Summer Goals

Writing goals down for just me is making a to-do list. Writing them out and sharing them here though helps keep me accountable. With a couple of very relaxed and mostly (had to take care of some emails here and there) school free weeks under my belt and the Fourth of July past, it's time to start looking ahead in earnest.

• Spanish
• Over Spring Break I learned that my local library offers Rosetta Stone for FREE! I had a big ah-ha moment earlier in the school year when I asked students who spoke a second language. Almost two thirds of my class raised their hands! With a growing ELL population, I would really like to get at least some basic Spanish down, including learning some terminology specific to teaching band. My students speak many languages aside from Spanish, but I'm hoping this will help me connect to more kids and families. I'm hoping to complete a lesson or two per day for the rest of the summer and to find some music ed resources too. Once the school year starts, I can practice with my students.
• Level 1 Google Certification
• I love all things Google and would love to expand my knowledge base. I'm really hoping to complete this before I share about using Google Classroom at a Fine Arts conference in late August. It's not a requirement for my presentation or anything else, but that feels like a reasonable time frame in which to get it done and will also mean that it's completed before the school year starts.
• More Grading Revamping
• I still don't know where I'm going to go with it, but I need to do something about my grading. They have to get grades. I have to hear them play individually. I don't want to do participation points. I believe in retakes and no late penalties. But at last estimate there will be close to 280 students in the band program next year and I'll have around 240 of them, which is up from the 220 I was responsible for this last year. My friend summed it up nicely by saying that logistics are battling with philosophy. I've got some ideas bouncing around, but I'm still figuring out a better direction for both my kids and me.
• Exercising
• Not necessarily school related, but when I'm more physically active, I just feel better. Along with walking my dogs and going for bike rides, I've purchased some weights and a few exercise bands to get back to the routine I when I was doing physical therapy earlier this year.
• Reading
• Holy Cow! I forget how much I love reading until a break comes (or maybe I just don't let myself remember). During the school year, I generally doze off instantly once I get a chance to sit still and read. I've been alternating fiction with educational books and it's been a good balance so far and I'm hoping to keep at it right up until school starts again.

So there they are. Official Professional Development starts in seven weeks. The school year starts in eight. There will still be plenty of relaxing and recharging, but these are goals that will help me not only be a better teacher, but a better me.

What are some of your goals for the summer? Have some Spanish music ed resources? Got a great book recommendation? Discovered the secret to meaningfully grading a large number of students while maintaining your sanity? Please share!

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!

Return of #GeniusHour Part 2

Student projects are already starting to take shape and I've gotten to start working on my inventory project as well.

Student projects:

• We've started blogging! Building on last year's experiences, I wrote this post to help provide guidelines for writing blog posts. (Thank you to Aubrey Yeh for sharing and helping me gain some feedback to share with students!!!) From reading through what they've shared so far, it does seem to be helping. Blogs were a big thing I wanted to improve on from last year and they're looking better already. The students would LOVE some feedback on their writing and projects. Please check out their posts and leave a comment. It would be really cool if you mention where you're from in the comment too!
• There's a pretty interesting array of projects being worked on so far. Since the 8th Graders did this last year with a focus around anything musically related, we opened up to anything in the arts. Some students are excited to be working on things that interest them even more than what they were able to do last year.
• With two weeks of in class working left, time is going to go faster than they realize. I'm going to get the presentation sign up posted for them next week so that they can start planning accordingly.

My project:

• I've actually started getting instruments added to the inventory I laid out here. This is going to be a challenge as tedium is not a strong suit for me. However, it needs to be done and will be a huge help in the long run.
• Our district technology specialists came through big time and found me an extension to add links to the folders I create to a Sheet! From there I'll use another extension to create the QR codes. 
• I'm really wishing I had a label maker to do the QRs as I go along. Things could start to get confusing when instruments I haven't made it to yet get added to those I have. Right now I'm going to focus on getting everything into the system and doing the QR's at the end. 
• Borrowing a cart so that I can move instruments down to the media center as the students are working is going to be a must if I want to get this done in time. Time to talk with the custodians to see what I can use for a bit.
• I am planning on presenting at the end too since I'm following along with the project guidelines the students are following. Since I gave them such a hard time about Thinking Outside the Powerpoint, I really want to come up with a fun way to share on a not particularly fun subject. I'm open for ideas on a cool way to present my learning!

Band Portfolios with Google Sites

Portfolios have come and gone and come again over the years as a way to track student growth. For our non-music colleagues, these were a little easier to maintain. Tracking and storing evidence like paper or pictures of projects was definitely much less complicated than tapes (both audio or VHS), mini disks, or CDs.  Technology though has now opened up a huge number of options for tracking music student progress over time by creating digital portfolios.

I claim zero credit for any of these ideas. In fact, it was a colleague who introduced me to the idea last fall. I know that many people are looking at ways to incorporate this though, so I wanted to share one way it could be done.

This video shows how our middle school students set portfolios up using a Google Site.  Since we use Google Classroom for all of our assignments, it's very easy to get videos from students' Drive to their Site.

A few quick tips I did not mention in video:

• Make sure your students are renaming their videos as they go along. They are often uploaded with generic number/letter names that make them difficult to sort through later.
• Check your district's policies on student created sites. Ours can create them, but their default setting is private and they can only be shared with people in our domain. This is beneficial for student protection and privacy, but unless they open their sharing with me I cannot see their site.
• I used Screencastify to make this video. When this was first assigned, I did a similar one that was a little more specific for students, then loaded it as an assignment in Google Classroom along with a list of the specific assignments and tests I wanted added to their portfolio. It's free and fairly easy to use and may be a good way to help your students with their initial set up.
• Each semester I posted a list of assignments that students needed to add to their portfolio in Google Classroom. The list usually included a couple of playing tests (every beginner added Hot Cross Buns to their portfolio), some of their written work, a practice reflection, and then I let them choose something else to add.

While a Google Site makes the most sense for our students with our current technology set up, this can easily be done with a variety of other hosting platforms such as Weebly. It could even be done through something like KidBlog because students can also add from their Drive to a blog post. The great thing is that no matter what platform you use, there are lots of options to help your students track their progress over time!

How are you doing digital portfolios? Please share your ideas in the comments!

An Alternative to the Practice Minute Log

Ah, the practice minute log. Few topics will bring up as heated a discussion among instrumental teachers as grading students for minutes practiced outside of school.

On one side you'll get the arguments about how they've been used for years, recommended numbers of minutes per age/grade, and a general belief that even if some kids are lying about their numbers, it's still encouraging more kids to practice than if there were no logs assigned at all.

On the other side you'll find people frustrated with the dishonesty students (and sometimes parents) display in regards to numbers of minutes, people equating them to reading logs which are also under fire, and the frustrations of a one size fits all approach to assigning practice.

Both sides mean well and want to find ways to help students establish solid practice routines.

I'd like to offer an alternative to the minute log.

Practice reflection videos.

Without the technology available today, these would not have been feasible before. However, with the multitude of available online learning management systems, including my choice, Google Classroom, it's a highly doable option.

I'll be the first to admit that practice reflections were a work in progress over the course of the year, but the information gained from them was worth their use and continual revising.

How:

• To start off, students were allowed to choose any goal they wanted. For the beginners, many used their first one to do things like show how to put their instrument together or make a sound on the mouthpiece.
• In each reflection they had to demonstrate their improvement from the week before and set a new goal.
• It was a requirement to play in each reflection (a few kids got into a habit of showing how to disassemble/reassemble their valves for weeks on end...).
• Occasionally, a specific section of music was assigned in preparation for a concert. They had to demonstrate their skill at it one week, then show their improvement the next.
• Reflections were credit/no credit. They could be turned in late, but no more than two weeks past their original due date OR had to be in prior to the concert they may have been directly related to. Students who did not earn credit (likely due to not demonstrating by playing something) had the opportunity to redo it as long as they stayed within the final deadlines.

Why:

• If they have to take home their instrument, get it out, and play something related to what you're working on, you've won half the battle! They're playing their instrument at home!
• Practice reflections gave insights into student learning, thinking, and overall trends. Individual feedback could be given through Google Classroom, but if there was an overall theme to a week's reflections, it was addressed in class.
• Treating them as musicians and not just students puts them in charge of their own learning. Rather than just meeting a minute quota, they were told they needed to practice as much as was necessary to meet their goal. Some weeks this meant more or less time, which is how a musician would determine their practice time.
• Students could set their own pace. While some students were still figuring out the difference between a whole and half note, other kids had been taking music lessons for years before starting band and were trying to figure out much more difficult music.
• Classes this past year were anywhere from 30-55 students. Watching these videos offered a chance to check in on individuals which is difficult in a large class. Additionally, when taken out of the class setting, it was a nice opportunity to get to know the student a little better. Many kids really enjoyed talking to the camera and often introduced siblings, family members, and even pets who may have popped through their video.

A few challenges:

• These take a lot more time to go through than checking off minute logs if you view them all. As the year went on and students figured out their process, practice reflections became more efficient and were assigned less often though. Since their videos were all in Google Classroom, they could be checked from the comfort of my couch, but they can be time consuming. At this point, I just spot check them, but rarely watch every student's video every time. 
• This was a big cultural shift. For students who had older siblings go through the program and do minute logs, this was a change in the expected routine. Even those who had no specific expectations for class requirements were stumped for a bit. The freedom of choosing and working on their own goals was a new concept for many.
• While we're fortunate to be in a district where most students have a phone or tablet to use, not all students have access to a device to do their recordings. Those students would upload them to Google Classroom at home, so some students did them in school with one of our devices.

Feedback? Ideas? Ways to make this system better? Other alternatives to minute logs? Please share in the comments!

Ideas for Google Classroom in Band

I've written about using Google Classroom before, but I'm seeing more and more conversations about it in places like the Band Director group on Facebook.  On every post from someone using it, there are often people asking in the comments about ways people use it with their groups.  I've been using it for about a couple of years with students and love it!  This is very obviously not an exhaustive list, but here are some ideas and tips for getting started.

Ideas for use:

• Playing Assessments.  Have your students upload videos of themselves playing for you.  No more class time lost to tests and now you can really focus on the student playing.  I check tests from the comfort of my couch and no longer have to keep an eye on the other 50 kids in the class as I try to watch one play.  I can also back videos up, pause, and rewatch to give specific feedback if the student needs help.  What's beautiful is that many of the students will record themselves over and over until they get a good recording which means...they practice!  
• Practice Reflections.  Basically students submit a weekly video of themselves demonstrating progress on a previous goal and setting a new one.  It's been a low key way to check on progress, check for trends, and get students taking more ownership of their learning.
• Listening assignments.  Post a recording from class or a YouTube video for students to write about.  You can have them create their own document to respond to questions or create a template for them to fill in (the template works well for students who may still be figuring out how to use Google Apps).
• Student Choice.  Let your students give ideas for pieces to play.  Post links to recordings or a list of possible choices.  Have them listen and give feedback with things like a Google Form, Padlet Wall, comment on the post, or use GC itself to create a direct question for students to write responses.
• Go Paperless! Save a tree and post everything to GC. Permission slips, reminders, announcements, etc. 

Some tips:

• Start small.  If your students are unfamiliar with Google Apps, keep your first few assignments simple to help them learn how to use it.  This was a mistake I made when starting off and it caused some serious speed bumps.  Don't assume that they know how to use the tech the way you want.
• Encourage BYOT.  Personal devices in class can be a distraction if we let them.  But if we teach our students how to utilize them as the tool they can be, we're promoting responsible tech usage and digital citizenship.  If you're going to have them upload videos, have them bring the device they'll be using to class and try it there.  Between you and other students, they can troubleshoot and get help with different ways to upload.
• Be flexible.  It's going to take some time to get all of your students (and their families) on board.  Our assignments have due dates, but I will take just about anything through the end of the marking period for the chance at full credit.  While much of the reasoning for this is due to my personal philosophy on learning (if they learn the Db scale a few weeks later than others, they're still learning and demonstrating proficiency), it also takes away the anxiety of uncooperative technology.  
• Help parents too. Give paper copies of instructions on things like enrolling or completing assignments. Also, as of August 2016, parents can now enroll for Guardian Summaries! Click here for more information from Google on this helpful feature to keep families in the loop!
• Connect with others. There is a Facebook Group called Google Classroom for Music Teachers where there are a lot of great ideas and resources shared. 

Do you use Google Classroom already?  What are some ways you use it with your performing groups?  Please share in the comments!

If you'd like to learn a little more about the nuts and bolts of Google Classroom, check out this post I did for Band Directors Talk Shop.