Genius Hour is an educational practice where students follow their own interests, background knowledge, and curiosities to create a passion-based learning project.  Students are given one hour per week to pursue a project based on their own topic of interest.  This idea came from Google’s 20% rule.  There are numerous benefits to implementing this project in a classroom.  First, it is student-centered and encourages them to create meaningful and authentic work.  When a student is interested in something, they will put forth their best effort to do well and learn.  Genius Hour promotes learning beyond the classroom.  This can help students find their passions and interests, which could potentially lead them to their eventual career path.  Lastly, it can help students that struggle in a traditional setting.  It is important that students find success in any capacity in the classroom.  Genius Hour can help boost a student’s confidence in school, when they may not have that success in a traditional class.

While Genius Hour is an amazing practice, there are some obstacles to being able to implement it, especially within an ensemble-based classroom.  The first is time management.  In my current job, I only see my 7th and 8th grade students every other day for 2 quarters and my 6th grade students every other day for 1 quarter.  With the added pressure to learn all of our concert music within that time, that leaves little wiggle room for other content.  I think a potential solution for this would be having Genius Hour be instrument based, like allowing students to learn a piece of music of their choosing.  This way, they are still improving on their instrument, but on their own terms.  The other obstacle I foresee could be the lack of freedom or confidence.  Students are often told explicitly what to do, that when given a choice, they feel overwhelmed or anxious.  One way to help alleviate this would be to slowly give creative choice within the classroom before diving into a Genius Hour project.  That way, students can be eased into the freedom to explore their own interests gradually. 

After nearly 2 years of “pandemic teaching,”  Google Meets is a tool I have become quite familiar with.  I met with Kyle and we discussed our familiarity with this platform and found we had similar experiences.  It is a great collaboration tool and generally easy to use.  Most of the features are intuitive and user friendly.  We both found that while a necessary tool, connectivity can be unreliable and an easy excuse for students to not participate or join a meet.

While I don’t foresee using Google Meets in my classroom (unless we are remote teaching again), I do see how I could utilize it.  I think it could be a great option for students to work on a group project without having to go over to one another’s houses.  I could also see us using it to attend a clinic or a masterclass.  Teaching ensemble music via Google Meet was a difficult task, and while features like breakout rooms helped, it is still not ideal.  I think it could also be a great tool to attend educational conferences and seminars.  I attended a 2-day seminar hosted by my district this past summer over Google Meets and found it to be a very meaningful experience.  We were able to have significant small group discussions via breakout rooms and it was a far more relaxed environment overall.  I could definitely see myself attending more online conferences.

Though Twitter is often thought of as a space to post memes or complain, there is an endless world of educational networking and professional learning available.  The first benefit of using Twitter is that you can curate your feed to accommodate exactly what you want to see.  By following accounts that align with your content area, age level, or interests, your Twitter feed can he .  You can also follow hashtags and topics to further see classroom tips, lesson ideas, or new accounts to help you professionally grow.  Hashtags can help you can connect with teachers all across the country and world.  These connections could lead to classroom collaboration and more professional opportunities.  Additionally, you can also join in on Twitter educational chats to discuss topics that are important and relevant to you.  There are local and national chats that you can partake in.  Lastly, Twitter is free and there is no barrier for entry.  Any and all educators can partake in discussion and gain useful ideas for their classroom.

Though there are numerous benefits of using Twitter in the educational space, there are some drawbacks.  First, if you are new to Twitter, it can be very overwhelming to sift through accounts and topics to find what you are interested in learning and discussing.  Additionally, avoiding spam accounts can be a difficult task on twitter.  Misinformation is wide-spread on Twitter, and avoiding these accounts can be challenging.  If you are tweeting out classroom happenings, you need to make sure you are not sharing information about your students.  While it is great to share pictures and student accomplishments, having a public account means anyone in the world can see what you are posting.  Twitter is also very limiting.  With only 280 characters per tweet, you cannot share a lot at one time, unless you write multiple tweets, which can be drawn out and cumbersome if you just want a quick answer.  Lastly, there are few checks in place to filter out inappropriate content.  If you have your students creating classroom accounts, it is hard to block content and accounts that are not school appropriate.  While Twitter can be an amazing tool, it does need to be used with caution and care.

String players everywhere tend to cringe at bad stock-images of models pretending to know how to play a violin or cello.  While these images can make us grimace, they can also be a great learning opportunity for younger students to work on their own posture and playing position.  Using Flickr, I could have my students look up their instrument using search terms like “violin player,” “violist,” or “cello model.”  From there, they can find one picture of bad posture and one picture of good posture and playing position.  Then, they will critique each picture, explaining what is bad and what is good.  Students can then explain how to fix the bad posture.  I can see this activity helping my students become more aware of their bad posture habits and gaining understanding on how to help a peer if they are struggling with posture.

Ragai, J. (2019). Violin Player [Photograph]. Flickr. Retrieved from https://flic.kr/p/2gaB9YV

With how connected our world is today, a collaborative environment is almost impossible to avoid.  It is a skill needed in just about every aspect of life – in the workplace, at home, and within our communities.  A collaborate model in schools allow students to better prepare for their adult life.  Technology is becoming more and more embedded in our teaching modes, so that both students and teachers can participate in communities on a whole new level.

It is easier than ever to work and share ideas with fellow educators, not just within your district, but across the country and world.  Tools like G Suite or Office 365 allow buildings to communicate more effectively, share lesson plans, Other technology resources like blogs, Facebook groups, and Twitter can allow teachers to connect and share their lesson ideas, seek advice on issues, and learn what is working in other classrooms.  Collaboration helps strengthen our teaching practices, which in turn gives our students a better experience and education.

Most schools are now 1:1 with technology, which means students can collaborate in so many new ways.  Students can work together using tools like Google Docs or Slides and don’t even have to be in the same room.  Other sites, like Flipgrid or discussion boards, students can leave comments or videos with feedback, compliments, or suggestions.  With these technology tools, students are learning important skills that they can take with them through their careers and adult life.

Using a Class Google Site to Improve Organization and Engagement

While the brunt of the pandemic seems to be behind us, I still have some students who are required to quarantine and do their school work from home.  

One of the main benefits of a Google Sites classroom page is that it can be accessed anywhere, whether a student is home or at school.  In the article Using a Class Google Site to Improve Organization and Engagement, Steven Goldman explains how Google Sites saved him from the world of “hybrid teaching” from the pandemic. To combat having a mix of students in the classroom or quarantined at home, Goldman created his site to contain all of his class work and assignments.  Each week, he updates the site to reflect the what was happening, the goals, and creates a separate page for each day.  In school students would use the site to guide each class.  Remote students could pull up the same site from home.  Sometimes the plan would be modified, but it was always in the same place for students.  He found it beneficial that students were able to see the goals at all times, which also helped with motivation.  He also was able to start a flipped-classroom approach at times. Goldman would create video lessons for the online students, then teach them live for the in-person students.  The videos served as a “practice” lesson, which helped with his instruction delivery.

Though his approach seemed to work well for his class, I am not sure I personally would use Google Sites for this specific purpose.  The way he described his use of Google Sites seems very similar to how I use Canvas, our LMS.  It would seem like an extra step for me, instead of just posting all of our assignments and class content on Canvas.

Goldman, S. (2021, August 18). Using a class google site to improve organization and Engagement. Edutopia. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-class-google-site-improve-organization-and-engagement. 

How Can Teachers Use Google Sites?

Google Sites is a versatile tool that can be utilized in multiple ways within a classroom.  In the article How Can Teachers Use Google Sites?  Let Me Count the Ways, Brenda Kovich outlines 20 different uses for Google Sites.  Some uses, like direct instruction, supplement instruction, flip your classroom, or a homework site are more well-known.  However, Kovich also offers more creative ideas.  Teachers could use Google Sites for a collaborative website or an ebook, where every student gets a page to input their work.  You can also use it to create a unit site or organize research projects.  Aside from instructional use, teachers can also use Google Sites to organize curriculum or your Google Drive or store lesson, unit, or long term plans.  Additionally, you can create seating charts or sub plans.  You could also lump all of those together to create the ultimate teacher dashboard.

While some of these tips were not new to me, I never thought to use Google Sites as an organizational tool.  I always saw Google Sites as a way to support my instruction, but I never though to use it as a tool for myself.  I am not naturally an organized person, so any tool that can help, I am interested!  I would be very interested in creating my own teacher dashboard.  My documents and teaching resources are scattered across my Google Drive and files on my laptop. Having one place to go and look for things would save me so much time and energy.  

Kovich, B. (2021, August 23). How can teachers use google sites? let me count the ways. Enjoy Teaching with Brenda Kovich. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://enjoy-teaching.com/teachers-use-google-sites/. 

Band Portfolios with Google Sites

While Google Sites can be a great source for information in a classroom, it can also be used as an interactive platform.  In the blog post Band Portfolios with Google Sites by Amy Rever, she walks through the steps of creating digital portfolios using the platform.  Every student creates their own site to track their progress throughout the year.  For any district that uses Google Tools, transferring videos from Google Drive to their site is pretty seamless.  Rever also offers some tips to get started with this project.  First, check your districts privacy policies and try to keep these sites viewable only by those in your district’s network.  Encourage students to accurately label their videos and documents so it is easy to upload to their sites.  Aside from just uploading playing videos, you can also include written work, practice reflections, and other coursework.  At the end of the year (or their time in the school), students have a great log of all they accomplished.

Years ago, I had a Google Sites page for my strings program at a district I no longer work at.  It existed as an informational resource for concerts, rehearsal dates, and practice resources, but I never thought it could be used as an interactive tool.  I am always looking for new ways for students to reflect and improve on their playing and this could be the perfect solution.  We use Canvas in my current district.  While I do like it for submitting assignments, I was always frustrated at the lack of student interaction with the platform.  Using Google Sites, I could have students visit each others’ pages and leave comments of encouragement or suggestions on how to improve.

Rever, A. (2016, July 16). Band portfolios with google sites. Band Portfolios with Google Sites. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from http://thenoisyroomdownthehall.blogspot.com/2016/07/band-portfolios-with-google-sites.html. 

One skill that I teach constantly is vibrato.  It is a hard skill to learn and something students more or less have to figure out on their own.  Though I have a set of “go to” exercises to practice the skill, I am always looking for a more efficient way to teach it, as well as exercises students may better respond to.  The advantage of allowing students to use Pinterest to explore vibrato exercises is that they may find something that just “clicks” with them.  I think it will also allow them to see how many resources are actually available out there for them to practice.  One disadvantage is that not every resource will be a video, which may make it difficult to fully understand the exercise.

Objective: Students will understand the vibrato motion and teach an exercise to practice the skill.

Materials: Chromebooks, Instruments

1. Teacher will greet students and give them time to get their instruments out and tune.
2. Once instruments are out and tuned, teacher will ask questions related to vibrato.  Ex – what type of motion do we use, what are important things to remember, what 
3. Explain to students that they will be using pinterest today to research vibrato exercises.  
4. Have students create a Pinterest board and search “vibrato exercises” for their instrument.
5. Have students find a few potential resources and pin them.  Then, have them go through and view the resources.
6. Selecting the once they enjoy the most and find 
7. Once all students have selected an exercise and practice it, have them each teach it to the class
8. After going through all exercises, discuss what exercises worked for them, what didn’t, if they feel more confident with vibrato, etc.
9. With the class, create a list of exercises to continue using and exercises that did not work

Blogging Project

After spending a good amount of time trying to find a music-specific student blogging project, my searching yielded no good results.  I changed my search to a general student blogging project and came across the blog CultofPedagogy.com.  In this post, they give 3 types of blogging projects, then example topics for the blogs.  The third option was the “portfolio blog,” designed to showcase a student’s work within a topic.  I think this option would work best in my classroom as a way to track progress as we prepare for a concert.  I really try to get my students to listen, reflect, and come up with meaningful ways to improve as we prepare for performances.  Using the outline of this project, I could have my students write a short reflection each week on the progress they made on their music, as well as goals they have for the following week.  

Following the concert, they can reflect on how they felt their individual performance was, how the whole ensemble’s performance was, what they felt they learned with this performance, and what they could work towards the next performance.  I think this could also be a great way for a student to see how much progress they made within a concert cycle because it is easy to forget where they start when they first get that new piece of music.