Google Creative Apps: Podcasting with Soundtrap

Here are the resources for a great presentation on the power of storytelling and podcasting using Soundtrap, a great free online DAW.

#MakerEd and Inquiry

Check out this Google Site from a great time with Crossroads Academy KC.

We spent an hour answering and creating solutions to this question:

How can we, as designers, create a meaningful performance experience for a person with a mental or physical disability? 

KC Tech Net Coding Site

Want to get started coding but don't know where to start? 

Check out this Google Site for resources and links on getting started.  

This is from a presentation for KC Tech Net in February of 2016.  

Scratch Loop-Based Sequencer

I received a grant from Northwest Missouri State University to purchase Makey-Makey interfaces for my classroom.  The plan for the grant is to have a group of students design their own electronic instruments from both the hardware and the software sides.

Makey-Makey is this great interface invented my Eric Rosenbaum (@ericrosenbizzle) and Jay Silver (@wakeupsilver) that allows you to connect a computer the world.  It takes electrical inputs and translates them into key presses and mouse clicks, so your computer thinks it's talking with a normal keyboard, but really it could be a banana.  The Makey will make it possible to interface with any material that conducts electricity. Scratch will take care of the software side of the project.

Until recently, I had planned on the kids programming a simple Scratch project to respond to a Makey's input.  Something like this:

Then I thought:

"Wouldn't it be cool if we could trigger audio samples in Scratch just like it happens in Ableton?"

In Ableton Live, there is this really cool feature in which you can trigger an audio clip to play, and the program will wait until the downbeat of the next measure to play the clip.  It's really handy when you are launching multiple clips and you don't need to hit it right on the downbeat.

After kicking around some ideas, I designed a small Scratch project to trigger audio on the downbeat of a measure.  Assuming all the audio samples are in the same tempo, they should layer nicely together.  Essentially, the the program keeps track of the beat,waits for the user to press the spacebar, and then triggers the loop on the next downbeat.

Here is the script I came up with:

The next challenge will be to modify this script to trigger multiple audio samples.  I think I could do this my making a sprite for each audio sample and changing this script to play the audio I want.  Hopefully, the kids can use this to create some great instruments.

Un-creative creatives: Improvisation as an Essential Musical Skill

Improvisation is something that might scare many musicians. We spend hours and hours interpreting what others have written, but do we spend time creating?  Is this something that we practice or have our students practice? How many hours do we spend recreating others' music, and how much do we spend creating our own?

There is an old saying:  "If you want a guitarist to stop playing, put sheet music in front of them".  I'd like to add this to the lexicon:

"If you want a trained musician to stop playing, ask them to improvise".

Improvisation is a cornerstone of creating music, and students should be learning it from day one of life.  Victor Wooten gave a TED talk on music, specifically focusing on music as a language.  Take a look:

I am not saying there is no place for private lessons or the tradition established in order to pass on musical knowledge.  If this lights your fire, more power to you!  I am just saying we need to be concerned with how students create music.  Giving students a chance to add to the musical conversation is just as important as teaching them what others have said before them.

Giving students the chance, freedom and support to improvise is not only vital, but really fun.  In 5th and 6th grades this year, we've been using jam sessions to create a safe environment to improvise.  Jamming with my students has been a blast!  Not only do they get to hear what I add to the conversation, I get to hear what they have to say and how they say it musically.  Pedagogically, I get a glimpse into their musical skills and hear if they have been picking up anything I have been teaching. Here is a little gem from one 5th grade class:






This form of assessment is WAY more fun to grade than a paper and pencil test, for everyone involved.

I think creating music should be on the same priority level as recreating someone else's music in concert, which seems to be the bread and butter of our music education.

Improvisation should be an essential skill for all musicians, or else we might be raising a generation of un-creative creatives.  

Makey Makey Something Awesome Part 3: It's alive!

Like Dr. Frankenstein (pronounced FRANK-ehn-stheen), I have created.

Here is a video of the first time I played the set in my classroom.  Later, I had to remove the kick drum beater and replace it with a foil covered chopstick to keep from destroying the kick drum.  Overall, I am pretty excited with the way it turned out.  

Here is the link for the Scratch program that powers the set.   

Worst Cast Scenario: Active Shooter Training

Let me start this post without political hope or agenda:   What follows is an experience my colleagues and I underwent during active shooter training in our school as part of a Missouri statute.

This training involved multiple safety agencies, and featured a live shooter firing shotgun blanks as we were stationed in various parts of the school building.  We did not know when he was going to start the drills.  

The goal was to help us understand the situation and how to react in this situation to keep our students safe.

I was a little nervous about the day.  I did not know how I would react to the actual situation, or how 'real' this simulation was going to be.

When you hear a shot fired in a place you have so many great memories and love, things change.

I can safely say that every teacher and staff member reacted like it was the real thing.  I know this, because I did, too.

Without going into too many details, the day was intense.  I saw some of my friends with looks on their faces that were genuinely terrified, as I am sure they saw in me as well.

But that didn't matter.

Even though we could see the fear in our lead teachers and felt the fear ourselves, they reacted with sharp directions and quick thinking, even with chaos happening around them.  Once we were given the all clear, we could feel each other relax from the adrenaline rush and process what happened.  I learned a lot about myself, and how I would react in this situation.  Now I feel more prepared in that I know my weaknesses, and can do better leading the kids I am responsible for.

Without hesitation, I can categorically say we became teachers to help kids learn, and make the world a better place.  Seeing the brave actions of those around me (law enforcement and teachers) is a reminder of why we teach and that there will always be more light than dark in the world.  

Hug your kids, your partner, your loved one, the person sitting next to you as you read this, a law enforcement official, anyone.  

Hug a teacher.