Three Online Tools For Music Education by Andrew Lesser
Burlington City Public Schools
andrew.lesser@yahoo.com
reach our professional goals. Whether it is finding quality materials for our classes, les- sons that inspire our students, or fun activi- ties with built-in assessment tools, online resources have the potential to provide these resources while contributing to the develop- ment of 21st century skills. What follows is a brief list of some online tools for use within and beyond the classroom that can assist in building individual music programs at any level.
A Brainpop
www.brainpop.com This website, though catered mostly
to younger students below the high school level, is a comprehensive series of animated videos that include subjects such as math, social studies, language arts, music and cul- ture, and other topics. Musical selections in- clude short biographies on more classically based figures such as W.A. Mozart, L. van Beethoven to modern artists including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Yo-Yo Ma. Each biography includes a brief quiz to formally assess students at the teacher’s discretion. The website can be implemented as indi- vidual, team, or whole-class learning based. The content is based on the Common Core Standards, and does not require any addi- tional software installations. Though access of the site requires a subscription, several videos are accessible at no charge. A one- year subscription for up to three users is $205.00, while access for an entire school costs $1495.00. The website can then be linked to the school server and accessed by any student or teacher at any time. Brain- pop is excellent for lessons that center on composer profiles, instrument study, or a
TEMPO
s effective music educators, we are always searching for new and innovative methods to
unit on musical style. I have found the site to be particularly effective, especially in its assessment qualities following the conclu- sion of each video.
Donors Choose
www.donorschoose.org
Donors Choose provides an innovative method to acquire materials for free that would normally be obtained by spending budgetary money or fundraising. The site consists of teachers who create and adver- tise projects for which others can contribute money. Sources of funds can come from any source, public or private, in which projects with the most marketable material for stu- dents and classroom get noticed by outside parties. To create a project, the user must answer a series of questions that describe the project, including the materials desired and how it will benefit the students of the program. First-time users can only request materials totaling equal to or less than $200, but with continued usage, that amount can grow with each successful project. Materi- als can be requested from an online cata- log which consists of mostly school supply companies. Woodwind and Brasswind is currently available through the catalog for those wishing to acquire musical instru- ments or supplies. If a project is successful, it is the user’s responsibility to provide ma- terials to Donors Choose, including an offi- cial “thank you” letter to all the project con- tributors, a brief essay on how the project has benefited the students, and individual student “thank you” letters that are sent in a pre-paid envelope. I have had quite a bit of success on this site with numerous projects, including the acquisition of two electronic keyboards, a set a ten hand drums and mal- lets, and a set of Boomwhackers which I cur- rently use in my general music classroom.
28 Teachers Pay Teachers
www.teacherspayteachers.com Teachers Pay Teachers is a comprehen-
sive site that allows teachers of every subject and grade level to sell and/or purchase les- son plans, curriculum materials, handouts, and many other resources for the classroom. The use of the site is free, though a pre- mium package is available for an additional cost. For teachers who wish to sell materi- als, there is a simple upload form for all electronic submissions and the ability to set your own price. A user-friendly guide is also available to assist with the process. For every material sold, the user gets to keep 80% of the selling price, though the premium pack- age allows the user to keep all of the earn- ings in exchange for an annual fee. There is also a request page that allows teachers to advertise or request specific materials from the general user community. When sell- ing materials, the user creates a homepage, known as a “dashboard”, which advertises the teacher’s materials and provides addi- tional information such as a biography and professional information. I have found the site to be very useful in both acquiring and selling materials; my dashboard address is
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/ Andrew-Lesser for those who would like a closer look at an individual profile site. Feel free to contact me at the informa-
tion provided above, or visit my website at
www.andrewlessermusic.com if you have any questions or anything you’d like to share. I look forward to hearing from you!
& JANUARY 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92