Music technology

My son is in his high school band and the teacher uses Smartmusic to assess their playing. The students purchase the Smartmusic software and microphone and install it on their computer.( It is also available on a computer in the classroom). The students play their instrument while signed in and the band teacher is able to retrieve their recordings and place them in the proper "chairs" in band!

Much less pressure and better use of time than in the old days when each student had to play in front of everyone in class.

Experiment

We'll see if this URL works...I tried using Screentoaster to capture a youtube video of the LO Band in the Homecoming parade.

http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stV0xSQk1IR1xZRVxeX1JaVFdT/lo_homecoming_parade

Yet Another tool

Youtube has been around for a while and is another great source of a web 2.0 based tool - used to store and share videos.

Here is my son at the Homecoming game - Trombone Suicide! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUe0zlUywmY

We also view photos on Flickr - Web 2.0 is extremely versatile and I don't have to use all of the memory on my laptop!

another use of technology in the classroom

Several days ago I observed a high school science class. The teacher did a great demonstration using the Smartboard - it involved a " bird" hunting peppermoths. It really engaged the students and was a great demonstration of how they blended into the forest.

Ideas

I am trying to think of ideas of how to use blogs and other technology in a Special Education classroom.

Games,puzzles,searches...these are all great,but I would like to begin compiling resources for the future that are inventive and creative.

If anyone has ideas I welcome them~

Blogs in the Classroom

I am considering more uses for blogs in the classroom. It would be a great tool to post schedules for students and updates for parents. Communication is one of the keys to a great classroom and blogs are a great tool.

It could be used for parent sign ups for field trips and parties as well as for academic assignments and students would enjoy seeing what is planned for future classes and pictures and memories of things past.

Web 2.0

This is an awesome platform which makes use of a huge variety of web based tools. It offers freedom in that all of these applications may be used from any computer anywhere - they are not limited to documents help on your computer.
I really like the googledocs.If I have written a draft of an essay I need for school and my computer crashes,I may use any computer to find it and complete it. This is fabulous compared with the MS documents where the essay would only be retrieved from my computer.
Wordle is another web 2.0 tool that I will use both in my personal life and in the classroom. It is a fun,interesting way to use words both as an art form and as a collaborative tool.
I would use this with students as a tool for spelling tests and recognizing words as well as an art project. It might be fun to have them use the randomize selection over and over to see the different possibilites there are with words and colors.With more experimenting I can imagine finding more uses for this as well as googledocs.

OTEN update

During the OTEN conference I attended two workshops.
The first was Smartboard instruction with specifics to geometry. The class gave a brief overview of Smartboards,but the bulk of information was how to use it with specific software related to geometry.

The second session I attended was about clickers taught by a instructor for Corban College. I had no idea what clickers were....I thought they were behavioral tools! I was very intrigued by their application as an assessment tool. The anonymity option was especially interesting. I can see how these could be useful in many classrooms.

yodio link

OTEN Conference

The conference at Pacific University last Saturday was eye-opening. I was somewhat familiar with many of the topics that were discussed,but intrigued by the keynote speaker's address and the interaction of students and teachers present.
I attended sessions on Smartboards. It was interesting,but spoke more to the application of higher math and smartboards rather than day to day tasks.
I also enjoyed a session on "clickers". I thought it was something that made a sound - what a surprise! So interesting that they are instead used for assessment and feedback . I have since asked teachers I know about them and found that many have very high regard for using them in the classroom.
Overall I really enjoyed the conference and will plan to attend in the future.

First blog

This really isn't my first blog...I have attempted this several times and have been unsuccessful - which tells you about my technical skills.
Third time's a charm?