Welcome to our music room
Welcome to the music rooms at Oakwood Elementary, Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School and
Brandon Alternative High School.
It is my hope that the music room will foster an environment that encourages musical growth and success for all learners. I invite and encourage families and parents to visit the music rooms and experience how we engage in musical thinking.
Visit this site often to hear your children's compositions, music we are exploring in class, practice tracks, websites to create your own music online, blog posts, calendar of events and much more.
Thank you for your continued support of the Arts in Brandon Schools.
Mr. Medvinsky
Brandon Alternative High School.
It is my hope that the music room will foster an environment that encourages musical growth and success for all learners. I invite and encourage families and parents to visit the music rooms and experience how we engage in musical thinking.
Visit this site often to hear your children's compositions, music we are exploring in class, practice tracks, websites to create your own music online, blog posts, calendar of events and much more.
Thank you for your continued support of the Arts in Brandon Schools.
Mr. Medvinsky
Whats New ?
The second student-led app conference hosted by Discovery Education was on February 6th, 2013. There were 7 schools participating from across the USA. Each school had 5 minutes to present 1 iPod/iPad app and how their class uses this app to show their understanding. Puppet Pals was presented by Marek Sosnoski, Nicholas Querio, Jessica Hemmingson, and Lucian Ward. They described how they use Puppet Pals to create reenactments of their books. They show understanding and comprehension in language arts through these retells. Art Studio was presented by Brianna Powers and Kaitlyn Powers. They described how they can use this art app to create illustrations in language arts and show their understanding of math concepts as well. It was wonderful to catch a glimps of how learners in other schools across the country use apps to show their understanding.
Arts Education and Technology Rock Our WorlD
Dec. 17, 2012 - Laura Toki
Yearly benchmarks and assessments saturate the current educational climate. We set expectations; we test; we measure. The results determine what we—students, educators, administrators, government overseers and parents—declare good, or not good, in education. Through this, the community conditions itself to view annual test scores as the indicator of a school’s failure or success.
There are gains to be made from this sort of thinking. Children need to be educated, and they can and should be tested. But if the immediately measurable becomes the sole marker of a quality education, what might we lose?
Since September, one of my kids has been a part of Rock Our World 17, a project connecting students around the world through technology and the arts. Carol Anne McGuire, a teacher and specialist in integrating technology, founded the project in 2004. Classrooms apply to be part of the project. If accepted, they spend several weeks working collaboratively.
The primary collaboration uses Apple’s GarageBand. Each class creates a 30-second drum beat track. They send that drum beat to another participating classroom, and receive someone else’s drum beat. They listen to the new track and add another instrument to it. The tracks get passed along 8-12 times, and at every stop, one more instrument is added. When the track returns to its originators, it may contain the work of students from places as varied as Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland and Tasmania, as well as many schools across the United States.
In addition to producing the musical component, participants in ROW 17 also take photographs on the theme “Smiles in 100Languages.” Students plan and create pictures that make people smile, show people being made to smile, or both.
ROWers also video chat with other participating U.S. and international schools, asking questions and teaching each other—sometimes about language and culture, other times about technology tools and how they are used. Our local kids talked to students in Canada and Hawaii.
Our area project leader, music teacher Michael Medvinsky, sees value. In an interview, he described the GarageBand collaboration process for me, how our local students brainstormed ways to contribute to each track. They voted to determine what idea to pursue each time, and then trusted their classmates who play or sing to execute their ideas. ROW, Medvinsky said, helps students learn that we all aspire to expression—self-expression. The students see this in both their classroom experience, as well as in the work of other classes.
Medvinsky also pointed to all the technology the kids learn to use: FaceTime, Dropbox, GarageBand, working with MIDI and Skype. He believes that the greatest value is that kids see themselves as a part of a global community. Through the lens of music, ROW broadens the students’ perspectives and helps them understand how they fit into a whole world of their peers.
All this sounds wonderful, but that is a problem. “Wonderful” is not an educational benchmark. It is not measurable. Given the climate in education, something being wonderful may arouse suspicion. Is it fluff? What’s the point of this? Can you measure creative output, collaboration, flexibility, and asking questions?
I can’t think of a way, and yet I agree with Medvinsky. I know this project has value. I know it because I watch my son’s understanding shift. He sees himself and his classmates differently. He learns, through this time of working with others to make art, that they each have something unique to offer. He sees the world differently. States and countries once thought of as spots on a map are now populated with creative, fun people with whom he can exchange a smile or a song—people curious about the world, people like him.
He sees technology differently. It’s not just a source of entertainment, but a tool for real work and education and creative expression.
And he sees learning differently. My son’s class video-chatted with a local professional photographer to learn about photography. The photographer, Jeffrey Bennett, let the students direct the conversation. This shift in responsibility caused my son to pay more attention to and celebrate good questions. According to Bennett, some of the questions amazed him, and his answers amazed the students, creating a sense of community and delight.
ROW takes the long view, meaning the full rewards of this project will not come until much later. It reinforces artists and the arts as being a valuable part of, as well as a source of, community. It reveals that technology is more than YouTube and video games, it shows kids that technology is a tool and is useful for working, collaborating, creating.
From this foundation, I imagine the possibilities for my son. Being exposed to technology at a young age will change the way he thinks and solves problems. Knowing the capacity of current technology may stir him to dream of future technology, and ways to use that technology. These are building blocks toward our future.
ROW also puts him in a different educational environment—one that values individual contributions to a community. It honors people, processes, playing, and product. It allows kids, and everyone else involved, to experience and be filled with wonder, to marvel at the world, to practice asking questions and to gather information from people in an immediate way. It’s cheaper than travel yet yields some of the benefits of travel: a change in venue.
I hope this sort of learning shakes us loose from our benchmark-only conditioning. Students and schools are more than bar graphs. While some learning can take place now, and should be measured now, I want to see schools with an eye on the future, creating an ecology that lifts our vision, helping us see ourselves rightly: as creators, thinkers, collaborators, individuals who are a part of something bigger, people wise enough to call the immeasurable good.
There are gains to be made from this sort of thinking. Children need to be educated, and they can and should be tested. But if the immediately measurable becomes the sole marker of a quality education, what might we lose?
Since September, one of my kids has been a part of Rock Our World 17, a project connecting students around the world through technology and the arts. Carol Anne McGuire, a teacher and specialist in integrating technology, founded the project in 2004. Classrooms apply to be part of the project. If accepted, they spend several weeks working collaboratively.
The primary collaboration uses Apple’s GarageBand. Each class creates a 30-second drum beat track. They send that drum beat to another participating classroom, and receive someone else’s drum beat. They listen to the new track and add another instrument to it. The tracks get passed along 8-12 times, and at every stop, one more instrument is added. When the track returns to its originators, it may contain the work of students from places as varied as Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland and Tasmania, as well as many schools across the United States.
In addition to producing the musical component, participants in ROW 17 also take photographs on the theme “Smiles in 100Languages.” Students plan and create pictures that make people smile, show people being made to smile, or both.
ROWers also video chat with other participating U.S. and international schools, asking questions and teaching each other—sometimes about language and culture, other times about technology tools and how they are used. Our local kids talked to students in Canada and Hawaii.
Our area project leader, music teacher Michael Medvinsky, sees value. In an interview, he described the GarageBand collaboration process for me, how our local students brainstormed ways to contribute to each track. They voted to determine what idea to pursue each time, and then trusted their classmates who play or sing to execute their ideas. ROW, Medvinsky said, helps students learn that we all aspire to expression—self-expression. The students see this in both their classroom experience, as well as in the work of other classes.
Medvinsky also pointed to all the technology the kids learn to use: FaceTime, Dropbox, GarageBand, working with MIDI and Skype. He believes that the greatest value is that kids see themselves as a part of a global community. Through the lens of music, ROW broadens the students’ perspectives and helps them understand how they fit into a whole world of their peers.
All this sounds wonderful, but that is a problem. “Wonderful” is not an educational benchmark. It is not measurable. Given the climate in education, something being wonderful may arouse suspicion. Is it fluff? What’s the point of this? Can you measure creative output, collaboration, flexibility, and asking questions?
I can’t think of a way, and yet I agree with Medvinsky. I know this project has value. I know it because I watch my son’s understanding shift. He sees himself and his classmates differently. He learns, through this time of working with others to make art, that they each have something unique to offer. He sees the world differently. States and countries once thought of as spots on a map are now populated with creative, fun people with whom he can exchange a smile or a song—people curious about the world, people like him.
He sees technology differently. It’s not just a source of entertainment, but a tool for real work and education and creative expression.
And he sees learning differently. My son’s class video-chatted with a local professional photographer to learn about photography. The photographer, Jeffrey Bennett, let the students direct the conversation. This shift in responsibility caused my son to pay more attention to and celebrate good questions. According to Bennett, some of the questions amazed him, and his answers amazed the students, creating a sense of community and delight.
ROW takes the long view, meaning the full rewards of this project will not come until much later. It reinforces artists and the arts as being a valuable part of, as well as a source of, community. It reveals that technology is more than YouTube and video games, it shows kids that technology is a tool and is useful for working, collaborating, creating.
From this foundation, I imagine the possibilities for my son. Being exposed to technology at a young age will change the way he thinks and solves problems. Knowing the capacity of current technology may stir him to dream of future technology, and ways to use that technology. These are building blocks toward our future.
ROW also puts him in a different educational environment—one that values individual contributions to a community. It honors people, processes, playing, and product. It allows kids, and everyone else involved, to experience and be filled with wonder, to marvel at the world, to practice asking questions and to gather information from people in an immediate way. It’s cheaper than travel yet yields some of the benefits of travel: a change in venue.
I hope this sort of learning shakes us loose from our benchmark-only conditioning. Students and schools are more than bar graphs. While some learning can take place now, and should be measured now, I want to see schools with an eye on the future, creating an ecology that lifts our vision, helping us see ourselves rightly: as creators, thinkers, collaborators, individuals who are a part of something bigger, people wise enough to call the immeasurable good.
Rock Our World Family Night Nov. 16th
Dr. Ritchhart's visit to oakwood elementary's music room
Mr. M and Dr. Ritchhart
Ron Ritchhart has been a researcher at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education since 1994. His research focuses on understanding how to develop, nurture, and sustain thoughtful learning environments for both students and teachers. His interest in Cultures of Thinking has lead him to conduct research in such areas as intellectual character, mindfulness, thinking dispositions, teaching for understanding, creativity in teaching, and the development of communities of practice.
After attending a few Cultures of Thinking professional learning sessions with Ron, we began thinking of how cultural forces and thinking routines may look in an arts based curricula. I was connected to another music educator in Australia who was also using thinking routines as tools to promote thinking. I created a blog for the purpose of reflecting on the experiences of the teacher and the learners in my music classroom when engaging in these types of thinking. (link provided below)
I was provided the opportunity to host Dr. Ritchhart and our superintendent Lorrie McMahon on
October 31, 2012 to observe a fourth grade and second grade lesson. Please use this link to learn more.
After attending a few Cultures of Thinking professional learning sessions with Ron, we began thinking of how cultural forces and thinking routines may look in an arts based curricula. I was connected to another music educator in Australia who was also using thinking routines as tools to promote thinking. I created a blog for the purpose of reflecting on the experiences of the teacher and the learners in my music classroom when engaging in these types of thinking. (link provided below)
I was provided the opportunity to host Dr. Ritchhart and our superintendent Lorrie McMahon on
October 31, 2012 to observe a fourth grade and second grade lesson. Please use this link to learn more.
Don't worry be "app"y
The first student-led app conference hosted by Discovery Education and Carol Anne McGuire from California was on October 7th, 2012. There were 7 schools participating from across the USA and one from Poland. Each school had 6 minutes to present 2 iPod/iPad apps and how their class uses these apps to show their understanding. Puppet Pals was presented by Marek Sosnoski, Nicholas Querio, Jessica Hemmingson, and Lucian Ward. They described how they use Puppet Pals to create reenactments of their books. They show understanding and comprehension in language arts through these retells. Art Studio was presented by Brianna Powers and Kaitlyn Powers. They described how they can use this art app to create illustrations in language arts and show their understanding of math concepts as well. It was wonderful to catch a glimps of how learners in other schools across the country use apps to show their understanding.
Participating Schools:
Caroline Bentley IL, USA
Hawai’i Preparatory Academy HI, USA
Star Elementary ID, USA
East Elementary PA, US
Brandon Schools MI, USA
Howe Public Schools, Howe, OK
Jamestown Elementary Arlington, VA
Please watch "Don't Worry Be APPy" here
See the List of Apps here
See pictures of the conference here
Participating Schools:
Caroline Bentley IL, USA
Hawai’i Preparatory Academy HI, USA
Star Elementary ID, USA
East Elementary PA, US
Brandon Schools MI, USA
Howe Public Schools, Howe, OK
Jamestown Elementary Arlington, VA
Please watch "Don't Worry Be APPy" here
See the List of Apps here
See pictures of the conference here
Medvinsky INTERVIEWED by vartek
Mike Medvinsky, a music teacher in Brandon School District (Ortonville, MI), is passionate about using technology in education. When asked whether he's seen it improve student performance and achievement firsthand, his answer is short and sweet: "Yes. Both!"
While some music educators might be fearful of new technologies, Mr. Medvinsky and his students are embracing them. "There needs to be a balance between the traditional ways of being a musician and digital musicianship, where musicians use computers and mobile devices as instruments, tools, and mediums," he says. "Using digital means of music-making removes the technique barrier and enables more creative possibilities while engaging in the process of composing and improvising."
Mr. Medvinsky is well versed in the classroom tools to create, compose, and share music. "I travel to three classrooms with my Macbook and iPad which then wirelessly connect to an Airport Extreme and Apple TV. The learners use mobile devices to curate the web, compose and create using apps like GarageBand, show their conceptual understandings through various apps, manipulate the PolyVision interactive white board, and use devices to engage in formative assessments. This setup allows for transparency in technology integration and allows authentic formative assessments."
Despite his personal focus on music, Mr. Medvinsky is adamant that integrating technology into instruction can benefit any subject: "Technology should be used to do new things in new ways. Technology is changing the way learners are interacting with life experiences. [..] We as educators need to keep up with the challenge of adapting our teaching to the world in which our learners live."
Of course, learning needs to be tailored to the learner, a task for which Mr. Medvinsky thinks technology is perfect. "There are many different entry points to the learner experiences. Technology enables differentiation within each experience. Some musicians may need to use a different tool than others to show their understanding. When musicians take control of their own learning and build an understanding of which tool to use for different applications, their autonomy fosters increases in understanding and conceptual connections."
VARtek plays a key role in supporting this use of technology as a driving force behind student achievement. "When I am in the middle of an experience with the learners, sometimes things can go awry. VARtek has been able to problem-solve quickly and allow the experience to continue smoothly," says Mr. Medvinsky.
While some music educators might be fearful of new technologies, Mr. Medvinsky and his students are embracing them. "There needs to be a balance between the traditional ways of being a musician and digital musicianship, where musicians use computers and mobile devices as instruments, tools, and mediums," he says. "Using digital means of music-making removes the technique barrier and enables more creative possibilities while engaging in the process of composing and improvising."
Mr. Medvinsky is well versed in the classroom tools to create, compose, and share music. "I travel to three classrooms with my Macbook and iPad which then wirelessly connect to an Airport Extreme and Apple TV. The learners use mobile devices to curate the web, compose and create using apps like GarageBand, show their conceptual understandings through various apps, manipulate the PolyVision interactive white board, and use devices to engage in formative assessments. This setup allows for transparency in technology integration and allows authentic formative assessments."
Despite his personal focus on music, Mr. Medvinsky is adamant that integrating technology into instruction can benefit any subject: "Technology should be used to do new things in new ways. Technology is changing the way learners are interacting with life experiences. [..] We as educators need to keep up with the challenge of adapting our teaching to the world in which our learners live."
Of course, learning needs to be tailored to the learner, a task for which Mr. Medvinsky thinks technology is perfect. "There are many different entry points to the learner experiences. Technology enables differentiation within each experience. Some musicians may need to use a different tool than others to show their understanding. When musicians take control of their own learning and build an understanding of which tool to use for different applications, their autonomy fosters increases in understanding and conceptual connections."
VARtek plays a key role in supporting this use of technology as a driving force behind student achievement. "When I am in the middle of an experience with the learners, sometimes things can go awry. VARtek has been able to problem-solve quickly and allow the experience to continue smoothly," says Mr. Medvinsky.
Video CONFERENCING with Schools World Wide
Through participating in Rock Our World, we have created a network of schools that meet for video conferences throughout the project. So far, we have had a conference with St. Isdore School in Quebec, Canada. The students in both classes were eager to learn about each other's cultures. Ms. Carman's class was surprised to learn that American football was not as popular as it is in the USA. We discussed the popularity of hockey and we were able to make that connection to our own Red Wings. The Canadian students asked us is we had the Terry Fox Run, a fundraiser where they run around their school to raise money for cancer research. After a few minutes of them sharing that information with us, we were able to connect that to our own Fund Run. We had a 20 min. visit into the experiences of an elementary school in another country and make similar connections to the learning and lives of the learners. We will continue our visits in the upcoming weeks with visits to Hawaii Prep in Hawaii and Gimnazjum Nr 4 w Pruszczu Gdńskim in Poland. I will continue to set up these visits throughout our project.
Mr. M's Music Room blog - making our thinking visible
My practices are rooted in a constructivist frame of the learner's experience. I am a life-long learner who realizes that the musicians who come to the music room have a shared understanding of learners being on a continuum of experiences. Everyone's voice is honored and prior experiences are valued in the process of becoming an independent musician on their journey toward musical understanding.
In the summer of 2012, I read Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karen Morrison. I attended a Cultures of Thinking conference where Ron Ritchhart spoke about thinking routines and the value of illuminating the processof thinking rather than focusing on an answer driven environment. This moment sparked a shift in my thinking about the learner experience in my classrooms. My understanding deepens through professional learning with colleagues,, conversations with Ron Ritchhart, a worldwide network of music educators, and continued attendance to Cultures of Thinking conferences.
This blog is intended to be a reflection in practice as we focus more on the process of thinking with thinking routines in the music room.
In the summer of 2012, I read Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karen Morrison. I attended a Cultures of Thinking conference where Ron Ritchhart spoke about thinking routines and the value of illuminating the processof thinking rather than focusing on an answer driven environment. This moment sparked a shift in my thinking about the learner experience in my classrooms. My understanding deepens through professional learning with colleagues,, conversations with Ron Ritchhart, a worldwide network of music educators, and continued attendance to Cultures of Thinking conferences.
This blog is intended to be a reflection in practice as we focus more on the process of thinking with thinking routines in the music room.
Rock our world - an international collaboration
Rock Our World 17
BIG IDEA: Photography
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can we understand and appreciate photography?
THE CHALLENGE: "Smiles in 100 Languages" Think imaginatively and critically about photography and become engaged and immersed in its creative expression.
Our goal is to make a photo that tells a story to either make us smile, or evokes a smile for our audience.
We have teamed up with a master photographer Jeffrey Bennett to help guide us in the process self expression and evoking feelings through capturing an image of the human condition. We will be using iChat and other social media platforms to collaborate with professionals in the field to create our own "Smiles in 100 Languages" image.
BIG IDEA: Photography
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can we understand and appreciate photography?
THE CHALLENGE: "Smiles in 100 Languages" Think imaginatively and critically about photography and become engaged and immersed in its creative expression.
Our goal is to make a photo that tells a story to either make us smile, or evokes a smile for our audience.
We have teamed up with a master photographer Jeffrey Bennett to help guide us in the process self expression and evoking feelings through capturing an image of the human condition. We will be using iChat and other social media platforms to collaborate with professionals in the field to create our own "Smiles in 100 Languages" image.