Young Band Repertoire

I've always been on the lookout for good repertoire lists. Here are some lists and then some, courtesy of the U. of Texas at San Antonio/The Institute for Music Research: Young Band Repertoire Project

Other exciting blogs out there

musictechforme.com is a "Music Technology for Music Education by Music Educators" site. I would imagine it just might be aimed toward music educators interested in technology. Yesterday's posting concerns hand-held recorders. It includes an MP3 clip of who-knows-what that I hesitate to open on my home computer for fear of viruses, but it seems pretty useful. I purchased a PDA with an audio recorder a few years back partly for educational purposes...I'll bet that a dedicated recorder would be just a bit more effective for the task of recording in a classroom situation.

Webedtech.com caught my attention with its June 14th, 2007 posting, "Cheat sheets - you know I love 'em." Who could resist reading that? As it turns out, the posting provides a link for cheat sheet info on Microsoft Office and other applications. Who needs the uber-pricey Microsoft manuals when you have access to this kind of stuff?

...which reminds me of another excellent freebie that a friend just days ago referred me to, Open Office. It's the product of an "open-source" project. It gives you a suite of applications eerily similar to (and totally compatible with) Microsoft Office apps...and by all accounts, it's legal. And you thought you were a slave to the wavy window icon! Google "Open Office," and you'll see.

Are you a parent of a 2-year-old who wouldn't mind figuring out how to educate your child using music? I am, and I found a neat little blog at this address that seems to take the issue seriously: http://simplesongs.blogs.com/head_shoulders_knees_and_/
I haven't investigated it thoroughly, but it looks fun.

It's not just for educators anymore

Blogs such as this one can, believe it or not, be useful for things other than meaningless rambles...like giving our students useful web links, advising them of various freeware, inspiring them with clips and articles that just might "float their boat" as it were, or just relaying perfunctory class information efficiently.

Plenty of students have loads of creativity that we don't give them credit for. Perhaps a good assignment would be to give them a project that is designed to make them find the best and most interesting site having to do with their daily activities in class, and then actually apply the lessons learned. Another idea would be to establish a class wiki dedicated to finding out as much about a particular composition while preparing it for performance.

Technology purchase!

I almost forgot...there's exciting news at the Sharp Pointed Stick house! After enduring endless months of begging and pleading from my wife, I just bought (nice crisp buzz roll with the lightweight sticks, please) a brand new laptop yesterday at Best Buy -- it's our first! The bouncing new arrival is an Acer with 1024MB processor (I think?), 160GB hard drive, DVD burner, 15" LCD, etc. -- it even has a built-in keyboard...wow. The little guy was cheap, too - only 500 bucks on clearance. I bring this fabulous news to the reader's attention because I need your advice: I'm not sure what the wisest service contract choice is in this case. Our darling laptop will probably travel a lot, and we have a two-year old that he'll have to get along with. We plan to take care of the little bugger, but accidents do happen -- drops, scrapes, anvils dropping on the screen, that sort of thing.

Do I:

(A) Get the one-year with accidental damage ($99 - I think)
(B) Get the two-year with accidental damage ($199)
(C) Get the three-year with accidental damage ($249)
(D) Blow the the money at the Elgin casino, since it was so cheap and the equivalent will probably go for about $200 in three years based on the current deflation trend

I know what some of you are thinking -- the answer is always (C). But I'm a cheapskate and proud of it. Your comments?

Quitting time

You may be wondering about the blog title. Well, it relates to my profession, and I'm a band conductor, so you'll probably figure it out.

I'm off to check out some other blogs.

Assignment for Tuesday, part deux

I would certainly like to use technology more. Some ideas have brighter futures than others:

• Would love to have all students get Smart Music, but it's cost-prohibitive for many of my students -- and they might not even have a computer for it
• Would be intererested in getting a better notation program, but I don't think I would use it enough to justify the cost
• Would LOVE to send out communications via e-mail more, but many parents don't have an account and/or internet access
• Would LOVE to have a band website or blog where I could post news for EVERYONE, but not everyone would see it (see above)
• Could and should have a band program website anyway -- would like to do one for this fall
• Would like to hook up my office computer to the classroom TV to use it as a monitor once in a while for playing on-line video/audio clips, music theory material, and anything else that is simply a pain to try to scribble on the white board
• Would like to learn Microsoft Access and use it to replace multiple Excel files that currently serve as databases
  

The Assignment for Tuesday

The formalities: This blog has been established as an assignment for Instructional Design, a class that I am taking at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. (I plan to graduate this summer!)

The realities: I find technology interesting and quite useful at times, but I'm part of Gen X (I'm 35), so that puts me in the category of using technology extensively but not completely using it to the extent that I could to serve me and my students. Translation: I need help in getting up to speed with technology!

The other reality: I like to have fun with new technology, so play along with me if you dare.

My profile:

I teach band in Elgin, IL, grades 5-8. My 7th and 8th graders are in one building (middle school) and the 5th and 6th graders are in five other buildings (elementary feeders). Here are the ways that I actually use technology while teaching:

5th/6th:

• Clavinova keyboard for playing pitches for matching and chords (one school only)
• CD player for playing tracks from a method book play-along CD (one school only)
• In all but one feeder school and at the middle school (where elementary large group rehearsals are held after school), I teach in a room void of available technology
• Hand-held tuner in rehearsals
• Essential Elements 2000 is used, which has play-along CD and DVD/DVD-ROM. I strongly encourage all students to use one or both of these sources to help them. They don't all have computers, so some can't use the DVD-ROM features.

7th/8th

• CD player for playing various professional recordings and concert recordings (of my bands)
• Microphone on stage (once in a while)
• Light board and sound board for concerts
• Hand-held tuner in rehearsal
• Television/VCR/DVD for watching performances, "sick day" video assignments
• I occasionally use a digital camera -- my digital yearbook photo was tons better than the one initially taken last year
• I've used PrintMusic a few times for creating parts
  

Here are ways that I use technology while I am doing administrative things and such:

• E-mail (district only; free is blocked) -- daily
• Internet -- frequently -- for research and certain purchases
  
• Word processor -- letters, lists, etc.
• Spreadsheet -- lists, lesson tracking sheets, schedules, accounting, survival
• Grade Machine -- incredibly amazing grade processing program, although it is difficult at times to use
• I have a PDA, but I rarely use it as of late
• I adore the newer data storage technology, especially flash drives...very handy!
• I occasionally call our store rep with my cell phone if I'm driving