Some students like pop. Some are into all that jazz. Some students are into classical. Some are mere opera spazzes.
Middle School music teacher Dane Barner is working with his students to teach them about blogging and back channeling by incorporating technology into his classroom.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said.
During the first and second trimester, Barner and fellow music teacher Jon Jensen taught 8th Grade Music Exploratory students about the different musical styles.
Barner and Jensen then assigned groups and randomly selected a musical style for each group. The students then researched one of the four styles the teachers talked about.
For their research, students utilized the Internet by using Symbaloo as well as the more common online search engines. According to Barner, Symbaloo is a bookmark organizational tool.
“Each color had tiles that opened websites that I had reviewed,” he said. “This is where students started their research.”
While researching, students also used the website, TodaysMeet.com, so they could ask questions and answer others’ questions by means of back channeling.
Once students had all their information, they began their first assignment. This consisted of students preparing for a debate that would involve facts and examples of their music style. Students were to argue why their style was better than the others.
“This did not go well,” Barner said. “So, we changed things around.”
Instead, students are taking their research on their musical style and are presenting their information online by means of blogging. On their class blog, students are also commenting on their peers’ information.
“The main focus was quality research and critical thinking,” Barner said.
What a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom!
Webster City Community Schools 