Apple products are a very
prevalent item in the middle school and high school where I teach. Every student and teacher has a MacBook air,
many teachers have school issued iPads, and almost everyone has some type of
smart phone. With all of this technology
at our disposal I have enjoyed finding apps that can be used in the band
classroom. This article outlines 20
useful apps, including irecorder, the
music player, and a metronome app. Some
of my other favorite apps are INStuner, Prometronome, and StaffWars Live.
As I have mentioned in
previous posts, one to one technology is in place in the school where I work
for all students grade six through 12. As
a band director, I am always looking for ways to meaningfully integrate
technology into the classroom. In this article,
Peter Perry (2015), the Instrumental Music Director at Richard Montgomery High
School in Rockville, Maryland, discusses strategies and useful apps for the
performing ensemble classroom. While I
already use some of the suggested strategies, such as Google Drive, Remind, and
Volunteer Spot, I look forward to trying out Music Monitor to assess individual
student performance.
This article is a nice
reminder of the ways that technology can inspire students in the instrumental
music program. The Bay Shore High School
instrumental music program is one of the most outstanding music programs in the
United States and in this article, Ball (2004) outline the layout of the program
and the way that technology is being used.
She even goes on to discuss students that have gone on to music
technology careers based on the inspiration gained during their time in high
school. This story helped me to remember
that constantly trying to find the best methods of integrating technology for
my students is worth the time and energy because it may just inspire them to go
to do something great.
The high school where I teach has placed a new emphasis on college and career readiness. This article speaks to the importance of instrumental education on student's likelihood to peruse an education post-high school. According to Jacobs (2013), not only does instrumental music improve student's cognitive abilities, but also makes them 15 percent more likely to go to college then non-musicians. This is data that we can all share with our administration to increase support for our programs!
This article is full of great Advice to a College Music Student. While this resource is full of things we have all heard as music educators, such as be responsible, be reliable, practice, listen, etc., the most intriguing advice was about the relationships that you make as a student. The author suggests that the connections made during this time impact the rest of your career as a music educator. It has been my experience that this is true, as my college friends are now my colleagues and my teachers provided me with excellent references landing me the wonderful position I have now.
After spending the last year in a one to one technology system, I am always aware of new apps that can help my students. This article outlines the features of the NextPage PDF Sheet Music App. While this inexpensive app does not have all the bells and whistles of some of the other Sheet Music apps, it deletes some features intentionally. This app does allow users to read pdf files, allows for e-mailing the score to someone else, integrates Dropbox, allows for annotation and musical symbols, has a metronome, integrates the AirTurn foot pedal, as well as many other features. This appears to be an excellent application for both students and teachers and I look forward to trying it out.
This article is a great reminder of why students that choose to participate in marching band are the best and brightest kids in the school. The responsibility that we, as band directors, ask these students to take on is incredible and we are so lucky that the students work so hard to keep up. Next time we get frustrated in a rehearsal, it would be beneficial to think back to this article and remember the thousands of things we are asking our students to do all at one time.
