Music Teacher 2.0Blogging Your Way to a Better Classroom

Music Teacher 2.0Blogging Your Way to a Better Classroom

Before We Begin… Session Materials:

http://musicedmajor.net/medforum Audio Podcast-available afterwards On Twitter? Use #mt20 for discussion!

Not on Twitter yet? Just text to “40404” Questions? Ask away! Now… take out your phones!

A Quick Poll

What IS Blogging, Anyway?

blogweblog

What IS Blogging, Anyway? Blog – A journal written online and

accessible to users of the internet Blog – An online, regularly updated journal

or newsletter that is readily accessible to the general public by virtue of being posted on a website

Blog - A website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order

What IS Blogging, Anyway? A blog is a tool for content creation and

sharing. In other words, a blog is…

A Teaching Tool!

Blogging can very easily help you create a better music classroom.

A “Better Music Classroom”Characteristics of a good music classroom:1. Well-prepared teacher

Degrees – Compare Years Professional Development

2. Smoothly-managed program Paperwork Collecting/Spreading of Information

3. Engaged Students! Interested in the material Excited to learn

Well-Prepared Teacher Professional

Development As We Know It: Journals/Periodicals In-Service Days Conferences

What type of effect do these create?

How do we replicate this effect?

Blogging for Professional Development Writing a Blog

Share your thoughts/ideas Ask questions – answers via comments

Reading Blogs Read others’ thoughts/ideas Help with others’ questions

Blogging is Professional Development!

RSS/Syndication What is it??

RSS Syndication brings the information to you

Blog Syndication Integrated in Blog Platform FeedBurner

Podcast Syndication Blog Integration—Plugins iTunes Integration!

Feed Readers—Google Reader, Bloglines, BlogBridge

RSS/Syndication Resources OPML – File containing

multiple RSS Feeds Music Education OPML

Project Web-based RSS

Aggregation MusicEdNews.com

Professional Development in a Box!

Smoothly Managed Program

Smoothly Managed Program FACTS

1. Paperwork takes time2. Some paperwork can be reduced using

blogging3. This doesn’t apply to everything!

Blogging can help us distribute information to students and teachers

Remember RSS?

Let’s Compare… Trip Itinerary

Paper Copy Type up itinerary in

Word Print itinerary Make 80 copies Distribute in class Find 57 on floor after

orchestra Of the other 23, only

half make it into Mom/Dad’s hands

Make 57 copies the next day

Find 32 on the floor

Via Classroom Blog

Get parent emails at beginning of year

Subscribe them to email RSS Updates

Type up itinerary online on blog

Click “Publish” 80 emails go out to all the

Moms/Dads with your itinerary

Advantages to Using a Blog Environmentally

friendly – less copies!

100% Guarantee that parents receive the information

Keeps your classroom clean!

Engaged Students FACTS:

1. Students like being knowledgeable2. Modern Students: Typing > Writing3. Students probably know more about

technology than you

And That’s OKAY!

How Do We Harness This? Weekly Reflection Blog

General Music – What I learned this week Performing Ensembles – Rehearsal

reflection Blog Comments

Students comment on each others’ posts Weekly Listening – Post recording,

students comment

Twitter: Micro-Blogging Twitter Basics

140-character “Tweets” to followers Don’t need to accept a new follower Replies, Retweets (FWD)

Twitter is NOT about telling people what you ate for breakfast!

Twitter IS a blogging platform Twitter IS a tool for content creation and sharing. Twitter IS an incredible medium for professional

development

Guest – Dr. Joseph Pisano Grove City College (Grove City, PA)

Associate Chair Fine Arts/Music Associate Director of Bands Director of Jazz Studies

Online Presences MusTech.net MusicEdNews.com MusicPLN.org

Questions?For more information:

http://musicedmajor.nethttp://education-sms.net

Twitter: @Zweibz7Email: a.zweibel@umiami.edu

Don’t forget! Materials/Audio available at:http://musicedmajor.net/medforum