This season of teaching is like none other, and it makes me appreciate the musical opportunities we enjoy at school. I'm thrilled to share what I feel has gone better than expected in my online classroom in hopes that any music teachers who stop by can have some good news!
In general the resources that I use in the physical classroom have changed within the virtual classroom. I recognized after week one that my folk songs and movement activities weren't practical for young students. These are normally priorities for my music students, and now they have been temporarily set aside for other modes of music education. I'll admit that I can't offer students my favorite activities, however let me give you an example that shares the silver lining.
The second week while looking for ways to adapt K-4 music lessons to suit the parameters of my school and community, I realized the need to go with what I know! I started by digging through this blog to reference a post from a few years back called "Link List". It was clear to me that I needed a quality website with music games for students to explore like they would with other non-academic online games. Thankfully, classicsforkids.com has been the site that perfectly suits the fundamental concepts of elementary music, from composer study podcasts to sophisticated interactive theory games.
Now for more good news, on Facebook there was a message from choral composer, Roger Emerson regarding the ideal approach to choral education at this time: "Focus on the Fundamentals!"As soon as I read this post, I was given the confidence and affirmation that I was on the right track with my 5th-8th grades choir. I realized that we were not going to get to rehearse and perform as an ensemble, but that instead the literacy components would get the time and attention they deserve as a result on the individual school environment. I have collected many freebies over the years and have scanned/uploaded files into my cloud involving concepts of rhythm, solfege, and music vocabulary.
Overall I am content with the educational opportunities I can give to students through our school. Also I want to encourage teachers that one "baton" doesn't fit all in regards to online music education. With that being said, I'm happy to share more of my systems with visitors with specific comments posted here. As usual, let's keep this short enough to be simple, clear and musical!
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