Shaquille at the Pops

What a good sport!

My Difficulty Writing and Reading

Last Saturday I had an event which put me in the hospital.

I struggle to write. Notice the one line at a time.

I struggle to talk at times. I listened to last week podcast and then this week. Definite slower talker.

I struggle to play music. I am realizing that being 98% there is a challenge when playing music.

I had a brain scan today. I have an EEG next week. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of this.

iPads in Music Class

A few things I am noticing with our iPads:

• The kids grab them all the time. There is some minor game playing at wrong times, but that is generally by kids who need a bit of a kick anyway. The accessibility to the device is a huge shift.
• We love the mobility. Kids carry them all around the room, into the practice rooms, sit wherever they want, etc... I love that when a student is working on a tune they are constantly looking up youtube videos or google ideas.
• They hold the charge a long time. I'm plugging the cart in less than once per week.
• I need some support time to update apps and switch to the new iOS. It takes about 15-20 minutes to do each iPad. I was told I might have to wait until the summer. So I am always doing it myself.
• At this point it would be hard to run our program without them.

Efficiency

Sometimes you are in the middle of something. You know it is just horribly, horribly inefficient. You know there are still six more meetings where you will get nothing accomplished. Its all about filling in boxes on sheets.

I'm in the middle of that right now. When do you decide to bail?

Livestream

I have been playing around with options for streaming video and audio. I am trying out Livestream right now. I don't like it yet.

This morning we broadcast our choir. You can go to our page to see the archive. Now it worked pretty well, we did it using the webcam on the macBook and it went right onto the air. The kids were really focussed and I think having an audience is a great thing for them.

But, I don't like the commercials. And I need some more equipment. There is something unique about live performance that I would like to keep. But I'd also like to drastically improve the quality of the broadcast (we need to sing better too!).

If you have ideas on how to do this easily, cheaply, and well please send them my way.

Thanksgiving

Thanks for another great year. I always feel so very tired right about now. But its crunch time and things have to get done.

I am thankful for:

1. Family. Two daughters who are happy and can sing and have fun.

2. My students. Each day we get better.

3. This network. Getting larger and more fun each day.

4. My colleagues. Bringing me back from the edge of insanity at times. This job is not a walk in the park and I'm glad we can do it together.

Have a great holiday.

Being Challenged

This is insanely difficult. Nobody taught him this. He just stepped up and learned it. I see some of my kids starting to learn on their own, but it is a long, long road ahead. If I can just get one kid to really commit it can pull so many other kids along.

We are three weeks from our HS concert and I think there will be some really nice moments. The elementary schools are way, way ahead of where we were last year.