Updated December 2022 This post has gotten a much-needed update! It’s no secret; I am a fan of technology in education. In my last two teaching positions, all students had school-issued iPads. I enjoyed using the iPads with my band students and have found several apps that work well in this setting. While I would…
March 2022 – This post has gotten a much-deserved update! It’s no secret that I love all things Google. There are so many fabulous tools within Google Workspace for Education, and they seem to get better every day. One of the most versatile tools is Google Slides. I’ve called Slides my “island tool” – if…
In 2011, Google launched their project, “Google Arts & Culture” as a partnership with 71 prominent museums around the world. Since then, it’s grown to include over 1,500 museums and cultural institutions – including several of interest to music educators! Throughout the Google Arts & Culture website, there are many components that music educators will…
This article was originally published in The Woman Conductor Journal, March 2021 issue. While the focus is on band rehearsals, the strategies described will work in nearly any music class or rehearsal. Technology integration is something that many band directors are aware of but are still unsure how to achieve. Especially since the goal in…
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…
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…
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…
This post was updated August 2020 Flipgrid is one tech tool I can’t imagine teaching without. As an instrumental music teacher, I have found countless ways to use Flipgrid in my classroom. Each year Flipgrid comes out with new updates that make this tool even more powerful and fun to use. This post will cover…
As a music teacher, have you ever considered attending the ISTE conference? ISTE stands for the International Society for Technology in Education. While I have attended my state technology conference several times, this was my first time at ISTE. It did not disappoint! Held at the Philadelphia Convention Center, the conference boasted 1,900 sessions and…
Last spring I discovered a resource that I cannot wait to use – the OK Go Sandbox. I remember the band, OK Go, being on the radio about ten years ago. They always had very elaborate and creative music videos. In March 2018 the OK Go Sandbox was launched in collaboration with the Playful Learning Lab (through…