Using technology in class performances can help students relate to performing a lot easier. As a teacher of students who sing they don’t understand the concept of performing until they’ve gotten on stage to do it. While I do intent on giving them more opportunities to perform throughout the year it is important to me that these students understand how they should perform before they even get on stage. Sharing projects, as a sort of show and tell concept gives students the pride to share something they’ve worked really hard on and the experience of having their peers enjoy it. I am interested to see how incorporating technology in the classroom will help students develop their experiences beyond just listening to music. I believe technology can help students better understand that they are allowed to be hands on with music similar to the creators they hear on the radio. A disadvantage is that when technology becomes familiar to them, it could lead to less effort in performing traditionally. As we have listened to several different sounds in garage band and other websites it is scary how accurate some of the sounds are to the actual instrument and they are created through technology.
I love that principal 1 and principal 8 go so well together. Sharing ones self through performing is how I like to see it. When students find things that they like about the sounds they hear they are sharing themselves and when they are allowed to create and perform those sounds it is a direct connection to principal 1. As a teacher and knowing what I know now, I can create an environment that lets students be excited to perform simply by explaining that music something they can share in themselves as principal 1 and then developing that to showing them that they do enjoy sharing their ideas which is called performing.
A lesson that could put all of these principals together well is the one about the podcast. Students are choosing their favorite songs and using audacity to create things with them. Showing them the surplus of podcasts about hundreds of different things as examples and then beginning with only 3 songs and 2 minutes of podcast can keep students on task. After letting the students work for a little while, I believe just as we did in class allowing the length of the podcast to be adjusted slightly so that students will not experience too much pressure in the guidelines of their creative processes is very good to keep from stifling creativity. To facilitate improvisation in this lesson is slightly more difficult but going around and listening to students work, giving them feedback and then letting students share their unfinished work with peers for feedback could be good. At the end of the time allotted for the project, the students can engage in principal 8 and allow their creation to be performed.
Miranda Gonzales 