Today I took the year 10's and a year 7 class to the computer lab to complete their unit reflections using Google Classroom. Apart from the typical I.T problems such as the odd login not working, slow computers etc, it went well both content-wise and timewise with most students engaging with the questions well and completing the task in the set time (approx 45mins). I was a bit apprehensive as I'd not used GC before in practice but it's quite straight forward and I can definitely see myself using it more - one of it's great advantages is the ability for students to submit their work in a very organised way. Instead of being bombarded with individual emails and attachments all of the class work is in one labelled place and accessible to me from anywhere - magic!
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I started using Google Classroom this week - well I'm currently setting it up to trial it next week. From what I can tell so far it's a great tool for getting lessons and assignments out to students digitally, with a well organised efficient way of receiving work back from them. I'm trialling it in the form of a one off assignment - a reflection on the music unit we are currently wrapping up.
It's a new digital avenue to explore which fits in very well with my current 'LESS STUFF!' mission! I'm enjoying teaching my year 10 class atm. They've really taken well to the body percussion unit this term and this week we started jamming as a whole class which helps create a good whanau/team feel within the class. Today I attempted to start the ball rolling of a 'singalong' session with my Year 9's as a result of a relatively successful impromptu singalong at the junior (Year 7&8) assembly this morning. I figured 'hey, everyone likes singing, let's have some fun..' I'd like to get the students familiar with a range of songs for fun, singing practice and repertoire for group and even school wide singing. I chose a song called 'So True' by The Black Seeds - it's a cool catchy song, easy to sing and play on guitar and by an NZ band (doing our bit for local music). Although it's not a massive hit like say Tiki's 'Always On My Mind', I figured it was popular enough and simply good enough to catch their ears and voices. I was dead wrong. It sank like a stone. The students hadn't heard of it (at all), didn't show any enthusiasm for it and didn't sing a note along with me, no matter how much I sang and played my heart out and tried to encourage them. To be fair, I sensed self consciousness from them but the other half of the battle was perhaps in the song choice, or worse - they aren't interested in singing at all. Part of me thinks I struck it unlucky today with the age group and musical tastes etc but the other part of me forsees an upward battle in getting my students to sing. I will try again with different groups of students and different songs, I hope I'll stumble on a good combo of both to spark up a hearty sing-song! At present I am writing and recording a few original funk/rock tunes with fellow Okaihau College teacher Johnny Pedro. It feels great to continue to be creative outside the classroom and bring the enthusiasm and inspiration gained into the classroom. I'm also pretty fortunate to have struck up a musical relationship and friendship with someone at school/work since I'm new kid on the block there! Here's our first one "Ghostrider"
When I came into the music room this year it was arranged in rows, all desks facing the front. It was tidy and well organised but dreary and old fashioned. So I setup groups of tables with different angles and as 'cool' as it looked it wasn't practical because when I need to have students facing the smart board or looking at me they were all over the place. The other even bigger drag was that there wasn't a big space where we could quickly and with minimal fuss, gather together as a group.
So I decided to have the students sitting on the sides of the room with the big communal space in the middle. I also discovered that sitting in pairs can be handy for paired work or discussion and a pair simply turning around can create a group of four. You also create 2 'sides' for any activities like quiz's or any activity that requires the class to be split in two. Although we still move desks and chairs a fair bit when we need to it's pretty quick and easy to reset. I have made it a mission to minimise my physical resources - for convenience sure, but more to embrace a 'less is more' philosophy. I really like the idea of being able to teach anywhere, anytime, and to anyone with a minimum of physical resource needs. Digital devices can be used for research/ communication/ multi-media/ storage/ planning etc and I like the challenge of utilising ideas to the fullest, effective communication, basic spaces and digital technology - my goal is to develop a deeper teaching and learning experience with less clutter. There are added incentives such as using less paper (STUFF!), needing less storage space and being able to move quickly just to name a few! I intend to apply this new found 'way' to all my teaching areas, as much as is possible anyway... I have begun this year with a BODY PERCUSSION music unit. It's alot of fun both for me and the students! I chose the idea as a way to strip music down to bare basics (no gear, theory, paper or rules!), have fun with music, be physically active with our learning and to explore rhythm in an unusual way. This unit has practically needed nothing resource-wise. I have used my camera alot to capture students at work. Here's a taste: |
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Teacher/ Musician from Northland, New Zealand. |