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Putting it all Together: More Apps for your Teacher Toolbox

12/4/2018

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It's December! You’ve almost made it to winter break, but first you need to make it through the gauntlet of winter concerts and celebrations. Take a deep breath, you can do it. Maybe a having a way to help your students hear their parts and how all of the pieces work together would help… If so, READ ON!

I used to wish there was a way for me and my students to hear how the finished piece would sound whenever I taught a new arrangement. I would play each part myself and try
 to imagine how all of the parts sounded together. Fortunately, I found an app to help me. The one I use is called “Acapella” and it allows the user to record multiple videos and stitch them together. You’ve seen videos like this online in which one person has recorded themselves singing or playing multiple parts of a song. Now imagine what you could do with that in your classroom!

When you open the app you see videos created by other music makers. I usually skip right past that and hit the red button on the bottom. Once you press the red microphone button, you’ll decide the layout of your video and how long your video. The free version lets you record up to 1 minute of video. If you get the paid version you can record up to 10 minutes. You record each section of the video by tapping in the box you’d like to see that part in. One very handy feature of this app is the metronome. You can set the time signature and the tempo. This will help you make sure all of the videos are in sync. However, make sure you’re using a pair of headphones when you record. If you don’t, you’ll record yourself and the sound coming out of your iPad. When you’re all done you can save your creation to your device, or even upload it straight to YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Just be careful to remember copyright issues when posting videos online.

As cool as it would be to let my students play with this app in my classroom, I don’t let them do it. The reason is the social media aspect. I cannot control which other videos they watch, and since anyone can post anything there’s a decent chance that they’d stumble upon something inappropriate. There may be other apps that don't have this function, if you find one let me know! However, as a teacher tool I’ve found Acapella to be invaluable. Below is an example of how I’ve used the app. This is a simple accompaniment for a German singing game I taught my students. I wanted them to see and hear how the parts went together. I also wanted them to have something to practice with at home. I should have recorded the singing separately since it's hard to hear, but since my students already knew the words I was more focused on the instrument parts. I’ve used this app for much more complex arrangements, but because of copyright issues I will only show them in my classroom. Come to our next workshop and I'd be happy to show you one of them!​

​I love helping other music teachers by sharing what I’ve learned. If you have a great resource or idea to share, let us know about it! CCCAOSA will be hosting our annual Chapter Share workshop on February 2nd, and we’re looking for teachers like you to present. You do not have to share to attend, but if you’d consider doing a short presentation at our Chapter Share, please fill out the info in this link: https://goo.gl/forms/dfVLWUiKqPD1zo9d2 
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- Alexis Kagel

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Ideas For Your Music Teacher Sub Tub

10/13/2018

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Planning for a substitute teacher in a music class can be a challenge. You may end up with a sub who has little or no musical training, so what do you leave for them? Four of the CCCAOSA board members have some ideas for you:

Here's a fun book-related activity in my Sub Tub that goes with “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes” by Eric Litwin. The song that goes with the book can be found at http://www.petethecatbooks.com/songs/ but Pete is so popular that chances are, some of your students will already know the song. Along with the book, leave copies of a shoe outline coloring page and crayons. After reading the book, the students can color their shoes and write on their paper what Pete stepped in to make his shoes that color. The class can then make their own new Pete song, inserting each child’s new shoe color into the pattern of the story and singing the song about it...because it’s all good.

-Ann Wells


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If there is one DVD to have in your Sub Tub, it is Peter and the Wolf by the Royal Ballet. This works with any age group and the kids really love it! Supplement it with a listening activity in which the sub plays each theme and the kids try to figure out which character it is, or students could move like the character as the theme plays. You can access the themes on this website http://www.philtulga.com/Peter.html if you do not have recordings. This site also has ideas for writing prompts in which students could write a new endings for the story.

-Colleen Walsh


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Alphabet Soup is a steady beat game I use in the music room with K-2 students.  It’s simple and can be left in your sub tub. You will need a ball (I use a yarn ball) and an instrument to use for the signal (I use a crash cymbal or gong.)

Alphabet Soup, Alphabet Soup,
What shall we put in the alphabet soup?
A, B, C, D, E, (continues until you hear signal)


Students sit in a circle and pass a ball(I use a yarn ball) around the circle to the steady beat.  One student sits outside the circle with a drum or other instrument that everyone can hear. The student outside the circle signals for the ball to stop moving, the students answers with a word that starts with the letter they stopped on.,The student who answered switches with the signal person and the game continues.  Yarn Ball instructions
-Sue Reynolds


This is a super simple emergency sub plan that’s great in a pinch, especially if you have a non-musical, non-tech savvy sub. Get a copy of “Miss Nelson is Missing” by Harry G. Allard. In the story, Miss Nelson goes missing and is replaced by the horrible Miss Viola Swamp. The kids wonder and imagine where in the world Miss Nelson is. This is where your sub comes in. Have them read the story and then pose the question, “So where do you think your music teacher is today?” Students can write a story, draw a picture, or create a comic strip. The stories your students come up with will surprise you!

-Alexis Kagel
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Flip it!

10/3/2018

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PictureTaking a silly selfie is one of my students' favorite Flipgrid features
​I LOVE TECHNOLOGY! I could shout it from the rooftops. I honestly don’t know how I taught before Youtube and iPads. There are a million apps for music, but sometimes we run into a problem. If we’re sharing iPads with classroom teachers, we can’t always get all of the music apps we want and we need to make the classroom teacher's apps work for us. Therefore, I wanted to introduce you to an app that will work for you AND your classroom teachers!

​If you haven’t heard of 
Flipgrid, make it your new best friend. With Flipgrid you create a “grid,” where teachers can pose a question that their students will respond to in videos of 90 seconds or less. Students can watch each other’s responses, “like” their videos, and record video responses. As a music teacher, I saw Flipgrid as a platform for students to create short musical pieces with me and their peers.



In all the excitement of the #firstdayofschool I forgot to post this! We turned the classic name game around and @HCES_5 used @Flipgrid to record their names as repeating rhythms. The buzz around the room was amazing □□❤️ #Hawksdoitdifferent @HortonsCreekES pic.twitter.com/lRXBHyCqpo

— Music w/ Mrs Kagel (@HCESMusic) August 28, 2018
Here’s how I’ve used it so far: my 5th graders created ostinatos using their names. They could use just their first name, their first and last, or their first and middle and last. They repeated their ostinatos and layered them over each other, adding body percussion. This is where Flipgrid comes in. Logged into the 5th grade grid, they recorded their layered ostinatos and took a silly selfie for the thumbnail of the video. If they had extra time, they got to watch other groups’ videos. Even the kid that was rolling his eyes at the beginning of class (you know that kid) was totally enthralled.

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But here’s the real genius of using Flipgrid. The next time each class came, they created self reflection responses to their videos. They used a rubric and shared what they did well and what they could have done better. Later on, I was able to watch their original video composition and their reflections. Such a simple app was turned into a powerful assessment tool.

So how can you do this too? Go to www.flipgrid.com and make a free Flipgrid account. Make a grid. You can have students log in with a password or with QR codes (I just created an account for each iPad, not each student.) That’s it! GET FLIPPING!

​If you have any questions, come see me at the October workshop with James Harding! Like I said, I love technology, and I love helping other people love technology too.

-Alexis Kagel
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Summertime and the Livin' is Easy!

6/28/2018

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Congrats, we all made it to the end of another school year!! If you are feeling like myself you are very grateful for a break and chance to reset for the next year. Somehow I always end the year counting down until the very last days wishing for summer to just get here. Yet August rolls around, the tide turns, and suddenly I’m excited about the new opportunities that year will bring. I ended this year with the same anxious feelings and although I’m not ready to go back in August I always manage to find a way.

​I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way, and I thought it would be nice to share what I like to do to get ready for the next year. Most importantly, I like to make sure I give myself a break. I always manage to find projects that have nothing to do with teaching and music. There is something special with teaching. We are the few professionals that can completely end something, regroup, and start all over again. Taking time to turn teaching off is vital to be able to reflect and grow for future years. Right now, my vegetable garden is my little project, and I’m enjoying spending my time outside and eating what my garden produces. Yep-those are my tomatoes, a black variety that I started by seed! Eventually school will start crossing my mind, until then I will enjoy everything else! 

I also like the be mindful of how my body goes from a hermit crab during the summer to an energizer bunny overnight once school starts. I can always feel it in two places, my feet and my voice. You would be surprised how many music teachers have struggled with their speaking and singing voice. 1 in 5 teachers, not just music teachers, will at some point have a vocal disorder. If you haven’t gone through all of that, I hope that this statistic will bring awareness to how important it is to take care of yourself and your voice. The muscles used to sing need to be conditioned just like one might train for a marathon. I’ll be the first to tell you that I have struggled with hoarseness, reduced range and swelling. Although I know many people have it worse than myself, I went through the process of getting a scope done and vocal therapy. Through that process, I learned how important it is to hydrate, pace my voice, use voice amplification, and warm-up. I’m not a vocalist or even a doctor, but I do know that I ended the school year with the range that started with at the beginning of the year.

Over the course of the summer, I will gently warm-up up my voice with various exercises and continue those throughout the year. My normal routine includes singing through a straw and raspberry trills. There is science behind singing through a straw and here a video that demonstrates and explains it all.


I use a coffee straw and start by singing a single pitch and move diatonically up a scale. I don’t push my range, my goal is to keep things feeling comfortable. I then continue with a chromatic warm-up gliding up and down in thirds. Sometimes I keep using the straw and extend the range or start raspberry trills. I usually make something up going from Do to So and continue the up my range chromatically. This is the foundation of what I like to do, and depending on time I usually add more singing afterwards.

I hope that this helps others, but I wanted you to know that if you ever struggle with your voice you aren’t alone. We are very lucky in the triangle because Duke has a fantastic Voice Center that specializes in speaking and singing voices. They have locations in Raleigh and Durham with fantastic doctors and speech pathologists. They taught me so much and helped me gain the confidence I need to move forward.

I hope everyone has a fantastic and relaxing summer. Enjoy the calm before the marathon begins and take care of yourself!


~Jessica Duncan
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Welcome back to another great school year!

8/12/2017

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Welcome back to another wonderful year making music with your students. If you are feeling anything like myself, the thought of walking into your school building makes you...well...a little nauseous. Once I get in the groove of teaching, all will be well, but crossing over the starting line is the hardest part. My summer has flown by, of all summers this one has been packed with incredible memories and busy plans. In June, I got married in Raleigh, went on a honeymoon to Banff in Canada and ever since then I’ve tried so hard to get back to this new normal. For the rest of my summer, I started my kindermusik certification and also taught a special topic session at Appalachian’s Orff Levels. It has been a summer to remember and I can't believe it's coming to an end.
It’s always refreshing to attend the first Orff workshop and ease back into teaching. This workshop is August 19 with Bethann Hepburn at Durham Academy's Lower School. Bethann is one of the authors of Purposeful Pathways and I saw her last November at the AOSA national conference. I'm so excited because we are in for such a treat. I was blown away by her ability to differentiate activities to meet the needs of all students. After her session, I went back to teach her lessons and the kids loved them. I can't wait to get more ideas from her. For more info and registration, go to cccaosa.com. We would love to see you there. Everyone at CCCAOSA, myself included, wants to help you start this year off right, therefore I’ve compiled my first week of school lessons to share with you today.
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For the first week of lessons, I try my best to find a fun theme to start off the year. Honestly, I do this for myself, because it you’re not careful you will bore yourself by saying all of the expectations over and over again. When making my first week’s lessons, I consider a couple of other things too. They MUST sing, I don’t want to fight with my older kids about whether they are going to sing or not, by getting them to sing day one I don’t have to fight that battle. On the flip side, I want them to leave feeling like they have enjoyed themselves. We only get one first impression, if that doesn’t go well it’s an uphill battle for the rest of the year.

This year, my name has changed and I thought that could be my theme. I’m counting on the kids to help me adjust, so making it a big deal to them might help them and me. I found this book, Catalina Magdalena Hoopenstiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name by Tedd Arnold. It’s a camp song all about this little girl with a crazy name and guess what….she get’s married and her name changes at the end of it. It’s a great little song, because it’s simple and repetitive. Every grade will read this story, go over expectations and then play a name game until the end of class.
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I also created a little Orff Arrangement to go along with the song. This will be great for my older kids to get mallets back in their hands and maybe even play recorder too! For the younger grades, I will get them on the Orff instruments by improvising a B section using their names. This song and story stands well on it’s on, but if you want to give the Orff arrangement a shot go for it!

Use what you can! If you have any questions, you can comment below, tweet us @cccaosa or comment on our facebook page. We will be happy to help in anyway you need, just ask!

Happy Music Making! 

~Jessica

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February 11th, 2016

2/11/2016

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Welcome back to school! Isn't that a phrase we all love to hear? Especially after an extended weekend or vacation filled with pajamas, Netflix, and relaxation! It can be difficult to get back "into the swing of things", especially for our students, when there is an extended break from the school schedule. I found it especially difficult to bring students back when I was teaching year-round school, after three weeks it was almost impossible for my children to follow our classroom expectations their first day back.

One of the first things you hear when you start your journey as an educator is "effective classroom management". But what does that even mean? And how do we take the things we have learned and tailor them to meet the needs of our students? Is it OK to slip up every now and then or is rigorous structure needed every second of every day to get anything done?

I grappled with all of these questions for so long before I was introduced to the Schulwerk - my lessons just weren't engaging the way I was hoping they would be. And then, in November 2008, my life changed forever. My cooperating teacher at the time helped pay my way to my first AOSA National Conference - a debt I will never be able to repay. She also insisted I participate in Intro to Schulwerk. Now, I cannot obviously say that I came away knowing everything there is to know about Orff-Schulwerk, but I can say that I came away refreshed, renewed, and with answers to a lot of my burning questions.

Utilizing this new approach, I found that my students were more engaged, more willing to participate, and less wiggly (probably because I wore them out with all those Amidon dances!). This is what the Orff-Schulwerk can offer and this is why I consider myself so lucky for having been introduced to such an amazing approach for teaching music. As my life and career have shifted, I find that my lessons plans aren't the center of my focus much anymore. However, every chance I get to introduce my tiny 4-year-old students to Orff-Schulwerk is a moment I cherish.

I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on how the Schulwerk has made an impact on your life. What do you most remember about your first experiences? How has it shaped you as an educator?

Maybe, just maybe, it will give you that little extra push to get out of bed your first day back. :)

Meaghan Dunham
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    Musings from  CCCAOSA board members.

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