The Evolving Educator

“It is only when the mind is open and receptive that learning and seeing and change can occur.” Jon Kabat-Zinn

“There are better ways than fear to motivate students. Success is one of the big ones.” – Dorothy DeLay, former Juilliard teacher.

Any musicians out there interested in back issues of American String teacher? I’ve got lots from the late 90s / early 00s.

I have found that getting students to curve their thumb and pinky on their bows is always a problem. It’s often due to their thumb slipping through the frog. To help with this I got stick sticky-backed velcro and used a small strip of the plastic hook side and attached it to the bow. It works great!

From the Chicago Tribune.

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.

I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

This weekend my Chamber Orchestra received a Division I rating at the annual Illinois Grade School Music Association contest festival. And the for the first time ever, we received a I rating from every judge!!!!

Check out Note-A-Lator by Electric Peel Software! Great for creating quizzes and using on the SmartBoard.

Looking for great audio editing software? I highly recommend Amadeus Pro (Mac only) at $40. Audacity (all platforms) is free and very good but a little clunky. Transcribe! by Seventh String software is nice but a bit overpriced at $50 as it doesn’t do as as much as Amadeus Pro.

Here’s a picture of my SmartBoard using the Chromatic Tuner by katsurashareware. It uses the built in mic on the iMac. Very useful!

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I own a SONY reader and love it! It’s the perfect size and the touch screen has many useful features. My only gripe is that the desktop software is a bit buggy. If you’re a ‘techie’ it’s easy to work around but for those with less computer experience it may be a bit frustrating.

Always email software developers and ask for educational discounts before purchasing. Most do. I also contact developers with any suggestions I have – they are generally very happy to hear from users.

I found a great program that converts audio files to audiobook format for iTunes. Check out Audiobook Binder. This may not sound too useful at first but I often download mp3 files of webcasts and speeches and this application comes in handy since audiobooks can save the last spot you listened to.

I can work with students and educators of all ages in a variety of settings such as:

Elementary / Middle / High School Strings

Bass sections

Music Departments – with topics ranging from basic tone production to incorporating technology into orchestra as well as helping teachers use technology in their daily workflow.

College Education Classes

College Music Classes

College Bass Studios

Here is a chart of some commonly used phrases and their positive counterpart. Most of these are from Maestro Schleicher.

Use the velcro-like tabs that come with recorders to help cellists know where to put their thumb.

Here’s a 2 octave scale with a Venn diagram.

I always appreciate when companies offer educational discounts on software. I purchase software from these companies much more than those that do not.

I found some great drawing software from FlyingMeat Software. Check out FlySketch!

Use iMovie, the built-in iSight camera,  and the SmartBoard)  to give students or ensembles instant feedback.

I also use it for individuals as a very expensive mirror!

Anyone have an idea what these plastic tubes are for?

How to Integrate iWork with Dropbox on Your iPad

from LifeHacker.com

Do you travel between buildings? Rather than use a portable USB drive to transfer files, use an online drive such as DropBox. You start with 2GB free storage and it works on any computer.

The following is from the back cover of the February 2011 volume of Educational Leadership. ***Updated 2/8/11

Need to make just one copy of something? Have students with you and can’t leave the room?

Use your iPhone and email it to yourself. I use a program called JotNot to take a picture that is saved as a PDF. I email it to myself and print it out or display it on my SmartBoard.

Check out this interesting article by Seth Godin. Although he doesn’t mention in it directly the article talks about extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation.

Happy New Year! What are your goals for this  year? What are your plans to achieve them?

Some of my targets – and I like to call them targets rather than goals as a target is something you can hit – are to:

-Exercise harder
-Practice consistently
-Have some solos performance ready
-Write more and promote those writings

To accomplish these I have them written down in several places – including Evernote, and made an action plan to accomplish them a la Napoleon Hill. To track my progress, I use a combination of iPhone apps and paper journals.

On the electronic side I recommend:

The Daily Tracker

Evernote

Dropkick – a to-do app that keeps things going

To track my workouts I use a daily planner from Moleskine.

I hope you find some of these resources useful and best wishes for the new year!

How do you manage students that don’t practice or don’t do their homework?