To blog or not to blog?

Blogging as an educator can be both positive and negative. It can get one in trouble because tone is not accounted for through typed message, also it could appear as though you are becoming too close to your students. One a positive note, most students spend time one the net, and may be more interested in some assignments that require them to search from their homes.

Technology in Choir!!

I have had the hardest time figuring out what types of technology I could realistically use in a choir setting. After looking through this site I was able to find a lot of information about several programs that are available to further help students with rhythm (Tap it)/pitch issues (Macgamut), composition programs like sibelius, and several instructions on how to create a DVD of a concert, or create practice Cd's, or MP3's. This gives me a greater idea of ways I can incorporate technology into my subject area.

http://choralnet.org/resources/displayResources.phtml?category=4

101 ways to cope wih teaching stress

When I become stressed out I almost always end up burnt out. I usually cannot find a way to get out of it. This link lists 101 ways to deal with stress as a teacher. We know that teaching is very time consuming, stressful, and complicated at times. Having little reminders to help alleviate those stressful times will be useful. I am actually going to try a couple of things I haven't thought about doing before.

http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/101-ways-to-cope-with-teaching-stress/

Planning to move for a job??

I am trying to face reality, as a secondary music teacher I may have a difficult time finding a job in Oregon. I am trying to prepare myself far in advance for the possibility of having to move out of state for a teaching position. I have never had to move by myself before, and have only lived in 2 towns in Oregon. I found this link which gives a thorough list of things to do when preparing to move--starting about a month before you plan to move. Talking with some of the faculty before you move will be helpful in finding a place to live that is close, and safe.

http://www.moversdirectory.com/moving_guide.html

The best education in the world.

When I made a prediction about where the best schools in the world would be, I thought of China, or maybe Russia. I was kind of suprised to find that it is Finland. Their schools sound so incredible that I wish I could have grown up there. They have shorter school days, free hot meals, lots of music, art, and sports, and a more home-like environment. Upon arriving to class they remove their shoes at the door, which is customary to do at their home. Finland has more graduates than anywhere in the world. 60% people in Finland are university educated. Relating Finland's educational system to that of America's, I see a prominent difference regarding what types of societies we are living in. I suspect that Finland is not as competitive as USA. Finland's outlook on how to care of their students is also interesting. A teacher was asked what it was that made them so successful, they replied that teaching is highly respected, and they have a lot of control with how they teach. I was comparing NCLB with Finland's take on how to help struggling students, and this is what was said,'Our poor students do extremely well, so the gap between them and the high performers is small compared to that in other countries. But we know you have to work extremely hard with those students. If you stress competition, they will be the losers and the gap will widen.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/25/schoolsworldwide.schools

Oregon ranked 49th in the nation!

As someone who is somewhat interested in teaching in the state of Oregon, this ranking makes me a little nervous about doing so. Oregon was 1 in 5 states to receive a "D" for their education system. Elementary level teaching seems to be struggling the most. It was stated that Oregon does not have early-learning standards, which could be where the later problems in 4th grade reading and math stem from. There also appears to be little help for beginning teachers, most other states have mentoring programs for first year instructors. I wonder if the people ranking these states place any responsibility on the parents...If I didn't have my mom drilling me in elementary school, I wouldn't have progressed to where I ended up. I wouldn't have been motivated to do much of anything in school. I'm curious if that is the case with these elementary school students who aren't up to par in math and reading. Lack of parental involvement??

http://www.oregoncatalyst.com/index.php?/archives/1117-Oregon-Education-Among-Very-Worst-in-the-Nation.html

NCLB statistics

In a study of 271,000 students in public schools throughout Texas, researchers from Rice university made an alarming discovery. The effects of NCLB were resulting in amazing results...in the drop-out rates, especially among minority students. The stats were as following;

60 percent of African American students, 75 percent of Latino students, and 80 percent of ESL students did not graduate within 5 years. ---An overall graduation rate of 33 percent.

These statistics made me feel sick to my stomach. Are we testing students, or educating them?
It seems like the more we single out scores by ethnicity, the more those students struggle, have lower self-esteem, and give up hope. These statistics show that very thing occurring.





http://nclbchange.wordpress.com

How to assess and evaluate choir students

This web page is dedicated to different ways to assess and evaluate students in choir. I really found the idea of creating a profile for each student and checking in with them and their parents to be very valuable. It also would be a way for an educator to back up their work, along with saving all of their printed out lesson plans with a comment section about how the lesson plan worked out. It is difficult to find a solid grading system for choir, because people will come into the class with differing ability levels. This is why assessing their progress is more important than the student's actual ability.

http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/artsed/choral10/stueva.html

The 10 worst things a teacher can do.

"Avoid smiling and being friendly with your students."

As much as it important to keep a distance from your students, one must also consider the students' safety and trust. By default an educator is essentially a parent, mentor, and counselor all at the same time. I wouldn't want to come off as cold, or uncaring. It is important to me that a students would feel safe enough to approach me if they wanted to.

Thinking about things that a teacher should not do, I have developed my own set of ideas. As I have observed and been involved in a number of situations over the years, I have noted some teaching strategies that should never be used. One is never telling a student what they cannot do. As a teacher it is not your job to put a cap on a student's potential. It will damage the student's self esteem, and could possibly detour them from pursuing a dream. Another is to never ignore signs of abuse or neglect. You as an educator may be a child's life line.

The emotional basis of learning.

It has been a well known fact that children that are neglected in some way through childhood will more than likely experience some sort of difficulty later in life. This fact is one of the reasons I have wanted to go into teaching, and have had an interest in psychology. I feel that a teacher has the potential to have a tremendous effect on a child's life. Sometimes, just having one person show care and appreciation towards you can affect your self esteem, and your level of learning ability. If a child feels safe and cared for, they are going to be in a better position to learn and grow.

Top reasons to become a teacher

Often when a person thinks about the perks of teaching, they often picture the luxurious summer vacations and a solid Monday to Friday job. For those that see teaching as rewarding, time consuming, challenging, enjoyable...they are in the same mentality that I am. Realistically, I am aware that most of summers are going to be dedicated to preparing for the next school year, attending conferences to learn new skills to better serve the students. They are after all, the reason many choose to go into this profession. I know it is the reason I am going into teaching. I have seen the effects that teaching can have on a person. I have seen people become light-hearted, more passionate, and more child-like through teaching. On the other end of the spectrum, I have witnessed teachers that were in the profession solely because their dream career didn't work out. It is often obvious to the students when this is the case. There is a lack of effort put into their lesson plans, a bitter, angry attitude, and occasionally a slacked attitude in grading. Let's all hope that teaching will be recognized as a profession rather than a "semi-rofession."After all, some one had to teach all of the "professionals" out there.

What these blogs are all about. :)

I am studying to become a secondary music teacher at Southern Oregon University. I am currently in the 2 year part-time MAT program. I have been working at grocery stores for the last 6 years to help pay for my education. The reward for spending THAT much tine in grocery stores will be the opportunity I will have to educate students in music and all the facets that includes. The following blogs are mostly about the different resources that are available for educators. Some are reviews about search engines, others about incorporating theories about education in the classroom.

Concept to classroom (Gardner's 7 intelligences).

Applying your lesson plans to incorporate Gardner's seven intelligences goes along with being able to teach the same concept in many different ways. Since people do learn in different ways, it is very realistic to create a classroom atmosphere that can use every one's strengths, and explore the other domains of learning. In can be challenging for the educator to find unique and interesting ways to access each learning style in their lesson planning. For example, I am planning on teaching music in secondary schools. Many of the students will probably have a fairly increased aptitude for music; however, for those that are strong in other areas I will have to be very creative...one example I have thought of involved a nerf basketball hoop posted onto some type of board with solfedge across the sides. The goal would be to be able to follow the solfedge where my hand was pointing at, be able to hear and sing those pitches correlated with the solfedge. If they are correct, they shoot a basket. This would be using spatial, musical (which can be considered mathematical as well), interpersonal, and self. Language could be incorporated by taking a piece being worked on in class and singing it in English, followed by singing it in solfedge.

Adobe's portable document format

I am really excited about the Adobe's PDF musical contribution. Through this program, one is able to view manuscripts, hear examples of them, including lyrics. This has the potential to be very useful in selecting scores to be used during a school year. The site is relatively easy to navigate through.

http://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/pdftomusic.htm

http://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/pdftomusicpro.htm

Virtual library

Upon researching the benefits to the virtual library website, I was unable to search any topic without an error appearing on the screen. I have tried the website several times. The idea of a website like this sounds like an excellent source for educators, however I had to search for a similar site that was functioning. The following link is an easy to navigate and valuable source. The second and third links are links to music through the first site.

http://www.ipl.org/

http://www.aria-database.com/

http://www.ipl.org/redirect?item=6322&url=http://patriciagray.net/Operahtmls/works.html

igoogle has both positives and negatives

Through setting up an igoogle account, I was able to set my main course of study; music, as a theme for my page. As an educator I can access a lyrics search engine--which is mostly pop oriented, and a quick guitar chord guide. All of these things could be useful. However, there was a music 'top songs' list you can click on to play...and it brings up the yahoo personals page. Okay...I just realized that I can remove the stuff I don't like and add gadgets. the free mp3 player is fun. Okay...fun until the pornographic advertisements come up. I like the general idea of the homepage designed around this search engine. The advertisements were too inappropriate, so I won't be using it much. Using the main search engine for music education, I was given appropriate links.

www.menc.org/

www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/

Furl is amazing

The educator's dream; the Furl search engine. I was able to quickly and easily locate lesson plan worksheets and easily save them. Through saving them, the site suggested a few things I might like and links through google. For example, I had saved the site for music lesson outlines and I was given links to kindermusik, a childhood based music instruction based mostly on the east coast. Another to find music plans already drawn out.


http://www.kindermusik.com/

http://www.kindermusik.com/