This page represents my submission for the CMS Music PD Portfolio. This professional development opportunity was provided to help music educators integrate technology for the growth of their students and music programs. Throughout this page and my website, you will find evidence of my use of technology throughout the music curriculum at Winget Park Elementary.

Picture and Video Evidence

PROJECT REFLECTION

Explain your process to incorporate technology in your music class.

For the past couple of years, one of my Professional Development Goals has been to incorporate technology as a resource to enhance and support music curriculum. I believe by doing this students are more prepared for 21st century learning by being able to utilize a variety of technology tools.

In previous years, I have used Chromebooks regulary with 4th and 5th grade classes to disseminate assignments and practice using the Recorder Karate system. Prior to this, I would spend half of every class giving out paper copies and going over the same problem spots. Once classes left, I would pick up countless copies of music and file them until the next week. Just adding the Recorder Karate music, review videos, and sound files into Google Classroom and my website has helped students take a larger ownership in not only keeping up with materials, but also earning belts in class and through submitted recordings. In 5th Grade, I have used a Reggae unit to help students learn a bit more about the world beyond. It also opens great discussion about what peace, protest, and social injustice mean. Throughout the unit, we talk about these ideas, listen to music, and finally write a Reggae song! Students wrote lyrics and composed accompaniments for reggae songs utilizing google classroom, google docs, and QuaverMusic tools and the results were fantastic!

I start recorder in third grade and use the Quaver Curriculum. Many of the activities I do with them in the beginning are technology based. We typically review the previous week's objectives, review the songs from before, watch a short video about something new (new note, technique, symbol), and then apply that knowledge to a new song. Finally students have independent review time using QuaverMusic and their Chromebook. This year, after our first three weeks and three notes (BAG), I decided to use a Quizizz to review concepts. To say they loved the activity is an understatement. Before they finished, they asked when we could do another game! I had no idea that such a simple game could bring out such enthusiasm for the content we had learned.

Third, fourth, and fifth grades utlize QuaverMusic tools and Google Classroom on a weekly basis. I also added second grade into the mix before we were dismissed indefinitely, and they are able to access Quaver activities at home during our absence from school.

The use Chromebooks and and my Interactive Promethean Board in the classroom for activities and assessments throughout the year has been transformative. Students regularly utilize various apps and websites to compose, arrange, and manipulate recorded sound. And I am lucky enough to be at a school that values music education and agreed to pay for the district adopted text, QuaverMusic, after it was not funded. The apps and activities for student assessment and projects embedded in QuaverMusic that I use throughout the year seem endless.

I truly believe students are more prepared for 21st century learning and careers when they learn and are exposed to a variety of technology tools. In my class students gain knowledge of music technology including composing, recording, and arranging. The use of technology also provides students access to a variety of music information about composers, musicians, instruments, musical periods.

Describe what you enjoyed most about the experience.

Throughout the process of meetings and presentations, so many incredible resources have been introduced. The list is long and I have only begun to scratch the surface! The most enjoyable part of this experience has been that introduction to so many resources that I have never used, heard of, or tried. The best part is that so many of my colleagues helped introduce the technology! I am so honored to be a part of such a dedicated team of educators who are willing to share ups and downs of educational practice. It is so much more meaningful to hear from people who are in the trenches with you (or have been in the trenches with you in the not so distant past).

Write about the challenges you faced in this project and what you did to overcome the challenges.

There are three main challenges to utilizing technology for me in my current school. First, is the sometimes unreliable network connection. I am on the main hallway directly in the center of my school. This is great when it comes to convenience and visibility. What I have learned, however, that this is not great for reliability of wireless network. On several occasions, the internet would drop for a few seconds. There were a couple of days that the internet would be down for entire classes. When you primarily use a digital platform for your primary means of teaching (QuaverMusic) for ALL grade levels, this is especially trying. Even technology reps from the district have noted the sporadic outages when doing updates to my Promethean Board. To overcome this challenge, you have to go back to basics and rely on your knowledge of the content and do some "old-school" teaching! But seriously, we are so reliant on technology, that we are frozen in fear for a moment when things don't work. Luckily students understand that sometimes lessons/plans do not work as they are meant to, and they do their best to work with you!

The second challenge I have noticed is responsibility of students with their technology. The first issue, that I notice pretty frequently, is students forget their Chromebook or iPad. This happens more than I care to admit. Students use technology all day and the fact that sometimes they forget it or misplace it seems unforgivable. However, I only see students once a week and I have to pick the battles to fight. I simply have other activities (paper/pencil) for them to complete or I have them find a partner to use technology with. Typically the fact that they are unable to "control" the device when sharing is enough incentive for them to not forget their technology the next week!

The last challenge is the dreaded username/password! This is frustrating for me and other students because it puts my class on hold. Although most students know their Chromebook credentials, there is an alarming number who do not. That number grows when it comes to remembering Quaver account information! I have encouraged students to use their Chromebook credentials for Quaver accounts, but moving forward, I will likely require this. I also plan to create a password saver file for the kids to access for each class.

Next Time: How will you continue to incorporate technology in your classes and what will you do different (if anything)?

I would like to think that technology is so intertwined in my music curriculum that it would be almost impossible to not incorporate it moving forward. Overcoming obstacles with technology is such a small part of the day. I believe moving forward, I will continue to use QuaverMusic curriculum daily with all grade levels (pending district/school funding). The kids absolutely love all of the activities, videos, and songs, and the program has truly revolutionized my teaching. Continuing to learn and implement the Google suite of technology will be a goal moving forward. I use the programs sporadically and know there is power in their usage. I also want to continue to develop my website as a tool and resource for my students and school community. My biggest challenge moving forward is having K-2 access technology more fully in my classroom. Without a school computer lab and without 1-to-1 access to technology with these younger grades, this is quite the challenge. I don't know the answer to this yet, but will continue to work with my admin and teachers to hopefully implement some more tech activities with my youngest students.