Elementary Music/Music Technology Blog

This summer, I will again have the privilege of teaching “Integrating Technology into the Elementary Music Classroom: A Course For Elementary Teachers Taught By An Elementary Teacher” at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). I have fond memories of of CCSU as I spent 6 summers there earning my Masters of Science in Music Education.

The course will be offered from July 12-July 16. The course description is as follows: This hands-on course is aimed at elementary music teachers who are interested in integrating technology into the elementary general music curriculum. The course will include a survey of successful teaching strategies and lesson plans as well as an overview of hardware and software appropriate for the elementary level. The material covered in this course will be applicable to every teaching scenario from the teacher who teaches on a cart, the teacher with one computer in a classroom, and the teacher who either already has a classroom lab or who is interested in setting up a lab. Classroom-ready lesson plans, handouts, and software will be included.

If you are interested in taking the course, please click here for more information about registration.

The TI:ME/NJMEA Conference is off to great start! TI:ME’s pre-conference day was well attended and extremely successful. The sessions were top notch and excellent. Presenters such as Pisano, Frankel, Rudolph, Lockstampfor, Jacoby, Schmunk, Phillips, Freedman, and many, many more gave the participants new ways to rejuvenate their classrooms and minds with technology. As I overheard one of the participants comment in the elevator, “there is so much good stuff here, I am not sure where to go next. NJMEA got it right this year by offering all of these tech sessions.”

The evening began with an amazing keynote speech by Don Muro, who reminded us why and how to keep the musicianship in music technology. This was followed by a reception sponsored by Joe Berkovitz of http://www.noteflight.com (thank you Joe!) where Dr. Rick Dammers was presented with the TI:ME 2010 Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year award (sponsored by SoundTree-thank you!). The evening ended with a wonderful concert performed by Bill and Lynn Purse (Aergo).

This was an amazing day of wonderful presenters, excellent sessions, technology explored, and music as the main focus. You can keep track of the sessions on Twitter, using the hashtag #TIME10. I look forward to blogging about day 2!

Picture from http://tweetphoto.com/11801207 posted by SoundTree

I am thrilled that tomorrow will begin the TI:ME/NJMEA Conference in East Brunswick, NJ. TI:ME’s preconference day promises to be one both educational and excellent! Some of the gurus of music tech will be presenting, such as Tom Rudolph, Jim Frankel, Tom Johnson, Joe Pisano, Bill Purse, Don Muro, and more. Plus, TI:ME’s sessions continue into Friday and Saturday. There are also some great opportunities to test music technology like the Technology Sandbox and to hear amazing performances like Barbara Freedman’s nanoband of high school students.

You can register at the conference. Please come on down, via the Turnpike or RT 287, and join us at this great conference!

Next week, as NJ digs out of all of this snow, I will be presenting “Integrating Music Across the Curriculum with Technology” at the NJMEA/TI:ME National Conference in New Brunswick, NJ. I am currently working on my presentation and I am planning on including projects that involve the following:

• How technology assisted in an integration project with 3rd grade science
• How technology assisted in an integration project with 3rd grade social studies
• How technology assisted in an integration project with a 2nd grade unit on immigration
• How technology assisted in an integration project with a Kindergarten unit on farms
• Examples of how technology can assist with the music and math connection
• Examples of how technology can assist with the music and reading connection
• Examples of how technology can assist with the music and writing connection

If you are planning on attending the conference, please come check out my session on Thursday, February 18, at 1:55-2:55 in Cooper Lecture 3. In addition, I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic. What integration ideas would you like to see in this session? Are there items that your school asks you to include in music? I welcome your thoughts and comments.

I am so thrilled that the TI:ME National Conference will be held in NJ this year, in coordination with the NJMEA Conference. TI:ME is holding a pre-conference day on Thursday, February 18, 2010. There will be some excellent “music technology/music education gurus” presenting at this conference including: James Frankel, Robin Hodson, Richard Dammers, Tom Rudolph, Keith Mason, Joe Pisano, and many more. The keynote presenter is Don Muro, who in the elementary music world, is known for his recorder music. My students adore it. However, he is also an original TI:ME founder, a music tech guru, an incredible performer, a composer, and much more. His keynote is one that should not be missed.

The conference rooms are being sponsored by some great companies: Alfred, MakeMusic, Noteflight, Shure, SoundTree, and Yamaha! Some of the rooms will have music labs set up in them. This is a great way to see how a music lab is utilized in music education, and to see all of the items that are needed for a music lab. 

Speaking as a NJ music educator, I have always had to fly to get to a National TI:ME Conference. I am so happy that this year, I can drive to it. If you are in the tri-state area and have been wanting to attend locally a conference to learn more about music technology in music education, then why not go to the leaders in it? Why not come to the TI:ME/NJMEA pre-conference day on Thursday, February 18?

• Click here to register.
• Click here to see the session schedule “at a glance.”
• Click here to read about the sessions.

Are you attending the TI:ME/NJMEA Conference?

I am excited to be presenting in Tampa, Florida for this year’s Florida Music Educators’ Association annual conference from January 6-9. I will be presenting two sessions on Friday, January 8. At 10:30 am I will be presenting “Podcasting in the Elementary Music Classroom.” This session will show participants how to podcast using three programs that could easily fit any elementary music budget: Audacity (freeware for PC and MAC), TrakAx (freeware for PC) and Apple’s GarageBand (MAC). I will also explore various ways to utilize podcasts that will easily benefit the elementary music curriculum.

At 4:00 I will be presenting “Technology Integration in the Elementary Music Classroom.” Whether a novice or advanced technology user, you will learn technology-enhanced lessons to use immediately in your classroom. DVDs and audio examples will be included to show how the lessons work successfully in the classroom. I will also feature material from Technology Integration in the Elementary Music Classroom, a publication from TI:ME (published in coordination with Hal Leonard). A copy of the book will be awarded to one participant at the end of the session.

If you are planning to attend the FMEA conference, please check out one of my sessions!

Check out Jim Frankel’s blog about a new elementary keyboard lab curriculum from SoundTree. I am proud to be included as an author on this curriculum!

Today I went to Maplewood NJ to hold a workshop for the elementary (K-8) music teachers. We began the workshop with each teacher receiving a copy of Technology Integration in the Elementary Music Classroom that includes over 50 lesson plans on how to integrate technology into the elementary music classroom. They also worked with the SMART Board, explored websites that could be utilized in the music classroom, experimented with a variety of software programs like Sibelius’s Groovy Shapes and Jungle and Subotnick’s World of Music, and explored how Audacity and TrakAx could be used in the classroom. I thank Nick Santoro, the teachers, and the great tech crew for a nice day!

If you would like to see our materials from the class, please check out my website.

This Monday, I will be doing one of the things that I love to do most: I will be conducting a teacher workshop to elementary music teachers on ways to integrate technology into their general music classrooms. I will be posting the materials that we are using on my website, amymburns.com, by Monday. If you get the chance, please check it out.

Many of us who teach music must attend in-service days that do not always pertain to us directly. Though these in-service days are useful in some ways, there are times as music teachers, we would like an in-service workshop to specifically meet our needs. Therefore, if that is the case, and your district will allow you to set one up, please contact TI:ME because we have numerous members who are qualified to lead these workshops and can make them extremely useful to you (or you can contact me directly if you are not sure who to contact in TI:ME).

Tomorrow, I will be heading to the TI:ME NJ In-service Day which is being held at East Brunswick High School. I will be presenting a workshop titled “Smart Board in the Music Classroom.” The handout, presentation, and some of the notebook files can be found on my website. I will hopefully, podcast the session, which will be located on my podomatic site. If you are planning on attending the in-service day tomorrow, please stop by and check out my session!