Technology

Why Music Educators Should Be Google Certified

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With the quick transition to online learning in March, many music educators found themselves needing a “crash course” in technology. Being savvy, forward-thinking educators, they made it it happen one Google search, See-Saw post, and virtual classroom at a time. Now that the school year is over and we have some time to breathe, it’s worth it for all music teachers to consider becoming Google Certified. This signifies that an educator has demonstrated proficiency using … Continue reading “Why Music Educators Should Be Google Certified” →

Technology

Four Easy Tools for Creating Digital Resources

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I’ve always enjoyed creating digital resources, and now, teaching remotely, it is even more important. While this post isn’t directly teaching related, hopefully it will be useful when creating things for your classes. The following four tools are ones that I can’t live without when it comes to designing digital media. In fact, I imagine I use each one at least weekly! What’s great about these tools is that they are all available for free, … Continue reading “Four Easy Tools for Creating Digital Resources” →

Empowered Music Students, Technology

From a Distance: Let Students Create

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Over the last few weeks I’ve said several times that trying to recreate our classrooms while distance learning isn’t where we should put our energy. The two aren’t the same, especially considering the fact that this isn’t exactly “distance learning” – it’s attempting education during a pandemic. Instead, we should Focus on What We Can Do right now. We can try new things, experiment, and give students the opportunity to take ownership of their music … Continue reading “From a Distance: Let Students Create” →

Technology

How to Create Quick, Stand-Alone Videos: Flipgrid Shorts

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This is another unintended, yet timely post about technology tools I’ve been using recently. Last time I wrote about using Flipgrid to maintain community in music classes. This post is also about Flipgrid, but how teachers can use it to easily create video content when suddenly faced with teaching digitally. Recently I’ve had the need to create short videos for my students and their families to explain how to use various tech tools and complete … Continue reading “How to Create Quick, Stand-Alone Videos: Flipgrid Shorts” →

Technology

Maintaining Community When Teaching Virtually: Try Flipgrid!

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While this is technically the fourth in the series of short posts about technology tools, it wasn’t my intended topic for the week! However, given the current events and everything going on with #COVID19, this seems to be the most relevant. Teaching in a brand new school this year and starting a band program from scratch, I have given a lot of thought about the culture and community I wanted to build. Developing relationship, between … Continue reading “Maintaining Community When Teaching Virtually: Try Flipgrid!” →

Technology

Flat: Music Notation for Google Docs

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Welcome back to the third in a series of short posts about tech tools I have been loving recently. Last time I wrote about my new favorite digital curation tool, Wakelet. Before that, the topic was Google Keep and how to use it to organize conference resources. This week I’ll be telling you about a great tool that makes it easy to incorporate music notation into your Google Docs and Slides. Flat for Docs While … Continue reading “Flat: Music Notation for Google Docs” →

Technology

Wakelet in the Music Room

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Welcome to the second in a series of short posts about technology tools I have been using recently! Last week I wrote about using Google Keep to organize conference resources. This week I’ll introduce you to my new favorite curation tools, Wakelet. I first learned about Wakelet about a year ago. In its simplest form, Wakelet is a digital curation tool. Similar to Pinterest, users can save content in one easy-to-find location. I have found … Continue reading “Wakelet in the Music Room” →

Technology

Google Keep for Conference Resources

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Welcome to the first in a series of short posts about technology tools I have been using recently. This particular tool helps immensely with organization! Before winter break, I had the privilege of attending the Virginia Music Educator’s Association Conference and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. These are events I look forward to every year, as I imagine many educators do. One thing I often hear people discussing is the best way to keep … Continue reading “Google Keep for Conference Resources” →

Band, Empowered Music Students, Technology

Top Five Blog Posts of 2019

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It’s hard to believe we are almost two weeks into 2020! The past year has been a whirlwind. There were several awesome professional opportunities, including a new job, my experience at the Google Innovator Academy and two exciting projects that will be released in 2020. There were also some challenging personal events that led to the recent blogging inconsistency, but I am hopeful to get that back on track in the new year. There are … Continue reading “Top Five Blog Posts of 2019” →

Band, Empowered Music Students, Technology

The Concerts are Over…Now What?

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It’s that time of year where many band directors are gearing up for winter or holiday concerts. We have a single track focus, making sure that everything is *just right* before putting it in front of an audience. But then the concert is over and the panic of, “what do I do now?!?” often sets in! While obviously we want to continue making music, there needs to be some kind of change to the daily … Continue reading “The Concerts are Over…Now What?” →