Aug
20
2009
I’m getting my new classroom ready at my new school to start a new music program here in Seattle…the librarian who is also new in the building, sent out an email asking if anyone wanted an old card catalog cabinet she didn’t need anymore. I jumped at the chance! And now I have a cool cabinet with lots of shelves to store all kinds of goodies: small tools; shakers; claves; reeds; neck straps; metronomes…an organizational paradise!
So if your school library has been updated with all of the books catalogged on an electronic database, ask your librarian what will happen to the old card catalog…
Jul
07
2009
Not really a music post but one for you Blackberry users, there is now a Wordpress blogging app for Blackberry smartphones. I’m using it right now to create this post on my Storm. You can even upload pictures from your photo library on your phone or take a picture and it will insert the photo into your post (like the goofy one posted here…) . Seems to work on Edublogs which is a Wordpress MU site. More information about the Wordpress mobile blogging app here: http://crackberry.com/hot-new-wordpress-blogging-application-released-beta-form
Dec
21
2008
How do you follow this blog? After spending over 2 hours on a new look and design, tweaking my side bar and colors, I wonder, how many of you will actually see my work? 
I created this awesome twitter widget on my blog, but many of you follow this blog via RSS and will never see it in my sidebar. And if you don’t visit my blog page, you won’t be able to see the cool snow effect I have going. Fill out my poll so I can see if my time was well spent (in fact, you may have to visit my blog to fill out the poll because it may not show up in an RSS reader):
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Sep
25
2008
I’m nearing the third complete week of my new job as a middle school music teacher. Here are some brief reflections; maybe you can relate-
I know:
- Teaching 3 ensembles in an auditorium is absurd (beginning band, intermediate band, and choir, back to back)- kind of like herding cats.
- You can never have too many Sharpies on hand for kids that forget to label their band books, instruments, music folders and other items that get left behind after class. My students know that any unlabeled items left behind become school property.
- Greeting kids at the door of my piano class is much more effective than catching up on email over at my desk before the bell rings.
My favorite statement to new band parents:
“In regards to your children forgetting to bring their instruments to school, I want to encourage you to move from enabler to facilitator. The enabler parent drives to school to drop off a forgotten instrument left at home 3 minutes before band for the fourth time in a week. The facilitating parent refuses to deliver the forgotten instrument that fourth time when the student calls from school, effectively teaching their child to accept the consequences and learn responsibility.”
My favorite statement to new band students:
“Hanging out in this band is not allowed! Always play on purpose and with purpose, not on accident. We will be making music for the next 55 minutes.”
My choir students favorite song (so far):
“Bist du bei Mir” by Bach. Not any of the jazz or pop stuff in their folders…
One great idea that has worked for me this week:
When I need to work with a particular section, but don’t want to lose control of the ensemble, I will tell the remainder of the band to “fake play”. This means they must assume good posture and finger the instrument without blowing (or hitting for percussion) while I hear one section of the group play. “If I were to video the band and turn off the sound, all of you who are “fake playing” should look like you are really playing…”
I often feel:
1. Exhausted.
2. Ineffective.
3. Overwhelmed by paperwork.
4. Thankful for empathetic colleagues.
Sep
02
2008
I kind of feel like this photo taking on my new job: still under construction. Let’s see what a new year and a new school brings…
Jul
15
2008
It looks like I’m going to have to thankfully amend a previous post about the Flip Video and issues with iMovie08. We are documenting some remodeling work around my house this summer using my Flip Video Camera, (not the new Mino which looks really cool…) and when I plugged it into my Macbook running Leopard I was able to directly import my movies from the Flip into iMovie08! It even worked on my iMac running Tiger (OSX 10.4.11).
Previously, I needed a video converter like iSquint or Visual Hub to convert the .avi files on the Flip into a format that iMovie08 would recognize. I guess one of the latest software updates from Apple solved this problem…has anybody else had success with this issue?
There is a nice video review of the flip over at Macworld.
Jun
06
2008
In case you haven’t heard yet – the I.T. world is changing. The rise of social computing technologies, generally branded as “Web 2.0″ and including things like wikis, blogs, social networking, RSS, and more are slowly making their way into the business education world. This new movement is called Enterprise 2.0, and it’s no small shift. They’re even having a conference about it next week. But the change encompasses more than just the introduction of new, social software into the formerly stodgy business education world – it also includes the movement of server software from in-house data centers to the cloud, the rise of a mobile workforce, the rebirth of thin client computing, a self-provisioning user base, and more.
This is a short quote from a must read post from ReadWriteWeb
but try this as you read the artcle: replace the word business with education or school (as I did above…); the word CEO with principal or administrator; and the word client or customer with student.
Take time to read the comments on the post too.
May
28
2008
- Harmony Central®: Martin Guitar Introduces Pat Donohue Custom Edition
Many know Pat Donohue as the guitarist in The Guys All-Star Shoe Band on Public Radio’s popular A Prairie Home Companion, an extraordinary picker who plays jazz, blues, swing and folk with equal flair and often blends all four in his music.
- Wired News – AP News
The same belt and pulley machines that stamped and shaped the world’s first metal kazoos circa 1900 still stamp and shape kazoos today. The machines are still in the same building, making the same ker-thwunk sound as they perforate, fold and shape.
Apr
11
2008
- Gibson intros SG Robot Guitar, new edition of Les Paul version – EngadgetLast time we saw the Gibson Robot Guitar it was in the hands of Yngwie Malmsteen, who was laying down gorgeous, undulating waves of pure classical-metal fever. The first version of the self-tuning Les Paul was a rather limited edition, but now Gibson…
- Rock Band Mushroom Drum Pads: nearly too awesome to hit – EngadgetUntil very recently, Rock Band on the Wii was little more than a pipe dream. Still, that didn’t stop Jennifer and Vance from whipping up what’s likely the hottest Rock Band drum kit mod we’ve seen to date — one Mario and friends would unquestionable…
- Digital Radio Platforms More Popular, 33MM Listen to Online Radio Weekly – MarketingVOXUse and ownership of digital audio platforms, including online radio, iPod/MP3 players, and podcasting, continue to increase, according to The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms, a study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research…
- MediaFuturist: New video: so what in the world IS Music2.0?I figured it’s time to clarify
. In this video I I talk about what MUSIC2.0 actually means: open, feels like free, ubiquitous, licensed access… a good summary I think (approx 17 minutes)
- Techdirt: New RIAA Argument: Throwing A Promo CD In The Garbage = Unauthorized DistributionLast summer, the EFF sued Universal Music Group, after UMG had eBay takedown the sales of certain CDs. The CDs were promotional CDs, purchased legitimately by a guy going to LA record stores.
