I remember those “memos” I would get in my school snail-mail box. Many teachers would read in disgust in why the sender wouldn’t come and talk, instead of write a memo. I also remember those “Let’s Chat,” signed by my principal. He wanted to TALK to me in person, no email. Yes, he personalized his discussions.

Today we communicate more and talk less. We communicate daily with email, voice mail, and texting. It is almost at a point of spam with people we know professionally. We have really cut down on calling on the phone or talking personally to individual. Relationships are NOT developed on a one-way communication of email, voicemail and texting. They are enhanced. You must talk on the phone or in person to really develop a relationship. Talking is a give and take, sorta a series of emails all in one. After the point has been agreed upon, an email to remind or keep a digital file of the meeting is appropriate.

The more we personalize our discussions, the more others will listen. Yes, it takes time to talk to the individuals on a personal level. But, you can personalize the discussion to meet the needs of you and the individual. In all actuality, it might be faster. Those who have a hard time talking on the hard issues are the ones who have a problem with this. They like to “communicate” their viewpoints and really not “talk” about the issue. They want to “communicate” to the group in a “sit and get,”  model, with an “I’m in charge” mentality. Today’s education is interactive, collaborative, and one-to-one, not pushing the information on others.

Dates and events should be posted, not sent by email. There are calendars for that, Google cal and iCal are good examples of subscribing to calendar that is up-to-date.

If you are at a meeting or giving a presentation and no questions are asked, then no interaction is expected and you are not really talking to your audience. Yes, groups can be large, but the feedback from others is more important, so to personalize the message.

I make it a point to call or talk to parents and students whenever I can. If a parent or student does have a concern and emails or voicemails me, I talk to the parent and student about the concern, I personalize the discussion, because so many times it was communication issue.

1. Create your own presentation, don’t depend upon others to create one for you. It is a kin to having someone else do your homework. If you don’t know how – ask. Take ownership. Media presentations are skills that EVERYONE, even administrators, should master.
2. View presentations as a performance. You have to practice, practice, practice. Also practice with all the equipment you are going to use. Practice with the clicker, practice with the sound, practice with the computer or iPad. If others are presenting with you, give them time to practice.
3. Run the “show” before you present with the projector you are going to use. You can see if the colors work and if there are preset settings that don’t work.
4. If you run a slide show, have music with it. It is a very boring presentation if you are silently having pictures and words.
5. If you do have a problem with the settings, stop the show and reset them. Don’t have the presentation continue with problems with slide advancement or sound issues.
6. The presentation is 50% show and 50% content. If your show has problems, the audience will remember the issues first, not the content. If the show is embedded within your presentation, the audience will remember the content.
7. Make the presentation available to your audience either in google docs or slideshare. Attendees can view all the data at a later time and have time to process and understand what you have presented. DON’T print out slides to hand out, very 20th century.

The most important rule is practice, practice makes perfect.

iPad

• I got an iPad this summer and I tend to use it more than my laptop. I didn’t “create” a lot of videos or music, but once the school year begins, I see myself using it for meetings, conferences, getting information, and interacting with music.  I love the music apps and more recently got 14 iPod Touches in my music classroom. 21st century music here we are!

Music Personal Learning Network http://musicpln.org/pln-posts/landing/

• Thanks to Dr. Joseph M. Pisano for setting up this innovative networking site. We as music educators must connect and share. This has been an amazing social network, along with Monday night chat on twitter #musedchat.

Evernote http://www.evernote.com/

• I have had an account for a long time, but really didn’t see the need until I got an iPhone (to take pictures) and an iPad (to take notes of a meeting/conference) This has completely transformed my life. I sync all the files on my MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad

OfficeHD for the iPad http://www.bytesquared.com/products/office/ipad/default.asp

• I can now edit and save on my Google Docs and iDisc. I have this only only my iPad. I use my Google Docs for collaboration, Evernote for Professional Notes, and iDisc for presentation files and email downloads from people/administration from school.

PreziDesktop 3 http://prezi.com/desktop/

• I have used Prezi before, but with PreziDesktop 3, I don’t have the lag time with the online version. I plan on using it for “Curriculum Nights” at my school in the fall. I will post the link once I am finished.

Bento for iPad/iPhone http://www.bentotrial.com/trial/default.aspx

itunes.apple.com/us/app/bento/id314638461?mt=8

• I am using Bento for the grading and for the final awards I give out at the end of the year. Filemaker 11 is fine, but I like the interface and creating my own forms. I know you can do this in Filemaker, but it seems that Bento is easier and cooler than Filemaker. Plus, it only costs $4.99, as the Filemaker app is around $50.

xmarks http://www.xmarks.com/

• I have been using this for the past year. ALL my bookmarks are on Diigo, then posted to Delicious. But, daily living I use bookmarks on the browser. Having identical bookmarks on ALL my browsers makes me so fast in finding things.

yolink http://www.yolink.com/yolink/

• I am hooked on this. It is an add-on extension on IE, Chrome, and Firefox, coming soon to Safari. It enhances your search and you can save link and information directly to your google account. You HAVE to check this out!

SweetSearch http://www.sweetsearch.com/

• This is a search engine for students and works great with yolink!! My students research skills are going to go off the charts.

Calibre http://calibre-ebook.com/

• E-books are the new norm. Making them with calibre is amazing. (Plus, this is a free download!) You can then directly put it in your iBooks on your iPad.

The surprising truth about what motivates us

So, that’s what I have been doing this summer, using new links and software to being more efficient and creative. There really isn’t any new

I have to include a video, it’s just me! Here’s a great one, highly innovative, creative, and makes your think!

Let the new school year begin!

In any other part of education if a teacher would say “I don’t read,” or “I’m not interested,” people would wonder why they are a teacher. For to be a teacher is to have that thirst of knowledge. To be an effective teacher you need to be aware of how your students live life. The comment, “They are going to have to learn…” is no longer the battle cry, The battle cry is how are we preparing and educating students on how to teach themselves. For many of the jobs they are going to have may have not been invented yet. They need to learn how to problem-solve issues, learn to ask other for help and  create projects that teach others what they have learned. Many teachers are still teaching facts and figures that can easily be googled, then testing on memorization of facts.

The most engaged students I have in my music classroom are the ones that have learned how to teach themselves. My students are more concerned about getting their “work” completed and creating amazing musical projects. Isn’t that what we want? To only learn from me is quite limiting, but to learn from others across the globe is empowering. There are no walls of knowledge in my classroom. For technology is much like a musical instrument, the more you practice the better you get. My students understand how to practice technology and how to learn from others across the globe.

Some of these educator’s excuses are “I want my students to interact and not be in front of a screen.” or “I want my students to play outside and enjoy nature.” It just shows me how little they know about technology. It is NOT just sitting in front of a screen and there are amazing outdoor activities that students can participate in that use technology. Ever heard of GPS, ah right, most of these teachers use it in their car. They simply do not want to learn themselves.

So, as I begin my thirty-third year of teaching I am no longer going to accept the comment “I’m not techie,” from teachers, administration, or parents. It is no longer an excuse. My incoming fourth graders were all born in the 21st century. That is the reason.

This is one of the first music presentations that is part of this conference. We had a blast talking and participating within this incredible conference, take a look, and “Don’t Suppose….. COMPOSE!”

Here is our teaser for the presentation.

Students are so conditioned to stay in their seats, that in the beginning the ask permission to get up. They quickly realize that I have empowered them to direct the class as to when to work, listen, comment. Amazingly, their own work becomes increasingly more important. They want to work harder, make more innovative projects and see the class as a breeding ground of incredible projects. Many times they COME to class with a file they have created at home. Recently, I had a seventh grader create an amazing movie. I immediately posted it and now the comments are pouring in. He saw one of the videos in class and decided to try one himself.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Edison

It can get loud and busy, with all the walking around and of course you have to monitor it, but as the class develops, the behavior problems are less and less to the point of a total work zone.

1. The White House now has a youtube channel – here is the first video of the inauguration on the internet.

2. Official Presidential Photo of Barrack Obama. For the first time the official photo is a digital photo, it is also available for a FREE download. All past pictures have been taken by a regular camera. The last shift was in 1850, when Millard Fillmore had his picture taken, not painted. See all the official Presidential Portraits.

3. Official Fickr photostream of the inauguration. This is amazing; you can download actual professional photos of the entire event.
Streaming, television and twitter – The inauguration was streamed, (although I strongly suggest that you watch on regular television, due to the strain on the internet) and there is a twitter for the entire inauguration.

So, hopefully those laggards, who think that technology will soon be over, it is not, a shift has happened, one of sharing and web 2.0.