NoteFlight, Daisy's Bike

     I was pleased to be able to experience open source notation programs this week. A student had told me about MuseScore last year, but I stayed true to my Finale NotePad. Now, as an assignment for Technology for Music Teaching & Learning, I have had some great experience with both MuseScore and NoteFlight. Now, none of these will come close to the experience I had using Finale, full version, for a few years in my teaching practice, but I think MuseScore comes close. Unfortunately, I was irritated by NoteFlight's roundabout way to notate chords in one staff. Perhaps I skipped the part in the video that made it easier for me, but I was using arrow keys to select the pitch, then clicking to add the pitch, then moving on to another pitch. It was tedious.

     However, the online aspect of NoteFlight might outweigh this annoyance since ALL students with a computer would be able to use it. And, I just checked, and you can use it on a tablet! For schools opting to use iPads more and more, this would be a wonderful application for class composition. The screen pops up with the score and a keyboard so students can play the pitch they want to write. Overall, I think notation software has come a long way. Students today need not purchase expensive publishing software. Instead, they can write music at home and share it globally! I could see using the iPad application mentioned above in my class for writing short compositions on recorder or Orff instruments.

Creating with Technology

     In 1997, during my senior year in high school, I had my very first experience with notation and recording software. We had a TINY computer lab that housed 2 Macintosh computers with MIDI keyboards and the accompanying MIDI boxes (I forget what they're really called). I believe the software was Performer and Finale. We had a dot matrix printer to print out our work, and we had to sign up for time in the "lab". My first composition was for my final project in Music Theory - a G minor string quartet in Sonata Form. It sounded a lot like Bach, my favorite composer, but I was proud of how I used all the voices as I was familiar performing music by the greats - not just harmonizing the first violins, but really diving into their ranges and creating a bit of a canon. I was VERY proud of the composition, and my class was able to perform it accurately due to the publishing software's professional printout.

     What I see now is that the MIDI capability allowed me to create a four-part work and hear how it worked together in real time. I loved that I could listen to just one voice, or all of them together. It was easy to change octaves if the voicing was muddy. When it came time to write the recapitulation, I could literally copy and paste the themes from the First and Second tonal areas. I could input the pitches using the MIDI piano keyboard or the computer keyboard. If I wanted to, I could record something in Performer (I think it was a precursor to ProTools) and have it notated for me with the push of a few buttons. As a classical violinist, this made the compositional aspect of the project more manageable for me.

     Fast forward ten years to when I started teaching elementary music: Teaching students to create is a daunting task. For one, I never considered myself very creative, but I was talented and could perform what others had written. My first experience in real improvisation was also in high school - too late, in my opinion! We had a guest musician in to give a master class and he encouraged us to improvise on our instruments. I looked at him like he had three heads! "Are you nuts? I am a violinist! I play classical music! I don't do jazz." Finally, as an elementary general music teacher, I have accepted the role of improvisation in my life and encourage my little ones to experiment as much as possible on instruments, with their voices, and with their bodies. Mostly I use hands on activities with classroom instruments or movement. I do some short composition projects with pencil and paper as well as playing without notating. I see these students for 50 minutes a week, assuming we have all 5 days of the week. I currently do not use notation software or programs in class. Were I to have more than one computer in my classroom, I think I would be more willing to teach my older students (3rd and 4th graders) about a notation program like MuseScore or NoteFlight. As it is now, I feel the technology would be useful but a time eater.

     Personally after using these two programs this week, I was pleased with how much can be done with free software. I have been using Finale NotePad (shareware) for many years, ever since I lost my full copy of Finale. I will now switch to MuseScore! There is so much more flexibility in this program than the free Finale program. I can add voices in the middle of my work rather than having to know right from the start what I want the orchestration to be. I can change the key while working. I haven't dived deep enough yet to see if I can insert key changes within the piece, but I think at least one of these two programs should be able to do that! Using notation programs has saved time in preparing concert arrangements, worksheets, and my "Mystery Song of the Month" bulletin board. I think it is important for students to get the fine motor practice of handwritten notation, but I also see the value of while you write as Dr. Bazan mentioned in our lecture for the week.

Technology and Music Education - The 21st Century

     Teaching music in 2015 is incredibly different from when I was taking music classes in the 80s and 90s. We used the Silver Burdett textbooks, listened to LPs, and read rhythms in chorus that my teacher, Mrs. Conway, created on construction paper. A highlight of my third grade music year was playing the glockenspiel in the spring concert - quite an accomplishment! I hope that my students have the same great memories of their young music careers, but with more ownership and creativity in their experiences.
     My role as a facilitator in a constructivist music classroom depends on my understanding and utilization of the best tools for the learning opportunities of my students, analog and digital. While there are certain roadblocks on the path to fully integrated technology (budget...scheduling...), I am looking forward to increasing my TPACK to give my students the right tools for the right learning.

                                                           Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org

     This is my fourth year as a general music teacher. I create most of my own visuals using original ideas and taking ideas I find on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) and in my GamePlan curriculum books (Kriske & DeLelles, 2008). Through Pinterest, I have learned that there is a wide realm of information out there, particularly in the form of blogs and other resources, from teachers in the same field! Falling down the rabbit hole has lead me to many new and exciting games and ideas for my students, and apps to use in the music classroom. (I especially love TeachersPayTeachers.)
     My PLN (Personal Learning Network) has been broadened immensely through the KSU MMME program. I have had discourse with teachers across the globe who have different perspectives on music and teaching. This application of technology has broadened my TPACK and will continue to long after I graduate. I only hope I am still able to keep in touch with these other professionals.
     I feel very comfortable with technology for my own learning, but I would LOVE to become more adept at incorporating apps and software in my teaching. This is what I hope to get out of this course. Already, I read about Rock Our World and want to set up a project around it for next school year. We have a supportive technology department in my district (East Lyme, CT) but I want to be sure I am using it to enhance student learning rather than just fluffing up my curriculum. I look forward to learning about new technologies through professional development opportunities to strengthen my TPACK.