Canvas Remix

The canvas the I chose to remix was about the changes in society, culture, and demographics around world.  The canvas also explored how these changes effected the views the followed those three related classifications.  I thought this would be great to add my content into because I believe that music is a direct reflection of the changes in society both good and bad.  Music is like the Ying Yang mirror image of societal and cultural views.  The way I tried convey and prove this fact was by using articles and images that would serve as discussion openers, essay topics and tools for musical understanding.  I also gave a clear and obvious exact example of what I am talking about.  Recently in NJ the gay marriage law was passed which allows same sex marriage.  Same sex marriage is something that has social and cultures conversations booming.  Because of the views that are within a given society whether it be a town, school or state, the passing of such a controversial law will create changes.  Whatever those changes are they will happen.  Well in my opinion America is changing its overall view of same sex marriage.  The Rapper Mackamore made a song called same love which challenges the views of those against gay marriage.  He also show support of the gay community in the song more openly then I have ever seen any rapper do on a track.  I put this video as a direct and relatable example that is current and meaningful to students in some way.  This guide to understand that music reflects change is key to helping student become better musicians and citizens of the world

http://www.play.annenberginnovationlab.org/play2.0/challenge.php?idChallenge=2750&mode=view#network6

Ipad in the rehearsal room

As I was wakling through the apple store I was checking out the Ipad.  I was never really into tablets but seeing how the younger generation (elementary and middle) seem to be very much attached to this device I felt that I should find out more about it.  Much like the iphone or droid there are millions of apps that go from sports to nature and everything in between.  After realizing how limitless the app world was I started thinking.  How could this device that student love so much be apart of the classroom, particularly the music classroom.  Well there are tons of music apps that are geared toward the advancement of music eduction.  In fact I feel that the average teacher today is unaware of the number of apps the are music related.  One basic app would be a tuning app called "DA Tuner".  Intonation (playing in tune) is by far the hardest skill to teach students, in fact you can ask the MSU music students who don't play piano about intonation.  They will tell you a plenty of stories about their struggles trying to play in tune.  Well lets say for every two student in a band or orchestra there is one ipad on the stand.  Using the tuner app while rehearsing a piece, they can check to see if they are playing in tune.  This digital reference would be a tool that would aid the student and the teacher.  Lets say a student knows that G sharp and E flat are notes that they never in tune.  The tuner app would tell them wether they are sharp or flat on those notes.  Now when the student comes to the teacher they know what note gives them problems and what the problem is.  That cuts out the time it would take for a teacher to figure out what the notes are then hear whether they are sharp or flat.  The teacher would only have to give a some feedback and a bit of help to fix the problem.  Student get the exact diagnosis and teachers and prescribe the solution.  This is a really small example of the ipad in the classroom but as I find more apps and what they do I'm sure more ideas will surface.  I would encourage all music teachers to explore the musical side of the app world and see if there are some the one could use in classroom to keep student focused and interested.

Unit Plan Canvas

My canvas was created using my unit plan from a previous post.  My unit plan explores the songs that the runaway slaves would sing while traveling through the underground Railroad.  The underlying question ask student to think critically about how music represents the culture in which it is surrounded.  My gallery has pictures of the map of the underground railroad to show students the route.  I chose this because the area in which people traveled has an effect on how the music sounds and is created.  There is also and image of the music for the song Follow the drinking gourd, which is regarded as a negro spiritual or historically black spiritual song.  This way one has a notational reference for the music to go along withe video of a choir performing the song for and audio and visual representation of the song.  Than standards chosen are not performance based because I believe this unit is a pre lesson before the student start learning the music to perform.  I feel it is very important to have a historical and social understanding of a piece of music to better understand how to perform it.  The sites for reference on the canvas are there to give more detail for student who want more then what is learned in class and for my example of the spirituals that slaves may have sung.  Everything in the unit is helping students gain and understanding of the times and how they influence the stylistic and social aspects of the songs.


http://www.play.annenberginnovationlab.org/play2.0/challenge.php?idChallenge=2494&mode=view#network6