I had the wonderful opportunity to work with some Music teachers recently at Panama Central School. Panama is a charming little town in New York. It's always a drive I look forward to because I pass through Amish Farmland (almost always seeing a horse drawn buggy), the smooth calm of Chautauqua Lake, and gentle rolling hills. So I was in a peaceful frame of mind as I entered the school, ready to work with these teachers. Here I will tell you a secret, I was both intimidated and eager to work with these teachers. While I appreciate music and have a basic understanding of music theory, I really can't talk the talk when it comes to deeper understanding of music. And yet, I was eager to work with them, because I feel very strongly that music education is so vital to a school and a thriving public education culture. The lessons I learned from my music teachers, was so valuable in its structure and rigor, because the true test of your learning is the beauty of the performance. Also, in this dark age of heavy handed educational reform; inspiration, art, beauty, are so needed. They are sunshine after a long rain. So you may be wondering. Why would I, as someone with limited music ability, be leading a workshop on Music and the iPads? Well, because I was inspired by the notion that my role would certainly not be the part of teaching music theory to them, but perhaps helping them see that the iPads and technology as a whole can help take the beauty that gets created through performance to a larger audience using technology. Examples that I gave the music teachers were the famous PS 22 Chorus, that won fame and admiration from simply posting their practice sessions on a blog. http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/. And with that, I started my day, not quite sure of the outcome, but hoping that by showing the power of the iPad as a creation device, that they would lead me to the objectives of the workshop. And so it happened. Being the creative and talented artists that they were, by the end of the day they were using the Garageband App to create a Jam Session that they all could contribute to. My gratitude and thanks to Musicians/Teachers, Anne Dolce, Steven Swanson, Dan Klinczar, Daland Perry. I started my day with a gentle ride through the country and ended my day with an inspirational performance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
the Geek
My name is Andrew Wheelock- I am a technology integrator who's fascinated with my fellow educators and their powerful uses of tech for learning. Archives
May 2016
Categories
All
|