Beethoven

I am currently taking a ten-week continuing education class at Northwestern University on Ludwig van Beethoven. The instructor is Dr. Drew Davies, a professor at the Beinen School of Music at Northwestern University. Undeniably, he is considered the most celebrated composer of all time. It only makes sense that we infuse Beethoven’s concepts in compositions within the 21st century.

Beethoven listened to his own voice and “marched to a different drummer.” Before Beethoven, musicians were employed by benefactors such as the church or royalty, he was self-employed. Music was published through these institutions with single parts only. Beethoven published outside the main stream through publishing houses and sometime published the same piece at a variety of houses, making more money for himself. He published full scores.

21st century – Publish your own works, set up your own publishing company. Have a full and individual parts available. 

He expanded the orchestra, but had a balance of old styles using new techniques. He was comfortable in his own world and created his own rules, but kept a skeleton of musical composition rules as to not to upset the mainstream community. Accessibility of musical instruments though the use of massed produced instruments made it so the masses could now own musical instruments. Performances moved from small venues of chamber music to the huge concert halls for all people to participate. The piano was the new instrument of era. Beethoven composed chamber music, symphonies, and piano concertos, using old instruments as well as new. He composed for the masses to hear his pieces.

21st century – Use new instruments on the iPad or create your own instruments. Instead of huge performing groups, compose for small groups of instruments that create a different sound. Compose using instruments that are not normally used together. Set up a soundcloud account or youtube channel so others can view and hear your compositions.

21st century – Technology has allowed anyone to compose and have playback without hiring musicians to play the compositions. Composition has moved mainstream.

He was famous during his lifetime. However, not a child prodigy. He was what we call a “slow processor” or “late bloomer.” His personal life of hearing loss and unrequited love affairs place his as a tragic figure. He overcame many struggles and is seen as an “emotional” artist.

21st century – anyone can be a composer with access to a computer and free online tools. 

Now, move into the 21st century, taking Beethoven’s life, philosophy and innovations. Many music educators teach composition like they are teaching in Beethoven’s era, not composing how Beethoven created. They demand that students compose for the symphony using forms that are so old that even Beethoven changed them in his time. Let’s compose like Beethoven would if he was in the 21st century using innovative and creative ideas.

I am presenting “Composing Online Is Not Just Notation” at the TI:ME conference in Louisville. What I to intend to expand upon is letting people experiment with different instruments and notation. Click here for the entire presentation.

Why then? Well, the first year I started teaching, I started on October 10, twenty-three days into a school year, so I will teach 25 days or to the end of the month to complete full retirement requirements from TRS (Teacher Retirement Service – state of Illinois)

So, on to the NEW chapter! Hopefully, there will be some exciting updates!

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.

Here are my suggestions to communicate via email:

1. Do put your answer in the “re”

Example: re: Meeting changed to Sally’s room

Real don’t: Re: Meeting

This way if I don’t have enough time to read the email, I know the real news. Easy to scan through.

2. The only attachments should be forms that are signed or agendas.

Don’t comment about the agenda in the email, that’s the reason for the f2f meeting.

Example: Attached is the agenda for district meeting 8_23_10 (notice underscore)

Real don’t: Also, don’t use .docx or .xlsx Smart phones can’t read the file.

3. If after 2 emails, pick up phone or WALK down the hall and discuss the issue.

Email was not meant for discussion, it was meant for TELLING.

Real don’t: I would like your opinion,,,,, This should be done in person, wiki, or staff meeting.

4. One or two attachments ONLY as part of an email.

Everyone that is emailed the documents many not need all the attachments. Plus, if this email is lost, unless the attachments were downloaded, after reading them, they are ALL lost.  If you have more than three attachments, set up a scribt account and send the link. There can be a district password-protected account for staff and one for parents/students. Password should change monthly. Or better yet, use google docs. The GAFE (Google Accounts For Education) is a wonderful sharing tool, easy to setup.

Real don’t: class lists should in xls or word, not a PDF. Data can be used! (pdftoword.com can be used to convert any PDF to word.)

5. Length, no more than three sentences in a paragraph.

Short, to the point. Lots of spaces. Fine to have uncompleted sentences. This is NOT a letter. It is email. People are typing or reading on a smart phone.

6. Calendar items on the school calendar, not written within a word document. Information for email.

Discuss the events at the teacher’s meeting. One of my biggest pet peeves is a date in a word document, NOT on the school calendar. Additionally, a weekly announcement in a word document with meeting dates. Having a google calendar, you can subscribe, have attachments and alarms

7. Attachments have date on file.

Ex: File name “Announcements” the file should be “Announce_08_23_10″

I save all attachments in a folder, that way if you need to respond to a specific announcement, you know the date.

The date on the file is the DATE sent. If the announcements are for next week, the file should NOT be the date in the future. People remember when the email was sent, not the all the dates it talks about.

8. Do have your “signature” on bottom in your FULL name.

Have your title, website link, phone number, and possibly a saying that represents you. If I have a concern about the email, I like to know who you are and the phone number you can be reached at.

9. Remember this is not a letter, so flowery small talk is not appropriate.

Also, no name to start of email in the beginning. This is not a letter, it is email. Get right to the point. Many people are using smart phones, it takes a lot of screen space. Plus, people reading email on their mobile device, are checking their mail fast.

10. Once they day begins, no emails about the day. Be a day ahead.

Emailing a teacher that her class will be ten minutes late for music, and they have music in twenty minutes, it would be better sending a student or calling teacher. Emailing the teacher at 3:00, asking the teacher to tell Sally to go home with Susy, is problematic. Remember teachers are not sitting at their desk waiting for your email.

11. Use bcc for your email addresses to students and parents, send the email to yourself.

That way you aren’t giving others email address of the students or parents. Protects privacy.

So, that’s about it. Anyone else have “rules” they would like to have in regards to emails?

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!

I have taught a lot of amazing students. They range from low to high intelligent. The basic theme is that they are ALWAYS THINKING. They have an inner drive to be excellent and creative. They aren’t the most talented, but they are the most ambitious. They desire new possibilities and crave a creative outlet. I don’t teach these students, I just get out of their way and create possibilities. I say that I give them TIME and SOFTWARE. I usually have one to three students within the class that fall into this category. Upon starting a new project, they are the ones that come to me asking if they could spin the project a different way, usually a way I have never thought of before. They are those students, that find every possible time during the day to be in my room, whether it is during lunch/recess, silent reading or upon completion of a project in another class.

As these students move within the projects, sometime their project takes more time and effort than the others. Other times they finish within a day and are ready to move on to something else.They are NOT on the same page as the rest of the class, and I do not have them do the same projects. They are different and I say that directly to their face. “Whatever I say to the rest of the class is not intended for you.” I have them work separately and at times individually allowing them to soar. When an amazing student is allowed to soar and create, you will see their attitude within the classroom improve and help others. Because they are constantly within this “creative individual” mode there will be ups and downs. The creative mind cannot constantly be in up mode. It needs a “processing” mode as well. So, if the student has come to a road-block and cannot think of what to do next, or how to proceed, it is important you have as least two or three other projects the student is working on. This way they can “process” on one project and  work on another. Contests and web 2.0 excites them. They delight in show their work to the outside world.

People ask me how do I get so much out of students with such a limited amount of time. Students are working on MY stuff outside the classroom, by thinking and processing. So, by the time they arrive in the classroom, they are already at full steam on the creative meter.

The delicate balance of the general population student and the “amazing” student is always on my mind. So, that is why I see myself more as a facilitator than teacher. I want to inspire and “allow” these students to be the best they can be.

You can hear my discussion about this with Brenda Muench and Jen Brinkley about teaching “amazing students” on Musically and Technically Speaking podcast.

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.

My students continue to amaze me to their talent and innovation they process. Many times we see students just sitting there looking away. If they are not actively working, we think that they are just lazy. Well, I don’t feel that way. Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses and let the processing of all the information you have to settle. Many teachers don’t like this, they want work, work, and more work. I take the google thought of 20%. They believe 20% of your time you should be working in the things you want to create, not assignments. Since I have taken this approach in my classroom, my students have amazed me more and more.

I just had an evaluation of the quarter with my junior high students. Their main comment was that they had enough time to finish and process. I think the more and more you get into the techie stuff, the more you have to process how to use it and create. So, I have been processing and you will see a lot of new things here on my blog.

Motto: Let it happen, don’t MAKE it happen…