Tobias/Reflection4

I took the Digital Photo and Video for Grades 5 - 8 course to enhance my knowledge of using a digital camera, iPhoto, iMovies and uploading videos to YouTube. In addition, I was looking for applications and ideas on ways to incorporate technology into the music classroom. I was pleased that I familiar with some technology basics that I have not used in some time and that I learned new tricks and how to use the newer version of iMovie than I have used in the past. This was also my first experience using Picassa, a photo sharing site.

Some of the ideas I got for applying this class to my classroom include the following: making a fun video displaying classroom rules/safety for the beginning of year, illustrations of song lyrics using slide shows, having students create a digital music autobiography, having students create an advertisement for one of the Milwaukee Symphony Concert field trips that we will be attending, and creating composer "trading cards" with research that students find in books or on the Web.

I found our teacher, Chad, to be extremely responsive to meeting the needs of the entire class and excellent at addressing the needs and questions of individuals. The project of creating an iMovie and posting it on Youtube, and taking photos and uploading them to iPhoto and Picassa were practical and useful tools for my classroom setting. I would heartily recommend this course to other educators who wish to make technology an important part of their teaching!