Virtualmusicalinstruments.com is just one of many
websites that host virtual instruments. With this website, a student can make music on a virtual guitar, piano, pan flute, drumset, or bongos. By hooking up the Chrome- book to a decent pair of speakers, the student can launch the bongos, use the touchpad, or the “1” and “2” keys to play rhythm patterns along with the rest of the students in the class. Technology like this opens doors for all stu- dents to actively make music.
Alternatives: There are numerous iOS apps that have
virtual instruments built into them. The most popular one would be GarageBand. I personally love the virtual Chinese instruments found in the app. During the cel- ebration of the Chinese New Year, I have my students create music using the virtual Chinese instruments since we do not have access to acoustic ones.
Seesaw (
web.seesaw.me) Seesaw has
been a game chang- er in my classroom. It is a digital stu- dent portfolio where students can add their work from audio record-
ings of solo singing, to video recordings of orffestrations, to writing out pitch explorations, to so much more, for their parents to see. We use the paid version of Seesaw for Schools, which allows unlimited classes and some other additional items. However, the free version allows you to have ten classes and can do a lot. Seesaw is a wonderful way to showcase your students’
musical works and your curriculum for parents to access from their mobile devices. You can also create assign- ments for students to submit from home. Students can also use Seesaw to reflect on higher order thinking ques- tions about the process of their musical creations. Early childhood music teachers could use it to post the lyrics and record themselves singing the “Song of the Month” for parents to use at home. These are just small examples of the large realm that Seesaw can support. It is not re- quired to have a 1:world classroom to use Seesaw. For my first year, I used it with one iPad. Seesaw is also very versatile as it can be used on multiple devices from iOS, Chromebooks, web-based, and Android.
TEMPO 38 is
Kahoot! (
kahoot.com) Though this not
encourag-
ing music making, Kahoot! is a free assessment tool in the form of a game. Once you create your free account, you can search for numerous music games or create your own. These games can be used to assess the students’ knowledge on their concert music, lyrics, note names, rhythm names, and so much more. You can use Kahoot! as a fun way to assess almost anything you have been teaching in music class. And, the students love it! Kahoot! can be used on Chromebooks (kahoot. it turns the Chromebook into an answering device), iOS devices, Android, desktops, etc. It can be used in a 1:world classroom as well as a classroom with limited de- vices (set the game to group mode). The students do not need email addresses to participate in a Kahoot! game. You can also send a “Kahoot! Challenge” to your stu- dents’ devices for them to participate from home by a certain date and time.
Alternatives: Socrative (
socrative.com) works as
well and I tend to use it for more formative assessments. If you only have one device in a classroom, Plickers (
plickers.com) uses one device and plicker cards that you
MARCH 2018
The challenge is finding the time to sit down and
learn the program and to encourage the parents to join. However, it is very intuitive and your young students will be able to use it from day one. Seesaw has numerous we- binars and social media accounts through Facebook and Twitter so that when you are experiencing a challenge, there are many educators who can assist you and help you solve the problem. Finally, as a parent using Seesaw, I absolutely love it!
It is so nice to be able to ask my child, “I saw this on your Seesaw journal today. Please tell me more about it.” This makes my third grader go into a narrative about the activity. This is so much better than, “What happened at school today?” with the answer of “nothing.”
Alternatives: There are other programs out there
that are similar. One is Class Dojo. If you are currently using Class Dojo, check out how to share a class story. This is very similar to Seesaw’s journal.
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