Orchestra and technology

Both band and orchestra have purchased an amazing program called SmartMusic that analyses the students playing. As they practice, the software analyses their intonation and rhythms and shows them where they played correctly and incorrectly.  This software can record students playing along with the electronic orchestra accompanist in the background and then students can listen back to what they just played so they can figure out their "trouble spots" in the music we play in class. It's basically like a private tutor at home! 

Every week the students should be practicing for 18 minutes-5 days a week on smartmusic in order to practice effectively and obtain good scores on their weekly practice log assignments.  I also assign many playing assessments so the students can really understand their music. This tool maximises the students learning outcomes and is very effective as it gives immediate direct feedback.

While we have been doing chair-placements, students have also been working on composing a presentation using either google docs or prezi about a specific composer, they have been collaborating in groups and have been coming up with creative ideas! Exciting things happening in the orchestra program this semester! :) 

Pear Deck Gives Instant Feedback

In 8th Grade Humanities we are using Pear Deck, an interactive presentation software, to give students an opportunity to instantly respond to questions and prompts. In the pictures below Students were given 2 minutes to draw an illustration showing what they learned from the Immigration Simulation. The beauty of Pear Deck is that students receive a google document telling them everything they drew or wrote during the lesson. Any notes they took are instantly saved in their Google Drive!

Create Using Piktochart

In 8th Grade Humanities we are having students create digital infographics using a website called piktochart. Students were given instructions to research immigration into the United States in the early 1900s. They then needed to list the push and pull factors that may cause them to leave their homeland and come to the U.S.A. Doing this digitally allows students to insert pictures that they find on the web, as well as use other graphics to help communicate what they have found.

What is happening in 7th and 8th grade art class.

If you have a son or daughter in 7th or 8th grade this is what we have worked on in the first unit. Students learned how to design and sketch out models in google sketchup, and created a 3-D rendering of a lidded vessel.  The objectives were to make a lidded vessel that fit together in both form and function.  The students 3-D renderings are now being printed.

7th grade standards met. 

VA:Cr1.1.7a: Apply methods to overcome creative blocks.

VA:Pr4.1.7a: Compare and contrast how technologies have changed the way artwork is preserved, presented, and experienced. 8th Grade Standards met. VA:Cr1.1.8a: Document early stages of the creative process visually and/or verbally in traditional or new media. VA:Cr2.1.8a: Demonstrate willingness to experiment, innovate, and take risks to pursue ideas, forms, and meanings that emerge in the process of art-making or designing. The process of printing the projects.

7th Grade Humanities Students have Fun Improving Vocabulary

      Students in 7th grade Humanities are required to learn a new set of vocabulary terms, related to a theme in Social Studies and/or Language Arts, each quarter. Mr. White and Mrs. Ross are always looking for new and interesting ways to help the students review the terms on a weekly basis. More recently, they tried Quizlet.live. It's a fun way for students to practice recognizing the definitions, working as a team, and competing with their classmates. Once students are logged in, the program automatically puts them into teams, each one named after an animal. Once the game begins, the students must work together to find the correct definition for each term. Thus, the "race begins" as they can watch live progress of their teams as they play. The fastest one with all the correct answers wins! It's a fast-paced, effective, and exciting way to review vocabulary and use technology in the classroom.

Online with ViewPure

Some parents concern about the video teachers posted online and worry that their children may watch something else other than the requested ones.  Thanks to the technology and educational apps.  We tried to use the viewpure to view the video that we used for our first Chinese journal recently. Students are learning how to write a book/video review and express their feelings in journal.  We are happy to use the view pure and make sure everyone is watching the same screen when they are doing their assignments.

Using "Pear Deck" to Foster Authentic and Meaningful Conversations in Facegroup

The question I posed to my 8th graders in Facegroup was:

"It is easier to be kind than it is to be harsh." Do you agree or disagree?

 Using an online classroom app called "Pear Deck", the girls were able to drag a blue dot somewhere on the spectrum between 100% Agree and 100% Disagree. Then, once all girls had answered, I revealed their answers on the screen. In live time, their answers registered. Very quickly we saw that we had a wide range of views on this!

We would never had discovered this if we had had this discussion another way! Using this app, it was safe for the girls to share what they truly thought. They weren't raising their hands in front of their peers or being the only one with a certain view point. By using Pear Deck, they were able to make their own choice, free from peer-influence. THEN we were able to use that as a springboard to have a discussion on why they placed their dot where they did.

Why do you think it is easier for us to be harsh with one another?
What makes it hard for us to be kind?

We ended Facegroup time with each girl drawing a picture (also in Pear Deck!) that represented something 8th graders could do to be more kind to one another.

Pear Deck allowed us to have discussions that would have been very difficult to have otherwise.

Check out this 50 second video that explains what else Pear Deck can do: