Math and Music

A great learning tool is being able to take what you learn in one class, and connect it with another. I've always hear that music and math are related. This is mainly said in a way that mean musicians are supposed to be good at math...this is not true because I am HORRIBLE with math. But I remembered a video I saw a while ago and thought that this could be the new meaning to math and music being related

What Pi Sound Like is a video made to represent the different digits of pi in a musical form. After watching the video, a musician will be able to recognize that though there is music being made, it doesn't really portray any recognizable melody...there is some aspect missing that could really change this music into a lasting, and memorable piece for students.

This video could be used in a lesson in which students will have to re-vamp the music in some mathematical way (again, I'm horrible at math, so don't expect a specific example) to make it so they could remember and sing back the song, therefore remember the first 30-something digits of pi. This is a great starter assignment that could be modified to any other subject. Eventually, your students will end up with a method to composing music, using musical elements, while also incorporating other subject matter that could later be used as a study method and during tests to help remember answers.

I think that this is a great example and resource for creating new and revamped lesson plans in the music classroom. It incorporates all of the important parts of learning music.

-Connecting other subject
-Composition
-Performance
-Theory
-Technology

Teaching to the Test-for music teachers

Teaching to the test is a common phrase heard throughout the education world. It basically means that teachers only use information that they know will be on the standardized tests to pound into their students brains. I can see how this is unfavorable to most uneducated, idiotic, power hungry men (you know who I'm talking about..) but at the same time, I can also see how this is a last resort and only choice for most teachers. Their jobs depend on the ability of their students to score high on standardized tests. These test are used as a critiquing method for the teachers. So when they try to make sure the kids pass the test, they are torn between teaching useful information, and actually having the kids learn something and just shoving this information at the kids so they don't lose their jobs.

This is different for music teachers. We don't have a section on the tests, which means we don't have to worry about teaching to the test....or do we?

I've noticed that a lot of music teachers do teach to the test. Our test just isn't on paper. Our test is our concerts. Many music teachers teach to the concert by having their students learn their music and that's all. I feel that one of the reasons music teachers and music classes are on the chopping block is because after the concerts, that's it. The kids don't walk away with anything and there are way too many "music teachers" just covering the basics. If a music classroom were to be influential on students it would cover a broad range of musical elements like:

-theory
-history
-technology

Theory is a HUGE subject within music covering dynamic, chords, scales, composition, orchestration, sight reading, aural notation, written notation, etc, etc. It covers the in's and out's of music, how its written and read and its an amazing tool to have when students are learning pieces. They can see why certain chord progressions are used in certain pieces and how the music fits together.

History is the basis of music. This covers composers, musical eras from medieval to contemporary, Western and non-western music, musical cultures, and world music. Its for the students to see why certain piece were composed and provides them insight into interesting stories like why Beethoven was deaf, how mozart only wrote the first 4 measures to one of the final movements in his requiem, yet its finished today, and how the music of centuries ago influences the music they listen to today. An amazing way to get students interested in music is to connect it with their own live, cultures, and experiences.

Technology is necessary because the world is becoming engrossed with it. Technology is everywhere and showing students the new possibilities to recording, producing, and composting music opens up unlimited possibilities for their musical ideas.

I think these three main aspects should always be part of a music classroom. I feel that they open up a whole new world full of different experiences and information that can be used by our students, and in their own way advocate for music education.

Dealing with "different" students

I feel that my lifestyle is much different than everyone else's. By that, I mean that my way of thinking, my way of being open minded and accepting is much different than some of my peers. I've often noticed that some of my friends just shut down around people with disorders they aren't used to. There are a few students in the school of music who do have disorders like Aspergers, ranging from very high functioning, to somewhat low functioning. And I've noticed that when a certain student with this disorder comes around my friends avert their eyes, pretend like they don't know he's there and just outright ignore him. I find it sickening. 

I don't understand how my peers, being education majors, don't know how to deal with people who are different from them. There is a possibility that they will have students with social, mental, and physical disorders in their music classes. Its not as likely as the main-stream subject, but I have been in classes in high school with a boy who is living with Down Syndrome, a girl in a wheelchair because of a spinal disease, and now in college 2-4 of my peers have Aspergers of different functioning levels. For me, its just normal to interact with them. But, I think I was lucky enough to be brought up around these disorders. My mother is an extremely wonderful woman. She has worked her way from physical ed/health teacher while also teaching special education, and is now the head of the child study team at one of the three high schools in my town. I think she may actually be one of the heads in the district as well since she deals with students from all over the district that go to different schools. She used to bring me in for "take your daughter to work day." She also used to organize rides and outfits/dresses for prom so her students could go to them. So I was around and exposed to these kinds of disorders from a young age. And even in my childhood, I was never exposed to something like what is in this video. 

I post this video as a question to my peers. How do you think you would handle something like this in your classroom? This is much different than a mental disorder, and I'm curious to see how my peers would handle something like this if they have trouble with simple conversation between themselves and someone with very high functioning Aspergers. 

Kids on the Internet

There has always been a pit in my stomach, a bad taste in my mouth or a twitch in my brain when I hear or read about young kids have cell phones, iPads, iPod touch, or a social page like myspace and Facebook. It never really escalated until I saw a recent video on youtube about a girl who was "driven to plastic surgery" by bullies in school and on Facebook.

This Video portrays a young girl and her family speaking about the trouble she faces at school and on Facebook because of her nose. The family explains that the girl broke her nose when she was 2, and again when she was 8. Since then her nose changed from its original structure and has now reformed because of the breaks. Because of this, she suffered ridicule from her peers; both at school and on Facebook. The video goes on to show her family allowing the teen to undergo plastic surgery to fix her nose that she states "she hates."

My problem here isn't with her parents allowing her to have plastic surgery. I actually believe that if my child were extremely unhappy with a part of their body (that has changed because of previous injuries, like her broken nose), and I had the finances to fix it, I would consider it.

My problem here is that her parents allow her to have a Facebook page. I have believed for a long time that allowing young kids to have such advanced technology and have a social media page intended for older generations is absolutely stupid. Kids are mean, and everyone knows this. Kids poke fun at each other, they are too young to fully understand how their actions and words affect each other. Don't get it wrong, I am all for teaching our students that bullying is wrong, and just how far it can go. But, at the same time, these kids are too young to fully grasp the outcome of their actions.

I think this girl's problem could have easily been reduced by half if her parents and the other teen's parents didn't allow them to have a Facebook. What do they even need this form of media for? I truly don't understand why parents allow their kids to have these privileges, and then get upset when that very privilege causes more harm than good.

Final

The lesson plan I chose utilizes a multi-media approach to learning the specific content area. Originally, the lesson only provided one approach to learn the content, but after adaptations were made for inclusion, it was transformed into a lesson containing 2 different approaches to teaching the same content; one is dependent on the teacher, the other is dependent on an interactive website. The website allows the students to activate and use technology to review, and even further explore the lessons taught in the classroom based on music theory. This lesson is used for beginning to learn the different intervals, which is a more advanced lesson, but not so advanced that it could be over the student's head. The website offers many more lessons and exercises for the student to explore as then learn about the different elements of music theory including intervals, clefs, note names, recognizing, reading, writing, and hearing chords, piano skills, etc etc.

Matrix

Row 3
Row 3 is the starting row in my document. The technologies utilized in this row are electric keyboard or virtual keyboard if electric is not available, speakers, computer or internet accessible device (laptop, iPad, tablet). In this teaching strategy, the keyboard, be it virtual or not, is used to produce the different types of intervals the instructor is presenting. The instructor presents the intervals orally, while also playing them on the keyboard. The students listen, and are then required to color in the corresponding notes of those intervals on a provided print out of the keys on a keyboard. With this activity, the students are exploring an element of music (intervals) through verbal and written responses (coloring in the intervals, sharing their answers), to diverse aural prompts (playing an interval or giving the name of the interval for the students to identify.

Row 4
Row 4 technologies consist of a virtual keyboard (this time for the student), speakers, headphones, and internet access. This is the first row that establishes the two different styles of teaching the same content. The technologies are used mainly by the student to access the website www.musictheory.net . Through this website, the student is able to view (by color coordination, just like they did in the previous activity) different intervals. The student is then required to click on the correct, corresponding interval option. The only problem with this activity, is that the site does not play the interval, but there is a virtual keyboard option at the top of the exercise. This allows the student to click on the specific keys of the keyboard to play the shaded notes of the interval to further support their answers. Throughout the activity, the teacher is administrating the use of the computers, making sure all the students are on task, while also being able to assess the students, making sure they understand the different intervals. Through this activity, the students are recognizing and naming a variety of music elements using appropriate vocabulary (the correct names of the intervals) while advocating and practicing safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology (teacher guided internet use) They are also selecting and using applications effectively and productively (the virtual keyboard option on the website, and the website itself.)

Row 5
Row 5 is somewhat of a continuation of Row 4. A difference is that the students can now be prompted with a specific interval, and can then use the technologies (computer, speakers, headphones, internet access) to utilize the virtual keyboard and play, out loud, the corresponding notes to the provided interval. This is a great way to get the students working together to problem solve and come up with a certain solution while working in groups to provide a correct answer. Because there is more than one solution to these prompts (for example a P5, or perfect 5th, could be C-G, D-A, F-C, etc.) the students are also providing multiple "solutions" to the problem. Through this exercise, the students are demonstrating the basic concepts of intervals (choosing and playing correct intervals), while also understanding and using technology systems (using the virtual keyboard provided on the website to play their own intervals).

Row 6 & 7 are further continuations of the overall lesson, providing different standards for, generally, the same activities. I included a NETS-S standard on its own because I believe that the standard stands alone in the lesson, being a major part of re-teaching the information. The students must use the internet, computer and vital keyboard to establish answers, and use the we site effectively to solve problems. Problems being how to build, recognize, and play certain intervals.

Assessments
The assessments in this matrix are located in 4a, 5a, and 7a. The assessment in 4a consists of the teacher chaperoning the activities on the computer. The teacher is able to see what the students are doing. They can see that the students are correctly activating the website, considering answers, using what they learn to complete the exercises and revisiting the lessons tab to review information. In 5a, the assessment consists of having the students answer questions by using their virtual keyboard. The keyboard are presented with a little more than an octave range. The students can then play their answers to the oral prompts the teaching is giving. With this, the student can see all the different possible answers to one prompt as well as being able to here and audiate the answers. The assessment in 7a is basically just for technology. Since the NETS-S are being implemented in public schools, its important to include an assessment just for the technology portions of a lesson or activity. With this, the teacher can see that the students are safely, and correctly using the technology. If the students are struggling, they can connect with their peers and problem solve together to figure out any issues the face while using the technology (the computer, or the virtual keyboard.)

Interactivity #5

The teacher I emailed is actually no longer considered a teacher. She was a teacher for many years in physical education/health and special ed in the high schools. She then became the head of the child study team at just one of the high schools in my town (Hamilton Twp, Mercer County). The high school is considered the "worst" school in our township, many kids with disabilities (mental and emotional) and low financial standing for most of the families in the area.

When I first inquired about the NETS-S, she said she was unaware of these standards. She stated that she did not know of any specific changes within the school to accommodate the standards, but she does know that the teachers in the schools are required to include technology into their lessons in some way. The teachers are to include technology into their lessons daily, and she also mentioned a test in 8th grade to assess the students knowledge of technology. She imagines that if these standards were to be fully implemented, the school would need funding for a lot more technology based devices. Because of the area, many families cannot afford to own these devices at home, so if the students are required to learn to use them, they would have to be within the school. She finally states that its somewhat impossible for a school to "finish" a transition into these standards because technology is always changing, improving, therefore the standards will never be permanent.

I actually was not surprised at the responses. I was more surprised to learn of the existence of these standards. I was still in high school in 2007 (graduated in 2009) and I never saw any change towards more technology in the classes. It was really considered a "good day" when we were allowed or required to use the computers in our science classes to complete labs/assignments.

In the future, I will plan to include technology into my lessons wherever they may fit. I feel that the problem with including technology, especially in music, is that it lowers the value of the actual act of creating and listening to live music for my students. At the same time, it offers an opportunity for them to listen to different musical cultures and music around the world that they may not have been able to experience before. So I believe that technology, while part of our evolving world, is better used in moderation, no matter the subject matter or content area. I will speak within my school about the importance of knowing how to use technology to better their students education, but I would also warn them about the possibility of technology being a crutch or an easy way out of an assignment or class.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Atb02nrpTTXpdHI0SkJYWWp3WHRHQ1J0QzI2RngzUmc

(link to original spreadsheet with NETS-S standards added)

"It gives me the feeling of love. I figure right now, the world needs to come into music."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDXuCE7LeQ&feature=colike

(link to youtube video)

There are often times, I'm sure everyone goes through, that I doubt what I'm doing in life.

Why would I ever want to do this?

The odds are against me, how could I ever succeed?

Will I be able to be happy later in life?

These questions plague me more than they should, and I find that I am constantly reminded of my distaste for a lot of what teaching music contains. But then, I come across videos like the one above. Any my entire perspective is altered...

I found this video so inspirational, and emotional, and meaningful! Its a reminder that the people who try to tell us that music is a waste or "not a logical career," have NO IDEA that things like this (in the video) happen. They know nothing about the power of music in general, let alone the power a teacher/professor/advocator/lover of music embody.

When I saw this, I knew I had to post about it. I knew I had to somehow relate it to music education so I could share it with whoever reads my blog because the message is that important. This video, this act of recognizing music, being able to bring someone out of whatever room they were locked in in their own minds is something anyone who has been educated about music can do. Knowing the history of music, contemporary in this case, is a major part of this encounter. But after rummaging through what I've been taught over the last three years, I eventually found that the reason I wanted to share this post in the first place, is educational in itself.

Music in general, isn't something like math, so simply used and once its complete its not thought about until its needed next. Its not like science or english or a language...its part of someone. Its constantly inside you, constantly changing, we (educated or not) are always able to create it and shape it. This is something I will forever instill in my students. I will teach them that, like this man, music can bring out who you are, however lost, or compressed you may feel. And that, is a major part of life. Dealing with their emotions and reactions, is what we as teachers are here for, isn't it? To shape them and guide them into society without fear and with enough skills and abilities to handle all that life may throw at them, be it academic or emotional.

(Of course, I'll mention that some forms of technology are needed with teaching my students about this. Recordings of certain pieces, recording software, computer, speakers, iPod, notational software, headphones, etc. etc. )

As expected, the inspiration and motivation I feel while writing this will fade. I'll find something to be negative about, something to bring me down, because as Frank Sinatra said, "That's life!"

But, I think that's the beauty in the relationship between life and music..its there when you need it most. You just have to let it in... and sometimes back out.