Technology -- What a Wonderful Thing!!!

Been yet another busy week at school.  The last few weeks we have really delved into the music curriculum.  The kinders and 1st graders have been working on loud/soft; the 2nd graders are really preparing for our inter-curricular circus performance; the 3rd graders have been rocking out with B and A on their recorders; 4th grade has been learning all about melodies and are now beginning to write their own melodies to a poem; and finally the 5th graders have been learning about working together, strengthening their rhythmic skills, and other important skills by playing in a drum circle.

So, yes, happy with how things are going so far.  However this week I made a decision!  I am going to use more technology in my classroom.  Well, I am already pretty super-techie in my music class.  I have a SMARTBoard that I use for practically every lesson.  I use iTunes and my iPod religiously.  I edit/chop up songs for any purpose necessarily.  I record my own choral accompaniments.  My class website is not the basic form one that many have and has tons of great information, etc.  You could just say that I am a computer/music-tech nerd!

Well, I wanted to even top that -- this year I am going to get into "podcasting!"  I already have been recording my students on video (class and performances) to use for reflection, assessment, and to just put up on my site.  However, I got two nifty new condenser mics and an M-Audio USB input (from the $$ from our school talent show) and I decided that I need to put them to good use.

My goal is to record at least 1 "podcast" a week.  I do think that the word "podcast" is nothing more than a fancy buzz word for mp3 that you can download off my website, but its a term that makes the kids excited (and even their parents!)

This past week I recorded 2/3 of my 5th grade classes performing their weekly drum circle piece.  I recorded a 3rd grade class playing my favorite recorder song "The BA Blues" (ok I wrote it, but still it rocks!)  I even recorded a 4th grade chorus rehearsal and my 5th grade chorus.

I even spent my whole Saturday off revamping my website with a link to my Podcast's page (which is actually a blog so students can post reflections!).  Don't worry, I didn't give up a social life to do it -- the husband is at work and I am home sick! (germs from the kiddies -- that's a post for another day!)

I think this is gonna be cool.  This is a great way to show off my students' work.  It's easy to do (not as complicated and/or time consuming as remembering to bring in my video camera from home, setting it, and then importing the video).  And, my students completely light up when I tell them they are going to be recorded!  It's like the highlight of their day!  Me on the other hand, I hate being recorded -- actually I used my Macbook Pro's speech feature to record intros to the recordings that I was unable to get a student to do it, instead of doing it myself (the "Alex" voice is kinda awesome)!  

Well enough rambling for one night... check out:  http://mrsfriedmanmusic.blogspot.com  and/or  www.mrsfriedmanmusic.com for a complete sense of music-geekiness!