I am currently participating in a group project about Google Bookmarks.
The point of the presentation is to educate others on the simplicity and efficiency of such a program.
I think this is a great tool for teachers to have. We've all had that weird moment in class when the teacher wants to show us a video, article, song or whatever else to supplement our learning but couldn't find it. With bookmarks, you can save the page/website/document and access it from any computer with internet, click on the page, and BOOM! you're there. No awkward "give me a second to find the video", just a a few clicks and you're ready to continue teaching. This efficiency allows us to use more technology in the classroom, waste less time, and we can share anything with our students. If we find a website that would be a wonderful resource for our students to have, we can share it with them through google bookmarks. It only took me a short while to organize my bookmarks into folders for homework, jobs, sheet music, places I want to go, recipes I want to try, and others. I've only shared one page so far, but it was pretty self explanitory- the program guided me through everything.
For the presentation, I added the slide on how it will improve productivity, contributed to the refelctions page, and altered some of the key features. Here is a link to the presentation: Google Bookmarks Presentation

Yodio post for EDUC 549- Reading

yodio reading reflection- EDUC 549

Technology in Education Reflection

If Facebook were a country, it would have the third highest population between India and the United States.

People search Facebook more often than google. 

There has been more video uploaded on Youtube in the past 2 months then there has been on cbs, nbc, and abc since 1948- if they had been broadcasting continuously. 

Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have more followers than Isreal, Panama, Ireland, and other countries. 

Privacy has gone out the window since"what happens in Vegas stays on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube."

Social media has taken over. People no longer seek out supported, factual news, but rely on what they read on facebook and twitter, and see on you tube. As teachers, we need to educate ourselves and our setudents on ways to seek out factual information. And we need to teach them to research both sides of an argument before making a decision. 

While there is sometimes a negative spin on online media, technology has been incredibly beneficial. For example, email has changed the way we communicate all together. I can have a full conversation with someone via email whom I have never met and have never spoken to. And now that email is on our phones, we can check email anytime, anywhere with professors, bosses, co-workers, fellow students, family, friends, doctors, and others. Because of busy schedules, it is difficult to find time to call someone or get together. But email makes it convenient for all. Sharing information has never been easier, but it is because of this that we should be more skeptical and do more research to form an educated opinion. Just because someone blogged or posted a comment on facebook that gay marriage is wrong doesn't mean it is. We need to teach students to think for them selves, and not to let social media do their thinking for them. 

Technology has also brought us closer to world politics and events. I can read about what is happening in Kenya, Isreal, Germany, Australia and see how it effects the world, me, and the people I know. We can read about how wildlife is being preserved and things we can do to help. The video "Vision 2011" says that several years ago, if wanted to know about Syria, we had to look it up in an encyclopedia. And that information was all historical. Now, we can type "Syria" into the search engine and get all sorts of information. 

Technology definitely has positive and negative effects. It is how we choose to use technology that makes it positive or negative. As teachers, we can educate ourselves and our students on the latest technological advances and learn to use it in a responsible, productive way. For more, listen to my yodio reflection 

Blogging in Education

Many people say that we are in the "information age" and things like facebook, twitter, wikipedia, and blogging are all helping to spread information. Whether some of the "facts" are true are not are up for debate, but there seems to be a constant flow of information finding it's way onto the web. The internet has become a huge resource for both students and teachers.We use it to create lesson plans, and they use it to complete assignments. But what happens to that paper once it has been graded? It's given back to the student, tossed in a back pack, folder, or locker to be found crumpled when preparing for the next semester. The student- and the teacher- forget about the assignment that is no longer relevant. But with a blog, an assignment can be posted, where peers and teachers alike can comment on it, draw from the information, improve writing skills, use it as an example, and so much more.

My main focus is music, and a blog is a wonderful tool to have. If I were to create a blog or facebook page for my ensemble, I can post recordings of concerts, give public mention to soloists and section leaders, advertise upcoming concerts and events, recruit, fund-raise, and the students can read performance feedback from the community. An ensemble blog would be reinforcement for what I am doing in the classroom. If I tell the ensemble they had a great concert, they may just think I'm saying it because I'm their teacher. But if peers, parents, and community members post on the blog about the performance, the success becomes more real.

Wonderful music tools could also be made handy- a link to IMSLP where you can download and print public domain music for free. Or a chart of the circle of fifths, instrument fingering charts, transposition charts, etc. Students could even post some of their own compositions using a "yodio" account, or post the score using "Sibelius". They could post music history reports, reviews of music they've heard or want to play. But most importantly, this information is available to the public and school board. Music is fading fast from our public schools, and as soon as people see how much kids need and love their music classes, the farther we are from losing the program completely.

My Bio

Hello all,

My name is Kalyn and I am pursuing my Master of Arts in Education. My current goal is to become a high school music teacher, preferably band and orchestra but many teachers in small schools often end up teaching choir as well. I grew up in Dayton, Oregon where I started playing trombone in the fifth grade because I KNEW I could play better then my big brother, who also played trombone. He ended up dropping out of band his Junior year and I continued on to get my bachelors degree in music education. I guess I won that battle. Another reality is that as a music is a dying field, so I may have to teach junior high as well. My band director did band and choir for junior high and high school and I would like to be prepared for that situation. I would love to teach in a school with an orchestra and jazz band as well as concert band. I had never been in an orchestra before college and instantly fell in love. The style of playing is so different. Almost everything is a solo or soli and the music requires you to know about the time period to perform well. Also, we get to perform rock orchestra versions of great songs. Last year we did Eric Clapton's "Layla" with brass solos. This April, we will be playing with the band "Kansas" at the Roseland in Portland. These are things that get young people and aspiring musicians excited about playing, and in a dying field, it is the perfect way to keep it alive. 

Directing an orchestra is also a wonderful way to teach music history to students without making them feel like they are being lectured. Each piece of music and composer has a story that is relevant to the way the music needs to be played. Often times, if a musician understands why the music was written, they will feel more connected to it and be more likely to perform it the way the original composer would have wanted, but put their own personality- and personality of the conductor- into the music. I am a total nerd for music history. I have a Beethoven bobble-head on my dashboard, 2 Brahms paintings, one of which has a "greatful dead" spin on it with Brahms wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, a Beethoven action figure, and all sorts of other dorky things that my husband is embarrassed to have around the house. 

In addition to my music, I am also interested in horsemanship. I have been riding horses most of my life and am constantly trying to improve my skills. I've raced barrels, helped with colt starting, and am currently studying equine massage at a horse rescue facility where I also volunteer. I currently do not own any of my own, but have access to the rescue horses and am leasing a horse and take lessons with him. Raised in the country, I also participated in FFA in junior high and high school. I raised and sold pigs and earned my State Degree- the highest degree you can get without being an officer. For that, I had to learn how to judge soil irrigation, know the history of agriculture in my state, the history of the FFA, at least two different types of weld, put a certain amount of money and hours into my FFA project- which was pigs- and I had to show and judge animals outside of my project. FFA, I have noticed, is also fading out. In Lane county this past summer, there was no FFA at all, and 4-H students had to show at the Benton County fair because Lane would not allow them. Hopefully, wherever I end up teaching, I can help the agricultural programs flourish. I would not have the work ethic I have without those programs. 

My time is spent between my husband, my family, my education and music, horses, and work. I took a night time position working a remodel at a Eugene Target so my work schedule would not conflict with student teaching. It's pretty challenging as far as sleep goes, but the work is good. It keeps me active and I'm quickly being recongnized for my efforts and have already trained several people. My other job is as a homeschool music teacher. I have two students whom I teach for an hour and a half each week. We have studied music in the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras, and have studied Beethoven as a transitional figure in to the Romantic era. My students are also learning piano and are learning an arrangement of Beethoven's 9th (Ode to Joy) which is a great way for them to learn left and right hand independence as well as introduce them to the C Major scale. My goal is to teach them the Brahms Lullaby by summer break when we finish the Romantic Era. It is important that they play pieces relevant to the time period we are studying so they can perform the music, rather than simply playing it. 

I am very excited to be in school again and am sure that learning new technologies will create more opportunities and outlets for me to expose my students to different types of music and ways to interpret it. 

Jazz Band Clinic