Learning Basic Music Symbols

Today I created a video, using EduCreation, called Learning Basic Music Symbols. The video is embedded below.

In this video, I talk about the different clefs found on a Grand Staff (Treble & Bass), and how to create them. I also talk about the meaning behind four major note values, what they mean, and how to draw them.

I hope you find this instructional!

The 7 Internet Rules for High School Students

I created a list of internet etiquette (Netiquette) rules for high school students to follow.

The 7 Internet Rules for High School Students

I also made a prezi with the same rules!

Netiquette Prezi

The Willow Trees

I had to make a story for my class. And now I'm a little bit obsessed with my creation. So click this link below to experience the epic love story that is the Willow Trees.

The Willow Trees

The Future & Other Scary Subjects

I am going to be a music teacher, and because of that, my classroom won't be filled with inspirational kittens meant to encourage AP students. It will be filled with eighth notes which have faces on them, teaching kids the meaning of 3/4 time. My classroom will be filled with many instruments, meant to look exciting and encourage students to ask questions and learn about them. I will have pianos, guitars, keyboards, violins, and more instruments than I would probably want to count. I will have file cabinets filled with music which has been lovingly and painstakingly alphabetically sorted. I want my classroom to feel fun, to feel exciting, but most of all, I want my classroom to be a safe haven for students who want to  learn how to explore their lives through music. 

That is the most important thing that I want to accomplish in my years as a teacher: to teach students that world of emotions that can be, and often is, music. Not every kid is going to take to music as I have. I understand that. But my goal as a teacher is going to be to show students the wonderful world that music opens you up to. Not every student is going to be the next Chris Martin, or Carrie Underwood, but my goal is to teach students a talent that can help them their whole life long. 

Now, that may seem awfully ambitious for a 19 year old only one year into her degree, but I think I can do it. I will graduate from Boise State University in three years, and I will go on to teach elementary music to an underprivileged school in Idaho using the Idaho Loan Forgiveness Program. Eventually I will come back to get my masters, probably while teaching, and I will move up to teaching high school. 

The future is always scary and exciting at the same time. But as of this moment, I'm really excited about mine. 

Learning Les Mis: Another Lesson That You Can Read and Forget

I created a video playlist talking about the similarities between enemies in the seminal West End musical, Les Miserables. Above is the introduction, and if you click the Learning Les Mis link, you'll find the playlist.

Learning Les Mis

So, read it and forget it, but never regret it.

(I'm totally a poet.)

About ME: The Video Version That You Need In Your Life.

This is me rambling on about myself. Always fun. And because you must be insanely curious to see if I'm good or not, here's me singing Orange Colored Sky at a Swing Dance at the Riverside Hotel with the Boise State Jazz Band directed by Dr. Alex Noppe.

Make your own conclusions, but I shall prompt you. The proper response is, "Wow. And more wow." Other variations are accepted.

It's How You Say It...

One good thing about reading a book your professor wrote is that you can hear his voice while reading it. Another good thing that came out of reading Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse OR The First Year of Teaching, by Dr. Chris Haskell, is that I realized there is a place for writers like me (i.e.: Sassy ones.)

When I'm not writing research papers and attempting to sound like I know what I'm talking about, I'm actually a pretty decent writer. Well, my mother says so. Then again, she laughed at Spreadsheets & Pumpkins, one of my less inspired blog posts.

The kind of writer to say, "How will you know when you become "wicked-awesome"? Is it possible to reach under a zenith of "wicked-awesome-ness" under the above described conditions? Perhaps not..." is the kind of writer I want to be.

I would love to be able to write curse words like 'Frak', made popular by the (wicked-awesome) remake of Battlestar Galactica, just because. (Oh, look. I just did.)

However, just because I have the unique skill of tying in an 80s hairstyle, big comfy chairs, and Star Trek in one blog post, does not mean that I have the capability of cursing in other languages just because. Although calling someone a fraking toaster is a severe insult in my head, it doesn't make much sense to the outside world, which is a shame.

All in all, reading my professor's book has inspired me to write how I want. Write it cleverly, write it well, but write how I want. Which, if I'm following these guidelines, may mean that I have to rethink this blog post...

Oh well.