Notes To Words Game

Image via Wikipedia

In my jr high band class I still have a few students who are struggling with note names and so I have been looking for fun ways to have repetition in learning the note names with out loosing the attention of the students who have a strong grasp of them.

I have known since I was a kid if you play a game or even call something a game it makes it a lot more bareable. I found in my supplies left over from previous teachers note name bingo so I decided to give it a try. If nothing else it was repetition. To my somewhat surprise the kids actually seemed to really like it but there was one problem. The bingo boards that I have had the names of the notes right on them. This may be good for true begginers but these kids are at the point hat they should be able to see the note and be able to name it without help.

So after a couple rounds of note name bingo I decideed it was time to change it up a bit. So I had the kids break up into small groups of two or three. This way some of the studnets who do have a good grasp of the notes could help hose who do not. When they split up I gave them an empty grand staff and told them to come up with as many words as they could using only the letters in the musical alphabet. Then I had them come back together as a class and with each group going one at a time they would have to write their word on a grand staff on the board. If there was more than one letter in a word they had to use a different place on the staff to write it and between all the groups you could only use a word one time. When a group runs out of new words to use they are out.

After we were done I thought of an idea to give the teams a poin per letter used to encourage the students to use bigger words and if you don't want he game to go forever require that they can only use the root of a word and not multiple tenses of the first word.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be the originator of this game, I am sure there are multiple renditions of this and similiar games.

What do you play in you class to help keep learning music new and interesting?

The Pep Band Effect

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Image by mhaithaca via Flickr

I just read a great post from Doug Butchy over at

Confessions of a Band Director

on the Marching Band effect. I agree with what he already wrote and I am just piggy backing off of it here.

I teach at a small school and I have to do a similar thing with my pep band. Because most of my High School band is on the Football and Volleyball teams I do not have many people to be in the pep band so I have had to recruit from the middle school. I admit pep band music is not that hard but it is harder than what they are used to and the students nearly always rise to the challenge. And most importantly I agree with Doug that the level of their musicianship over the long haul jumps greatly.

If I could add one more reason a 4th reason if you will, I think it is also because of the 10,000 hour rule. If you have read Outliers by Malcom Gladwell that will makes sense if not I recommend it, its a very good quick read. In short the 10,000 hour rule boils down to if you want to master something you have to spend 10,000 working on that thing or in this case practicing. By giving the students a challenge to perform above their level we are also asking them to spend the extra time working on this music and practicing it to get their. By practicing more than they normally would out of necessity. The more time they spend practicing their instrument the better they get, simple.

Hopefully I can remember this concept in all of my classes and continue to challenge my students to play above their skill level if nothing else to get them to have to practice more and in turn become better musicians.

Macy

Macy









http://www.cjcarrollphotographs.blogspot.com/

Glee

Image by watchwithkristin via Flickr

I have a couple of friends who are police officers, a couple who are doctors and nurses and I have often heard them talk about t.v. shows dealing with their proffesions and not usually with raving reviews. But never before has there been a T.V. show that relates to my proffesion, High School Music Teacher, until now.

I want to like Glee, I really do. I don't hate it even. But aside from it being overtly sexual for any age, let alone a High School Show, it is unrealistic.

I know it isnt supposed to be real. Neither is CSI or House but I don't really know that about those shows and I am a fan. But when I talk to people in those fields they say they are so unrealistic that its hard to watch. Well I am not to that point with Glee yet but it might not be too much longer till I get there.

What do you think?

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Where Does The Time Go... Help!

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I do not know the last time I wrote a Blog. This is for a couple reasons.

First Reason

The first reason I haven't is that I haven't taken the time to do so. I think the worst excuse for not blogging is not having enough time. We all get 24 hours in hour day and what you do with that time is up to you.

Second Reason

The second reason I haven't blogged is because I haven't felt like I had anything of value to say. This also is a bad excuse because when I started this blog I had no intentions on trying to please other people. My intentions were to network with other music educators, share ideas and get help when needed. I am in the classroom Monday through Friday so if I am not coming up with anything to share with other music teachers I do not think I am doing my job well. But today I need Help.

But today I need Help.

I am now 5 weeks into the school year and less than a month from my first concert. I don't feel ready. In fact I lack so much confidence that I am working with administration on pushing back the concert a couple of weeks.

Image via Wikipedia

First Concert

If I leave the concert where it is we will have our first concerts of the year 9 weeks into school. This leads me to a ask a question of all you season veterans in music eduction.

"Question"

So in the words of Dwight Schrute, "Question".

How far into the year do you like to be before your first official concert? Also, how long in between concerts do you like to have?