Photo Credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via Compfight cc

I keep moving my concert band rehearsal notes between my own blog and my class blogs. For my next grading period I’m going to be trying some different strategies (thanks to etmooc) with my student blogging assignments. My biggest change will be in my weekly rehearsal notes and comments. I’m going to start reviewing them in class, and have students begin to help keep the notes and comments and recordings on the class blog. I’ll comment here from time to time, but mainly for more professional reflection – and not reflection for my students’ or ensemble’s sake.

I’m trying to take in everything I’m earning from ETMOOC, but it’s been crazy this past week with the marking period ending, getting ready for grades, and getting a last minute – nobody ever asked if I wanted one – surprise student teacher showing up in my office. The one thing I will be doing is restructuring how I connect with students and parents online and how I use blogging in the classroom. I’ll be focusing more on class blogs and less on student blogs (except for our Arts Academy students and future musicians/bloggers). I’ll be trying to get the students to reflect on their work through quality commenting. Most importantly I’ll be trying to build an online community of teachers, students, parents, and other music teachers and music students from around the globe to connect with our blog and help with our learning.

Here are some of my first attempts at my refocused learning with blogging. I’ll be adding links and sharing my class blogs here as well, with my own added reflections and thoughts.