Day 3: A Website you cannot live without

"What is a website you cannot live without. Tell about your favorite features and how you use it in your teaching and learning."

I think for me an appropriate thing to share would be an app that I cannot live without and that would be SmartMusic. SmartMusic is a great program that our Music Department has been using in the Middle School and High School for years.  This program requires teachers and students to create an account and purchase a subscription.  With the subscription students and teachers have access to hundreds of music books and pieces.  Teachers can assign students exercises and pieces to practice and submit for a grade.  SmartMusic listenes and gives students a grade based on their pitch and rhythmic accuracy.  It also allows for teachers to adjust the grade for dynamics and articulation and so on.  I have used this program with my vocal students for sight singing.  Many middle school students would rather sing for a computer in a practice room than in front of the class or alone in front of the teacher. In a way it saves time too.  I can conduct my chorus class while students use the practice rooms one at a time to take thier quizzes.  I can then access my "inbox" at home and listen to students whenever I want and not just from school.

This past spring SmartMusic came out with an app that can be used on an iPad to correlate with the program.  With the inclusion of an Elmo cart in every elementary classroom and my iPad I decided to use this program with my elementary recorder students too.  I put the book "Recorder Express" on the grade 4 supplies list and contacted a local music store to see if they would carry it.  The students and I use the program to check for song and note knowledge.  Students try to score in a certain percentage to earn points for their classes.  It is also a great way to challenge students to practice, trying to earn a better percentage each time they play.

SmartMusic isn't without its problems, as all technology has its glitches and quirks but overall I highly recommend this program and all it's features.

This is screen shot of the app open on my iPad.  You can see the green (correct) notes and the red (incorrect) notes.  It will save the three best "takes" and you can listen back to your performance.  The students really enjoy listening to themselves also.  Great tool for self assessment!