New Tools for Kids!

Our students now have Google Apps available to them!

This news was shared with our staff in a short sentence in a lengthy Monday morning newsletter.  Way at the bottom.  I really think that news should have been shouted from the mountain top, with way bigger type and about a dozen exclamation points!

Can you tell that I am pretty excited?  Those of you who have had Apps for a while are probably yawning right now.

Why would a band director be so excited about kids having access to Google Apps?  When you use SmartMusic like we do (everywhere and everybody) kids frequently ended up sharing accounts with other members of the family.  Now each kid can get his/her assignments without having to dig through big sister's/brother's assignments to get there.  Sure, I could have set them up with an account myself, but I am pressed for time as it is.  Now, someone else has done all the set-up.

Other reasons to get excited include all the other tools that go with an Apps account.  Writing, spreadsheet, forms, presentations, web pages can all be authored with these tools.

The cross-disciplinary assignments that I didn't get to may be possible now.

How about a serious tuning unit with a spreadsheet to track your tendencies over several practice sessions?  Wouldn't be cool if kids new where they typically were on the tuner with a little scientific study?

Report on a composer?  Or should that be a presentation?  AND it gets stored on the "Cloud," so no more "the dog ate my homework."

Nothing like a new tool to get the excitement going!

Music and the iPad 2.

The iPad 2 came out yesterday and I will probably take some time to look at it when it makes it into stores.

I love the format... I don't think I could think of a better way to interact with a computer than to point at what I want to do.  The size is wonderful.  I read on my iPod Touch frequently and would love a bit more screen to do that. The freedom to access information everywhere is nice.  The iPad is what I want in a computer.

I like the idea of Garageband on the iPad too.  As a music teacher, I do use Garageband in class.  But I have some questions.  How do I get sound in?  What if the built-in mics aren't up to doing a quality job?  I do  a lot of quick stereo two mic set-ups for note taking and playback with a small mixer; Can I do that with an iPad?  Once the project is done, do I really have to e-mail it to get at it anywhere else?  What if I want to move a project up to Logic?  What if I want it on my iPod for listening in the car?

I would bet there is enough processor power in there to do a credible job with the processing.  I do remember some audio projects that were done on half of that processor power.

I think the thing iPad (3?) really needs for me to get one is an actual port that other manufacturers can use for things like mics and mixers.  Maybe even Thunderbolt like in the new Macbooks.

I suppose for class projects, course management software (Moodle) can solve logistics problems

Right now, I am too cheap to have both a Macbook and an iPad.  Maybe I just need to wait.

I am worried that we will end up with a bunch of these in labs at school and I will wish we had put the money towards more versatile computers.

Every Once-in-a-While I have a SmartMusic Tip.

www.SmartMusic.com

Every once-in-a-while I have a SmartMusic tip.

When I talk about using SmartMusic with my students and one of things I point out is the balance slider.  If I give an assignment with an accompaniment, I really want to hear the student more than the accompaniment.  Students really need to listen to an assignment before sending it in.  It is very easy to change the balance before sending it.

Now for the kid who forgot or rushed to get things turned-in and didn't listen, what do you do?  You can send it back and if there is time, I do that.  One more take is always good.  However, I am often on deadline when listening too.

That's where a decent set of headphones can help.  I have had some problem assignments become "listenable" by just pulling the side of the headphones with the accompaniment off my ear.  One side is always performer strong and you can hear what they are doing.  Saves you the time of a redo.

Don't forget to follow-up with the kid about his mixing tastes!

FileMaker Go and organizing my music room(s).

http://www.filemaker.com/

http://www.fmtouch.com/

I have one of THOSE assignments.  During the week, I have 270 students in five different classes and 10 sections of small group sectionals in 4 different rooms that I share with other teachers.  At the middle school level.

To say organization is important would be an understatement.  You could get run over pretty quick if you are not ready for class and fiddling with paperwork.   I am always looking for tools to help with that.  If those tools fit in my pocket, Great! because I have so many places to be.

I think I have found a versatile little gem called FileMaker Go.  It is an iOS version of FileMaker.  I am currently running it on my iPod Touch (Generation 4.)

FM Go works with your computer-based FileMaker data base.  You create the data base in FileMaker and share it to your iOS device.  The synch feature works with either the cord or over Wi-Fi.  I am using the cord and storing the info on my iPod.  Sometimes, you need the information where you can't get at a wireless connection.

You do need to do the design of the data base in FileMaker, but it is one of the easiest data bases to learn and pretty versatile too.

I now have my class lists, a parent contact phone number, picture of each student, and an advisor name in my pocket for whenever I need it.  Pretty cool.  I did very little data entry with this project as well as most of this information is available from the office on .csv and tab-delimited files, which FileMaker can import.

I have used FMTouch for very similar things.  You do need access to the more expensive FMPro Advanced to do this and it takes more set-up to make it work.  It is a solid solution if those items aren't a problem for you  and you don't have an iOS device that meets system requirements for FM Go.  I think that FM Go runs faster, but I can't be sure because I updated my iPod at the same time and I don't have a fair comparison.  FMTouch is worth a look if it works better with your gear.

Evernote

http://www.evernote.com/

Do you find yourself "clipping" ideas you find on the internet?

I used to spend a lot of time clipping photos I liked out of magazines and newspapers to study.  It is surprising how that helped my photography.  You figure out how a successful photo was made and when you get into a similar situation, you have a place to start.

You can't do that with scissors anymore.  At least not the ideas you find on your computer...that would make a mess of your monitor!

Evernote is my new scissors.  If I find a webpage I think may be important later for a project, I send it to Evernote.  I can organize it and look back on it later.  Pretty handy, especially for teachers working on their next lecture with up-to-the-minute information.  Worth a look and there is a free level of service.

The iPad came for a visit yesterday...

The iPad came to our district for a visit yesterday.

We got to take a look.  Corey from Apple actually let me try a few things on his personal iPad
(the show and tell ones were getting put away.)

First impression was "wow this thing is pretty snappy."  I was expecting gen 1 iPod speeds.  Things loaded quickly and switched pretty quickly.

The second thing to notice was the very nice display.  I am a photographer and when I saw the cute kitten pictures I had to do that little pinch move on the screen to enlarge them to ridiculous size... pencil sized hairs... I think people will need to sharpen their camera skills if they are going to display them on one of these.  Tack sharp or edit it out.

I hear the battery life is way up there.  Close to 12 hours?  Wow.  A guy could forget to charge it and still get a lot done on his next work day.

Bento.  So this may be the reason to learn Bento for a FileMaker Pro guy.  I see it syncs wirelessly.

I also saw that Citrix was installed!  Whoa, so if there isn't an "App for that," you could potentially run the program on your desktop and interact with it on your iPad via Citrix!?

What it won't do:
No printing yet.  But aren't we supposed to be paperless soon?

No Finale or SmartMusic yet.  I am guessing those will be a ways off.

No Flash.  Start learning HTML 5.

I love "white lists" in Safari for my kids at home.  Yes, my kids can surf the internet, but only on parent approved sites.  Here Safari is either on or off.  Be ready to watch students closely when they are surfing the net.

Where would this be a good fit?

This could be a great desk tool for kids.  Especially in the lower grades.  If most of what you do is consume media, read email, read books, do some flash cards, look stuff up (does this sound like early elementary?) this is your tool.  If you are looking to create, especially audio and video productions, the laptop or desktop is the way to go.

Go iPad and have a lab available for the creation-type projects?

You know what your budget is, you will have to make some choices.  If I could swing a laptop for everyone, that would be great and probably preferable.  If I couldn't, an iPad 1:1 project can make sense.  Though the price break doesn't seem that big when comparing the iPad to a low end laptop....

This would also be a GREAT present for someone you love.  Father's Day would be a great time to test this theory at my house.  (Hint, Hint..)

Free Collaboration Tools

http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/50-free-collaboration-tools/

A major 21st century skill is collaboration. The link will take you to a site that has 50 free tools for students to use to collaborate.  It is a great place to start looking for ways to do collaborative work.

Schools should be providing opportunities to do collaborative work because work places require those skills.  I once heard a comedian riff on the "I like to work with people" answer in a job interview.  His response was something along the line of we ALL work with people.  It's true.

Now back in my early school days, they used to call working together "cheating."  Minnesota also had an education commissioner, Cheri Pierson Yecke, who was concerned about students doing social loafing instead of work.  (Her book.)

To say there may need to be some controls on a group project is an understatement.  People will be concerned about the learning and how we are monitoring the projects.

Some of the collaboration tools mentioned in the link let you play back and review the work as it happens.  You can tell who is the worker and who may be the loafer.  Everyone's contribution is documented.

School should look a little more like work in the collaborative sense.  Where else are kids going to get those skills?  I would suggest you take a look at this list.  Do you have a few to add?

Just Back From The Mother Ship

I am just back from the Mother Ship. Apple HQ in Cupertino.

The folks over in the Apple Education Division helped our 21st Century Skills group get its head on straight about the role of technology in a modern education with an Apple Executive Briefing.

No, it wasn't all about tools (as you know, they do sell those.) I would say it is all about how students learn to be productive citizens in their near future and promoting student learning.

How do you get your information? How do you get current information? How do you collaborate? How do you find the next useful idea? How do you create your next big idea? How do you tell the world what you know? How are we going to promote higher levels of thinking? How are we going to promote deeper understanding? How do we do all of this and keep our kids safe?

Can you really say you are doing all of this without technology? Any of this?

Yes, they have solutions for these questions and I am sure they would be happy to take our request for a bid. Yes, they did have a principal talk to us about pulling off a one to one initiative. Don't worry about the hard sell. They really didn't push for a sale at this meeting.

This really is them providing you the opportunity to think about what we are doing. When was the last time anyone did that for you?

I would say that, if you are ever invited to an Apple Executive Briefing, accept.

Thanks Apple.

P.S. No, we didn't get to see the new iPad. I am sure they are really busy getting the launch ready to go. I know what did get to do was way more important. Thanks again Apple.

Grading

http://dougbutchy.edublogs.org/2010/03/19/elementary-band-grading/

Doug Butchy has a conversation going about grading elementary band on his blog. Worth a read.

I wonder about grades as well. Letters rarely line up with growth, effort or progress. I haven't had to struggle in school, so I couldn't personally say if they were really a motivator. I hope that kids take my class for more than just the grade.

I have the usual daily rubric and the required concert performances. I also use SmartMusic assignments to be sure that practicing is happening and to document what students are accomplishing. I'm covered for grade justification.

I think SmartMusic helps with more than just grades. I was really worried about this year's 7th graders. They were the first class hit with no sectionals after 5th grade. They were also our first group we really pushed to use SmartMusic. Next year's registration for 8th grade band will be as big as it ever was. I think that is because these students know what they can do and are confident about their success. I wish they knew more as they go to the next building, but I am really glad they are sticking with it!

If I had to pick sectionals or SmartMusic, I think I would pick sectionals. I miss the ability to have conversations with my students in a small group setting. It is much easier to tell kids what they need to know in those settings.

But if sectionals came back, I think I would still be using SmartMusic as much as we are now. It is a tremendous practice guide. If you beat the machine, you have a really good start on the music and are ready for rehearsal. Why would you give that up?

Modbook and Finale

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=home

I don't play keyboards well enough to do a really good job of playing my work directly into Finale.

I know you can set the quantization to cover for the lack of organ lessons, but that is usually more work than I want to do two minutes before class starts. I also can get around in speedy note, but that isn't all that speedy for me.

I have found a solution that I like better. The stylus-based Mac put together by the people at Axiotron is a nice solution for those of use that have mouse intensive projects to do. Put the point of the stylus where you want it and the cursor shows up there in an instant. No more picking up the mouse to cover a lot of screen real estate. This is more natural for the people who want to go back to the pen, but really shouldn't.

You will still want to use a keyboard if you have typing to do. Bluetooth or USB works for that.

I haven't played with the handwriting recognition yet, but will keep you posted when I do.

It can be pricey, but I think I got a good deal on eBay.

The other way to go after the stylus approach to Finale would be a special monitor with the same features built in. Which is just as costly or more so. Or, the Interactive White Board may be the solution (I'll have to try that sometime...when I need a large muscle work-out.) Make the tools work for you and not you for the tools. I'm pleased with my Modbook.

Ustream

http://www.ustream.tv/

Need to send out a live video feed?

Sure YouTube will let you post a video... What do you do with a live event?

We have a dodgeball tournament at my school and the coach was wondering how to get video out to the school. Kids want to watch the finals and there really is no room in the gym for an audience. (Yeah, when we are not playing dodgeball, we watch it. Dodgeball fever! Crazy for dodgeball!)

She was right. The best way to turn this into a big event would be to televise it somehow. Looking at our resources and our budget was a problem. Whenever in this type of situation, I always say to myself, "Google is my friend." Free Internet Video Streaming turns up Ustream.

Turns out, it is not too hard to use. I was expecting a whole bunch of hoops, additional software, super-cryptic directions and hundreds of ads for services I wouldn't want. Not so. Plug in the camera, go to the web site, login, follow a couple of links and you have your TV station. Fun!

So, if you can think of a time you could use your own live TV channel, Ustream is worth a look. And the show wouldn't have to be about dodgeball...

SmartMusic as an audience.

http://www.smartmusic.com/Community/Default.aspx

I am surprised by how much better an assignment sounds after the SmartMusic has been turned in. Significantly better. As in I-wish-there-were-a way-to-count-the-right-and-wrong-notes-in-an-ensemble-so-I-could-seriously-measure this effect.

I suppose I could round up a bunch of laptops and SmartMusic the whole ensemble, but try to get everyone to start at the same time...

I believe the effect is there and it is there even when I don't use the notes on screen assessment features.

I think it has something to do with kids using the playback to self evaluate. Yes, he was talking to me about diction/articulation/breath support. Time for take two. SmartMusic is very much like a mirror for my kids.

If kids still don't seem motivated, put the SmartMusic assignment in this frame: we are going to send this recording to someone.

Our writing teachers always talk about considering the audience when you write (It is good advice.) This can be the music analogy to that advice. SmartMusic provides the chance to perform for an audience as an individual, so, do a good job, kids!

The iPad

I got lucky with my lunch break today... the time zones aligned and my lunch hour (actually, lunch 20 minutes) worked out to be the same time as the iPad roll-out. I think it is fun to read coverage of an event while it is happening. We live in amazing times.

Say good-bye to books on paper. I know others have done it first. I know that Amazon has its Kindle. But this seems like a very good fit for the other Apple on-line sales efforts. Is this the synergy that e-books need, or is Apple too late and the other earlier entries into this kind of book sales/publishing gotten to big lead? I don't think Apple is too late and the presentation is wonderful.

Putting my school teacher hat on:

(Warning! These are pretty random.)

If a teacher couldn't find a use for this in the classroom, they are not trying very hard. This could easily become the entry level learning tool for many learners. Will we be putting something like this in every student's hands anytime soon?

The price may seem to be a little high, but have your priced a text-book lately? Replace a back-pack load of books with this and get the internet and some computer power at the same time. I think the iPad may be close to a great deal.

The cost of books is a concern at school. Is there going to be a library app? Maybe there is already and I don't see it. There is a Kindle app from Amazon for the iPhone and Touch already. Free content? I don't know where to find that app.

The ports that don't seem to be there may be worry-some. We will have to see what developers can do with that dock connector.

I am hoping that there is some decent way to project what is on the teacher's (or student's) iPad to show the rest of the class. I suppose that a document camera could do this.

As a music teacher, it would be nice to be able to attach a high quality mic for one of those recording apps. I can do that pretty easily with Firewire or USB a computer now. I guess that a more powerful computer will always need to be there for a certain creative class of user. I didn't notice, Garageband? (I need a longer lunch break.)

No multi-tasking? Most kids I know don't work this way. It is good to be able to have a couple of programs open at the same time. Maybe that will come with generation 3 or so of these. In the mean time, think of it as focusing attention and working one step at a time...

I am looking forward to seeing one of these in the wild. It really gets the creative thoughts going. The iPad has some real possibilities as a school-changer. It is great to see a browser, a suite of office tools, access to a whole bunch of apps, choices on connectivity and disc size in a 10 hour portable for less than a $1000. Amazing.

I haven't written for a while!

Hope you had a great couple of weeks.

Education wise, I won a piece of Chad Criswell's Music Ed Magic give away. The real prize on his site is all the information he is just giving away, so don't feel bad if you missed his contest! http://www.musicedmagic.com/music-in-general.html

Thanks Chad!

I'm down ten pounds since Christmas. There is an app for that called "Lose It!" It's available at the iTunes app store. I like tracking the intake with this app and my iPod enough to make the diet work. Nothing fancy. Just know where you are at calorie-wise for the day before reaching for extra desert.

Odd. This diet thing started with a tech thing too. We were looking ahead to summer vacation. We were looking at a vacation planning web site and thought it would be fun to ride the mules down into the Grand Canyon. I either can't go, need to lose some or need to ride naked to make the weight limits. Naked in the desert sun just doesn't do it for me. Time to cut a few.

Better lose enough to take my camera too!

I will have a second vocal music test on SmartMusic in the near future. Second time seems to go much faster. More on that later.

Trouble? What Trouble?

http://wayspace.wayzata.k12.mn.us/blogs/digitaleyes/ Look for the Digital Coping Skills postings.

and

http://xkcd.com/627/

I think these topics are related. We as teachers need to toughen-up when it comes to our tech problems. No, new technology is not going to work great all the time. So figure it out, cupcake!

Start with xkcd.com/627/ flow chart. I think I have been doing this for years. A little curiosity and the knowledge that you probably aren't going to make things worse will make you a better computer user.

If you still don't have it working the way you think it should, you may have a million dollar idea for a software developer! Make a few calls or email someone!

I suppose that now the cat is out of the bag about my secret to success, I should retire and go on the lecture circuit....

Google Wave at School

I took some time yesterday and this morning to play with Google Wave.

My friend George is a bit ahead of me on waving, so it was good to try it out with him. He walked me through a couple of things using the embedded file features and got me out to the public waves. Thanks!

It doesn't take long to see that this can be useful for adults trying to organize a project. That seems to be the first thought for a number of people in the Eduwave. Eduwave is a public wave that, as of this morning, already has 557 ideas on it.

When it gets that big, it feels a lot like Twitter. Lots of ideas that come at you very fast. Of course this isn't a very focussed wave. It is a lot of people getting their feet wet with wave (oh, you knew THAT pun was coming, stop groaning!)

To me, that large public wave may present a problem if you were to try it with a classroom of kids and trying to stay on topic. At least where I work (middle school.) Students may have their own agenda or wander off into misconceptions. This could work with kids, but my students would need supervision.

The private wave might be better for teachers and students. Try it as a clever way to turn the traditional worksheet or writing assignment into a more interactive student-teacher experience. Drop in on their wave and ask them "how did you get that answer?" or "have you tried this?"

Some projects may work in both public and private venues. Wouldn't that be interesting. A chance to coach a student a bit in a private wave. Then send them off to the deep end (you knew that pun was coming too) of the discussion in the public forum. This approach would help a student develop his or her ideas and build confidence before going into the discussion.

There are some good possibilities here. Get a wave invite and try it out.

Should There Be a Standard Classroom Computer Set-Up?

I always wonder about there being a standard computer set-up for classrooms.

My thinking says that I should be able to easily get my computer to do what I want. In my case, organize audio and record audio. Yeah, the latest Office might be a good idea so I don't have to spend a lot of time converting documents to the latest format. But for the most part, I want to be able to do a quick recording with some options to edit later.

Macintosh/Garageband is perfect for me. The rest of the building is PC. That really isn't a problem as far as computing goes. It is fairly easy to switch from one to the other.

How about the output? I like running the audio out into a desktop sized speaker system. That part is easy.

The visual side for demonstrations, that might be a little different. I have 4 rooms that I work in. The band room has a HUGE monitor on a stand in it. The choir room has a lcd projector in it. The ensemble room used for lessons has the standard 17" monitor in it and the room with piano keyboard lab has nothing in it.

If I taught reading, math or social studies, I would have a interactive whiteboard in all those rooms. I can work around with the Wiimote version of an IWB easily. So I don't feel terribly left out. But with the flu going around I have noticed a number of subs in the building. I know that subs in our district are getting the skills to run an IWB from the major supplier to our district. (I am not sure if we are training them or they are just getting it on the job. I hope that it is training.) Would they be up to covering for me?

If a sub is needed in my rooms I want things to go on normally. But the Wiimote does come with some challenges. Step one is activate the Bluetooth on the laptop, step two is get the Wiimote recognized, step three is figure out where to put things physically so they work together... I am pretty sure we would have a problem with this. Do we really want people getting that deep into the hardware when they have my students to worry about at the same time? Would the IT people want them to have administrative rights to work on these settings?

If you are in a position to install IWB technology in the classroom, please be don't forget to teach the subs how to use the technology. I think that this is also the place for consistency. The ability to get the audio and video outputs working may be more important than the Mac/PC question.

Wireless at school

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/64186172.html

Interesting article in the Star-Tribune. (Yes, I still read the newspaper on paper.)

This article is about how high schools are moving to wireless access for their students. I'm inclined to say it is about time that this is happening. I'm glad it is. It is happening in my district too.

Think about it. The biggest collection of thought, ideas and concepts ever created by man is available wirelessly. Anywhere in the building. Is there any reason that kids shouldn't have easy access to ALL of that information and answers to their questions? That is the amazing thing about the times we live in, that collection of information. Talk about a learning opportunity! ISN'T THAT THE KIND OF WORK WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING AT SCHOOL?

I can understand why it hasn't happened sooner. How do you protect the network and provide access to kids. The Child Internet Protection Act makes administrators nervous as well. But because kids might create problems doesn't mean we cut all kids off completely. We have kids write evil notes all the time; we don't take their pencils. Kids may run into an idea that their parents aren't comfortable with; We don't close the library. Instead, we discuss/teach/learn/argue our way through.

As far as how much is the going to cost, I bet it is cheaper than pulling more wires. Kids bring their own devices to connect. That part sounds pretty cheap. Yes, there will be the very poorest we should help out, but with a little creativity...

Time's Top Ten Apps for Back to School. Another List!

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1919378_1919377,00.html

I AM a sucker for lists. Here's one from Time Magazine!

Time has put together a nice list of iPhone Apps for back to school. I would personally make it a top 11 and add "Things" or maybe substitute that app for the homework organizer. Why are these lists always 10 items? Do we blame Letterman?

This list makes the Touch/iPhone look like a powerful and adaptive tool for learning. No surprise, it really is.

Got to wonder though, would a kid be allowed to take out his iPhone (iPod Touch) without risking confiscation? How many schools allow these tools to be used? Can they be connected to the school wireless network? Is there a school wireless network?

Hey Time! Need a writing prompt for an article?

Blogging via E-mail

Did you know that you can blog by e-mail? It is one of the settings on Blogger. Cool. Get an idea, mail it to your blog.