The Eight Steps of the Scale to make the “Shift Happen” in Music Education

Carol Broos — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:13:19 +0000

Shift up

A B C D E F G A

A

A Social Network – if you haven’t signed up for twitter, plurk, delicious, or diigo. Do this today. This is the only way you are going to develop a PLN (Personal Learning Network) This is the first step in the shift.

B

Begin a Website – This is for your class, either a wiki (pbwiki.com or iWeb if you have a mobile me account from Apple) this will come invaluable for posting the student files along with calendars, and announcements. My website has transformed my teaching as well as my personal relationships with my students. Make sure you update and keep it current to the moment. My parents trust my website more than the school’s. I delete old information and add new stuff everyday.

C

Conferences – Every state has a technology conference, get involved with it and you will be amazed as a music teacher how important this is to your growth. They love music educators and will open their arms to you. I love Illinois Computing Educators, an amazing group of people who are doin’ the shift!

D

Discovery Education Network – This is an incredible group of educators that network and there are amazing professional growth opportunities that they offer for FREE. The people I have met through the “DEN” has been invaluable to me which has allowed me to grow as an educator and opened my mind to new possibilities. Become a “Star,” DEN Educator and you get into the inner circle of professional growth.

E

Enter the world of the ning – Musictechieteachers.ning.com This is a ning that I started for techie teachers to network, post, and ask questions. It is easier than Facebook to post and set up, I have had many teachers who aren’t techie enjoy tech. You can ask any question and this expert group of music educators from around the world will answer it. It’s all about networking.

F

Foster a Project-based Curriculum – Move your curriculum into a project-based, hands-on curriculum. The reason most of us got into music is that we participated in “playing” music, not “learning” about music.

G

Getting into Sharing everything you do – the more you give the more you get back, don’t hold on to your creations and work.

A

Action, take control of your learning and start networking to enter the world of your PLN. The learning never stops.

Start Small for Developing Your PLN

Carol Broos — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:00:37 +0000

It was great connecting with newbies on the social networking scene at the Midwest Clinic; hopefully others will jump on the bandwagon and see how it will improve their teaching. It only takes one single step, that is how I started. My first step was delicious, then twitter, then…. the rest is history.
Let'Scommunicate

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Education web2.0 communication


I started out with a powerpoint presentation, then showed screenshots, and finally there was time for questions.
This year I am collaborating with teachers all over the world, and my first collaboration with my students is the Composer Collaboration Project. Currently,  I am working on an Abraham Lincoln project with a school in Florida (more details on a later date)
Social Networks have single-handedly has improved my teaching and created a PLN or  Personal Learning Network. For those who would like to see my entire presentation at Midwest Band Clinic click here



I just got back from Midwest Band Clinic. When I asked who had a Facebook account to the audience, about 10% raised their hand, when asked who had a twitter – three hands went up and delicious/diigo account got none, there were over 200 people in the audience! I knew I had to move slow and forget about the videos I was going to present.
It was like I was talking another language, so I went slow and tried to pepper the presentation with stories that they could relate to.
Story 1
You should have a Facebook account, even if you NEVER USE it. A couple of years ago, a group of high school students knowing that teachers are NOT connecting created Facebook accounts with their teacher’s name and picture. Then the real fun began, they started with fake meetings and sexual encounters. The administration got wind of the Facebook accounts and thought they were REAL. They were going to fire all the teachers. After some intervention, the teachers were able to convince the administration that the accounts were fake. BUT, it took Facebook over six months to completely delete all the postings.
Story 2
Have separate email accounts, don’t use your school account for personal matters. Enough said….
Story 3
Googling your name is now your resume. The more connected you are the better. One of my administrators wanted the IT department to call google and get something removed, my suggestion is to put so much up there, that the bad stuff is buried on pages 5 or 6.




Finally, the seven steps of getting connected 

Nickname, a name you will use for all your social networking.
Gmail
Have a short resume of three sentences and a picture ready to go
Fill out ALL Profiles when you start – I only follow people that are “like” me – teacher, musician, techie, etc.
Delicious and/or Diigo account
Twitter and/or Plurk account
Get a webpage or start a blog – either pbwiki, edublogs, or with a .mac account you have iweb.

Now you are developing your PLN, your own Personal Learning Network!

Be A Techie:) » PLN

The Eight Steps of the Scale to make the “Shift Happen” in Music Education

Shift up

A B C D E F G A

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

A

Start Small for Developing Your PLN

Story 1

Story 2

Story 3

Finally, the seven steps of getting connected

Now you are developing your PLN, your own Personal Learning Network!