LATEST PROJECTS
Rhythm
Popsicle Sticks | Rhythm
When my three-year-old son, Timosha, discovered that our freezer is an unfathomable source of ice-cream and that no one is limiting his popsicle-consumption on the hot Toronto summer days, I began finding popsicle sticks in every odd place: in the bathtub, on the piano, near my pillow... Popsicle sticks started breeding by the dozen so I decided to give them a new life.
Composing rhythm & rhythm dictations with popsicle sticks are not new, but it was new to my studio and the students really enjoyed the activity. Some even got a cooling treat at the end of the lesson ;)
#reduce-reuse-recycle
#low-tech
Research Connection:
Educators agree that rhythm is the most important aspect of music-making and the more different ways we can find to explain rhythm the better (Gamba, 2016). When working with rhythmic notation, dictations are a great way to check for understanding. Furthermore, being able to compose and notate one's own rhythm is an advanced skill.
Gamba, S. (2016, March 11). Teaching rhythm, the
most important thing in music. Retrieved August 4, 2019, from https://www.smartmusic.com/blog/teaching-rhythm-important-thing-music/
We didn't have a fire pit, Diffuser was the perfect fit!
The kids explored this piece of mid-tech. They also enjoyed guessing the scents that I brought along.
We didn't have a fire pit, Diffuser was the perfect fit!
I wonder...
It is common to see community circles being used in our classrooms - a tradition that we have borrowed from the Aboriginal peoples of the Turtle Island; a tradition that we refer to as an aboriginal way of knowledge-making. A community circle creates a safe space where every member of the circle receives a chance to speak (or the right to pass) as a talking token is being passed around. This restorative activity is traditionally initiated with a smudging ceremony (i.e., burning sage or cedar to cleanse the space, bodies, souls, and minds of those sitting in the circle). However, I have not seen smudging being performed in any classroom I have visited so far.
I wonder if it is just to call this activity an aboriginal way of knowledge-making if we don't adhere to every detail. Is this appropriation?
I understand why many teachers would choose not to use smudging (as it creates a mild fire hazard). I wonder if using essential oils to purify the room would be a suitable substitute to smudging (or does it have to involve burning to be considered cleansing)?
Scents
Sensitive Discussion | Scents
Did you know that scents and essential oils can focus your thinking, relieve headaches, calm you down, improve the quality of your sleep, help digestion, treat skin diseases, have measurable positive effects on your respiratory system, disinfect, relief pain, and more (West, 2017)?
I have been using essential oils regularly for the past three years and find them very effective. My favorite scents are lavender, frankincense, and eucalyptus.
When teaching a lesson on camp songs, I wanted to create an atmosphere of gathering around the fire. I obviously could not use any fire, so I brought my diffuser and added a few drops of eucalyptus (which has a kind of foresty smell). The diffuser emitted a thin ribbon of vapor, which looked like smoke and the children were ecstatic about this new addition to our class!
I explained that eucalyptus decongests our airways when inhaled and will aid our singing. The kids were all game and we had a great time being mindful of every breath we take before singing.
WARNING! After class, my colleague (who sat in for the lesson) approached me and recommended that I should be careful when using essential oils in my classroom because some individuals (like herself) can be very sensitive to smells or even allergic.
Boy, I completely forgot about allergies! In my head, I was following the Universal Design for Learning - "what is good for one is good for all" - what helps one decongest their airways should help the others... But essential oils are a grey area. Fortunately, I got lucky this time and it was just another good lesson and no allergic reactions.
So if you decide to use essential oils in your class, check your students' profiles for allergies, be sure to add just one or two drops of the oil, and keep a window open just in case!
West, H. (2017). What are essential oils, and do they
work? Retrieved August 1, 2019, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-are-essential-oils
Research Connection:
With the recent cell-phone ban in Ontario school, there has been much discussion on how to make sure that cell-phones are used for educational purposes in the classroom? Indeed, there are many benefits to using smartphones to access educational learning apps, digital platforms, digital materials, and the latest information (Oxford Learning, 2019).
My goal is to model to my students how to use a smartphone effectively as a learning tool and not as a distraction.
NB: cellphones are still allowed to be used for educational purposes, medical reasons, and to accommodate students with special needs. How the ban is enforced is up to individual school boards and schools (Oxford Learning, 2019).
Oxford Learning. (2019, April 22). Cellphones in the classroom: Learning tool or
distraction. Retrieved August 4, 2019, from https://www.oxfordlearning.com/should-cell-phones-be-allowed-classrooms/
Digital Swiss-Army Knife
Love Letter To My Smartphone
Dear Samsung,
Sometimes I wonder how people fared before the invention of smartphones. At work, you and I are inseparable. I can not begin to tell how much I appreciate you. You help me:
-
Communicate with my students' parents and organize my schedule;
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Videotape bits of our lessons to track my students' progress and record practice videos for homework;
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Make voice recordings to teach children to sing in harmony;
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Show exceptional music performances on YouTube to inspire my students.
Your Metronome App is a phenomenal practice tool for keeping a steady tempo and CamScanner App is a super-convenient way to instantly convert sheet music to PDF.
Dealbreaker: also, you take cute selfies. Yah.
xoxo,
Sonya
Noteflight is my go-to free online notation software. I can access my music anywhere with a connected device. The only downside to the free version of Noteflight is that it allows you to work on only 10 scores at a time. If you want to have more you have to register for the paid version.
I have done song-writing activities with my students where they had to write their own melodies with a pen-and-paper and then transfer them to a digital music notation platform. My students noticed that, although initially, it took longer to input their songs into a digital notation program, the software gave them many new possibilities (e.g., instant playback, different instruments, copy-and-paste, transposition, making corrections, being able to extract individual parts, etc.).
For the school music teachers out there, in addition to the free Noteflight edition, there is the budget-friendly Noteflight Learn (https://www.noteflight.com/learn). Noteflight Learn is compatible with Google Classroom, Blackboard, Canvas, and more. The program has both learning and assessment tools, which could be beneficial to intermediate level musicians.
Free
Notation
Software
Noteflight | Free Online Notation Software
Dear musicians,
To whom does this story sound familiar?
Your student asks you to bring in the new 'hot' song that they had just heard in a movie or a musical and instead of paying $5 for a pdf copy from a website you begin notating it yourself. And you still do it knowing that it might take you an hour or two to get it down while, objectively, you could have done something better with your time...
Sounds familiar? Happens to me every time ... :)
At least, in the end, I can feel good about myself that I can still notate music and my chops are intact.
Research Connection:
Being able to compose and arrange music is part of overall musical literacy (along with being able to read, audiate and perform music). This is why these components are under the overall expectations in the Ontario Music Curriculum as early as Grade 1 (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2009).
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2009). The Ontario
curriculum grades 1-8 the Arts. Retrieved August 4, 2019, from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/arts18b09curr.pdf
YVT choir
Young Voices Toronto (YVT) Spring Concert
I always take pride in my students' achievements and can talk for hours about their accomplishments. But in this post, I want to give myself some credit, too - after all, it was a team effort! This video from the YVT spring concert shows our latest success. We worked hard and the result exceeded my expectations by far. The YVT Encore choir is the most professional youth group that I have yet had a chance to work with.
Thank you for changing my universe <3
P.S.: My mother recently told me how proud and happy she is that I am pursuing my dream. What are your hopes and dreams for your children?
Robots
and Art
Coding Robots in Tech Class
This summer, in tech class, our cohort was learning about STEAM and developing some basic XXI century skills - such as tech-literacy. After all, careers in tech represent one of the fastest-growing job sectors (Randstad, 2019) and we need to include technology into our teaching practice to engage the digital natives in our class and prepare them for the future.
The first two pictures to the left show the Ozobot. This robot follows the maze on the page and will perform various tasks when he runs over certain colours. Our students can create artistic mazes (like my treble clef maze) and watch the Ozobot in action!
The last two pictures are of the Lego EV3, which can be programmed to serve as a Mars-rover, to measure distances, to play songs, and more!
Randstad. (2019). The top 15 jobs in Canada. Retrieved
July 16, 2019, from https://www.randstad.ca/best-jobs/top-15-jobs/
Makey
Makey
Makey Makey is a piece of educational and assistive technology. Can you guess what it does from its name? [hint: it's a play on words!]
Make-key... get it?! :D
This neat little gadget lets you make your own keys and test objects for conductivity. You can makey-makey keys for your computer using bananas, Play-Doh, various liquids, metal objects, and even your friends!
In the camp where I teach music, I taught the kids to play spoons (Russian/Newfoundland style) and then we used Makey Makey to turn the same spoons into a piano and a drum kit!
The software for piano and drum kit was written with Scratch and can be found here:
Research Connection:
Makey Makey draws a direct connection to STEM, inquiry-based, and project-based learning. With Makey-Makey students naturally engage in collaborative explorations. Additionally, Makey Makey can be used as assistive technology to aid students with physical disabilities (Maich, Keith, Henning, & Mallabar, 2018).
Maich, K., Keith, E., Henning, M. N., & Mallabar, S. (2018 September 26). Makey Makey as an assistive resource. RetrievedAugust 4, 2019, from https://www.edcan.ca/articles/makey-makey-assistive-resource/
Sound Editing With Audacity
Zoom Microphone @ Rehearsal
Recording
Audacity
One of my absolute favorite things to do is recording music. I've been to professional studios and have worked with some really expensive equipment, but even free programs like Audacity can give great results if one knows a little bit about sound editing.
Two years ago, my friend and I recorded a cycle of children's songs for our sons. Here is a song that I wrote (recorded with Audacity and very simple equipment):
Zoom Microphone
In the picture to the left, you are looking at a piece of portable recording equipment - Zoom microphone. I use it to record choir rehearsals and just to make memories from music classes.
The great feature of this microphone is that it can be used as a directional mic, omnidirectional mic, and X/Y mic. You can also listen to your recordings directly from your Zoom microphone or connect it to your computer via USB cable to do some editing. You'll find that the sound quality is very decent for a field recording.
Research Connection:
Audio recording has been found effective as a practice & revision and self-assessment tool (King, 2016). Audio recording has been used effectively within the music classroom and beyond (e.g., to monitor progress when learning a foreign language or to make voice-notes).
King, M. (2016, July 18). 4 ways audio recording can boost
classroom learning. Retrieved August 4, 2019, from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/4-ways-audio-recording-can-boost-classroom-learning