Genius Hour Update #5

Hello friends.

This is the final update before I post my final Ted Talk and come to the end of my journey.  All and all it's been fun.  I have learned a lot of different songs and I personally feel as though I have improved a lot.  I've included another video of myself playing so you can all get a little glimpse.  It might not seem like there is a huge difference in skill level but this song was a lot more difficult to learn and faster paced than the last one.  I'm pretty excited because the last one I posted I couldn't even play at full speed and this one I can play almost entirely from memory.  Like I said in my last post, the key thing I've taken away is not how to play one specific song but rather than I can always keep improving.  If I had to go back now I would adjust my initial goal for myself from learning to play one song to learning the fundamentals to continue my journey playing.  If I had just stuck to one song I don't think that would have really encapsulated my path to learning the ukulele as a whole and would have ended up as a really boring experience for me.  I'm glad that I changed my practices and although I didn't really reach my goal of being able to stand up and play one simple song, I'm much happier with the result of this passion project!  Hopefully you all enjoy my results as well and maybe it will inspire you to take up a project of your own!  Goodbye for now my little learners!

Genius Hour Update #4

AHHHHHHHHHH! Oh my goodness everyone, we're coming to the end of our Genius Hour journey! With only one week left until my deadline I am interested to finally see my result. I think what I have learned most over the course of my project is that mastering a musical instrument is an ongoing process. I have played a bunch of different songs and continued moving through levels but there is no real end in sight. I can continue challenging myself to learn new songs for the rest of my life which I think is the most exciting realization of this experience. What I am also really enjoying now that I have improved quite a bit is going back and playing songs that I struggled with in earlier levels and finding them easy. I wish I had done a before and after video comparing my first week to my last. Maybe someday I'll attempt to even write my own song but no promises that it will ever surface. My biggest step now is just continuing to practice my chosen song and attempt to master it! Stay tuned for the final result. Keep rocking MLLs!! OH and Happy Halloween!!!

Genius Hour Evaluation

Genius Hour Update #3

Hello old friends,

I feel that it has been too long since we've caught up.  I have been very busy the last few weeks with various teaching conferences and activities.  Last week we had a wonderful Ontario Teachers' Federation information session.  It was the first time all the Brock concurrent and consecutive students have been together in one room together and it was PACKED to say the least.  But back to the topic at hand, my role in the music community.  Ukulele is going well I think.  I think that if I were to keep practicing the same song over and over I would memorize them pretty easily however, I have learned that is not as much fun as moving up through the levels.  For the sake of the project I think on top of leveling up I am going to select one song to also review each time and then use that as my memorized song.  That way I'm still improving at actually learning the broader skill of ukulele but still meeting the goal that I had initially set for myself.  I actually think that to use more than one of the resources I have found, I'm going to pick a Youtube tutorial for my selected song.  Any requests? I was thinking "La Vie En Rose" by Louis Armstrong for all you How I Met Your Mother Fans.  If you are curious about my other artistic adventures pop over the GH Movie Trailer Page and check out my first attempt at playing around with iMovie, naturally my inner drama came out.  Also, I don't think I have mentioned before but I have also created an education twitter account.  The handle is @laurenndann12 so head over and give me a follow for some funny (hopefully) blurbs about my educational journey.  Until next time MLLs.  Keep learning.

Audioboom!

Screenshot from Audioboom.com, October 17, 2016.

The educational resource that I explored was Audioboom, which is a site for podcasts.  I have mixed reactions about this platform.  I do believe that podcasts are a unique way of getting different perspectives into the classroom and allow for students to hear people speak besides their own teacher.  There are plenty of interesting podcasts that discuss and what I enjoy is how the categories are so fast.  You can basically search for any topic or genre and there will be hundreds of podcasts related.  The issue that I found though was being able to narrow the topic further to look for specific themes or idea that you may be discussing in the classroom.  I think that you would really need to do some digging in order to find podcasts that fit with what you would like to discuss in class.  Further, I am not sure that I would allow my students to use this platform by themselves because I cannot find any filter to make sure the content is appropriate for their age level.  If there was a way to create a teacher lock for content I think it could be interesting to set the students loose and see what they are able to find.  I tried a few different searches which all produced really broad results.  To be fair, you can see from the image, my first search was just "ukulele" so the response was vast but i found it difficult to find key words that would narrow the search but still produce results.  For example, I also searched "Canadian Teacher Podcasts" and only 6 posts were found.  I think it would take some time to learn how to navigate the site and learn to sort through what is relevant.  Additionally, I did not realize that you cannot just start creating your own podcast, you actually have to apply to receive one so if that is your intention you might have a bit of a process!

Gamification

Gamification was a really unique and interesting way of learning.  Personally, I am very competitive so I really responded to the idea of being awarded by completing the work and turning the process into a game.  This is definitely a tool that I would use in my classroom, or components of gamification such as reward systems.  I think having this in the classroom is an interesting way of getting students invested in their work because it feels like they are actually getting something out of it.

Genius Hour Progress - Update #2

Hey y'all!

I hope your week has been spectacular! This week I practiced the ukulele three times but I have come to realize that I need to actually create a certain time or day that I practice to make sure that I am doing it.  It's weird to be doing this on top on regular school work because the main issue I am facing is that I am having trouble thinking of it as a priority and not just a random hobby.  Probably because before starting this project I only ever practiced sporadically when I felt like it (which was not very much).   I have included a video of myself playing as kind of a reference point of my skill level as of this moment.  I'm playing along to the song "Whisky in the Jar" on Yousician.  In the video I'm playing at around 70% speed of the actual song. The app is awesome in that it allows you to adjust the speed in order to practice at your skill level and get faster as you get more comfortable.  I'll try to post another video when I manage to play at full speed.  In addition to this issue, another that I am having trouble with is my main practicing outlet.  As I have mentioned, I found the app,  Yousician, which has been really helpful as a starting point for learning but I'm not certain it's the best way to maximize my practice time.  Since I have not updated to premium, because let's be honest...I'm broke, I am constantly being interrupted by adds. They pop up what feels like every minute and when I'm only getting half an hour free practice time, it feels like it is taking a big chunk out of my time.  Additionally, they are so distracting.  They really break the flow of my playing and it is making me want to smash my precious, blue ukulele.  As a result of this I am trying to find different resources on top of the app that allow me practice more.  I don't want to give up the app altogether because it is super cool but I need more.  There are a ton of YouTube tutorials for different songs but I am not sure I have reached a skill level to test that many of them out.  Plus it gives me no feed back if I am doing something wrong.  I wish that I had some ukulele genie in my life to grant me my wishes and just make me a ukulele god.  I'm going to start rubbing lamps.  Although, low-key I hope if I find a genie I'm not limited to strictly ukulele related wishes...

Screen Shot of my Yousician home page

To move away from the my musical pitfalls, we used a tool in class today that I'm kind of in love with.  It was called "Google Drawing" and it is basically what you would expect it to be.  I just never knew it existed and therefore I adore it now.  It's kind of like Paint but better because you can share what you are doing with other people and add it to any Google document you might be working on.  We listed to a story called "Not a Box" and then each created our own slide to add.  I think this is a great resource for teachers because it is a different medium for students to to visual art and share it with their peers!  Plus, it has the option for lots of people to be working on different slides so it can be super collaborative.  Check out the slideshow that we made!  I'm sure there are a ton of different ways to use it.  I may even just doodle in class... I mean whaaaat I am always 100% tuned in.  You guys (or likely just the teacher reading this and my mom) should totally try it out.  Mom you'd love it.  Until next time MLL!  Stay fresh.