Genius!

I've been in love with the idea of Genius Hour/20% Time ever since I heard of it, but up until now didn't quite have the circumstances or comfort to give it a try. My original plan had been to use it at the start of next school year with my seventh and eighth graders, but then I saw this tweet and decided to try it in the last month of school instead!

Right now is the perfect time to try your crazy ideas, don't wait until a new school year when you will feel overwhelmed again #wgedd

— Pernille Ripp (@pernilleripp) April 9, 2016

I recently finished Don Wettrick's Pure Genius and have been researching the vast wealth of educational knowledge that is Twitter to come up with a game plan. Since my students and I have never done this before, I wanted to share the tentative plan and see what those who are more experienced with Genius Hour have to say.

• Though our last performance isn't until May 20, I'm going to introduce Genius Hour through a video or two posted on Google Classroom in mid-May (I'll do some suspenseful build-up in class before posting the videos). Several awesome people have shared some great resources after I tweeted out a question last week and I've been sifting through videos for a couple of days but haven't made the final call yet. I'm thinking one that gives the basic idea of it and another one for inspiration such as Kid President's Pep Talk or Famous Failures. 
• As this is band class, their project must somehow relate back to music. To get them brainstorming ideas, I'm going to have them try Dotstorming to start thinking out loud and commenting on each other's ideas. Again, the link will be posted on Google Classroom.  Padlet could work for this too, but I like that they can directly comment on each other's posts on Dotstorming. I'm hoping that most students will have an idea on the direction they'd like to go by the time performances are done so that they can focus on working through their project when we really start spending our time on this starting May 23. I'm planning to let students work in groups if they want, but no more than three in a group.
• Students will begin blogging (possibly with Blogger, but waiting to hear on a request to have it opened for my students) about their projects. I'll take the classes to the library to show how to set one up as well as create a Screencast they can use to reference when working on their own. I'll create a Google Sheet with links to their blogs and descriptions of their projects and share on our class social media accounts as well as my personal ones. They'll have to blog weekly at the least, though many will likely decide to use it more than that to share and seek ideas.
• Through their blogs and reaching out individually, students will seek out mentors. I love this aspect of Genius Hour because it gets them thinking outside our school community and there's SO much I don't know. I want them to get information from those who know their chosen topic best. I'm aiming for students to have mentors by June 1, but that could change depending on how things go.
• I've got the library's computer lab checked out several days a week from the end of May through the end of the school year to get kids access to the information they need. They will also be encouraged (as they have been all year) to bring personal devices to class.
• Presentations will be done during our final exam times on June 15 and June 16. I'm tempted though to ban the use of PowerPoint. Is that too constricting though for something like this? There are SO many other ways they can share information (even using Google Slides would be easier if multiple students are working together) and I'd like to get them thinking of more creative ways to share. 

I freely admit that I'm often better with big picture planning than with details (unless I'm rehearsing music) so I'd love to hear what do you think. My 7th grader class has 55 students and my 8th grade class has 48. Can I even pull this off with that many students?  Is there enough practicality in my plan to allow all students to be successful? What else should I be keeping in mind? What experiences have you had? Please share in the comments!

To see how this all turned out, check out the follow up posts:
All They Can Say is 'No'
I Wish EVERY Hour Was #GeniusHour
My #GeniusHour Self Evaluation

Return of #GeniusHour

One of my favorite times of year has come. We're starting Genius Hour projects again! Last year was the first time we tried this and it was an outstanding experience. With only one performance remaining, we're finally getting to dig into our projects we'll spend the remainder of the year on.

Since last year I was learning a lot of the process to help students, doing Genius Hour with them was my Genius Hour project. Now that I've got a better handle on things, I've decided to do my own project and go through the process along with them.

My first idea had been to learn some guitar basics. On top of always wanting to play it, it would help refresh some rusty theory skills which can only be a bonus.

Then this post came across my feed and got me thinking differently:

A1: In my class, students choose one of the Four Pathways to Genius.
Read about them here:https://t.co/GU8Hhp2qyF #HackLearning pic.twitter.com/VpvAdMBZBm

— Lee Araoz (@LeeAraoz) May 14, 2017

If I'm going to ask my students to step outside their comfort zone and go for a project that can have a bigger impact, why would I not do the same?

My project is going to be to create an inventory system for our school owned band instruments using QR codes, Google Sheets, and Google Drive.

Building on an idea shared in the Band Directors Facebook Group, here's what I'll try:

1. Master folder in Drive for Inventory.
2. Subfolders categorized by instrument.
3. Subfolders within those for each individual instrument, labeled with the brand of the instrument and its serial number.
4. Each individual instrument folder will have:
1.  A Sheet with information on who it was checked out to, how/whether they paid the school fee, rental contract return date, etc. 
2. Pictures of the instrument so I can track its condition
3. Copies of any repair slips.
5. The QR that I'll attach to the instrument case will link to the individual instrument folder.

My only concern is that this won't give me one master spreadsheet to track things. I've had suggestions to create a script or code to add a link in a sheet whenever I create a folder, but that's pretty far outside any of my technical abilities.

Has anybody ever done their inventory like this? Or have a different suggestion on how to do this using QRs? I'm open for suggestions before getting this started next week!

In a Nutshell...

Somebody (quietly points to self) has been slacking. There's been a lot of stuff happening over the last six weeks or so that I would usually blog about. But a couple of things on this list overtook a lot of brain power and focus. Also, a lot of these are things we've had in place for a couple of years now so this year has been about continuing to refine instead of create.

And so, here is the abbreviated version of the end of my school year:

We attended State Band Festival.

• After this year, I swore off State Festival forever. The added stress of this performance on the time of year is just too much. Instead of prepping for our Spring Concert, we were trying to focus on this one. Students were burnt out on the music. Many were unable to attend on a Saturday afternoon in the spring due to travel league sports competitions. Our Spring Concert was not at all as clean as it should have been. However, MSBOA has recently revamped the State Festival process so if we qualify next year, I'll consider it try out the new clinic experience they're offering, but the time of year is still less than ideal.

Students taught and conducted a piece.

• Again, State Festival really messed with this process. Last year we had a lot more fun with it and could take the time to refine. This year felt very rushed with only two weeks between Festival and our Spring Concert. The kids did well and our conductor was excellent, but I felt bad that it was not the level of performance it could or should have been due to focusing energies elsewhere.

We had our annual Chamber Music Night.

• Two years of tweaking made this the most musical Chamber Night we've had so far. Very few nervous giggle and train wrecks. Students were better prepared and the pieces for them to play are improving each year as we refine the requirements for the high school composers. Next year we're going to try having them write pieces in more of a "flex band" style. In keeping this a more informal event and more of an intro to small group playing, we let them choose their ensembles. This can cause issues for the kids who want to play with their alto sax or bass clef friends though. Flex style arrangements will hopefully give students the opportunity to play with friends more easily.
• Mother Nature was highly uncooperative and it poured all afternoon and evening which really put a damper on our outdoor performance. However, thanks to some help and hard work from the high school, their auxiliary gym was decorated with drama props to give us a "park" feel. We had a couple of park benches, flowers (some donated real and some props), even some lamp posts and kites around! Families still brought lawn chairs and blankets and we topped it off with a food truck from a local restaurant with some tasty pizza and gelato. It wasn't what we originally planned, but it came together really well and everyone still had a lot of fun.

We started and finished our Genius Hour projects.

• We changed it up a little this year and did Gallery Walks instead of traditional presentations. For the most part, students enjoyed the set up more. They got to show their work for other students and teachers and since it was less formal it eased some of the anxiety some experience from presenting. It was also a lot of fun connecting to some other classes doing Genius Hour projects at the same time. We were able to share with students at an International School overseas as well as students in a different part of the state. I want to formalize our interactions with other students a little more next year. If we're able to connect with another class, it will be part of their requirements to comment on others' blog posts. Learning to connect outside their own school environment is one of my favorite things about Genius Hour.

My sister got married.

• Not school related, but it was still a big deal and one of those extras that I was focused on! Not only was I MOH, my daughter was (the most adorable ever) flower girl. Lots of planning, get togethers, dinners, and fun to be had all around. The wedding was wonderful and I'm super happy for my sister and her new husband.

I packed my entire room up for summer construction.

• One of the many reasons I'm fortunate to be a part of the district I'm in is that a major bond passed a couple years ago. One of the big aspects of the bond included some serious building updates and renovations. Our building is part of the second major wave of construction and the band and choir room are some of the first on the list. Construction basically started days after school got out and is scheduled to be wrapped up just before the school year starts (fingers crossed!!!). This meant that every instrument and piece of equipment that wasn't bolted to a wall or floor had to be inventoried and marked to be moved out of the room. It was quite an undertaking to make sure everything was tagged and accounted for so that it makes it back to our room when construction is done. The room itself may not look all that different come fall, but with new lighting and an updated HVAC system it'll be more comfortable and efficient!

We held interviews for the a new part time orchestra teacher to get our new string program started.

• Another reason I'm grateful and proud to be part of our district is that they're expanding instead of limiting music options! Starting in the fall, 6th graders will be able to take orchestra. Since the choir teacher and I have full schedules already, we had to hire someone to get our program started. I'm glad the music staff got to be a part of the process and I'm excited for the additional opportunities we'll be able to offer future students as well as having another music colleague to collaborate with.

I accepted my first full time student teacher and will be starting with her in the fall.

• While I've had several field placement students over the last couple of years, this will be my first time working with a full time student teacher. However, she'll only be full time for half the semester as she's finishing her student teaching in a different country which will leave her with an international certification when she's done. So that she has as many chances to get in front of kids as possible for the six weeks she'll be with us, it's definitely going to speed up the typical timeline, but I'm looking forward to learning with her and examining my own practice along the way.

I had LASIK.

• Again, not necessarily school related, but it will make my life as a musician on both sides of the baton much easier! With some pretty severe nearsightedness, I hated conducting and playing with glasses. Both made it hard to see both my music and what was going on around me. But I could only wear contacts for a short period before wanting to forcibly remove my eyes right along with the lenses. The surgery was less than a week ago, but I'm really enjoying the novelty of no more lenses of any type in order to function as they continue to heal and clarify. 

And that's the end of the school year in a nutshell or two. We're a week into summer break and as always I'm looking forward to the chance to rest, recharge, hang with my daughter, do some learning, and prepare for the coming school year! 

I Wish EVERY Hour Was #GeniusHour

That title is a from a parent quoting her student as he talked about his Genius Hour project. It also came as part of one of the nicest emails I've ever gotten from a parent. If that's not a sign of heading in the right direction, I don't know what is.

Along with continuing their research and seeking out mentors, students began blogging this week. Though I wanted to use Blogger, I'm starting to see the benefits of using KidBlog.Org. The options to do things like moderate comments or help edit a post have been really helpful, especially since this is their first attempt blogging. They even mentioned us in a Facebook post after we tagged them in a tweet!

I've already got some ideas on how to approach blogging better the next time around. Some of the titles of their posts are engaging or at least help the reader have an understanding of what their project will be, but others aren't as much and so they're not getting as many comments. Next time, students will pick one title and each post after that will be a "part 1, part 2, etc" to have better continuity. Another thing I needed to better impress on them was to leave some questions at the end of their post to invite the reader into a conversation rather than just an update. Specific questions are more likely to gain comments.

At this point I think every student has gotten at least one comment on a post, thanks to some awesome friends and people who have been keeping up with us through things like Twitter. It's been an important aspect to help them really get that what they're sharing is going out to the world, not just me. If you've got a few minutes and would be willing to comment on some posts and leave your location as part of the comment, it would mean so much to them! 

Something else I introduced this week was that they'll be self-assessing their grade. Some students were overly excited ("Sweet. I get an A."), but most seemed excited and understanding for the right reasons. I'm planning on having them do a Google form that will serve as not only their self assessment, but a survey on the Genius Hour process. Any grade will have to be justified with evidence of what they've done and learned over the course of the final few weeks of school. 

While there were some concerns about the size of my classes (45 and 55 students) most students seem to be not only on task, but really engaged with what they're doing. Watching them get excited about what they're discovering, or getting an email from a mentor or comment on their blog has been some of the most fun I've ever had as a teacher! We have one full week of school to go so from here, the focus will start to shift to how students are choosing to share their learning. 

Thoughts on the process or projects so far? This is absolutely something I'll be doing again, so I really want to continue to improve it. I'm particularly interested in suggestions about self assessing their work.

If you're interested in where this started from, here are my first two posts:

Genius!

All They Can Say Is 'No'

Blogging Basics

With our Genius Hour in full swing, one of the big things I wanted to improve on from last year's experience was blogging. Using this post as an example for my students, here are some of the basics we'll be following as we use KidBlog.Org again this year:

• Use only your first name and last initial in your blog.
• Make sure you have permission to use any images you share, including your background or header for your posts. DO NOT just take an image from a Google search. Use your own photos or try Creative Commons or Pixabay.
• Come up with some kind of catchy title and then stick with it! Use Part 1, Part 2, etc. It will be easier for others to track your blogs though our KidBlog link and something more interesting than "My Project" is going to attract more attention.
• Your blog, including the avatar you choose, represents you, our band, our school, our district, our county, our state, and even our country! 
• Writing for a blog is a little less formal than an essay for class, but your writing needs to be something you're comfortable sharing beyond those who know you. You should still use complete sentences, punctuation, etc. 
• Posts don't need to be a full five paragraph essay, but just a couple of sentences is not enough either. Give details. Be specific.
• Link back to previous blogs to help others track your journey. 
• Your blog should reflect on your process, share new things you've learned, and request feedback from your reader.
• Invite your reader to be part of a conversation! Ask questions, seek advice, etc. Getting comments is a great way to learn from others and can be a lot of fun!
• It doesn't just have to be writing! Include pictures of your project, links to sites you're using, screenshots, etc.
• Posts do not have to be very long, but do need to have some substance.
• You should be doing a minimum of one post per week through the end of our project. 

To those experienced bloggers and/or Genius Hour-ers, do you have some other tips you'd include for my students? Please leave some feedback and say Hi to my students in the comments!

All They Can Say Is 'No'

We started talking about our Genius Hour projects a few weeks ago, but this past week we officially started working on them. If this week was any indication I'm going to quickly go from a genius hour enthusiast to an evangelist.

Just like the teachers who have done this project before me, I'm happy to share that enthusiasm and engagement is pretty high. Considering that we only have three weeks of school left filled with tons of other activities, that alone is pretty exciting. There are a few students who are aiming a little lower than they're capable of, but I'm hoping that seeing the work their friends are doing will inspire them for when we do these projects again in the future.

Getting to work on #geniushour in 7th Grade! #leadwithHART #RCSarts pic.twitter.com/XkJjzKIznK

— Hart MS Bands (@HartMsBands) May 25, 2016

I think the best part of this week has been going through the process of finding and contacting mentors.  We started with a detailed discussion of what a professional email should look like including an introduction, description of their project, specific questions, and a closing. I've had students spend two classes writing, revising, asking for help, and revising again so that they can get their email just right. The idea that they're reaching out to someone other than me or another teacher has been really  motivating.

Another big standout moment was helping a student find a mentor to help her learn more about the differences in pop music around the world. She asked for advice on who to contact and I was honest saying I wasn't sure, but I'd ask on Twitter (which once again came through and helped put us in touch with some great people!) and her eyes got big for a second. She said "I was just going to ask for help in the media center, but I can see you're thinking bigger than that."

The mantra of the week has become "All they can say is 'no.'"  Students are reaching out to professional musicians, composers, college and university professors, programmers, researchers, writers, ballet companies, instrument manufacturers, and more! They've really taken the idea of aiming high to heart and it's been wonderful seeing the excitement when they get a response.

Next weeks goals are to have a mentor in place if that hasn't been done yet and to take our first steps into blogging. There won't be much time for a lot of posts, but I really want them to have the experience of writing for a wider audience than just their mentor and me.

Stay tuned for more updates next week as we continue the adventure!

8th Gr hard at work on #geniushour projects! Excited to start getting mentor responses! #leadwithHART pic.twitter.com/Ju0kTgLnMC

— Hart MS Bands (@HartMsBands) May 27, 2016

My #GeniusHour Self Evaluation

What an awesome adventure this was! I am already very much looking forward to trying this again, especially now that I've got a better handle on how the students will go through the process.

If you'd like to see some of the other posts about the great things kids did and how this all started, check these out:
Genius!
All They Can Say is 'No
I Wish EVERY Hour Was #GeniusHour

Here are some additional highlights and things that need improvement for the next time:

Highlights:

• Most students gave very positive feedback about the whole thing. Common themes in their evaluations were how much they enjoyed the freedom of choice in groups, topics, and presentations.
• While there was some overlap, we learned about a very broad range of topics. Everything from programming Arduinos, to the financial backing needed for a Broadway show, to the history of Korean music, to music's impact on the body and mind, to making reeds, mallets, xylophones and even music boxes! Many students also worked on composing and performing new music, with several even working on secondary instruments.
• Finding mentors was a challenge for many groups, but those that were able to get feedback learned so much! The excitement of receiving an email or blog comment was a great thing to witness. 
• If you really want to see kids work hard on their writing, have them write for someone who's not you! They wrote, rewrote, peer edited, and rewrote again before blogging, emailing, or responding in either of those platforms. We discussed so much about email and blog etiquette...in band!
• Most students were excited to come in and work every day. Not only that, but most were very self directed because they were interested in what they were working on. My concerns about doing this in such large classes were mostly unnecessary. Minus the occasional quick verbal redirect, students were engaged right through the end of the year and it was a lot of fun to watch!

Kicked off #geniushour presentations w/ performances, demonstrations, and some cool tech! #leadwithHART #RCSarts pic.twitter.com/G2O6EaiFtq

— Hart MS Bands (@HartMsBands) June 15, 2016

Needs Improvement:

• Needing more time was a common complaint. We had several days a week to work during the last month of school, but parts did feel rushed, especially because we should have spent more time brainstorming project ideas together. Many students said that they didn't know what to choose and wished they would have picked a different topic than what they ended up with.
• One thing I didn't take into account was the summer break schedule at most colleges and universities. Many students reached out to professors for help, but since we didn't start these until late May/early June most were not around to respond. Because we'll likely do this again in the spring next year, we'll have to start things earlier so that they can hopefully make contact before many professors leave for summer.
• While many students really enjoyed the freedom of the set up, it made many students uncomfortable. Several said that they wished I'd given more ideas for projects, but I really tried to avoid that so that they'd pick something they were really interested in and not just go with something I said because it was easy. Giving more time to brainstorm together next time will be a definite must. Doing more structured brainstorming would be helpful too, but I'm not sure what that would look like. Ideas?
• I mentioned this in a previous post, but we really need to do more talking about blogging before they start writing them. The format was very unfamiliar and while some took to it pretty naturally, many struggled with it.
• Presentations posed a few challenges:
• I needed to come up with the max time limit sooner in the process as students prepared their final presentations. Many had to make alterations to fit in the available time slot.
• We needed to discuss more about what a presentation should/should not be. Many were so focused on creating a final product (ie:  composition) that they didn't really present any learning, just perform. The idea that this was supposed to be more about their learning process rather than a final "thing" was a newer idea for many and something I needed to be clearer on.
• Too many slides with too much text. I really tried to drive home the idea of "what kind of presentation would you enjoy watching?" but the slides are just too deeply ingrained. Maybe in the fall, we can do some kind of Ignite style presentation to help at least get past the idea of writing whole paragraphs of information and then reading the slides to us. Then we could do Genius Hour again next spring and they'll have some other ideas for how a presentation can look.
• Because presentations took  place during the very last couple days of school, there was no time to discuss their self evaluations. Next year I need to allow for a little more time at the end for students to complete them during school and to give us time to debrief after everything is done.

Lots of composer/performers today too in #geniushour! pic.twitter.com/hpPkrH7T9s

— Hart MS Bands (@HartMsBands) June 17, 2016

For our first try, this was (as I kept saying every time someone asked me about it) SO cool! While there were some problems I should have better anticipated, there are just some things you have to try yourself no matter how many great people share advice and ideas. 

Even though it's almost a year away, I want to plan and prepare so that I can set students up for more success next time around. What do you think? Suggestions to help with processes that need improvement for next time? Other thoughts? Please share in the comments!

So I Had This Idea...

...and I can't wait to try it again!

If you'd like to see the whole story, check these links:
So I Have This Idea...(pt 1)
So I Have This Idea...(pt 2)
So I Have This Idea...(pt 3)
So I Have This Idea...(pt 4)
So I Have This Idea...(pt 5)

I learned so much through this process and I'm hoping my students did too (still waiting on their post-concert reflections to come in).  Here were some highlights as we wrapped our preparations up and performed this week:

• It was neat watching our Nick, our student conductor, come into his own as he great more comfortable up front. My favorite day was when he started things off saying that there were some issues the day before that he wanted to fix. He took us through some problem areas and was very open to coaching from the noisy baritone player in back (AKA: Me).
• I did finally cave and rehearse one small chunk of the piece to clean it up for performance. There was a spot in 3/2 that was really challenging the group and making it difficult to stay together. I went through it a few times and then had Nick take them through to make sure it was solid.
• The performance went really well even though I messed up Nick's last name when announcing him and may have botched a partial or two while I was playing.
• Seventh graders are already talking about teaching a piece and wanting to be student conductor next year!

This was definitely a fun experience, but there are things I want to do differently next time around:

• Either start sooner or do this for a different concert (or maybe both!). State testing and state band festival made it hard to keep any real continuity to our rehearsals.
• Choose music that they're less familiar with so that they have to actually teach/read/listen instead of just going by ear since they knew all the John Williams pieces in our medley.
• Select our student conductor sooner so that they have more time to practice with the ensemble.
• Start playing my instrument of choice earlier on so that I don't screw up all of the students' hard work!
• Use a longer piece so that we can have smaller groups once it's broken up. As in many group projects once the groups got to be more than three students, the others didn't have much to do (or could sit back and let the other members carry the load). 
• Find a way for students to be more reflective as we go through the process rather than just at the end. Maybe student blogs or have students share immediately after their group works on a part.

Thanks very much to those who have been following along and helping me brainstorm, think out loud, and giving feedback as we've gone through this! It's been a lot of fun!

We're on to Genius Hour in a week or so. If you'd like to follow our adventure, click here!

How'd I Get Here?

That's what I found myself asking as I sat on a plane for the first time in over ten years. As I was sitting in a hotel room in another state. And as I prepped the downbeat for a group of adult musicians.

What a crazy couple of days!

Monday morning found me getting to see George Couros as a part of our district professional development. He's definitely one of my EduHeroes and seeing him in person was outstanding. He's an amazing speaker and someone whose ideas and book The Innovator's Mindset have had a HUGE influence on my practice. Genius Hour, students teaching a piece, my social media activity as both an individual and for our class, student music selections, my philosophy in general...all influence from that book. Reading it the first time was such a "YES!" moment. It felt like I'd finally found someone who was really speaking to not just the educator I was, but the educator I wanted to be.

After hearing him speak, I facilitated a discussion on Student Voice/Choice as a part of the PD for the rest of the day. I'll admit this didn't go quite as I'd hoped. I really wanted this to be a conversation between teachers and for them to walk away with ideas they could implement or try. But because I'm (shockingly!) not an expert in all content areas, I wanted those ideas to come from time planned as a part of our block for them to collaborate. Unfortunately I forgot that teachers can often imitate students when it comes to situations like this. The open ended question/conversation didn't seem to lead to much in the way of concrete ideas which was what I really wanted them to gain. I'm glad this came up though because I'm presenting on a similar topic at our state conference in January and will need to better plan the teacher participation part of the session that I'd like to try again. I'm just disappointed that people signed up for a session that they probably didn't get much out of.

At lunch on Monday, I left for the airport.

Late last June, I was contacted by an organizer for the Orange County Music Educator's Association asking if I'd like to come present at their November conference.

...

I honestly suspected it might be a spam email. I get those from time to time as contacts from this blog. But this one was pretty specific, and offered details when I replied. Impostor Syndrome is legit though and it took a while, but after researching the organization, a few more back and forth emails, asking around, stalling, hmmmming and hawwwwing, I signed a contract and agreed to fly out to New York.

And I'm so glad I did!

The conference day started with conducting a band reading session. I was honestly more nervous about that than the presentations. Conducting colleagues, even in Grade 1-3.5 music was a little nerve wracking. There was a point when I was waiting for the reading session to begin and realized I was the person who needed to get it started. Once we got going it was a blast though and I found a few pieces I might try out in the future. We even chuckled our way through a fun arrangement of Mah Na Mah Na.

(side bar: it was interesting to me that of about 20 scores offered up by two publishers, exactly zero were by women...)

The two sessions I presented on Social Media and Google Classroom both went well and people seemed really receptive to both with great questions and interactions throughout. I hope everyone who attended was able to come away with something. I even got to meet Wendy Higdon!

Even though it was surreal to realize I was the requested presenter, it was an honor to be included as a clinician with Wendy and the others who presented on Tuesday! I really hope it's not the last time I find myself getting to go beyond my comfort zone (namely our state music conference) to learn and share with others.

Can't wait to learn and share with all these awesome music educators at #ocmea2018! pic.twitter.com/J5MKJYnXN4

— Amy Rever (@AmyLynnRever) November 6, 2018

Non-Music Tech Ideas for Music Class

It's a common conundrum for music ed teachers to want (or have) to incorporate more technology usage into their classes. It can be especially challenging when you want to use it to enhance your instruction and not just be tech for tech's sake.  

While there are some obvious option with things like Smartmusic or online composing tools like Noteflight or Flat, there are a lot of options that can be utilized that are not music-specific.  Here are a some of my favorites and ideas on ways to incorporate them:

• Padlet
• Padlet is a great collaborative site that I compare to a big digital white board. Those with the link can click anywhere on the wall and share a thought, link, picture, or video. It gives a lot of options for privacy settings as well as moderating posts to make sure things stay appropriate. In the past, I've set one up with columns (favorite thing about band, thing they're looking forward to, new thing they'd like to learn) under which students added a comment, had students share links to pieces they'd be interested in, and add links to great YouTube videos of someone playing their instrument. We've used it for brainstorming Genius Hour projects too. 
• QR Codes
• With a free scanning app and free sites to create your QRs, the uses are endless. Have a QR that links to your class site on all communications home. Put out QRs and do a paperless program at performances. Do scavenger hunts or use them on bulletin boards. You can even use them for your inventory!
• Dotstorming
• Dotstorming is a similar site to Padlet. It allows posting on a wall, but what I love about it is the option for others to directly comment and vote on a post. I've been using Padlet to have students share descriptions and links for potential concert pieces, but plan on using Dotstorming for this activity from now on.
• Kahoot or Quizizz
• Need a fun way to do some assessing? Try either of these quiz game sites! With Kahoot, questions need to be projected for students to see. They then use their device (phone, tablet, etc) almost like a game show buzzer and select the color/shape on their device that corresponds with the answers being projected. Quizziz is similar, but the questions show up on their device which means that a projector is not needed for games. Students can also move at their own pace and games can be shared for practice in things like Google Classroom. Both will give you detailed information after the game is done that can be used to check for overall understanding.
• Poll Everywhere
• This is the only site on this list that can potentially involve some cost, but it's only if you're using it for groups larger than 40 or want some of the other premium options. You can pose a question, and students respond by sending a text message. You can have the responses show as different graphs or even as a word cloud. If you're a BYOD or 1:1 where students all have their own device, this is a great option for some quick formative assessment
• Plickers
• If not all your students have devices, but you do, this is a good assessment option too! Each student has their own numbered card with a unique code (similar to a QR code) on it. When held a certain direction and scanned through the app it registers as an A, B, C, D answer or can be also set for true and false. You can use it to ask a quick question or use their site to create quizzes and assign students to a card number to get more detailed feedback. Aside from more concrete questions, it can be a good way to check for comfort level with a part, piece, or concept. Because students can't tell what their friends are answering, this can help give you a more realistic idea of where your students are. Click here for a more detailed post on using Plickers!
• Aurasma or Blippar
• Aurasma and Blippar are augmented reality (AR) apps. If you've never used AR, think of it like a QR code on steriods. Instead of needing to scan that digitized box to access information, it can be used with practically any image to create a trigger.  Imagine creating a word wall where when scanned with the app, a video of a student demonstrating the definition or concept appears! Or projects that when scanned, display a video of the student explaining it! For more information and ideas on using AR in the class, check out Two Guys and Some iPads.
• Google Classroom
• Google Classroom (GC) is a learning management system that allows for all kinds of ways to assess your students and share information. Here's a post I did for Band Directors Talk Shop on the basics of GC.  Here's a post with some more specific ideas for utilizing it in band.
• Social Media
• Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! Oh my! Open the walls of your classroom to your students, families, and others and share what's happening. Students are excited to be part of "postable" moments and families love seeing pictures and videos of what they're doing daily. Your audiences are all using different platforms. Posting on multiple accounts can become cumbersome, but utilizing IFTTT to automate your posts can be a huge time saver and help you put your story in places your audience will see it. Social media is also an amazing way to stretch your own learning and help you be a more impactful teacher!

What are some of your favorites? Please share in the comments!

Survey Says...

For the first time, I did a student survey at the end of the school year. I really wanted to get some feedback from students on their thoughts and experiences as a part of our band program.

The responses were enlightening, but overall very positive. However, as in most things, I find myself hung up on the negatives. Not necessarily the extremes such as the kind young soul whose response to the question "What can your band teacher do to make band a better experience?" was "Leave." But there were some standouts to me:

• Too much talking from students, too much "yelling" from me. Classroom management has been something I've generally prided myself on. Things like fast pacing and building relationships with students have helped me keep things running pretty smoothly in the past. However, I had some struggles this year stemming from some a combination of class size and the personalities of some of the larger classes, and with their sizes my usual strategies didn't serve us as well. I had two classes of over 50 beginners this year and they could not have been more different from each other. In trying to keep things anonymous so that students felt they could speak freely, I did not ask which class period they were in as a part of the survey, but I really wish I knew where the "yelling" comments came from. Not that raising my voice or getting angry with students is helpful, but knowing if it was coming from all students or those in classes I struggled with more would tell me how to better target my approach for the fall. Part of my plan is to strengthen our class procedures at the beginning of the school year so that I can be more non verbal with instructions and expectations.

• I am not going to make everybody happy. Two (out of 233 responses) said my grading was "harsh." Others love it and appreciate the retake policy. Many said they loved doing assignments online. Some hate using the tech and just wish we did them as part of class. Too many assignments. Too few assignments (most of these indicated there should have been more homework making others practice). I was too nice. I was too mean and demanding. To be honest, I'm not sure what to do with this information. The people-pleaser in me wants to fix things so the outliers are more comfortable, but if I scare off 20 trying to fix things for two who am I really helping?

• Concerts and Genius Hour are the most popular activities we do. Many mentioned our field trips and Chamber Night, but those were the overwhelming favorites. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the number of performances we do per year for 7th and 8th Grade. 6th Grade has always had a pretty big gap though between their December and May concerts. I'm excited that we're adding another one for them in the winter as a part of our Pre Festival concerts. Even better is that they'll get to play on a concert with our 8th grade and a high school group which will hopefully get them thinking about where playing an instrument will go long term. That concert happens to be shortly before students select their schedules for the coming year as well.

• Scheduling is a problem. For those who indicated they're not continuing next year, many cited the desire to try other electives. Our current set up doesn't provide a lot of flexibility for students who take band with the rest of their electives and really forces kids to make long term decisions for their school career too early. There's not much I can do about this issue except to continue to  try make band a place they want to be, but having some data showing that it's impacting retention will be helpful in the long run.

A big takeaway logistically is that I need to reformat my survey with a few more pre-set options as answers and fewer open ended ones. I'll still have some open ended ones because they gave interesting feedback, but having a few more multiple choice style questions will give me better data to work with. 

August 1 is coming which means it's just about time to start prepping for the coming year in earnest taking steps to improve myself and my classes! Anybody else making changes based on survey feedback?

QR Code Inventory

As my students did their Genius Hour projects this year, I've been working on my own. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and was inspired by a post on doing a QR Inventory in the Band Director Group on Facebook. I didn't follow what was shared there exactly, but it was a great spring board for how to make this work in the way I imagined using Google Drive and QRs. It's been tedious, but so worth it. I checked out an instrument to a student with nothing but my phone today!

Here are the nuts and bolts:

• First is one master inventory folder.

• Within those instrument group folders are sub folders for each individual instrument. The QR links back to these individual folders. The green folders are instruments that are checked out to students right now. To change the color, either right click the folder or, if you're on a mobile device, click the three dots on the folder, then select Change Color. Each folder is named with the brand and serial number.

• Each individual instrument folder has yet more sub folders for pictures (to track instrument condition), repair slips, and a Google Sheet with the instrument check out information such as Student name, case number, date the instrument agreement was handed in, any accessories in the case, etc. Pictures taken can be added to Drive through the app on a mobile device.

• Once all of the folders and sub folders are created, this magic extension will populate a Google Sheet with the links to each of the sub folders! I use the URL option. Use the link to the Instrument Group folder and it will give you a sheet with the sub folders for that instrument.

• It makes a folder of folders into this!

• From there, this QR Generator will create a page of QR codes from the column of links. 

• The QR codes can then be printed and attached to the instrument cases. Through the sharing settings on the folder, I am the only one who can access the information when the QR is scanned to protect student information. After downloading the Google Sheets app, the spreadsheet can be edited from my phone.

Voila! A QR inventory system!

Now to check the instrument in/out I just scan the QR, update the Sheet, and change the folder color!

Hopefully this made sense, but I'm happy to elaborate and clarify if needed! It's always a little different when describing the process for someone else than it was going through it at the time. Thoughts? Questions? Additions?

Return of #GeniusHour Part 3

Progress! Students are working hard on their projects. This year seems to be going better than last, and a lot of that has to do with having a better idea of how to get students rolling and laying out clearer expectations. There's a greater variety in what they're working on this year as well (we'd LOVE it if you leave them a few comments!!!) Last year, all students were limited to relating their project to music. Because the 8th Graders have done this process once though, they had the option of anything related to the arts.

I am running into a few more engagement issues this year than last. The first time, I had them in the media center to work on projects less often so work was more focused. However, most students said last year that more time would have really helped. We've been in there pretty much exclusively over the last week and a half though, so there's less of a drive to get things done in the time we're here. Next year will need some revamping of our time and possibly steering more towards calling these Passion Projects instead of Genius Hour.

Next week will be focused on putting together presentations and practicing them!

For my inventory project, I have almost all of our instruments into the new system and with going through this process, I also have a better idea of my repair priority list too. Next week's goal will be finding the remaining straggling instruments still at students' homesprinting and attaching all of the QR codes. I'm really excited with how this is turning out and am looking forward to creating a "how to" post that others might be able to utilize to set up their own QR inventory.

To share my process with students (since I'm doing a project along with them), I'm thinking an infographic might work out. It will have information including a breakdown of how many instruments, how many of each type, links and resources I used, etc.

Two weeks to go!