TUESDAY, 5/6/14
I’ve hit on an idea for my 11th grade music classes. I’m going to create an accompaniment for “Happy” on Garageband. We’ll divide the classes into rhythm, bass, melody groups, and teach each group their part, using the accompaniment as a support tool. I think the segments are short enough, and easy enough that even the non-musicians in the group can have fun. Ideally we can sing it as a group at the end of the year.
Of course, this requires that I revisit my rhythmic and melodic dictation skills. Then I have to spend the time to create the Garageband tracks. Creativity has never been my strongest asset. Eventually, I’ll need to put it all into Finale so I can have something written out to teach from. This is beginning to sound like a lot of work.
Judy comes in early after school today. She has lots of computer work to do, and decided to work at home instead of school. She’s beginning to work on the PYP curriculum. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? IB is changing how the source materials and class planning procedures are organized. Judy’s next project (besides teaching 10 grade levels) is to redo all her materials. She had been swearing she wasn’t going to do this, but she couldn’t just “not do it.”
WEDNESDAY, 5/7/14
Today was a new one for me. Judy needed some video clips downloaded from the internet to take to school. I went straight from the bed to the computer, found the clips, and got them downloaded to her computer before she left. When she walked out, I returned to my chair and the computer, and didn’t move again until she came home after school. No shower, no lunch, etc. I got engrossed in writing out “Happy”. It took forever, but I figured out a lot of new things on “Garageband” and “Finale”. This should make it much easier to the next time I have a project like this.