Technologically Forward-Thinking In The Large Ensemble Classroom “Enhancing And Transforming Your Instruction”
Michelle Lindner
Churchill Junior High School East Brunswick, NJ
michelle.lindner@
gmail.com
brought up before the widespread use of digital technology. My “Digi- tal Native” students, were born in the age of technology; therefore, the use of technological tools is completely second nature to them. Due to my “digital status” in this world, it forces me to be cognizant of the fact that I must always strive to be forward- thinking when it comes to the use of technology in my classroom. As an educator that teaches a subject that is inherently kinesthetic in nature, this can sometimes be a challenge. However, keeping in mind the pro- jection that “65% of today’s grade school kids will end up in a job that hasn’t been invented yet.” (US Dept. of Labor, 1999), it is my belief that it is absolutely critical that teachers structure their classrooms and in- struction to help prepare students for the larger global society that they will be entering after graduation. Starting to think about ways to steer my classroom into a more technologically-advanced direction, many questions came to mind: • How can the use of tech- nology further engage ALL learners in the class- room? Especially taking into consideration that my ensemble classes are anywhere between 40-60 students.
A TEMPO
s a music educator who is considered to be a “Digi- tal Immigrant”, I was
• How can one streamline the use of technology so that it does not become necessary to move over to a computer or other areas of the room away from the ensemble during rehearsal time?
• How can technology ENHANCE and even TRANSFORM instruc- tion? Technology for technol- ogy’s sake is not effective in the classroom.
• How can ALL of this be ac- complished without taking away from the heart and core of teach- ing music? Technology usage should not take away from the goals of edu- cating students to appreciate, perform, become increasingly more skillful at and be lifelong lovers and consumers of music.
After pondering my own person-
al answers to these questions, I set forth to obtain the equipment that was needed to make these ideas be- come a reality. As with most school districts, budget is always a concern; therefore, I decided to write a grant entitled, “The Technofied Band!”, which was submitted to the district’s Education Foundation.
The grant
proposed the purchase of the follow- ing items: • Ipad Pro with Case- 12.9”/256 Gig
42 Displaying the Score
Scanning and loading all of the conducting scores into the ForScore App and having Apple TV mirror the IPad live on the front board, en- ables the score to b e displayed for all students to see. The Bluetooth Foot Pedal enables the pages to be turned on the score during rehears- als, hands-free.
Lastly, the Apple
Pencil allows markings to be made in the score live during the lesson, in order to direct students attention
MARCH 2018
• Apple Pencil • Apple TV • Hands-Free Dual Footswitch Controller
• Bluetooth Music Receiver • ForScore App for the Ipad The Haunted Carousel by Erika Svanoe
Implementation of New
Technologies into the Classroom The first three items that needed to be accomplished were as follows: 1) Hook up the Apple TV to a pro- jector that already had been previ- ously installed in the classroom 2) Plug the Bluetooth Music Receiver into the classroom’s stereo system 3) Download the ForScore App onto the Ipad. Once this equipment was set up, a whole new world of technolog- ical options for implementation into the classroom were revealed.
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