 2011…

Music Advocacy

David Ahrens writes a wonderful article of his personal and professional reflections. This article, Music Life Lessons #3, is his third in what will be a twelve part series (wow!) on the life lessons we learn through music.

Nick Jaworski puts it plainly in his article Where is MENC? A Look at Glee, The Sing-Off, and the History of Music Education Broadcasting. Kudos to Nick for a scholarly approach to presenting his case, “The absence of MENC on popular programs like Glee and The Sing-Off is a failure of our national organization. Learn about the history of music education on the major networks and the role that MENC played in shaping it”.

Music Education

Samuel Wright shares his presentation on integrating music technology in the classroom. His article, A Technology Integrated Classroom, is packed with information, links and ideas for computer assisted instruction and use with and interactive whiteboard.

In yet another great article on his experiences as an educator and band director, Rehearsal Mapping For Concert Repertoire Accountability, Tom West focuses on new ideas for rehearsal techniques and student accountability in band. As Tom puts it, “To put it plainly, the majority of my students have average or slightly above average aptitude in musical intelligence and nearly all of them have never experienced the benefits of a prolonged work ethic. My students, at whatever level of music aptitude they possess, need to learn the value of completing enough successful repetitions to actually master a piece of music”.

David Taubs presents Learning to Play a Guitar – Where to Start | Learning to Play a Guitar saying, “An article about where to start in your guitar learning journey.”

Justine Dolorfino brings a scholarly approach to her paper Multiculturalism in the General Music Classroom. It is “…an abridgement of the midterm and final that I wrote for a class titled Multicultural Approaches to Teaching Young Children”.

Elizabeth Heist gives us wonderful insight and solid advice I wish I had when I was an undergrad in her article, I Don’t Sing, I am a Band Director.

Music Pedagogy

Andy Zweibel reviews the new Alfred method for band and string orchestra publication in his article Review: Sound Innovations Method. Andy supplements his review with video interviews at the bottom of the article.

Wendy Stevens shares her experiences with a teaching technique and how she and her students are Making Music Come to Life: The Bear. This delightful article highlights outstanding teacher/student interaction and solid teaching techniques.

Music Software/Hardware

Jennifer Saksa shares her use of technology for use in ear training and tuning as it relates to her experience as a string player. She found a wonderful piece of software that is now her “go to” tuner in the article Solving A Musician’s Tuning Stress.

Andy Zweibel’s Review: Zoom Q3HD Digital Video Camera. What makes this camera so exciting for music educators is its ability to record high quality audio. Read on for great information and get your credit card ready because you’re going want to buy one!

Music Technology

I think this is our first article submitted in a language other than English! From Italy, we have a great article on a technical aspect of working with MIDI.  It has outstanding information and it’s a great way to brush up on your Italian. OK, I’ll confess, I used Google Translate. A warm welcome to our Italian speaking colleagues and thank you Pietro Contenti of Artisti Musicisti for this article How To Separate Instrumental Parts of a MIDI File.

Joseph Pisano gives us a present for the Holidays! A Free Twitter Music Education Widget for your Website saying “A better, free, Music Education Widget for your Website –aggregate the most common Music Education Tweets using this widget and have the most up-to-date music education information coming to your site”.

Other

Andy Zweibel shares his experience and thoughts on the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic 2010.

Jennifer Lynch provides a list of bloggers who write on that old round black thing they used to put music on in 20 Soulful Blogs for Vinyl Fans and Collectors.

Yoon Soo Lim describes her  efforts coordinating and collaborating with teachers in her school and thousands of miles away to produce Holiday concerts in So Do Tell What You Have in Mind: Start of a Collaborative Project.

Ok, that’s 16 posts! I am very proud that three of our posts are from PRE-service educators. Thanks to all our authors for your efforts to provide us with your insight and expertise. That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of music education blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Barb

TeachMusicHandout

According to their website, “THE Journal is dedicated to informing and educating K-12 senior-level district and school administrators, technologists, and tech-savvy educators within districts, schools, and classrooms to improve and advance the learning process through the use of technology. Launched in 1972, THE Journal was the first magazine to cover education technology.” (http://thejournal.com/pages/about-the-journal.aspx)

Thanks to MENC for referring to my article for this week’s MENC Member Update: News & Opportunities. The article, Future Teachers: Technology 101: Computer Lab to Music Lab can be viewed here: http://www.menc.org/v/future_teachers/technology-101-computer-lab-to-music-lab?utm_source=menc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10_22update