Google Groups

http://groups.google.com/?hl=en

Our school has some flexible staff development time built into the calendar. Last year, someone came up with the great idea of using some of that time as a book club. Read the book, discuss at someone's home, take care of that flex time.

The discuss at someone's home was frequently a discomfort for me. I have to get a kid out the door for summer school and I'm the daycare provider in the summer. I hate to clean my own house spouse-approved-for-company clean.

I suggested that I host this summer at Google Groups.

Read the book, stop in for the online discussion when you have a minute and I don't have to sterilize the house to host!

Another iPhone/iPod Touch feature I like

I find myself sharing my computers with my kids more this vacation. That's OK, I can still log into e-mail with my iPod Touch. Staying in touch with the Touch.

I was having trouble a while back with the size of the type on my email, but now the email client can be read in landscape mode. Before it was portrait only.

For those of us with vision issues (and yes, I know I need new glasses.) this is much better than doing the enlarge finger gesture and scrolling back and forth a lot. Nice improvement.

I wonder if a super-sized iPod would be even better? Something like the Kindle sounds good. Now if the iPod ran SmartMusic and cost about $400...hmmm.

New iPod Touch feature.

I almost missed a big improvement when I upgraded the iPod Touch software to version 3.0.

Spotlight!

I was shuffling my apps around so the ones I use most often are on my Touch's front page. I couldn't help but notice that I must have created another page of apps. There was an extra dot at the bottom of the screen. When I scrolled over to see what app I had left there, a search screen popped up.

I immediately thought that the search was just for keeping those apps findable. I am starting to get a collection that takes up a couple of screens and don't keep my apps in any order, so I could see the usefulness of that.

So, I started typing in the name of an app and was immediately surprised by all the addresses, songs, videos, assorted programs and snippets started showing up. It really does behave like Spotlight on your Mac.

This is going to make my life with my iPod easier. If I can remember anything about what I want to find, Spotlight can help me on my way. What's on your iPod? Much easier to find it now!

I Love those lists!

http://howtopractise.com/?q=content/50-websites-will-improve-your-music-practice

I have more time to read during the summer break, but there is something about those lists that I really like. I've mentioned it before, if I have a minute, I look at a list.

This list, over at How To Practise, is a killer list of practice sites. Mike's top fifty are definitely worth a look!

It is interesting how many more resources are becoming available on the internet!

I think this internet idea is a keeper.

School's out and I get to watch a little too much morning news. That and a nice slow read through my regional newspaper and I am on vacation! My blogging wanders a bit too.

Question for you. Will Twitter take down the government in Iran? Hash tag for this on Twitter is #Iranelection. That tag works for Flicker too. There is also a Wiki for this! Web 2.0 is pouring it on.

Those streets look angry. Didn't we see something like this take down the Shaw?

Free, fair and open elections. Backed up with the whole world watching. This internet idea is a keeper. Go citizens!

Summer Practice Snag

If you use Impact to manage the summer practice program, you will need to deal with the July 1st turn-over.

Every year starts over with July 1. Normally not a big deal, but this time I have a project that will cross over that date. I guess kids will need to register for class again sometime this summer to play the game. Hmmm.

Summer Practice

We are trying a new way to keep students playing over the summer.

Yes, playing over the summer is important!  This summer is going to be (literally) a long one, because Minnesota schools don't typically start before Labor Day.  (I have a rant about that start policy almost ready to go.) 

I used to work with school data.  In this district, we give a fall test and a spring test to get a handle on how our kids are going to do on the state test (I have another rant almost ready to go on that as well.)  It was amazing how our students and teachers would make more than two years of progress in a single year in one fall to spring cycle.  Good job everyone!

But, if I took last springs results and compared them to the following fall, you could see the summer taking back the amazing progress.  Minus one year or even two years.  Breaks an vacations are good, summer vacation is too much time off to forget how to do things.  If you are music teacher you know this as well.  Have you heard your group in the fall?

We are going to do something different this year.  We are sending a "SmartMusic Unit" to the kids this summer.  To do this, open your method book in Impact and in the assignments section, click the button labeled "Create Unit." We picked 25-30 exercises that we knew we had covered well during the year to put in this unit.  We are sending them to our students via Impact.

Now, the motivation piece.  We are giving away to our "High Scorer" free tuition to our band camp.  We are expecting to have some perfect scores, so our tie breaker is first one to have them all turned-in.  All students completing 15 of the 30 will earn 10 extra credit points to start next summer.  Students are encouraged to practice with SmartMusic before turning in.  If they don't have SmartMusic at home, they are encouraged to go to a friend's house to work on this.

A couple of thoughts.  We aren't using SmartMusic to teach new concepts.  That should be done in lessons, sectionals or from the podium.  In this case, we are using SmartMusic as way for students to avoid ingraining wrong notes and rhythms on things they should know. Impact is also a very handy way to administer the contest features of our summer practice program.

Summer practice? We think we have a solution at our school and we will keep you posted on how well it works.