cello wireless

Don't stop learning.

2009-01-14T21:57:00.000-05:00

This is a lesson not only to students ("kids"), but adults, parents, and especially, teachers. Never, ever, ever...stop learning. Over the past few months, I've learned more while being away from the public school system, than I ever did in college or while teaching. Here's a quick list to some of the new things I've discovered, that we never learned in a class.

coworking - "Coworking is cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents. Or, it’s like this: start with a shared office and add cafe culture. Which is the opposite of most modern cafes." - Independents Hall When I started attending events in Philadelphia, I fell in love with the idea of coworking and collaboration. We learn "group work" in school, but it was never this cool!
social-networking (or social media) - Stuff like Twitter, Facebook, blogging, Flickr, etc are all types of social media. If you know how to play, social media can teach you anything, and you get to share back! If you're reading this, and not connected to me via the hundreds of other tendrils of my "personal learning network"...why not?
charity - After attending Philly's BarCamp, a group of friends (who are a part of my network, btw!) came up with GeeksWhoGive. On our first event, we donated over 1200lbs of food to Philabundance, and had a great time doing it! No matter how good you think your life is, if you're able to read this blog, there's someone that needs your help.

And more...
Point is, ever since leaving teaching, and beginning my job at Staples designing, copying, and printing all those teachers' tests and assignments, I've learned so much. It just proves that there's so much out there, and we get tunnel vision sometimes, especially when we've only ever done one type of work. Reach outside your realm of "expertise" (because you're not an expert until you've done it for 10,000 hours), and learn something new!

Acoustic Smog, Headphones, and Your Ears

2008-10-17T18:47:00.004-04:00

Maybe you just left the amphitheater from an amazing concert. Maybe you were mowing the lawn, working near a construction site, or at a Nascar race.
Or...you were listening to your iPod (or any music player) for an extended period of time.

Are your ears ringing?

As a musician, especially one with rock band experience, I know. If your ears are ringing, they're hurtin' and being permanently damaged. A recent study written about in the New York Times showed that many people are listening to music at a higher concentrated volume than even the loudest workplace or factory. Even the iPod (which has an upper volume limit, should you choose to enable it), can put out more decibels than your ears can safely handle. Length of listening increases the chances that you're doing damage.

Sound is even affecting our wildlife, most notably whales, who are suffering because of acoustic smog coming from cruise ships, oil tankers, etc. Whales, like humans, communicate through sound. If they can't communicate, they have trouble finding mates, fellow pods, and raising offspring. TreeHugger has a great post about it.

I won't bore you with the science of hearing loss. In fact, I shouldn't have to. The simplest solution to preserving your hearing, is to follow my 3 rules:

Listen through headphones at the lowest possible volume. If you need to "drown out" outside noise, consider getting noise-cancelling headphones instead of blasting the volume.
Protect your ears, anything that sounds "loud" to you, probably is. Use ear plugs (or noise-cancelling headphones) while mowing, at rock concerts, car races, or in any job that deals with heavy machinery.
Give your ears a break! After an hour of headphones listening, give your ears a chance to heal (and they will, provided you didn't do permanent damage, i.e. ringing or short-term hearing loss).

Please...take care of yourselves :)

photo credit: e-magic

Creepy Trees, or Networking Tools?

2008-10-06T20:15:00.001-04:00

In full disclosure of my views, I am networked on MySpace, Facebook, and many other social networks, in some cases, with students. At the end of the article, I'll share some of my tips for avoiding "awkward situations".

According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, written today, students are upset at the thoughts of teachers and other adults using popular social-networking sites like MySpace and Facebook because it interferes with their privacy and personal lives. Students have created the slang term, "creepy treehouse" to refer to, well, creepy interactions between students and professionals.

Students believe the sites were designed and created for them (and originally, they were!) and that adults don't belong. With teachers as "friends" (Alright, folks...let's call them "contacts", okay?), students can't possibly post pictures of their parties, relationships, burning class notebooks at end-of-term, etc. If you're a teacher with students as contacts, how can you possibly post those bar shots, or pictures from your friend's bachelor's party, or a status update that you're moonlighting as a stripper to make ends meet! KIDDING!

Okay, so I'm all for social networking, with or without students. I've used Facebook groups to share worthy, educational YouTube videos, links to orchestral sites and events, practice tips, and so on. I've gotten and shared gigs via MySpace. AND...I've done it all without changing my personal life. My take on social media sites, is that while they may have been created for students or "kids", adults need to be aware of them, and maybe even know how to use them. Students should be worrying about colleges and employers researching their online profiles. (How's that for "creepy treehouses"?).

My tips: (as a teacher who's had successful network experiences with family, friends, colleagues, and yes, students)

Don't initiate a friend request. If students feel comfortable "friending you", let them. Then you have the power to accept, or deny, as you choose.
Be smart with what you post. While I was joking about the bachelor party pictures, or posting about your *coughs* second job, some adults aren't smart, and post those things anyway. Model good online behavior, and your connected students will hopefully learn what's appropriate to post online.
You can't require students to sign up for social networking sites for assignments, can't, can't, can't. Some students (and more importantly, parents) choose not to use the internet for privacy reasons, previous bullying issues, and more. Refer to #1...
Appearance is everything. If all your contacts are students, it looks scary! If you're going to learn and use Facebook, get some friends on it with you, or even better, fellow colleagues! (likewise, if you have one student, it'll look creepy as well.)
Finally, talk to the student if they request friendship. What is their reason? If it's to get help on assignments outside of school, awesome! If it's to share great educational links/news with you, awesome again! If a student can't give you a valid reason, maybe it's best to decline the request.

What'd I miss? Think the article is right-on, or way-off?
photo credit: Ward

Aural Theory & Dictation [Yes, you need to know this!]

2008-09-19T14:11:00.000-04:00

As a music major in college, I had 8am ear-training lab (we called it "Guido" because of the software we used). It came naturally to me, but that's because I was a bass-player in a garage band, and before that (think middle school), I was a smartass kid taking bets that I couldn't figure out some show's theme song on my clarinet.
It's sad to me, as an educator, that ear-training, sight-singing, and rhythmic/melodic/harmonic dictation isn't taught more, especially at the high school levels. A favorite professor of mine always said,

"If you can't clap or sing it, you can't play it."

If your district doesn't offer aural theory, here are some things you can do on your own:

Learn solfege and apply it to simple melodies, before tackling that district solo you're working on.
Got a song stuck in your head (known as an ear-worm)? Instead of trying to get rid of it, try notating it on staff paper. (use something like Finale Notepad to check your work!)
Another fun experiment: play an "A" (440Hz) on a piano, tuner, or other instrument (see my iPod Touch post for another option). Then, go about your day. At lunch, hum the pitch. Are you close? If not, figure out how far off you were. Do this for a few weeks, and you'll have as close to perfect pitch as you can get. :)

Ear-training and dictation is a must-have for anyone claiming to be a musician. End-of-story. Want help getting started; need pointers? Email me or leave 'em in the comments.

photo credit: wrestlingentropy

Creative Commons is Cooler than Copyright

2008-09-12T14:54:00.003-04:00

The only thing cooler than my alliterative title, is the Creative Commons licensing, and the philosophy behind it. Everyone knows what Copyright is, ya know, the little "c" in a circle thing (©), and how it essentially means that the author has "all rights reserved" on his/her intellectual property.

Creative Commons is cooler than Copyright, because it allows and even promotes sharing, adapting, and resharing creative works. This is incredibly important, so much so, that any educator who isn't aware of Creative Commons licensing should not be teaching, period. A creator chooses who can use it (commercially or not?), whether it can be adapted (and if you have to share it similarly once you do), and how the creator should be attributed to the original work.

While I was teaching, my students loved asking me about legality (remember, this is the digital generation where downloading music and watching videos online is quite common). When I shared Creative Commons with them (by performing one of my compositions, then inviting them to remix it as they pleased), they understood, and fell in love with it.

Again, why an educator wouldn't know and use a license where their property (including lessons plans, worksheets, presentations, podcasts, images, etc!) can be shared and adapted, befuddles me to no end. I learned early that good teachers create, but master teachers borrow, steal, and remix. Doing it legally, by using Creative Commons, everybody wins!

Web2.0 for Musicians

2008-09-04T21:17:00.001-04:00

This is a rather long post, so I plan on dividing it into two parts: 1) Studying Music, and 2) Music for Studying (sorta). I'll be highlighting 4 websites that fall under the "web2.0" moniker, how I use them as a professional musician and educator, and their pros/cons. So, with that, on to part 1!

1) Studying Music
I remember sitting in a "listening room" in the library with a pile of CDs, my textbook, anthology, and my personal class notes. While I haven't had a music history class for about 7 years now, I still listen daily, as I believe it's the most important thing a musician can do. Now, though, I'm using better tools for the task.

Last.fm is one of my new favorite sites. When I'm studying an artist, or style of music, Last.fm is the first place I turn. You log in, do a quick search ("Yo-Yo Ma" for example), and it returns tracks and videos relating to him as an artist. You can also stumble through music of a specific genre, looking for new jazz music, for instance. Last.fm keeps track of what you listen to on your iPod (via "scrobbling"), and will suggest similar music as well.

Blip.fm is a relatively new site for me. It seems like a Twitter-like company, with a DJ spin on things. You can search for an artist or song, and "blip" it, allowing you to play it immediately (or later if you wish). While the faq is still pretty confusing to me, I can envision uses for blip.fm (a music professor creating a timeline of pieces to listen to, for example, or members of a cover band sharing ideas to each-other for future covers. The possibilities are endless!

2) Music for Studying
There have been quite a few studies done on music and how it effects the brain, including The Mozart Effect, and my favorite current book, This is Your Brain on Music, by Dan Levitin. In addition to actually listening to "music", though, the advantages of "white noise" and even "binaural beats" have been lauded as ways to focus on your work, shutdown headaches, and cure insomnia, among others. Here are my two favorite sites for focusing on my work.

SimplyNoise.com is simple that. The site offers an online stream of white noise, pink noise, and red/brown noise. They refer to Wikipedia to explain the differences, and the effects/benefits of using white noise. Find the desired volume, using the slider, then get to work blogging, studying, filing, or whatever you need to focus on. I can vouch for simplynoise as I've gotten into meditation and reading; two things I could never focus on before because of background noise stealing my attention.

I Dose is probably the most interesting in part 2 of my post, but also the one with the most debate as to its effectiveness. I Dose offers streams of "binaural beats". Essentially, binaural beats are 2 different frequency pitches played simultaneously, but coming from separate sides (they are best listened to through headphones). Your brain takes the difference of the two frequencies (in Hertz), and creates a wave at that frequency (which can then alter your mental state). If you find yourself struggling with writer's block, for example, lie down, close your eyes, and listen to this one for 15-20 minutes and give writing another shot.

If you try any of these out (or have previously), let me know in the comments! Am I missing any other great web2.0 music sites?

Streaming Live Music

2008-08-28T11:02:00.002-04:00

Whether you are a classical musician looking for places to perform, or a guitarist/songwriter trying to promote him/herself on your own, the internet is something you should be aware of AS A TOOL. You can use streaming as a way to broadcast your music anywhere in the world! It's something that takes some finesse to setup correctly, but with the right know-how, it's incredible valuable as a means of getting your music out there, giving you motivation to practice, and who knows!
About 3 years ago, I Skyped in to an Irish fiddler and played some of the jigs and reels I had been working on on my own. He gave me some incredible pointers about style, and taught me how to string playlists together. My fellow teachers were amazed at the technology, using my laptop (no webcam at that time), a small lapel mic, and the school's wifi, I was able to collaborate with a professional musician on the other side of the globe, over my lunch break, without leaving the building!
So, while some people believe that Second Life is a waste of time, and of no educational or learning value, I am getting the opportunity to perform live inworld for people I've met all over the world. They'll get to hear me live, without me leaving my small, studio apartment, using only computers and internet connections. Imagine the ability to perform live without all the performance anxiety, travel expenses, and moving of gear (always my favorite part).
If you're in SL, check out some live performances inworld! If you're in today, come to Misfits Underground at 3pm (slt)/6pm EST and hear not only me, but a fantastic vocalist, "PhoebeAnn Theas", followed by an open mic. It's taken me a long time to get into playing over the net, but thanks to my girlfriend, Cecily, I now have a venue, and a small set of live tunes worked up.

How would you say goodbye to your students?

2008-08-20T02:31:00.000-04:00

I'm leaving the school district I taught in for two and a half years, suddenly. It sucks, but it's PA's Educational Law, that dictates that I had to get 24 post-graduate credits to enable me to continue teaching with my certificate. So, everything was last minute, because I was desperately trying to find a way to stay.
Instead, I was forced to resign suddenly, leaving staff, and more importantly, students, wondering what happened.
Because of the Facebook group for the orchestra, I have many students asking what happened, so I decided to write them a letter. I had to resign via letter, so this is my Resignation Letter to the Students (linked to Google Docs). I debated whether or not it was appropriate, had a few friends proofread it, and finally decided, it was necessary. Frankly, I don't care about the PA Dept of Ed, the district's administration, or how they're going to fill my vacant position. The only thing I care about, are the students, their parents, and making sure they still work regardless of who's there encouraging them to practice, learn, and love music.
Keepin' it short. If you have thoughts, or questions...well, you know.

Audacity (free recording and practice tool?)

2008-08-14T17:07:00.000-04:00

Throughout high school and college, anytime I was working on a piece of solo literature, I was told two things:
1. "Listen to recordings and other performances of the piece."
and

2. "Record yourself so you can listen back."
Today, I'm sharing a way to do the second piece of advice freely, simply, and using technology you probably already have! If you can operate a CD player or VCR (I'm not talking about programming it, either!), you can run Audacity on all three of the major operating systems (Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux). Other equipment: a microphone, headphones (not required, but recommended for doing multitrack recording), and obviously, the computer.
I've actually used Audacity, a small lapel mic, and my iPod headphones to record small pieces I've composed for violin, cello, and voice on my laptop! "For a Reason" (hosted on my Tumblr account) is one example of what you can do, freely, easily, and with very practically no recording experience. Seriously, the big red circle, which is commonly recognized as a "record" button: press it and play!
I doesn't need to be said, but Audacity is great for podcasting as well. Light enough for recording simple speech, and powerful enough to get well-recorded musical thoughts digitally recorded. I've played with some of the advanced features like noise reduction, effects, and beat-matching, so professional-quality recording is possible. Of course, you'll get better results with higher quality microphones, processing, and recording environments, but for what I do...Audacity is a win.
Use Audacity, or other recording tools for practice and composing? Have tips you want to share? Leave 'em in the comments for me!

iPod Touch for a Musician

2008-08-06T13:00:00.001-04:00

I am a musician, and a teacher, and a tech-gadget hog. So when I was looking for a new music player before my Disney trip with the music department, I splurged on a 16Gb iPod Touch.

I am a firm believer in the "listen, sing, play" mentality, so a portable music player is almost a must-have in my eyes. One of the first things I do after I've sight-read through a new piece, is find a few recordings of it to study. Sometimes I'll play along. Other times, I just listen and try to imitate.
With the software upgrades and the opening of the App Store, my iPod has become even more useful. I grabbed MooCowMusic's "Piano" app, allowing me to tune my violin/cello from a full 88 key piano, record simple chord progressions and play them back, and devise simple melodies for future compositions. The "Remote" app, allows me to control my iTunes on my laptop when I need a louder accompaniment (or when I have it running through a sound-system) all via wifi.
Also, as long as I'm wifi connected, I have handheld access to my Google apps, where I can search my lyrics, use the calendar to keep track of when/how often I practice (and what I worked on), and more.
Honestly, if you're searching for a new music player and can afford it, I'd suggest the Touch without question.
Let me know in the comments, if you're a musician, and currently use the iPod Touch (or iPhone) as a practice tool.

photo credit: "iPod Touch" by tibopoix.

Why is it so hard to practice?

2008-08-02T22:07:00.006-04:00

Students aren't practicing as much as they used to.
Maybe that's just my own observation, or maybe it's partially true. There are a few reasons, I think.

Kids are much busier now than they once were - with karate, dance, homework, sports, etc, they literally don't have enough time in the day to do it all.
Families are much busier - not only are the kids busier, but parents and siblings are often doing many different things within the home, making practicing much more difficult (finding a quiet place, sans distractions).
Schools aren't providing the motivation children need now. Being "in band" isn't enough anymore, especially with the negative stereotypes and self-esteem issues that come part and parcel with belonging to a clique.
Encouragement at home isn't what it needs to be.

Now, obviously, if your child is routinely practicing, and making steady improvement, most of those excuses don't apply to them.
One of the saddest things I heard this summer was, from one of my 8th graders, "My parents don't let me practice because while my mom is in the kitchen cooking, my dad is watching tv, and my brothers are working on homework. Practicing would be a distraction." Thinking inward to my own habits, my practicing has suffered for a number of the same reasons: apartment living, background noise (a/c, fan, dehumidifier), and time.
Solutions are forthcoming in a future post, as I think about this more. If you have thoughts, leave 'em in the comments!

photo credit: Jason Tromm

Oh Woe is Technology

2008-07-19T16:10:00.004-04:00

The past week has been hell for me, a technology-addicted 30 yr old. The quick list, followed by what I've learned over the past few days:

Wireless router interference - I thought, was being caused by an identical router next door to my apt.
Car "check engine light" - Caused because spark plugs and wires were never replaced after 105,000 miles. (fixed now, thanks to Monroe Brake & Muffler where my awesome brother works)
Wireless card/Motherboard conflict - My HP dv6448se refuses to acknowledge the wifi card anymore. Best Buy's Geek Squad was a waste of time, HP tech support walked me through some steps, and finally resorted to me sending it in (after I finish this post).
Mother's E-Machines desktop power-supply failure - Fun! Getting my brother to work on this one for me. I give up at this point.
Mother's printer failure - Canon BJC 3000 gives me a fun "waste error" code, which I reset, only to end in a roller/paper feed issue. Again, I quit.

AND, I THINK THAT'S ALL...*knocks on wood*
When it rains, it certainly pours, and I'm hoping my Toshiba survives until HP can diagnose, repair, and return my Vista laptop. Otherwise, I'll be surfing via cellphone and my iPod Touch. (I did say I was a tech-addict, right?)

*sighs* Oh well...

(btw, this whole situation further reinforces my need to live "on the cloud" and keep all data consistently backed up. Live it. Learn it. Do it.

Hypermiling - to Chicago

2008-06-22T17:47:00.002-04:00

Last week, I got a lot of shit about driving to Chicago to visit a friend, as opposed to flying or taking the train. Well, my reasons were simple: 1)Cheaper (see below), 2)Less hassle, and 3)It was on my time frame.
So, as they say, the proof is in the puddin'. Using MyMileMarker, the web and my cellphone (including text messages and Twitter, I was able to keep very precise track of my mileage everytime I filled my gas tank. Btw, I still haven't gotten gas again since I've been home, so there should still be one more high mileage report added. I'm not supporting driving for no reason, mind you. But, since we are *coughs* addicted to gasoline, and the government is taking it's good ol' time funding something better, we do what we can.

So, how'd I do it? Drive 55mph (I did 65 in Ohio because of the higher speed limit on route 80, and while driving 55mph I felt like a safety hazard). It was a little tougher not having cruise control in my '02 Saturn, but it also kept me constantly diligent on how I react to different traffic/driving conditions. "Hypermiling" is all about paying attention to your driving habits to maximize fuel economy. So, no jack-rabbit starts, coasting to a stop instead of accelerating until the last minute, staying a steady speed instead of racing to catch up to traffic "clots", etc. I also learned that my tachometer can be my best friend when it comes to hypermiling. Don't be shocked when I say this, but I don't think I took my car past 2000rpms the entire trip!
Done better than this? Let me know in the comments!

GeekTripping

2008-06-11T21:10:00.003-04:00

In about 8 hours, I'm leaving for Chicago. I'm going to (very weakly) tie this post in with education and music, but really, this is my summer vacation.
First off, I'll be hypermiling in my '02 Saturn SL1 instead of traveling by air or train, mostly because it's a straight shot, and it made more sense than having to rent a car later. I've printed off 3 pieces of paper for the trip (hotel confirmation and the Google Map to get me there). If I need anything else, I'll hunt out WiFi or use the mobile version of Google Maps. Music's covered via my iPod (with a few separate playlists created for the ride) piped through via an FM transmitter. Someday, I'll get a new head unit (probably not this car) so I can plug in directly.
Speaking of plugging in, power is a huge issue on this trip. Learning from my past experience of driving from PA to DisneyWorld, my phone died about 1/3 of the way down, and me without a car charger. I decided to correct this and other charging issues with "one stone". I picked up a cheap, but effective inverter from Radio Shack for about $20 which will let me plug in my normal chargers en-route. My speed-dialing numbers are all set to people I'd need to call during the trip, and I have my bluetooth so don't bark at me for cellphone use while driving. :-)
Finally, I guess I should explain why I'm going to Chicago in the first place! I'm visiting/meeting a friend I met in the virtual world, Second Life. It's always exciting (maybe a little scary) to connect "sl to rl". Following a 4 night stay, I'll be traveling further West to visit my grandparents (I think...lol), before making the entire trip in reverse.
Btw, I'll do my best to document the trip via Twitter and BrightKite, but we'll see if "rl" allows it. :-)

Practicing over the Summer (Facebook uses)

2008-06-07T11:44:00.002-04:00

School's out for us at Northern. (*sings the Alice Cooper song*)
Most teachers have gotten into the habit of assigning summer reading, juniors are starting senior projects, seniors are working their butts off to save up as much "spending money" as possible before heading off to college. This is all well and good, but how do music students stay fresh without a private instructor, weekly lessons, and daily orchestra rehearsals?
This is only a trial, but I created a closed Facebook group and invited all the string players I'm already "friended" with. I announced the group in class, as well as my hopes and expectations of it. So here, goes:

Discussions: I'll be checking in at least once a week (if not much more) and posing questions to think about, including music selection for next year, community performance opportunities, auditions (Districts!), artist reviews, etc.
Videos, Links, Photos: Find something relevant on YouTube, Flickr, or a blog? Post it! (I got one started; great video of Turtle Island String Quartet playing "On Green Dolphin Street".)
Network: Want to get together and play duets, trios, quartets? Practice District audition pieces together? Still excited about improvisation? Use the network to find a good time/place to meet and play together.
Challenges: This is all me. :-) I'll be posting weekly "challenges" which could be anything from "playing Happy Birthday in 3 keys" to "Compose an 8 measure groove and record it."

Of course, this entire Facebook thing is optional...for now. If it works to keep my musicians on their toes, I'll require it. My hopes, are that the students will enjoy it enough to want to be involved. If a shout-out on Facebook is the motivation necessary to get your instrument out of the closet, then it and I...have done our jobs.

A Committee for Cellphone Policy

2008-05-27T20:19:00.002-04:00

Last week, I posted as a precursor to my school district's plans to address the increasing disruptions caused by cellphones and other electronic devices (including iPods).
A committee was formed to discuss next year's policy changes before bringing it to the faculty (which won't happen until our June Faculty Meeting) for a vote. The committee was created by volunteer basis and included the Principal, Asst Principal, 3 teachers, and 4 students. The students were all members of the "Principal's Cabinet", which meets once a month to discuss student and faculty concerns.
A quick refresher on our current policy, followed by our proposed changes: (paraphrased)

Students must turn off their cellphones at 7:15am (upon entering the building), and must have them off and out of sight until 2:40pm (final bell).
1st Offense: Phone is confiscated by a member of the faculty and turned into the main office where the student can pick it up at the end of the school day.
2nd Offense: Phone is confiscated by a member of the faculty, turned into the main office, and must be picked up by a parent/gaurdian.
3rd Offense: Phone is confiscated, turned into the main office, and kept until the end of the school year.

Now, the committee all agreed that the current policy is causing headaches for the faculty, and parents are becoming more difficult to work with. So, our changes address both the need for a disruption-free learning environment, and the students' needs for connectivity. Here's what we came up (Note: most of these suggestions were brought to the table by the students and merely agreed/adapted by the faculty.):

Phones are turned off (not on silent/vibrate) at 7:15am (entering the building). Phones may be used during their lunch periods in the cafeteria and main commons area. Phones may be turned on at 2:40pm (final bell).
1st Offense: Device confiscated by member of faculty, and turned into the main office. Student is required to notify their parents to arrange for a pick-up time. (this was the old 2nd Offense). 2nd Offense (and consecutive): Device is confiscated by a member of faculty and turned into the main office. Student is responsible for notifying their parent/gaurdian to arrange for a time to pick-up the device, but only after serving a Saturday School detention (which are currently offered only twice a month.

The students in the committee also brought up a good point. Allowing students to use phones during their lunches is a positive reinforcement for keeping their phones off and out-of-sight. Also, if a student's phone rings during class because of a student at lunch texting/calling them, there will be a peer-aspect involved. I'm anxious to see what the staff thinks of this proposed new policy. If you have any thoughts, improvements, words of caution, or similar policies in your districts, please let me know in the comments!

Cellphones and Music Education (a thought?)

2008-05-18T14:31:00.003-04:00

Next week, I meet with a committee of administrators, students, parents, and education association members to discuss next year's cellphone policy for our school district. The consensus so far, is that cellphone abuse is worse this year than it ever has been, so we're going to tighten the rules and enforce them even more. My stance is that we'll never be able to keep up with the policies that are already in place, let alone tougher ones. I believe if we talk about respect and "the right place and time", we'll have more luck and less disruptions. With all that said, here's a thought on how I could use the handsets in an educational manner.
Here are a few samples of Essential Questions I've used as of late:

"How does ear-training improve my playing alone and in an ensemble?"
"What are some different techniques for memorization of music?"
"Why do we review and critique our performances and the performances of others?"
etc...

My cellphone, an LG Shine, has texting, camera, and audio/video recording capabilities. What if students could use their handsets to record their practicing during the school day (since computers or our advanced recording equipment is bulky and time-consuming to set up)? What if they used Twitter to keep track of practice at home? I realize video recording isn't available on every cellphone, but recording video would give students an insight on their posture, bow grip, performance quirks, and so on. I have a post in draft about using Skype for distance-learning lessons, but there's nothing stopping a student from placing a cellphone on a music stand (on a call) with me as they play from home, right?

Handheld electronics are not going away, and the sooner we all realize that, the less stressful we will be. How can we change policies for the better and start to take advantage of the portable nature of these tools?

Copyright vs. Creative Commons Education

2008-05-06T18:34:00.003-04:00

My students ask me every time I do it:

"Are you copying that illegally? Did you ask permission? My Dad recorded the concert. Isn't that against the law?" etc

They're smart. Some of them even ask me about Creative Commons now that I've shown them some of my compositions. The biggest thing we're missing, is a time and a place to educate these students about Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons.
I'm trying to gather information and wrap my head around it all enough to offer a lesson (possibly even an after school workshop) on the differences. With the press about Nine Inch Nail's latest albums (Ghosts I-IV and The Slip), it gives me a teachable moment to warn them about illegal downloading, plagiarism, copyright infringement, etc, BY offering legal alternatives.
So here's where I ask for help. My plan is to use a simple Google Docs presentation, including some NIN music as a hook, with the goal of having the students understand what we can and can not do based on the various licensing options of intellectual property. If anyone's done this already, I'd love some pointers. By Monday, I will have the presentation published, and will welcome anyone to collaborate if they wish.
Is this something that should be done more often with our students? Are we blindly assuming that they understand the law and differences between copyright, creative commons, and fair use?

Please, look at my profiles

2008-04-29T19:18:00.002-04:00

All this talk about online safety, making students Googleable, teachers behaving badly, and so on, gives me good reason to put my thoughts out there.
First things first: I participate in social networking. I have a Facebook profile, a MySpace profile, I blog, and Twitter, and have a few photos on Flickr. My MySpace page has past students as "friends". My Facebook page has past and current students as friends. Both have friends from my high school and college years as well as family. My profiles are clean, and I have no worries of a student/parent/colleague finding them. Here are some quick tips for ~~teachers~~ everybody when it comes to cleaning up their online presence:

First off: Ask yourself, "If my boss, mother, student, etc saw anything I post online, how would they react?"
Adults are allowed to be adults, but there are reasons children aren't allowed in bars, clubs, bedrooms...don't subject young minds to things they don't need/want to see. It doesn't need to be online (or recorded at all for that matter!)
Kids party and act silly. If you're posting pictures of drinking, shame on you! If you're cyber-bullying or treating anybody worse than you'd want to be treated, online or not, stop it. The minute it goes online, it's permanent.
Simply put, think before you post

Please, I offer an assignment: Visit my profiles, if there's something you think I should change, let me know via these comments. THEN, check your own profiles, and look at them in the eyes of your boss, your mother, or your students. Good luck!

Learn to be Impulsive

2008-04-06T22:08:00.002-04:00

Harrisburg from across the river
Originally uploaded by rorowe8

The past few nights, I've had optional things planned to get out of my apartment, avoid work, and hopefully have fun. I've noticed recently, though, that as the time nears, I debate whether I really want to go or not. Finally, I jump up, grab my go-gear, and head out the door, usually ending up having a great time. This post is a lesson in being impulsive so stir up an otherwise routine life without spending alot of money.
Friday I attended a benefit concert for Breast Cancer Research at Northern High School (featuring House Exit and Fink's Constant). I got to sit back and enjoy a great event for $3 in a pretty comfortable environment (where I teach, lol).

Saturday, I traveled up to Enola, PA to hear Fink's Constant again at the local VFW. That was a little stranger, as I was driving to a strange area, and going to a Veterans' hangout to see one of my colleagues play in a ska/reggae band. My best memory from last night was my colleague buying a beer for me (on the band's tab) and remarking about how nice it is to have a fellow teacher out to hear them.

On the way home last night, I noticed the lights of Harrisburg from across the river. "I must get some pictures of that," I thought, so that was today's event. I debated not going, but finally let my impulses take over, grabbed my camera and grabbed a bunch of shots. Unfortunately, due to my camera's limitations, I was only able to keep 4 pictures (the one above being my favorite).

This all comes about as I think about the life of a teacher outside of school. What's appropriate, what isn't, and how to participate in the world around us (both physical and digital). I'm anxious to see what my Monday brings me!

Making Accomodations

2008-04-04T01:28:00.002-04:00

nycsd Orchestra Room (middle school)
Originally uploaded by rorowe8

I'm going to start off negative, but should wind up with a thoughtful, positive post by the time I'm through.
Because of PSSA's, I got paid to take pictures of my classroom, make a few phone calls, and practice my violin. Because of PSSA's, my 8th Grade Orchestra lost a rehearsal and day of lessons that they'll never get back; a rehearsal that is only one month from the Spring Concert. My home-schooled students were sent home when they showed up for their lessons. When my 6th and 7th Grade Orchestras each had their rehearsals, they were so hyper from being in a quiet testing environment all day, then finally released to "normal classes".

So here's my favorite photo from this morning. A photo prompted by a few of my 7th Graders. This was taken from a storage area that can only be reached via an iron ladder bolted to my wall. You see, my orchestra room used to be a prop-storage room for the plays/musicals. My students have always been curious about this little storage area, but because of the ladder, and other safety concerns, I obviously don't let them up here. So, I promised to take pictures of the closet, and the room, from this vantage point.

My students are starting to learn about technology above and beyond what I/we can teach in
school because of filtering, mainly because I give them opportunities outside of school. "The link on the whiteboard is to an amazing YouTube video of Pablo Casals, a very famous cellist." for example. Publishing worthwhile links on my Facebook wall, or taking it a step further and publishing it via Twitter (which still goes into Facebook for me), and then finally blogging about it, all give students an additional way to learn without the confines of a school building.
While I haven't created specific lesson plans that utilize technology, I'm making my orchestra students use the technology they already have (cellphones, iPods, cameras, computers, etc) to extend their learning beyond my rehearsals and lessons. It's not mandatory, so no worries about students without access/cellphones/etc, and if a student tells me they're not allowed on YouTube (which has happened), I get the parents permission to show them a downloaded version of the video. No iPod? It's an extra step, but I can burn a CD with the listening assignment, podcast, or recorded versions of the concert music.

Until we change the way we test/teach/treat our students, I'm being flexible and doing what I can with what I know.

Photography (I'm back!)

2008-04-01T22:06:00.002-04:00

Memorial Park
Originally uploaded by rorowe8

When I discovered a dust speck on the internal lens of my Olympus Stylus 300, life was over. When I stupidly didn't back up my photos, and consequently paid the price when my laptop failed, it was like erasing 3 years of memories.
So, imagine my surprise and joy when I booted up the camera and noticed the dust was gone! This past Sunday, I had planned on actually opening up the camera to see if I could clean the lens myself (definitely a last resort option, mind you). It was a beautiful day, so discovering a functional camera was just the perfect thing for my day.
Thanks to some friends at work, I went exploring, camera-in-hand, at the Memorial Park in Lemoyne. It's a small park stretched along the Susquehanna River, with City Island resting in the river between Lemoyne and Harrisburg. Here's one of my favorites from the excursion.
p.s. This is also my first use of Flickr's blog posting feature. Hope it works.

Earth Hour 2008 (Or have you been doing it already?)

2008-03-29T12:19:00.004-04:00

I just learned about Earth Hour 2008 about 20 minutes ago (through Google's blackout notification), but it reminded me of something I've wanted to share for a few weeks now. Here are my Green Habits, and how I've contagiously started to spread them to my family, friends, and students.
First off, I live in a studio apartment (460sq feet) by myself. My electric bill per month averages $50 ALL YEAR. I have not done anything drastic to save the Earth...yet, so everything I share, is easily copyable by all of you reading!

I use CFL (compact fluorescent bulbs) in all but my bedroom light (which is the apt's globe light that I never use. I even got 2 free CFLs by doing a Electricity Audit of my apartment!
I use power strips with on/off switches. When I'm not charging cellphone/iPod/Nintendo DS/Laptops, the powerstrip with all the power adapters is turned OFF. Believe it or not, leaving those adapters plugged in still drains electricity!!!
My heat (this apartment uses electric radiant heat, kinda like a giant toaster-oven) is set at 65 degrees Fahrenheit. I tried to go below that, but my cat started having issues. Set your's as low as you can stand and use lots of blankets.
Tide Coldwater Works perfectly, clothes should last longer, and not only am I being "Green" with this small step, I'm saving the apartment complex money on water heating expenses. (Whether I'll ever see those savings remains to be seen. (-:)
I use reusable, canvas (they happen to be green) bags for all my grocery shopping. They were 99cents/each at Weis (where I also walk to work every weekend). They're stronger, hold more items per bag, and I get a small discount at every checkout for using them instead of plastic.

Now, my students know I'm a fan of Green living, LifeHacker and TreeHugger blogs, and sharing my tips with everyone, so they've started to adopt simple things too. Turning out my classroom lights whenever we aren't in the orchestra room was an obvious one that apparently nobody else in the district thought of!
So, tonight at 8pm, turn your lights off! In fact, turn everything off, grab your iPod, and take a night walk around your neighborhood (or ditch the iPod and walk with a friend). Let me know in comments if you've planned any fun "no light" activities in the comments!

3 things I learned from a thrash-rock show

2008-03-22T21:58:00.005-04:00

If you know me well enough, you know I'm a musician, but more specifically, a music teacher. I am a cellist, violinist, and composer. Music theory is to me what theorems and proofs are to mathematicians.
Every once in awhile, though, I expose myself to music outside...way outside...my normal everyday experiences. Tonight, I went to a thrash-rock CD release party.
I learned some things about music, believe it or not. Things teachers would NEVER be taught in college or during professional development. I learned some things about life that wouldn't be taught as part of character-ed lessons. So, here's my three biggest observations from attending a thrash-rock show:

Listen to EVERYTHING. This is THE most important thing I can teach a musician or a music student. My ex-wife used to complain of headaches and car-sickness anytime I played something that she didn't know the words to. John Cage said (I'm paraphasing) that everytime you are given a piece of music to listen to, you're placing limits on what you understand as music. The more variety you hear, the bigger the umbrella of "music" you can appreciate, whether you enjoy it or not.
"Loud" is not always called "forte". Our musical notation system is complicated. We still use Latin and Italian words for things, notes are placed on staves with heads, stems, and flags/bars, and instruments can be based around different keys. Just because music isn't written down, doesn't mean it isn't music. I take a step back occasionally, and force my violin, viola, and cello students to improvise. The National Music Standards may then advise me to have them try to notate it, but it doesn't always need to me. Some bands (like the 3 I heard tonight) have everything memorized, with only a set-list taped to the floor to remind them the order they want to play the songs in. When's the last time you memorized an entire concert?
Don't assume ANYTHING based on the music someone likes. Yeah. I went to a thrash-metal-punk show, and enjoyed myself. I almost bought a copy of the cd they were releasing. You only need to go as far as my iPod to know that I'm not all Bach and Beethoven. You'd also never think of me as a music teacher if you caught me at a punk show like this, right? You know what happens when you assume, right?...

Finally...(yeah, this is number 4), it's amazing what a little networking will get you. The drummer of the second band I heard, works with me at Weis Markets (which is my 2nd job since teaching doesn't pay enough to survive on a single salary). He was leaving early for the show, and most of the others were attending. They all know I'm a musician/teacher and invited me...just for the heck of it. It was a bonding experience, and I'm actually looking forward to working again next Friday. Hopefully, we'll make the Facebook connections, I'll get some more pictures tagged with me in 'em, and I'll be invited to more musical experiences.

p.s. One of the other cake decorators sang a part of Carmina Burana today, and asked me to write down the title and composer so she could by the CD. (She's a 22 year old, culinary arts student who usually listens to Top 40/Rock)

Cellphones in the Schools

2008-03-13T21:08:00.002-04:00

I couldn't let Will Richardson's latest post go without my own response on my blog.
I've talked about this before, as have the many high school students I surround myself with daily. To refresh, here's a summary of our district's policy; one I feel is fair, and well-written, even though it's abuse has largely gone unnoticed.

Students may carry cellphones/iPods to and from school. During normal school operating hours, they must be turned off. If a cellphone is visible (or worse, audible) during instructional time, a warning will be issued. The consequence for a 2nd offense is confiscation (student picks it up at the end of the school day), and 3rd offense requires a parent to come to pick up the phone from the office.

I am all for a lift to a cellphone ban, but that said, I don't see a problem with my district's current policy. Aside from a very select few teachers using cellphones during the day for educational/business contacts relating to their positions, I don't see a reason to allow cellphones to be used during the day. While I would love students to be able to connect via Twitter, use their cameras/video features for educational use, I haven't seen or heard of anyone trying to implement something like this.
I have many students who have my cellphone number, and I have a short list of students' numbers as well. The music department relies on cellphones for inter-building communication, and communicating during after-school activities (marching band, musical, drumline, etc). I've allowed students to have their iPods/phones out during study-hall rehearsals when they've asked me to listen to a piece of music, or watch a video of them playing. I've allowed phone calls home to explain to their parents why they have a zero for the day (forgetting an instrument, for example), and I invite students to take pictures/record audio and video during performances (where legally allowed, of course).
So, for now, I'm fine with our policy, but I would be on the front lines supporting a change in policy if the use of technology warranted it.

Hulu! Go Watch TV!

2008-03-12T20:51:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, I blogged about my lack of time/need to watch TV using the standard, "flip-through-a-hundred-channels-hoping-to-find-something-I-want-to watch-only-to-realize-I-missed-half-of-it-already" system. I also blogged about YouTube, Joost, and Hulu.
Hulu, hands down, is my favorite. YouTube is great for quick videos, humor, and viral videos while Joost is good if you want to network with others watching the same shows as you. Hulu is prime time, offering all of the most popular shows both on and off the air. Some of my favorites include House,Family Guy, and Numb3rs. I even discovered a few that I wouldn't have watched otherwise, like Lipstick Jungle, and New Amsterdam.
Hulu has not only changed the way I watch TV, but it's changed the way I spend the time I have when multitasking isn't an option. For example, while I'm eating a big messy Philly Cheesesteak, I don't want to be fumbling for the mouse and keyboard (or remote for that matter), so watching a show is perfect!
Hulu does do one thing that I wish EVERYONE did (including mainstream TV/cable/satellite): IT SHOWS YOU WHERE THE COMMERCIALS ARE!!! I mean, below every video, there is a scrubber-bar (the progress bar that almost every online video site has, you see it in iTunes, and even on most DVRs). BUT, in Hulu's you'll also see little white dots...those little unobtrusive dots, are the commercials. Granted, you can't fast forward through them, but, since I'm viewing on a computer, I shrink the window back to the regular browser (instead of fullscreen), check out my other Firefox tabs, and when the commercials are over, BAM! Back to fullscreen for the show!

Hulu is open to the public now, and it's completely free. It's worth your time to give it a shot. I'd especially recommend it to travellers and busy-folk like me. Lemme know what you think in the comments!

On Their Level (Seussical '08)

2008-03-02T01:53:00.006-05:00

The past few weeks have meant spending my entire day at the high school for musical rehearsals, eating fast food, having a spare change of clothes in my trunk, repairing instruments, oh yeah...all while continuing to teach my middle and elementary school string players.

Yes, it is an extreme amount of work/time when you commit to play in a musical.

But...it's worth it! This year, Northern York County School District decided to put on Seussical the Musical at the high school. Some of the best students are in the cast, playing in the pit orchestra, running lights/sound, stage crew, etc. Friday night was our opening night, and it went extremely well. Tonight's performance was equally amazing, with our only snag being the air-conditioning in the theater not working (add spot and stage lights, and almost 1200 people, and it gets into the 90's without a/c).
The most fun, though, is because I'm a young teacher, I still relate to the kids very well. Sometimes too well, to the point where I have to remind myself that I'm still required to be "mostly" professional around them. That said, last night at Al's (amazing subs!) I was one of the last to leave, but we had a great time joking, telling stories of past musicals, band trips, rehearsals, etc. After tonight's show, was the "official" cast party at one of the student's houses. While all but one director showed up, I ended staying until a little after midnight. My junior cellist, bribed me to play DDR against the party's hostess (my cellist is an amazing cook/baker, so she bribed me with cupcakes). The bass player and lead crew-man both talked about their after-party plans to "LAN-it-up" playing World of WarCraft and StarCraft, and invited me to check out their LAN-party setup. I am officially on a few of their Facebook friends lists, and I'm sure more will be coming (especially when the photos are uploading from all the cameras!).
I try to ask myself, "Is this acceptable?" but I remember that most teachers didn't have this technology and these skills even 5 years ago. When my string quartet students are using the WikiSpaces discussions to ask me questions outside of the school day, students are emailing me when they've practiced, and videos links are shared with me through YouTube, I can't help but think this is the way of the future...

No TV for Lent (sort of)

2008-02-23T21:54:00.004-05:00

I initially didn't give anything up for lent. I honestly couldn't come up with anything I have either a. not already sacrificed, or b. could stand not having for 40 days.
That is, until last night. You see, I got my friendly neighborhood Comcast Cable bill, and realized, "Gee! I'm paying too much for something I don't really use or need."
I haven't cancelled my digital cable service yet, but I haven't turned on the TV since Thursday night. This is my, "Can I really pull this off?" test. Lately, I've been involved in long rehearsals, working my second job, or reading, so the TV's been off anyway. This morning, I turned the TV on, but only to play some Wii-bowling.
Now, some of you may be asking, "Well, what about his American Idol fix? How's he going to watch Numb3rs, Monk, etc?" I've thought about that, and actually, my answer is the purpose of this post. I'll be keeping my broadband service through Comcast, so I testing out a few online video sites. I'm not an expert web2.0 reviewer or anything, so I'll list each of the three, include a little blurb, and my pros/cons of each. And...we're off!

YouTube
Do I really need to explain this one? I think everyone has visited YouTube at least once. This site is great for exploring. It's not like sitting infront of the TV for an hour, mindlessly watching show. It still requires "work" (searching, clicking, etc).
Pros: Simple interface, social-networking as an option, submit your own videos, short "snack-sized" clips
Cons: Not regularly broadcasted shows, mostly user-generated content, short clips require "non-loafing" (i.e. work).

Joost
I was selected to mess with this when it was still early in Beta, and thought it was promising, but not quite ready yet. Joost requires an app download (that always tries to stay always-on for you), and it's definitely a band-width hog. That said, they have some great content, and a very cool layout. Most of the shows are geared towards a younger crowd (MTV shows, stuff from Comedy Central/Adult Swim, etc).
Pros: Sharp interface, channels make it possible to sit back, relax, and "watch TV"
Cons: Required app download, bandwidth/hardware requirements make multitasking almost impossible

Hulu
Currently my new favorite, Hulu has an amazing selection of content including Monk, Lipstick Jungle (very new still!), Numb3rs, Heroes, and more. It also requires no downloads, still has a playlist feature, and has many options for viewing. As long as they continue to offer great content, Hulu will be my "drug of choice" while giving up my regular television viewing.
Pros: Content!, many options for viewing (full-screen, pop-out window, embedded, etc), no downloads and relatively normal broadband requirements.
Cons: Still in beta (closed invite, still)

So, try them out, lemme know what you think. And please, support me through this time of sacrifice. :P

Don't Talk to Strangers (just stand up and eat)

2008-02-18T14:01:00.003-05:00

Teachers were off today (provided they took classes over the summer), so I had my whole day planned out. Best Buy to use up some Reward Zone coupons, changing out Naji's cat litter, vacuuming (after my cleanup of Naji's litterbox), and then...the mall. I wanted to get a haircut before the quartet gig next weekend, and the musical the weekend after.
I got to the mall, and of course, it was crowded, but I didn't mind. I was just getting my hair cut (which usually takes all of 20 minutes). I signed in on the waiting list, and was told it would be about 40 minutes. Just enough time for me to grab something to eat for lunch.
As I waited in line to get my food, I was scoping out the seating situation, which looked extremely grim. As I took my tray, I contemplated asking to sit at a table with someone else, since many of the 4-seat tables only had one person at them. Luckily for me, one opened up, and I sat quickly and started eating.
When a man decided to stare me down expecting me to get up, instead of politely asking for my table (or even better, asking if he could just sit at one of the empty seats), I flipped. I asked, "Is there something I can help you with?" The guy lowered his head, shook it, and walked away, not even looking back in my direction.

So I ask: "Why is it not socially acceptable to sit in an empty seat in a public place?"...also, "Why do people resort to rudeness instead of opening their mouths, being friendly and asking if you're almost finished?"

Sighs...at least my hair looks good.

String Quartets Project

2008-02-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

Chamber music has always been a dream of mine. It's probably the most musically and mentally challenging thing a musician can do. Practicing on your own, you're an individual. Rehearsing in a large ensemble, you just add your sound to the mix. In a chamber ensemble, you have to contribute 100% or your part is lost.
My epiphany came the other day while working on the WikiSpace for our String Quartets project: Chamber Music is the paradigm of collaborative pairing! There are clear, obvious goals of every ensemble (perform the music correctly, teamwork, nonverbal communication, planning/scheduling/booking performances, etc), and the only way those objectives can be met, is by the entire ensemble working together.
So here's a quick breakdown of the project, then I'll share the WikiSpace, which is still in it's infancy.

High School String Quartet is formed by teacher selected-students.
High School and Middle School orchestra students not in the H.S. Quartet are given form to create a quartet, find a rehearsal time, and decide on a name (based on our district's mascot/theme).
Rehearsals will be set up and music can be chosen both by the ensemble, and the orchestra director, (who acts as a coach for all ensembles).
Each ensemble will be responsible for managing their part of the WikiSpace, including performance photos, upcoming performances, repertoire, etc.

I'm going to leave you with the link to the Northern String Quartet's WikiSpace. It's completely open (the way a Wiki should be) if you have something important to contribute. The High School group, The Northern String Quartet has it's first performance on the 23rd of February, 7:30pm. If you're in the Central PA area, contact me and I'll get you more information!

Building your Network (understanding Twitter)

2008-02-05T22:37:00.000-05:00

I've always thought about what I would say or do to show someone a site like Twitter, Blogger, YouTube, etc. I think it's even more difficult to show a fellow teacher or colleague and try to "sell it" as an educational tool. Back in March of '07, I created my first Twitter post just because it was the next big thing. Since then, I've learned some great tips. Things I could easily suggest to an educator (or anyone skeptical of Web2.0).

1. Reel 'em in
This is the hard part for most of the services out there. Social-networking sites are only as useful as the network you're in. For Twitter, you sign up for free, but you have ZERO people in your network!
Try this: Send the message "track [keyword]" with [keyword] being something you'd like to receive Twitter posts on (teaching, for example). You'll receive IMs or SMS messages that include that keyword, which will instantly give you some people to start following.

2. Nudging
I can count on one hand, the number of times I've needed to "nudge" someone. I've been "auto-nudged" (a Twitter feature available via settings) a few times though. So, you sign up your favorite team-teacher, and they fall off the wagon. Nudge 'em, especially if you know they're doing something spectacular (or even mildly interesting).

3. Share your Friends
If you're trying to recruit a friend of yours, there's a good chance you have similar interests. Maybe some of the people you're following would also be a good fit for your friend? You could showcase a few of your favorites in a blog post, by simply sharing the bookmarks to their Twitter feeds, or even sharing their screen-names over lunch.

There are my few tips to sharing the Kool-Aid that is Twitter. It's been almost a year for me, and now I look back (on page 49 of my archive and almost a 1000 updates), and realize how much I've learned from it. I also wonder where it'll take us, professionally and/or personally.
Please share in comments, any other tips you have for recruiting your friends/family/colleagues.

Cellphones in the Schools

2008-01-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

This is an update to the this post from November: "Scary, Isn't it? (cellphones: teachers vs. students)"

At our recent faculty meeting, cellphone usage was once again brought up. We all know that cellphones are being used by students even though the policy states that they aren't to be used/on/visible during the school day. We went over the policies for discipline (1st-warning, 2nd-confiscate, 3rd-parents must pick phone up). After a few issues were discussed (future changes to the policy, perhaps?), we decided it was time to move on to other topics.
With all the talk on cellphones, the aspect of usage in the schools that was NEVER brought up, was the use of phones by staff and faculty during the day.
Are we being hypocritical? I can honestly tell you, that I am not. I'm truthfully blunt about my cellphone use during the day, and have never had a reason to confiscate a student's phone. If a student is expecting a call from parents (early dismissals, family member in the hospital, etc), I'll let them check for a missed call or voicemail. Cellphones have not caused a disruption in my orchestra rehearsals (and so help me, if they ever did), so I don't make a big deal out of it.

I leave you with this thought, and question: "Parents, teachers, students: How do you feel about your district's current policy on cellphone use during the day? Is it *fair*, and if not, what changes would you propose to fix it?"

p.s. I'd love to begin using Twitter as a notification system for some of my after-school string quartets (rehearsals cancelled, extra rehearsals, what we're working on, etc), but this issue must be addressed before I can invite students to use Twitter.

Tumblr

2008-01-25T21:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows I'm a Twitter addict. It's ease of use, complete mobility, and constant stream of information, humor, insight, and thought makes it one of the best Web 2.0 tools I've seen since the bubble began.
What you may not realize, is that in addition to Twitter, I also have accounts with Pownce, Jaiku, and now my second favorite, Tumblr.
Tumblr's great claim to fame: sorting by post type. You can post "Text", "photo", "quote", "link", "chat", "audio", and "video" categorized posts in your Tumblr tumblog, and sort all the posts using those categories. Me being a musician, but always coming up with new ideas, recording scratch tracks, and never recording final mixes, my Tumblr is great for sharing some of those audio clips. Now, since most people don't care about all my fed Twitter posts, ~~I give them this link~~: http://www.tumblr.com/show/audio/by/me.
A few more nice things about Tumblr:

Complete customization of your template (with a premium account)

Channels (share certain items with a select group of people)

Following (works similarly to Twitter)

Lemme know if you check Tumblr out, and please share your thoughts with me. If you're brave enough to listen to some of my audio clips (you can only post one per day, presumably to avoid music piracy), feel free to tear me apart in comments here as well.

edit: I just realized that the link I posted for sorting will *NOT* work for non-logged-in viewers. It looks like it will only sort on your dashboard, and for people you are following...Gonna try to suggest an actual sorting feature though.

Yes, I would.

2008-01-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

David Warlick posted a question on Twitter.
(original post, here)
While I didn't research Ewan McIntosh, or why the "Twit" was spelled the way it was, but the question hit me like a bullet. Paraphrasing, "Would you break cellphone usage rules if it benefits education?" My answer is the title of my post.
You see, our school district, like many in our state permits cellphones on school property, but bans their use and visibility during the instructional day. Pennsylvania's State Law and decree from the Board of Education states that cellphone policy is set by the individual districts. While I agree with our school's policy, I have to wonder if it's valid.
Earlier, I posted the results of a student-run survey on cellphone use by students and teachers in our High School. Policy or not, cellphones are being used throughout the school-day. I check my Twitter sms messages between lessons (Twitter is blocked by our school's filters, as is all instant messaging options.) Also, since I can only check voicemails from one phone in all of my 6 buildings I teach in, I regularly give out my cellphone number for performance contacts, and to colleagues.
Would I break the rules of cellphone use to improve education? Yes. I do. If I had reason for students to have cellphones out in order to improve their orchestra rehearsals or personal practicing, I'd fight for the right to allow it. If they were Twitterers and demonstrated that they were following "educational" feeds, I'd even consider hearing from them.
My question in return: What types of educational uses do cellphones have, and do students have a right to have them during school?

iPods for the musician

2008-01-11T22:45:00.000-05:00

This morning, was a small ensemble day at the High School. To make things even more interesting, I was missing two of my normal orchestra students to the Principal's Cabinet meeting, giving me a group of only 5 people. So, after running through a couple trouble spots, and building scale practice, it felt silly to try to work on concert repertoire without the full crew.
Interestingly, one of my violinists asked if she could listen to her iPod. Instead of saying no because of the district policy, I redirected her request by saying, "If you'd like to listen to a song and try to figure out parts of it on your violin, sure!" (Assuming that she just wanted to listen to music and not actually practice) A few of my other students' ears perked up when I made that option available to them this morning. My two 9th graders who are playing in our pit orchestra for Seussical, both have their rehearsal CDs uploaded to their iPods, so this gave them a way to practice. When my junior violinist made 11th chair for districts, I found the recordings for the pieces and instead of burning a CD, let her import them to her iPod. I even use mine for jazz improvisation, listening to interpretations of Bach Cello Suites, and even tuning! Yes, I have a tuning note track saved to my iPod Touch so I can listen, and tune my instrument that way.
Now, there are a few things I'd like to do using iPods to make practicing even better. I'd love to be able to plug my iPod into a set of good speakers so the ensemble can hear a preview of a new piece, a classical example, or for group improvisations. I'd love to be able to do some podcasting and have every student subscribe to it. Students could even record compositions or improvisations using Audacity, then do a weekly podcast showcasing some of those works!
Are you a musician? Do you use an iPod to enhance your practicing?

Adopting a new keyboard layout?

2008-01-06T17:22:00.000-05:00

Is it worth it?
A couple days ago, I was reading some previous Lifehacker posts, and came across this site:

Keybr.com which is a Web2.0, fancy typing trainer. I tested myself on the plain ol' QWERTY keyboard and realized that I don't type properly, but still can maintain about 40 wpm. I used to be able to type much faster, but my accuracy has gone downhill lately.
Being the obsessive type person that I am about tech, I had to check out the site's other options...and then discovered "Dvorak Layout". After a little research, and some settings changes on my laptop, I was thrown into a whole new learning experience.
So far, I've been practicing the home and "tab" rows of Dvorak's layout (you can see the layout in the snapshot, actually). I'm not giving up QWERTY entirely because of my need to share other computers occasionally. That said, though...I'm already up to 30wpm in Dvorak after only 3 days. (sure, still not using the bottom keys yet, but still) I gotta say, so far, I'm liking it alot, and really love that it's forcing me to learn to touch-type the right way.

Now, the educational question: If Dvorak was designed to be faster, more productive, and easier to learn, why aren't we teaching it in schools? Do technology classes even mention the alternative to the clunky standard? Our students use orange "skins" to cover up the letters, so what's the difference if they're learning QWERTY or Dvorak (aside from Dvorak being better?)

p.s. While this post was NOT written on the Dvorak layout, future ones will be, and I'll be keeping track of how my wpm count via Keybr.com

Mobility.

2008-01-04T00:24:00.000-05:00

For those of you not in Second Life or on Twitter, you may not have known that I was in Philly all last week for the holiday break. I did have my laptop and wireless router with me, but I used that as a "backup". Interestingly, this was a test of my reliance of cloudware apps in lieu of downloaded software.
90% of my time online, I am logged into iGoogle (which includes my GMail, Google Reader, Remember the Milk, and Jott plugins among others), Twitter, and Pidgin (for IM). When I'm away from my laptop, I can easily replace Pidgin with Meebo for all my instant messaging needs.
Work-wise, the only things I'd really be without would be audio and image-editing apps. I have lived without Microsoft Office for over 6 years now, when I made the switch to Open Office. while I'm away, I go one step further and rely solely on Google Docs, which limits me only in page formatting options.
I'm trying to learn from people like Dave Warlick and Steve Dembo about mobility, so lets hear in the comments: "What other cloudware apps do you rely on?"

p.s. This is the start of a small personal project so I can avoid lugging my personal laptop with me to Disney in March. I'd rather not bring it if I have the choice, but ignoring email, RSS, and more for that week would just drain me, I think.

"I didn't practice because..."

2007-12-20T18:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, a music post, but don't worry. This stuff is useful for anybody, whether they're musical or not.
It never fails. We as music educators will always have those couple kids that never practice. They always have an excuse, and most times, it's an excuse that I've used myself. So what do we do? I have the answer...partially

I'm leaving for Philadelphia tomorrow evening, without either of my instruments. You may be wondering, "How is he telling his students to take their instruments home and practice, yet he's leaving both his locked up in the apartment for a week? Kinda hypocritical don'cha think?" Well...yes and no.
Here are some things as a string player, but more importantly, as a musician, that you can do to practice even without your instrument. Many of these tips, I do everyday. Some, I'm even able to do while I'm driving, eating, and just about to doze off into dreamland. So here they are, in a nice, compact list:

LISTEN - You should be doing this daily no matter what. Listen to the pieces you're working on, listen to new music, listen to music concrete (everyday sounds from life). The more you listen, the better you can make musical choices in your performing.
Stay in Shape - I don't necessarily mean going to the gym, because I surely don't. But if you're a brass player, you can easily take your mouthpiece with you and "buzz". String players can practice fingerings (I haven't ruled out Guitar Hero yet, either), and small-muscle training. Any musician should be practicing slow-breathing and can easily be combined with a simple form of meditation.
SING - Just because your instrument isn't with you, doesn't mean you can't take your music and sing the parts. And no, I don't mean like Placido Domingo. It doesn't have to be perfect, but the pitch should be correct. I end up teaching 60% of my concert literature to my orchestras via me singing the parts. I'd even wager that I sing more than most general music teachers in the course of a school day. Singing your music commits it to a different memory mechanism than playing it or listening to a recording of it.
Be CREATIVE - Your instrument isn't your only creative outlet. Sing (see above), draw, paint, make up games outside, etc. Something as simple as trying to do a routine task in a new way (a friend of mine made spaghetti with meatsauce in a coffee-maker once, blew me away with the idea!) can jog your creative side of your brain.
And finally,
Keep TRACK - Seinfeld uses a 30-days system to learn a new habit or routine, where-in he crosses off the day on a calendar every day he completes that task. It's much harder to break a "streak" when you're keeping track of it. Conversely, it's much harder to get back into it once you've skipped a few days, and the streak isn't so impressive. Everyday you practice (or do one of the things from my list), make a note of it on a "practice calendar".

There ya go! Got any more reasons for me? I'm about to sit through a re-run sitcom and practice some scales and Irish jigs. What's your excuse?

Social Networks require "stalkers"

2007-12-15T12:31:00.000-05:00

Okay okay, not quite...but read on for my explanation.

Sign up for any social network, be it Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace (among the many others), and you have the option to search for existing friends. Most people know at least one other person using a particular network so they always have a friend. Some just create an account because it's there.
For a social network to be truly successful, some of the users need to search out others. If everyone just creates an account and sits there waiting, no connections could possibly be made! The people who spend a few hours looking through people from their high school or college, for example, end up making new connections. As an added bonus, those new connections may spark other users to find each-other as well!
I say it jokingly, but the "stalkers" are the ones spinning the social web of many of these networks. When you think to yourself, "Hmm. I wonder if anyone I work with has a Facebook profile.", that becomes the catalyst for a new connection. Maybe it even inspires a conversation in the faculty lounge, sparking interest and curiosity, leading to more faculty creating profiles. Then, the students (most of which, probably already have profiles!) will be searching, and link up. NOW, we can start using social networks in education in addition to for education!
From there, the possibilities are infinite.

Twitter Phone Chain...would it work?

2007-12-13T09:25:00.000-05:00

I'm typing this just after a wacky Thursday morning that all started with a 2hr delay.

I wake up, check my wifi-connected iPod (to skip the step of rolling out of bed) for the latest school delays and closings, and "nada." They haven't said anything about my district yet. I stumble out of bed, and begin my morning routine at 4:30am. I don't think to re-check the announcements until after I'm dressed in my traditional shirt & tie, so I do my best to relax for the extra 2 hours.
It gets to be about that time, so I decide to grab some McD's for breakfast, a rarity for me anymore. As I'm pulling into the school's parking lot, I get the call from my department chair telling me that school's gone from "2hr Delay" to "No School".
Thus, I grumble a few words, and turn around to come home.

With my earlier post's statistics about teachers with cellphones, here's an idea: Set up a Twitter Phone Chain
Basically, Department Heads would be required to create a Twitter Account and befriend the Principals/Superintendant (or anyone else that gets to make the calls on weather emergencies). Staff would have the option of creating their accounts (or *coughs* using their existing one) and would only have to follow their dept. chair.
Even better, I'm sure some fancy scripting would enable messages to be bounced down the chain once it's said, making it almost painless.

I just laughed this morning, because for some of my Twitterers I follow, I knew about their school closings before knowing about my own! This idea isn't going away, but I'm sure I can think up some improvements before plugging it to the faculty. Any suggestions?

How much is TOO much?

2007-12-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Do this: Make yourself a list of EVERYTHING you have a username/password for on the internet. Now, cross out the things that are required by your job (school district or college email account for example). Do the same for credit, cellphone, bank accounts that you can access online.
Okay, what's that leave you with?
Probably your social-networking sites, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. as well as any blogs, games, or cloudware sites you use. Take a look at how many of your social-networking sites overlap. It's the same problem I faced with instant messaging. I was an avid ICQ user until college, when most of my new friends were already hooked into AIM. Then came Second Life where all my friends were Yahoo users. Pidgin came around and let me combine them all into a single app, thankfully.
I don't know if it would work for social-networking sites, though. Twitter happens to be my favorite
site right now for it's ease of use, and constant connectivity. There's of course, Jaiku, Pownce, and many others that all provide similar products (and I have accounts with them all...).

So the question is, "How much is too much?" Do the web2.0 pioneers just keep gathering accounts, or do we draw the line somewhere asking ourselves if we really need something new? I don't know if I'd stop "collecting" accounts, but I've definitely limited myself to using the ones that truly do my a service of making life easier. Leave thoughts!

Scary, Isn't it? (cellphones: teachers vs. students)

2007-11-30T22:32:00.000-05:00

Our high school's student newspaper recently released an issue totally devoted to cellphones and texting. What originated as an article on the scary practice of texting while driving (guilty myself, sadly) has now become an interesting pair of surveys: first the students, then the staff. What follows are the possibly surprising results.
disclaimer: until I get express permission from the Staff Advisor and newspaper staff, I will not copy any of the article directly, but instead will paraphrase. Things in parentheses are MY comments.

First: The STUDENTS
Almost 3/4 of the students surveyed denied texting while driving (still scary to think over a quarter of them have, though!)
Almost ALL students surveyed admitted to texting during the school day (not necessarily class time, though)
About 3/4 of students, believe it or not, paid their own bills.

Second: The STAFF
Sadly, only about half of the faculty members responded to the school-wide email survey (which isn't that surprising given the amount of wasteful paper and emails we get every day).
Only four respondents did not own cell phones.
Surprisingly (to me anyway), 75% of staff had never used text messaging, or used it very infrequently.
Only 5 of us said we sent/received over 20 messages PER WEEK! (I average about 25 per DAY via Twitter, mobile IM, and friends!)

So, what does this say about us? First off, we're putting guidelines in place for students that we don't understand. Students may be using cellphones for useful, maybe even educational purposes right under our noses! If they're doing it anyway, and we're too oblivious to stop it, we have two choices: change our policies, or enforce the consequences in a new way. Next, why aren't we using text messages as staff? Why couldn't we subscribe to colleagues Twitter feeds, the band director's reggae-band MySpace page, blogs, etc? AND...*gulps*, what if students even used those means to contact us?

Nothing has been started regarding relaxing cellphone policies in the schools, but I'm sure with 98% of students already texting during the day, maybe we don't need to!

Too Great Expectations?

2007-11-25T17:28:00.000-05:00

I consider myself on the bleeding edge of technology and communication. Metaverses, Twitter, Jaiku, Meebo, cellphones, IM, etc. I am connected 24/7 in one way or another, and am usually very quick to respond unless I'm a) asleep, or b) teaching.
I'm going to ask this question of you, because I already have the answer for myself.

"Do you expect others to be as connected as you, and does it upset you when they are not?"

I take pride in the fact that people are able to contact me at any given time. My choice changes from "able to be contacted" to "feel like responding". There are always emergencies, and even higher priority issues. If you're unable to reach somebody, you have no way of transmitting that message. Whereas, if the recipient receives the message, they have the choice to respond to it immediately, later, or ignore it completely.
I'd love to hear your comments/thoughts on this. Instant-on communication is not going away, and in-fact will become more prominent in businesses, education, and everyday life more and more. Do we coerce the late-adopters into getting up to speed, or do we all go into counseling to deal with our frustrations?

Better Current Events Assignments?

2007-11-23T22:04:00.000-05:00

You all remember "current events" assignments, right? Dig through your dad's day-old paper, find an article that sounds interesting, read it, and write a summary on it. We've all done 'em, and most of us complained about them every time. We may have asked, "What's the point? We all know how to read the newspaper." We may have wondered if the process of searching was of any importance to the assignment.
Today, after reading Ionut Alex Chitu's Google Operating System blog, I found some new ways to use the Google News.
My favorite is the NewsMap visualization.
Or the Google News Cloud.
Imagine pointing students to the NewsMap with some specific topics (health, for example), and have them find an article, print it (or better yet, link to it and cite it correctly in their summary), and write up the current event either on paper, (or better yet, in Google Docs or a Blog post).
I'd love to keep NewsMap up all day, just to see what shows up in the feed. I need to find a way to incorporate more of these cool things into my orchestra program, maybe something like this article, perhaps?

But it's Not the School's Network

2007-11-15T11:42:00.000-05:00

The Teach42 Blog (add it to your RSS now) is one of my favorites. The last podcast I listened to (usually not in chrono order) brought up an interesting scenario and sparked some new thoughts of my own.
First, his point: "School's usually refrain from posting images of students and/or where an individual will be at a given time during the day (i.e. Johnny from the soccer team has a home game on the North field). But, what happens when Johnny Twitters from his cellphone about his home soccer game?
Now for my question: Schools prohibit cellphones from being used during the school day, but many students are still finding ways to fire off a text message, or hop on mobile internet (of even Wifi in some of the newer tech gadgets) without a teacher ever finding out! Aside from the obvious discipline (confiscating the phone or device), how do we handle the "Who cares about the internet filters? I can access email from my phone." types of issues that I'm predicting will become a huge issue within the next year or so?

Leave your thoughts!

Podcast #1 - "Twittering As Me"

2007-11-12T19:03:00.000-05:00

http://rorowe.googlepages.com/1-TwitteringAsMe.mp3
Notes:
Sharing my Twitter account (http://twitter.com/ipendakeynes) and discussing the idea of a "presence stream" or "life feed".
Debates the idea of being able to share life information on the web without fear.
edit: subscribe to the feed: ""

Life Feed or Presence Stream?

2007-11-12T18:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, pick one? Or use both interchangeably? First, maybe we'll define them since they're relatively new buzzwords (memes?)

Presence Stream - used by the social-networking/microblogging site Jaiku, where you can not only post short posts, but also supply RSS feeds which will be added into your list of posts, thus creating your presence stream.

Life Feed - I first heard this from Steve Dembo on Teach42's Podcast as a feed which includes ALL OTHER feeds that you own (Twitter, blog, Flickr, Facebook, and so on).

I haven't gotten to the point of wanting to combine all my social-networking/Web2.0 sites, but I'm definitely interested in sharing my Twitter feeds and such. I've posted about identity online, and separating professional vs. personal identities...but here's my Twitter account: http://twitter.com/ipendakeynes.
You noticed: it's not my real name. It's actually my Second Life avatar's name. As I begin to use Second Life more for educational/research purposes, I feel more comfortable sharing my Second Life with my real life contacts. Most importantly, I'm not afraid to do so anymore.

Pre, School-Day Business

2007-11-09T05:35:00.000-05:00

I wake up around 4am every morning (yes, even weekends). That is mainly thanks to my loving puffball of a cat, "Naji" who loves knocking things off the coffee table, meowing loudly, and pounding against walls. I use my 2 hours to get a lot accomplished online. What I wonder, though, is how much of it could be better-accomplished during the school day instead of trying to get it all done before I even leave for work?
I check my school district email - Okay, so this is one of the tasks that I am able to do from school, if I don't lose my prep or lunch periods to makeup lessons, but by cleaning up my inbox of "reply-to-all" messages, I have a much better grasp on what needs to be taken care of today.
I check all the information on my iGoogle page - This is where the dilemma lies. No access to web-based email, 60% of my RSS feeds (mostly tech/edu blogs), YouTube, and Second Life "business". Now, I understand that if it's not work-related, I shouldn't be worrying about it during the day...but can I use that same logic to tell teachers with children not to worry about scheduling doctors appointments, calling their child's teachers during prep/lunch, or finding out if they're staying after school or not?
I check my Twitter/Jaiku feeds - Definitely something I can't get done online at school, so I try to grab as much knowledge from my presence streams as I can, and survive with the sms/text notifications throughout the day.
Take care of any Instant Messenger conversations - Here's a biggie, for I feel that IM is more conducive than email for 90% of the conversations I have via email at work. At home, my friends and family know that IM is golden because it's quick, easy, and almost instant. They realize that email may not be answered for up to 24 hours. My school district, and most of my colleagues expect email replies within 1-2 hours! That would imply that I check it at least that often, which any teacher would tell you, is not humanly possible.

Am I asking for change to the filtering laws and systems that are in place? Not necessarily. What I would like to see, is a system where these tools are used to their full advantage in business and educational settings. Relying on my cellphone to do things I usually do online, is not the answer.

iPods and the Music Teacher

2007-11-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

When I taught in Philadelphia's Public Schools, I saw thousands of iPod-carrying city-folk. Business-types, average-Joes, and students all had 'em. Travelling the city via mass transit (I highly recommend if you're the green-conscious type), it seemed to be the way to make time go by faster, or at least more enjoyable.
Now, why wouldn't every music teacher you know, own an iPod? I'll tell you why! Because they're expensive! But, alas, I finally bought myself one, ripped all my CDs onto it, including the Norton Anthology of Western Music CDs, and a bunch of well-known violinists, cellists, bassists, etc. (anybody want to recommend one or two remarkable viola soloists?).
Now that I have one, I'm finding all sorts of educational uses for it. I'm not talking about giving each student one, or even letting students use mine, but those are awesome possibilities if the budget allows for projects like that. I'm talking about being able to plug into a PA system and improvise over a rhythm section. What about having a portal music player even when you don't have a permanent classroom (or one without electrical outlets)? It gives me a chance to practice my conducting, often while I'm driving, listen to educational podcasts, while I'm driving, preview new works from sampler CDs, while I'm driving...you get the point.

This is definitely not the last time you'll hear about this topic. I'm still very "newbie" when it comes to my iPod, so I'll be looking for more ways to use it during the school day (for *coughs* educational purposes...troublemakers)

There's nothing new under the sun.

2007-11-02T05:49:00.000-04:00

My music history professor, Dr. Wunderlich, used to say that all the time when referring to a 20th century composer who quoted or referenced an older composer. Many times it was a way to pay homage to the composers before them. Other times, it was just because the style or technique was on their mind.

Anyway, I've decided to bring back my old blog title, changing only the fact that it's being hosted at blogspot with a blogspot domain. So...(waits for fanfare, followed by drumroll...),

"Welcome back, cello wireless"

Looking back, and listening to archived podcasts, I realize that I was doing the same thing back then, as I'm doing now. The biggest difference has nothing to do with my posting style, where it's hosted, or the content of the blog. Instead, it merely has to do with the technology I'm writing about, and it's uses in education, (with a slight focus on music education). Cloud-computing, and "web-as-a-service" sites are slowly becoming commonplace. I'll plug this link, even though I haven't been able to download the .iso yet, only because I'm anxious to see this type of thing happen: gOS. gOS is an operating system, based on Linux, that is being designed to be optimized for web-browsing, and specifically, Google's collection of online apps (Google docs, YouTube, Blogger, and the list goes on). Instead of boasting high-energy, heat-producing videocards, huge amounts of harddrive space, and gobs of RAM (memory), gOS is planning on releasing a $100 computer package at WalMart later this year which would be perfect for running the most popular social-networking and cloud-computing sites on the net.

Once I get it downloaded, it's going on my old Pentium 2 machine, as it's purpose is the reason I switched to Linux in the first place!

Google Docs in school?

2007-10-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a good one:
This year, I wanted to hold elections for orchestra officers at the middle school. The idea, was that 8th graders would take a leadership role and set a good example for the 7th and 6th graders. So, I asked for nominations, got a few (a lot less than I expected, but oh well), and we voted. Now I have a president, vice president, and secretary/librarian. (Next year, we will need a 4th position to handle orchestra activity funds).

My officers have been working very hard on projects ranging from creating folders for each student (grades 3-12, not just middle school) and putting the music in them, to planning the concert program, a post-concert reception, and even community performance opportunities. They've taken a leadership role in helping the fresh, 6th graders understand a very confusing schedule (it's the best we can do, so they're making it work!), and have asked about "internships" when they get to the high school.

While I'm absolutely impressed with all they've done, I can't help but think that creating some of these documents like sign-up sheets, letters to area businesses, the concert programs, etc would be better suited for online collaboration like Google Docs because they would all be able to contribute, from anywhere, and I would be able to have edit rights before printing a copy (saves trees!). If they had Google accounts, I could also allow access to my "Northern Strings" Google Calendar which helps me keep track of the 6-day cycle schedules, and concert/meeting/performance/fundraising events.

Really, the possibilities are endless. But, with all that said, here's my question (finally!):

What kind of approvals and "c.y.a." am I going to need to be able to put this type of collaboration into effect? Does this continue to be covered by AUP, online safety, etc? Leave thoughts in the comments.

Could Twitter have helped?

2007-10-21T22:46:00.000-04:00

Follow this scenario, and then I'll explain. A friend of mine, whom I met in Second Life has been unable to connect via her gaming computer, so her only means of contact with friends from SL is through her parents' laptop using standard instant messaging clients (Yahoo, AIM, GTalk, MSN, etc). She managed to IM me, and asked that I do her a favor. She asked that I relay a message to some of her friends from Second Life. I did, and traded some screennames between her SL friends and her, and all was well.

This got me thinking. Remember Hurricane Katrina? Remember how hard it was to locate people when phonelines, internet connections, TV, Radio stations were all severed in the gulf? I remember learning one interesting fact that sticks with me to this day. SMS or "text messages" were more likely to be received than regular cell-phone calls. That's because SMS, short for "short messaging service" works in a queue system, so they could be stored on the network until there was available bandwidth to send them. So, all of this makes me wonder:

If Twitter was around during Hurricane Katrina, and families and friends were already connected, how much of an impact would it have had?

Think about it! Families would have been connected. A wife would have known what her husband was doing. Sons and daughters could check up on parents or grandparents. Distant relatives could have heard the news of the hurricane and quickly set up a "track Katrina" message. And the list of possibilities goes on!

After thinking about it, I made sure my brothers, Mom, grandparents, and any other emergency contact I have, all had my Twitter address saved as a bookmark. Some of them don't carry cell phones yet, or don't regularly use text messages, so it wasn't sensible for them to make an account (yet), but it's definitely a start.

So I ask...could Twitter and apps like it, have helped (and will they help in the future)?

Indentity Crisis!

2007-10-18T23:55:00.000-04:00

I'll share my dilemma, and hopefully someone will have a perfect solution for it (doubtful).
I have an avatar in Second Life, the online multiverse of over a million residents. I also have a blog, a separate Gmail account, and Twitter account in that avatar's name.
When I stopped blogging under my real name it was because I couldn't find the happy medium between professional and personal use of online tools. I am an all or nothing type of guy. If I use Twitter, I want to post about work, but in the same account, I want to be able to follow my friends and post about everyday life too. I can understand having a separate blog, and even email address, but when it comes to online collaboration and social-networking, I'm now forced to split myself into "professional identity" and "personal identity". The problem then arises when I choose to take advantage of mobility options (like SMS messages...which account do I set up?).
I have never shared my Second Life avatar or Web2.0 info with anyone as an educator, but as I look into ways of using the internet to better myself teaching skills and students' learning skills...I find myself in an identity crisis.

Simply put...can my career dictate my social contacts?

Open vs. Closed Networks in Education

2007-10-12T20:39:00.000-04:00

Something hit me today. Would I share my Twitter account, or Facebook account, etc with my boss of school principals? At the present time, honestly, I couldn't feel comfortable doing that. I whittled my issue down to one thing: closed vs. open networks. Let me explain.
closed: "friends" are limited to business related contacts.
open: "friends" can be contacts that are business related, personal friends, or people you only know online.

So, my question is this: If my use of Twitter was limited to school-related contacts (possibly including parents and students), it would be safe from outside contact, but would be less useful to me as a productive tool (weeding out things like Remember the Milk, MyMileMarker, GCal, and more). On the other hand, if Twitter was open (as it is now), professional contacts would have an uncomfortable view of my social life, yet, I could take advantage of it not only as an educational/organizational tool, but a way to keep in contact with friends, online acquaintances, and Web2.0 apps from other companies.

Which is best?

Very first post!

2007-10-11T22:25:00.000-04:00

Welcome. Some how, you stumbled upon my new blog. So here's the gist:
I've been blogging and Twittering and everything else under a false identity (my avatar in Second Life) for over a year and a half, when I decided to leave "real world" blogging for personal and career related reasons. That said, I'm beginning to look at Web 2.0 and how it influences how I work, how I teach, and how I could teach given access to these tools.
My goal, is to begin to create lesson plans, action plans, and scenarios for use of everything from Google Apps (Google Docs, Google Reader, GMail, Google Maps, and more) to Twitter. I plan on finding opportunities to present some of these ideas to my school district in the future, which will also involve finding a safe way to use them with students (currently most of these Web 2.0 sites are filtered by our district).

More soon!

cello wireless

Don't stop learning.

Acoustic Smog, Headphones, and Your Ears

Creepy Trees, or Networking Tools?

Aural Theory & Dictation [Yes, you need to know this!]

Creative Commons is Cooler than Copyright

Web2.0 for Musicians

Streaming Live Music

How would *you* say goodbye to your students?

Audacity (free recording and practice tool?)

iPod Touch for a Musician

Why is it so hard to practice?

Oh Woe is Technology

Hypermiling - to Chicago

GeekTripping

Practicing over the Summer (Facebook uses)

A Committee for Cellphone Policy

Cellphones and Music Education (a thought?)

Copyright vs. Creative Commons Education

Please, look at my profiles

Learn to be Impulsive

Making Accomodations

Photography (I'm back!)

Earth Hour 2008 (Or have you been doing it already?)

3 things I learned from a thrash-rock show

Cellphones in the Schools

Hulu! Go Watch TV!

On Their Level (Seussical '08)

No TV for Lent (sort of)

Don't Talk to Strangers (just stand up and eat)

String Quartets Project

Building your Network (understanding Twitter)

Cellphones in the Schools

Tumblr

Yes, I would.

iPods for the musician

Adopting a new keyboard layout?

Mobility.

"I didn't practice because..."

Social Networks require "stalkers"

Twitter Phone Chain...would it work?

How much is TOO much?

Scary, Isn't it? (cellphones: teachers vs. students)

Too Great Expectations?

Better Current Events Assignments?

But it's Not the School's Network

Podcast #1 - "Twittering As Me"

Life Feed or Presence Stream?

Pre, School-Day Business

iPods and the Music Teacher

There's nothing new under the sun.

Google Docs in school?

Could Twitter have helped?

Indentity Crisis!

Open vs. Closed Networks in Education

Very first post!

How would you say goodbye to your students?