Flipped Classroom

Throughout this last week I have been doing a lot of research on flipped classrooms. I am very interested in this concept and have been trying to decide if this is a concept that can work in my choral classroom. In a modified way it is essentially how performance classes work. Music students do the rudimentary musical learning at home and then work together towards the final production. It may have never been done through the guidance of a video from the teacher but the concept is still the same. They should come to class prepared by knowing the notes of the song or the fingerings on a musical instrument. What will be beneficial is the video guiding students to learn the notes of a piece of music. I can teach students different aspects about singing through video they watch at home and then put it to practice at school. Also, I do not find a lot of time to teach music history and such because we are focused on learning our songs and all that entails. So, I could have students watch information about these topics at home and be ready for discussion or short projects to complete in class. I did not find a lot of flipped lesson ideas for the music class, much less the choir class. The ones I did find were for the instrumental classes. I think since it is such a new concept many music teachers have not gone down this road yet. Maybe I can lead the way, but I have to figure it out first myself. While searching I did spend some time on Ted-Ed in hopes of getting ideas. It is a great sight with lots of lessons for high school and college students. I think it has great potential for all grade levels. I spent a lot of time on Google looking for Flipped lessons is music and ran across some sights that mainly talked about the concept of flipped lessons in music but not really any lessons or much information to take away from them. One such sight is called Music Education 2.0 http://www.musiced20.com/flipped-music-classroom-smart-music/. I found this as a great resource for technology and music and I will probably use it as a resource in the future. I spent some time on ArtsEdge which is an online program through The Kennedy Center. This sight has lots of lesson plans over a variety of fine arts. It did not contain flipped lessons but would be a good resource towards a flipped lesson. As with all technology, it costs money. I think flipping a class could cost a minimum amount of money unless we want all students equipped with iPads. If we can provide students with computer access at school, we can keep the cost down. So what do I feel about the concept of a flipped classroom? I think it is a great concept for certain lessons and certain situations. It is something I will continue to explore when it comes to certain lessons I am teaching to my choir students.

Podcast

As I was searching for podcasts and music education, I was happily surprised to find quite a few. I am very interested in using podcasts with my students because of how my class is constructed. Since my students are learning about music, especially singing, it is not always feasible to have them work on their own or in small groups without my help. When I am lucky, I have students who can play piano and read music which helps in group work or sectionals as we call them in music classes. It is also hard, if not impossible for students to practice their music at home for the same reasons they can’t do sectionals without me. Podcasts would be helpful and more time efficient. The way my students currently work on their own is through CD’s that I burn for each student. These have the accompaniment music on it and my voice singing as well. This is very time consuming when I have over 100 to make multiple times a year. With a podcast I can record all of the songs and put them on a podcast that my students can go to during practice time in class and practice time at home. They can listen to it on their iPod, iPhone, iPad or computer. For those students who do not have this advantage, I can still make CD copies. If my students use this technology it will not only enhance their music ability but also that of the choir. I came across several podcasts that were very interesting and gave me more ideas than the one I already mentioned. Music Teacher 911, http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/musicteachers911-music-teacher/id283152175 is a podcast on iTunes made by a former music teacher. He has many topics that all have to do with music and has guest speakers on as well. I have not listened to all of them but I am impressed with what I have heard. Another podcast that I came across is Dr. Frankel’s Podcast Page. .http://fams.podomatic.com/ Most of these podcasts are from presentations he makes on podcasting and technology in the music classroom. One other cool website I came across is called Rock Our World. This takes podcasting to a whole new level. In this podcast a song is composed by students from all over the world. It starts in one country with one track, like the drums and then it continues to the next group who might add vocals. I think I need to get my choir involved in this project. http://www.rockourworld.org/ I do not believe it would be very costly to make podcasts. There are a variety of software programs available including Audacity, Garageband, and Podguide Generator. Though we have lots of microphones available at my school we may need to purchase one or two specifically for podcast use. These could run anywhere from $10.00 and up. Creating podcasts from myself and my students is something I am very excited about.

mobile technologies

Student Response Systems or clickers as we call them can be useful in the choir classes I teach. I like them for several reasons that include effectiveness, availability, cost, and interesting. First, I like how students can answer question anonymously. On occasion I have my students give feedback on performances from others in the class and I know some students have a hard time taking criticism and some have a hard time giving it. I think using the clickers is a good way to get a conversation going about the performances. When using yes and no questions I could ask “Did all members of the ensemble breathe where it is indicated in the music? From there we could open up a discussion on why it is important to follow the markings in the music. Multiple choice questions can be used for ear-training when I want students to tell me what pattern I am singing. I would sing a solfege pattern and the students would choose whether I sang pattern A, B, C, or D. Since this is a hard concept for many, it would alleviate the fear of being wrong and everyone knowing it. But for me it would be a quick way for me to see who is getting it and who needs additional help. In an article I read, “Rules of Engagement” http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=86d5bbb0-c764-43ab-91b9-644dab4088db%40sessionmgr110&vid=8&hid=106 the author says it is important that the SRS be used appropriately based on the topic and should not be a distraction to learning. The teacher needs to keep the learner in mind when deciding to use clickers. Some questions are suggested to ask as a teacher. “How is the question related to my objective? What do I want to achieve by asking this question?” Keeping in mind what type of answer a teacher wants, he/she needs to write the question or statement accordingly. Another idea to keep in mind is the validity of the question, especially when assessing. Depending on the type and brand of clicker you buy, it will cost $1,000.00 - $2,000.00 for a classroom set of 24. As interesting as clickers are, I am not sure they are worth the money for my classroom.

Student Response Systems or clickers as we call them can be useful in the choir classes I teach. I like them for several reasons that include effectiveness, availability, cost, and interesting. First, I like how students can answer question anonymously. On occasion I have my students give feedback on performances from others in the class and I know some students have a hard time taking criticism and some have a hard time giving it. I think using the clickers is a good way to get a conversation going about the performances. When using yes and no questions I could ask “Did all members of the ensemble breathe where it is indicated in the music? From there we could open up a discussion on why it is important to follow the markings in the music. Multiple choice questions can be used for ear-training when I want students to tell me what pattern I am singing. I would sing a solfege pattern and the students would choose whether I sang pattern A, B, C, or D. Since this is a hard concept for many, it would alleviate the fear of being wrong and everyone knowing it. But for me it would be a quick way for me to see who is getting it and who needs additional help. In an article I read, “Rules of Engagement” http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=86d5bbb0-c764-43ab-91b9-644dab4088db%40sessionmgr110&vid=8&hid=106the author says it is important that the SRS be used appropriately based on the topic and should not be a distraction to learning. The teacher needs to keep the learner in mind when deciding to use clickers. Some questions are suggested to ask as a teacher. “How is the question related to my objective? What do I want to achieve by asking this question?” Keeping in mind what type of answer a teacher wants, he/she needs to write the question or statement accordingly. Another idea to keep in mind is the validity of the question, especially when assessing. Depending on the type and brand of clicker you buy, it will cost $1,000.00 - $2,000.00 for a classroom set of 24. As interesting as clickers are, I am not sure they are worth the money for my classroom. Ipads are another mobile technology I could use in my class in a variety of ways. When learning a new song my students sometimes practice in sectionals. I am constantly burning CD tracks of song accompaniments so my students can use them when they practice. By sending each section with an iPad they can go to a central location like Edmodo and the acoompaniments will be ready to go. I would only have to download the tracks once and would not have to worry about whether the CD's would get back to me. The ipad in comparison to the ipod would have greater output in volume and I could also have my students easily videotape their sectionals. This would elliviate those students who use that time as social hour instead of practice time. On a website called Soundtree http://www.soundtree.com/blog/2011/01/31/a-possible-future-for-ipads-tablet-pcs-in-the-music-classroom/ a scenario is given of a potential music classroom with ipads, one for each student (wouldn't that be awesome). In the scenario a teacher is giving a presentation on Scott Joplin which is imported to her iPad. Using her own iPad she is able to hold it up and send it to all of her students iPads so they can follow along. Within the presentaion is an mp3 that they listn to and then write about it on their blog right from their iPads. At different oints in the presentation they are taken to a Jazz website where they can explore, watch various videos that are in the presentation and finally to notation software where they begin to compose their own ragtime song. What a pie in the sky dream but oh wonderful it would be. Since iPads cost at least $500.00 each I know this is not realistic. However, having 4 or 5 in my class would provide my class resources to be more creative than they could without it.

Diverse Learners

As a middle school choir teacher, I think all of my students are diverse. Some diversity traits go unnoticed while others really stick out. I feel in a classroom setting such as mine, it can be somewhat easy to accommodate my diverse learners. It is in the performance that can sometimes be tricky. Diversity in students can take on many meanings. These can be mental, emotional, behavioral, learning disabled, gifted, and cultural. As a choir director I expose my students to a variety of cultures through music. This could be through the songs I choose, or the composers I teach about or through the history of music. If I have certain cultures represented in my classroom I try and include that particular cultural in my lessons at some point during the year. When a student feels comfortable discussing their cultural it is a good learning experience to share with the class. When I taught music in elementary school we did lots of moving activities. This can prove difficult for some students with physical disabilities. I would make modifications like having someone push them in their wheelchair if we were moving in circles or freely around the room. I also let them play instruments or clap along. When it comes to teaching to diverse learners, I try to change up the way I present information. A majority of our time spent together is singing so students with difficulty reading would struggle more in my room then other types of learning disabilities. When I know this is the case I either have them share music with someone they feel comfortable with ,or I let them take the music home and practice reading it at their pace. These students usually memorize quickly as to not be noticed by their peers that they are struggling with reading. My experience with mental, emotional, and behavioral diversity tends to go one or two ways. The music helps soothe the student and they do well in my class or it agitates them and they have to leave. Earlier I mentioned the performances can be the issue. I had a student in the past that had trouble standing still or staying quiet at the appropriate times and he did well with this in class. He liked the attention of the crowd and tended to get a little out of control when it came time for a concert. After my first concert experience I was concerned for future ones. Once the two of us built a relationship we were able to get him to follow the directions during the performance. He was one of my most favorite students ever because he really was a great kid. In my school we have a couple students who are minimally verbal. This year they started using iPads to converse with people. It was so neat to see their eyes light up when they would push the button to either ask a question or give an answer. It is so cool to have access to technology that gives a voice to people who do not have it. "The National Insitutes of Health (NIH) estimate that the incidence of learning disabilities in the general population is 15 to 20 percent. Fifty-one percent of all the students enrolled in the nation's special education programs are classified as learning disabled (U.S. Deptartment of Education)." Unfortunately, this diagnosis is often viewed as a hindrance rather than an opportunity for growth and understanding. This is from an article on FamilyEducation.com We all have a learning style that works best for us. These styles are categorized as Kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Though many of us can learn using all three styles, we typically prefer one over the other. As teachers giving instruction to a variety of students we must use a variety of strategies. When all students can find their learning style their chances of having a better education are enhanced. Students with and without labels need to find the style that helps them become better learners.