The music classroom has many options when it comes to apps to use for the classroom. Music Tech for Teachers presents an app called PracticeMusic for the iPad or iPhone that can be used to track practice sessions at home. Students can record their practice sessions and upload them to the web site. Teachers can then hear what the students are practicing and critique them in class. This is huge because now many of us rely on practice logs signed by parents who may not know if the student is effectively practicing or not. The teacher and the student can listen to the recording in an after school lesson to review what needs improvement.
One of my favorite lessons with the iPad is using the music notation app Notion. The iPad is projected up on the 32' flat screen in my room (don't be too jealous, it's my personal TV I provided for myself) with the Notion app. I select an instrument that is in my band and I can write out a short two measure exercise for the students to learn. The music written is usually a technique I want students to work on during the warm up. I can then have students also write their own two measures using the notation tool and they have to teach it to their section. When it comes to teaching music this is awesome because the student gets to compose music, peer teach the music, and evaluate the composition he or she wrote.
Here is an example of the Notion app plus the Educreations app.
At the end of the lesson you can save it to use in the future for other lessons. Some schools require students to have a technology portfolio so a student can save their composition and upload it to their technology portfolio! Great way to continue to use the iPad as a teaching tool!
Jordan
Hi John...nice find! I'm sure my high school band director would have loved this app many moons ago, LOL! He never really believed that many of us were practicing at home so with this, he would have had proof.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely nice because it holds students accountable for their practice time. It keeps them honest when they are reporting their practice time. I know students enjoy recording themselves and listening to the playback. It is quite beneficial to their learning in music.
ReplyDeleteI was in the band (for two years) and I can honestly say I never practiced t home like I should have (probably could have been much better, LoL). With the use of this app, I probably would have practiced more and been able to listen to the playback to improve. Great accountability method using technology!
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