I Guess I Have a Blog Now

 I've never really been a fan of online classes, as it's not very engaging for me. Every time I take an online class I think it will be different but it really isn't. I need that in class time to really learn the material. I need to have some structure of having class, having that space to go to, as well as having due dates and someone telling me what to do. Obviously this class doesn't meet in person, but we do have due dates and someone telling us what to do. I think I procrastinate more with online classes, but I do pretty much the same thing with regular classes. And I don't always go to my in person classes unless attendance is mandatory. My issue is that I'm smart enough to get through the class with good grades, but don't have it within me to learn everything on my own. I want to, I keep telling myself I will go back through my classes and read everything in-depth over the break, but I probably won't. I feel like I don't get as much out of the...

 Another Sunday, another blog post.  When I first started my website assignment, I thought making a website would be really hard. I think having sites that help you create your own site, such as weebly (the one I used) is super helpful to get started. I found a layout that I liked, and included a bunch of different pictures for different ensembles I might have. I like that I am able to break everything up into a bunch of different pages, like having one for each group of ensembles. However, I didn't really have the motivation to fill out all of the different pages for that. But if I was a director, I would basically put my class syllabuses, class descriptions, and resources on there at the least. I also didn't realize how easy it would be to make my own calendar, and share it to the website. Additionally, there is a blog section of the website, which could be used for parent announcements. I'm still a little unsure about linking things, as I was able to link everything I wa...

I'm going to use my high school band's website for this blog post. They don't have a "class page" per say, however there is some very important stuff on here. On the main page they have pictures of the band, as well as what the band's purpose/mission is. There are links on the side to things like the band handbook, which outlines all the rules and expectations of each member (like a syllabus). There is even a calendar on the side showing upcoming rehearsals. There are pages dedicated to the different band programs at the school, such as the concert bands and jazz bands, however it's more information for parents to know what they do and see some videos of it, rather than super specific information or communication with the students. There is a whole page on the website dedicated to the calendar, which is pretty important. There is also a link to the BAND app, which is what they use to communicate with each other. The last two big tabs are for parent volunte...

My initial reaction is that I wish the Diigo website looked more appealing (for whatever reason  I think it looks outdated and ugly lol). However, after having to look up certain websites for the portfolio, I really like the idea of having Diigo to annotate my favorite parts of a website. As someone who forgets things instantly, it's nice that I can highlight things and make a note to myself on certain pages. I can have my own little running thing of websites that I like, which is great because as I was doing this assignment I realized that my computer doesn't save all my bookmarked websites :( I can save them to Diigo now though. I also like this for things like the National Association for Music Education, an organization and fsu club I am in. We could share resources on Diigo and make comments about it, I think the website would be great for that to keep it all in one place and make looking up something specific easy. As far as blogging goes, I don't mind it in some ways...

As you could probably tell from the lack of the fourth blog post, I'm a little behind. I have not downloaded twitter yet, but I'll do that before the end of the week. Honestly I'm a little nervous about it because people always say that the best way to use twitter is to delete it. Maybe because you can get sucked into bad arguments with people and stay on there all day, but that's pretty much every social media platform. If I was on twitter, for educational purposes, I'd probably interact with music education platforms and resources, as I find lots of inspiring things online that I like to save from the other platforms I'm on. Having twitter may help my future career by connecting with people on the platform who may have job opportunities or professional development later. Learning how to use twitter could be good for me if I wanted to set up an account for my future band, so that we could share pictures of our group and get engagement with the community.  The d...

 Copyright and fair use is a big thing in the music education world, specifically with sheet music (but also textbooks, recordings, etc). As a future music educator, I have to respect the rights of people who have produced materials that I may want to use in the classroom. I might not be able to use copyrighted material, that is, material that is made by someone, who is the only one who can use that material. However, if it falls under fair use, which in a nutshell is where if it's not copied excessively and is being used for educational purposes, then I might be able to use it as a teacher, at a free or reduced fee. I will have to budget for purchasing enough sheet music for each student of mine, and if we have performances where students pick out music to perform, I will need to ensure I've taught them about copyright rules, and make sure that by performing certain works, we are still abiding by said rules. I may write my own warmups, and possibly concert music. My students m...