Reflection - Week 3

       The teaching of composition is very unique to me, mainly because of how students and adults alike can take so many different approaches to writing music.  Composing also yields many skills that are somewhat difficult to obtain in other capacities.  Creativity is at the heart of composition and that spark of creative thinking will allow students to really explore themselves and grow as individuals.  As a teacher, I agree with Bauer in regards to knowing one's students.  Teachers must effectively assess the skills and abilities of their students in order to properly plan lessons that adhere to each student's skill level.  Getting to know students and their limits is crucial when planning a lesson based around composition.  Of course, having a basic knowledge of musical notation can be helpful when composing but as Bauer pointed out, there are so many programs within today's technology that allow for both notational and non-notational composition.  Knowing how to read and write music is no longer a requirement when composing intricate and complex pieces of music, which is great for beginners!  Not only is it great for those who are just starting out in music, but it also benefits "The Other 80%," which Bauer refers to as the group of students who may not participate regularly in an ensemble-based music class (band, choir, and orchestra).  Non-notational composition software is perfect for young students, maybe K-4, but I believe around 4th or 5th grade, students should be learning about notation.  It often surprises me when I get a new student in my 7th grade concert band and that student will tell me that he/she never really learned how to read music.  This most likely means that this student was taught music by listening and by doing mostly ROTE activities.  While this may be great for audiation and developing a strong ear, it limits that student's ability to understand and decode music from a visual standpoint.  I always tell my band students that the ability to make music should be both an ear and eye endeavor.

       Setting boundaries and constraints when teaching composition is a fantastic way to develop growth and scaffolding within each lesson.  Students can and should build off of what they've previously learned so that they can move on to the next level or concept of music.  Technology can make this very simple, especially when a software program can set a limit on the number of measures in a composition!  For example, if a teacher wants to do a lesson on the blues, he/she can show the students 12-bar form.  However, within those 12 bars, the students can compose a melody or horn line on the first 4 measures, then the next 4, and then the final 4 measures.  By doing this, both students and teachers are progressing gradually through the composing process.  If the teacher told the students to go straight into composing a full 12-bar melody, they may have some difficulties with such a daunting task.  Breaking it down into smaller, 4-measure increments is a great example of setting constraints so as to promote student growth and development.  Taking it a step further, teachers can start delving into the chord progressions and showing students the different kinds of chords (I-IV-V) that coincide with traditional 12-bar blues.  Software that has immediate playback of student work can allow students to listen to their music and how it is growing as they improve their composing skills.  As students become better composers, the number of boundaries can be reduced, allowing for more creativity and expression among experienced student composers.

       Webster's (2003) multi-stage composing process should be essential knowledge for music educators.  Moving from one stage to the next (formative, craftsmanship, and expert stages, p. 62-63) shows that the involvement of the teacher should be lessened as the students become more independent and self-regulative.  In other words, in the beginning of this process the teacher will set a number of boundaries and he/she will give a good amount of feedback to the students.  Towards the end of the process, there will be fewer boundaries and students will have more freedom to critique their own work.  Some may argue that setting constraints can limit student creativity, which is why, according to Bauer, "There needs to be an appropriate balance between assigned constraints and freedom of choice" (p. 60).  I couldn't agree more with this statement.

       Audiation and thinking in sound (p. 65) should start as early as possible so that students can have a foundation for composing music.  This should also go hand-in-hand with learning notation as early as possible.  To me, reading and listening to music are equally important; they are pretty much two sides to the same coin.  Over the years, I've taught students who are brilliant with notation and they can sight-read a short etude within minutes!  However, their ear-training and listening skills are a bit limited.  On the other hand, I've also taught students who have astonishing listening skills but limited notation skills.  As their teacher, I must ensure that each student is improving in the area that they are limited in.  Technology can definitely assist me in this endeavor.  Just last year, I received an 8th grade transfer student who had great ears and her reading skills were fairly decent.  She came in only 4 weeks before our all-district concert in April.  The music we were preparing was quite challenging and I didn't want her to feel discouraged.  So for the first two weeks, I used MuseScore to write out a simplified version of her flute part.  She also stayed after school quite a bit to put in some extra practice time.  In week three, she got a slightly more challenging part.  Finally, in the fourth week, she got the actual part and stayed after multiple times before the concert.  She was very successful at the all-district concert and I was grateful that I had a software program where I can easily modify and alter parts to fit the level of my students.  When she asked me how I was getting these parts changed up, I showed her the software on my Chromebook and she immediately installed it on her school-provided Chromebook so she could write her own music!

Noteflight Reflection/Review

Prior to taking this music technology course, I had never used Noteflight.  I've heard of it before but usually programs like Finale or MuseScore were more common among my musician friends and colleagues.  Honestly, I kind of wish that I knew about Noteflight sooner!  It is a very user-friendly online program that allows musicians and teachers to compose and arrange music pretty much anywhere.  Unlike a program such as MuseScore, Noteflight doesn't necessarily install any software on your computer.  Instead, you work on compositions and then save it within your account in the Noteflight website.  So basically, you can make progress on your work at just about any computer as long as it has internet access.  No installations necessary!

The website itself is fairly easy to navigate and I came across only a handful of issues when trying to place certain embellishments in the music (accidentals, articulations, etc.).  When playing back what you've written, the sound quality is quite good and the instruments sound clear and well-balanced.  The option of displaying toolbars that relate to what your working on is a great way to reduce clutter and make the program much more intuitive.  Sharing your work is also fairly simple and if you are having trouble with that, there are plenty of tutorial videos both on the Noteflight website and on YouTube explaining how to use the program more efficiently.

Pretty much the only downside to this program is without internet access, you cannot log into the website to do your work.  This is where installed software like Finale, MuseScore, or Sibelius come in handy.  Of course, I think it's great to have both types of programs; one that allows you to work online and another to work offline.  By doing this, you won't have any limitations in what you can accomplish with your music.

Here's an example of Noteflight in action with "A Bicycle Built for Two."  Enjoy!!

Noteflight - A Bicycle Built for Two

Reflection - Week 2

       I thoroughly enjoyed the assigned reading for this week, especially with its focus on improvisation.  Since I'm primarily a jazz musician, a lot of the techniques and exercises mentioned in the text are already being used in my classroom.  Call and response, altering or changing a melodic line, and trading fours are a few of the many different teaching strategies that I use regularly with the jazz band.  For the concert band, we still do similar activities except for trading fours.  Setting boundaries (or constraints) is crucial for the developing improviser.  The whole concept of improvisation being structured really resonates with me, mainly because I use 12-bar blues to teach my students about Form in music.  Once you can delve into the Form or Structure of a piece, then you can dig deeper into things like chord progressions, leading tones, and resolutions.  Using scaffolding as a way to build upon what students already know is a great way to help students who are shy to overcome their fear.  A lot of times, my students will tell me how improvising was extremely scary at first.  But once they get the hang of it and they persevere, it's a very rewarding experience both for the students and for me.

       Back in college (undergrad) I submitted a research paper that explored the connection between Improvisation and Composition.  One major point I tried to make was that composition is almost the same as improvisation, except with composition, everything is kind of slowed down.  You can take your time composing, revising, editing, and going back to change notes, rhythms, or voicings.  Kratus (1996) states, "with improvisation there is no intent to go back and revise the musical sounds that are produced" (p. 51).  Both processes require the same amount of preparation as well as the development of aural skills and creativity.  But the execution of each process differs tremendously.  I often found that transcribing solos was helpful in both my improvising and composing skills.  When I wrote out solos from players like Lee Morgan or Cannonball Adderley, I would find some of their ideas coming out of my own solos when I improvised.  My style of playing would also go through some changes and I would try to mimic their styles.  When I wrote a piece of music, sometimes I'd take a lick that they played and harmonize it so that it can be played by an entire horn section, allowing me to explore the areas of orchestration and harmonizing.

       Using technology in my school is still fairly new since we just got our Chromebooks last year.  I've had students compose simple rhythmic patterns with tonal applications but they tend to be somewhat short.  If we had more time, I would allow them to write a larger full-scale piece that can actually be played and studied by an ensemble.  In addition to the use of Chromebooks, I've also given my students accompaniments that I've recorded myself or from some of my resources (Jamey Aebersold is still an excellent improvisation tool!).  Unfortunately, my students cannot take their Chromebooks home so I tend to burn CDs with those accompaniments so that they can still practice at home.

       Finally, I strongly agree with the concept of Automacity, which is building your musical skills to the point where you do not have to think all that much about the technical aspects of playing an instrument.  I always tell my students to "free their minds" and practice their instrument to the point that the instrument itself is an extension of the player.  I use modeling a lot and when I play for my class, I often say that I'm not thinking all that much about things like what key(s) to press for this note, the correct dynamic level for that phrase, etc.  By becoming one with the instrument, a student can "reduce the cognitive load" (p. 54) and he/she can focus on musical elements like shaping, phrasing, and creativity.  When I read that, I was smiling from ear to ear because that's what I teach to my kids all the time :)

Reflection - Week 1

       William I. Bauer's "Music Learning Today" and his PLN article provided quite a bit of insight regarding how technology is used in today's society.  For example, technology has certainly made everything much more accessible to everyone.  People are no longer limited in how they can use technology to make their lives easier.  One point I found interesting was how technology makes everything faster and students are able to receive instant gratification or rewards.  I see how this can be viewed as a positive thing but I've found it to have a negative impact, not on me but on my students.  I teach 7th and 8th grade band and as we all know, learning how to play an instrument takes a lot of time.  However, some of my students tend to grow impatient when it comes to studying their respective instruments.  I must remind them constantly that they must be patient and they need to take their time in order to be rewarded with that satisfaction of learning their instruments.  I believe that their impatience in learning an instrument has a lot to do with the fact that students today have been conditioned by technology to expect instant results.  This generation of teenagers must understand that certain things take time.  Again, many would view the instantaneous nature of technology to be a good thing, and in most cases I think it is.  But technology makes everything faster, which eliminates the need for people to develop patience, and it is affecting kids the most.

       Social networking websites can be used in many positive ways.  Bauer mentions how kids these days can move between the physical and digital world with ease (p. 6) and adults can also learn how to do the same thing.  On the other hand, I feel that it is not good for kids to spend too much time on these kinds of sites.  Cyber-bullying is an ongoing problem in our country and it is rooted in the realm of social networking apps or sites.  Social networking can be great if, according to Bauer, it is properly used to build a network of learning and sharing.  But I think in general, kids should not spend too much time on these sites.  I use technology in my classroom because my band students have Chromebooks that they can use during the school day.  On some days, I will assign work for them to complete on their Chromebooks.  However, on other days I will give them a written assignment that they have to finish and turn in.  I tend to switch up how my students do their work because I don't want it to be done 100% on their computers.  They need to learn how to use their hands and actually write down their answers using a pen or pencil.  I want them to know what it feels like to write a rhythmic composition using a pencil and paper, in addition to writing a composition using software such as MuseScore.  Sometimes my colleagues joke about how I am old-school and that I still physically hand out assignments instead of simply assigning them to my kids using technology.  But I don't want my students to always have to rely on technology to do their work.  That is why I switch back and forth between assignments on their Chromebooks and assignments that must be done on paper.  I do see the value in using technology in education but I think it is equally valuable to take a break from technology every now and then.

       Perhaps the most important bit of information I took away from this week's reading was how teachers must learn to adapt to the ongoing changes of technology in education.  I've been teaching for 9 years so I am not necessarily a 'new' teacher.  I have faced my share of obstacles and changes in my classroom, forcing me to adapt to many different situations.  Technological advances have made drastic changes in my classroom, no doubt about that.  However, the new teachers are the ones who are most likely going to be able to adapt to today's technology more efficiently than teachers who have not had as much technological experience.  I particularly enjoyed the terms given to the younger generation (digital natives) and the older generation (digital immigrants).  In my case, I was an 80s kid so I came from a generation that was gradually crossing over to the world of technology.  As a child, I didn't have a cell phone, iPod, or internet because they didn't exist.  When I was in middle and high school, the internet was becoming much more commonplace and beepers/pagers were on their way out, soon to be replaced by cell phones.  As a college student, social-networking sites became all the rage around the world.  One can see how I grew up as technology was also growing up.  Nowadays, elementary school students can learn by using technology in the classroom.  Sometimes, I wonder how my life would be different if the internet, iPods/iPads, and cell phones existed when I was a child.

       Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the readings this past week.  Both the chapters and the article gave me a lot to think about when it comes to how teachers use technology in the classroom.  Even though I'm already using technology, I know that I have a lot more to learn.  I'm looking forward to taking on new approaches and learning new ways of teaching.