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Online collaborative music notation software - Flat

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Create, compose, collaborate, play, and print your sheet music using the world's most simple and intuitive web-based music writing and composition software.

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Try it free for 30 days,
or join an existing school account.

Explore creative sound making in the classroom

Soundtrap for Education empowers students and teachers to explore creative sound recording in all subjects, for all ages and ability levels. Whether students are exploring the ways music can take presentations to the next level, collaborating with classmates to create a song, or recording podcasts to share knowledge on subjects, Soundtrap for Education amplifies learning.

Create, communicate and collaborate...

Enjoy endless collaboration; between students, teachers, different classes wherever you are, in real-time.

...from anywhere on any device

Soundtrap works seamlessly across all wifi connected devices. And since the Studio is completely cloud-powered, students can continue working on their music or podcasts from home. You will have access to an extensive collection of quality loops, effects, and software instruments. Soundtrap is easy and intuitive to use by both teachers and students-of all ability levels-who want to create professional and polished projects.

How teachers are using Soundtrap today

Sound creation for your digital classroom

Take music class online with integrations to Noteflight Learn and Flat for Education, and also with LMS platforms like Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology and MusicFirst Classroom. Creation, assessment, and evaluation of assignments is smooth and seamless. Soundtrap is committed to being responsive to the future-ready classroom.

Safe and secure environment

Soundtrap for Education provides students with a safe and secure online environment to learn and play in. We work hard to meet or exceed legal compliance requirements and to stay abreast of the fast-changing privacy law landscape. We are committed to being a trusted partner for our schools and to help schools meet their own compliance obligations under the privacy laws. For more information, please visit our Trust Center.

Soundtrap for Education is trusted by more than 10,000 teachers worldwide

"Young people who struggle with academic writing and have brilliant ideas... these young people are frightened by the paper and pen. They want to sing, dance, shout, use slang, challenge conventions. This is where Soundtrap comes in."

Tamar Brown
New York City DOE Teacher

"My goal is for my students to be people who can think on a deeper level. Project based learning, which Soundtrap greatly supports, takes them out of the 'give me the answers' mentality and forces them to think and create on their own."

Kelly Martin
New York City Teacher

"Soundtrap is a game changer for my students. It has helped them learn that music is a tool that can spark the imagination and bring people together. Once those doors are open the possibilities are endless."

Melissa Salguero
Music Teacher at PS 48

"Soundtrap allows my students to express themselves to me emotionally, socially and academically when it is often so hard for them to do so verbally."

Allessandra Moore
Middle School Speech Language Pathologist

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Soundtrap for Education - Make music and podcasts online

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Create a podcast or use the beat maker for music or math. Soundtrap is a safe online tool for teachers and schools. Start your free trial now!

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Learn about music and play games with your favorite PBS KIDS characters like Elmo, Arthur, Pinkalicious, and Daniel Tiger!

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Are you a technophobe? Or perhaps you use gadgets at home but find it hard to use technology when teaching. Many teachers went to school at a time when technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is now. We watched as our teachers wrote on blackboards, and then whiteboards. Now we teach with interactive whiteboards.

As school pupils in the pre-digital era, we were used to our teacher's piano accompaniment. Now there are backing tracks, minus one accompaniments and digital music notation available at the touch of a screen. School budgets have made access to music resources such as instruments more difficult.

Music teaching has changed and we must embrace technology to be successful. We cannot ignore tech in the classroom. Music and technology work very well together and are combined in many industries. In this article we present six examples of using technology in the music classroom. With these ideas, we aim to inspire you to break out of your pre-tech comfort zone and try out some new ways of teaching music.

1. Learn to Use the Tech at your School

Different schools offer various options to give students access to technology. Interactive whiteboards are the most popular piece of tech equipment in schools. They are linked to a computer and can show the screen to your class. They also have pens and an eraser to use like a traditional whiteboard.

Some schools provide a tablet for every child. Others allow students to bring tablets or laptops from home. Make sure you know your school's about technology. For example, mobile phones may be banned from use.

Begin by mastering the basics for the technology you have. If you have tablets, make sure you know how to use them, and how to deal with basic problems. Learn how to use your interactive whiteboard. This means you will be able to use it to teach, and won't accidentally show your personal laptop screen to the class.

2. Create a SoundCloud Account

Many schools use SoundCloud to provide resources to music students and ensemble members. SoundCloud is free to use, and students can access the music you upload wherever they are. You can upload backing tracks for songs you are teaching, as well as full recordings of the songs. Students can listen to and practice the songs at home.

SoundCloud is a great place to upload recordings that the students have made. As it is audio only, this takes away the pressure of creating a video. (You can create your own YouTube channel if you want to make a video). Students won't worry about looking bad on a video. This can be liberating for teenagers who tend to be self-conscious.

Upload audio recordings of your students' performances and compositions to the SoundCloud account. You can choose whether to make your uploads private or public. Students can listen back. They can share their work with their friends and family who can 'like' their tracks and leave comments.

3. Teach with the Solfeg.io App

Solfeg.io is a music education app full of songs your students will love to learn. It is free to sign up and access a limited number of songs.

Solfeg.io works brilliantly with an interactive whiteboard. For every song, you can access a high quality recording. There is also complete notation for vocal and instrumental parts. Solfeg.io is always popular because the songs are by artists such as Ed Sheeran, Eminem, Adele and Katy Perry. Teaching music with your students' favourite songs is a sure-fire way to make them love your class.

Solfeg.io has a minus one setting and you can choose which of the vocal and instrumental parts to mute, solo, or focus. The song structures are shown so students learn about verse and chorus-based structures. You can choose to loop a specific section of the music and repeat it.

Solfeg.io is easy to use. It doesn't have any complicated screens of buttons like some music apps. The interface is very simple, providing only the information you need. This means it works well as a screen for teaching. Students can understand the information presented to them. And even if you rarely use an app, you'll be able to use Solfeg.io.

4. Train your Students' Ears with the Ear Trainer App

Ear training is one of the least popular parts of music lessons. For teaching this skill, music education technology comes to your aid. There are many apps for ear training, though not all of them work well in the classroom.

Perfect Ear - Ear Trainer is an app that is often recommended by music teachers for their students to use. It is available on iOS and Android and is a free download. The desktop website, called Tone Savvy, features a teacher subscription section. You can set assignments for students and check their scores online. It has a 30-day free trial and is then available as a subscription package.

A variety of music theory topics are covered, including note names, intervals, chords, rhythms, key signatures, and scales. There is also a perfect pitch test so you can find out if any of your students have perfect pitch.
Most young students embrace technology as part of their everyday lives. By teaching music theory and aural skills with educational technology, they will enjoy learning.

5. Teach Composition with Technology

A common way to use new technology for music is when teaching composition. You are probably already familiar with music notation software like Sibelius. But you may not have heard of NotateMe. This app can convert handwritten staff notation into digital. It can also be used to scan your scores, share them, and edit them digitally.

Students who have not mastered music notation often struggle in composition class. They cannot embrace creativity because they are not able to express themselves in written musical language.

Technology allows these students the freedom to compose music. There are many technological tools available. The most well-known is probably GarageBand, a music creation studio for Apple Mac. You can either connect up real instruments or use virtual instruments in the app. Student will love experimenting with different sounds and rhythms.

Another app that works well for school compositions is Soundation. It can run on PCs as well as Macs. Soundation allows you to produce, remix and record songs in an online studio. It has an extensive library of virtual instruments and sound effects. You can also share your work with the online community.

Using apps to teach composition has several benefits. For starters, students will be happy to play with an app in their lesson, instead of writing on paper. Your school may have limited access to musical instruments. These apps allow students to experiment with pitches and timbres that are otherwise unavailable to them. The virtual studio apps give students a recording of their piece, their very own music track to share.

6. Perfect their Performance with Tech

Performance is an important aspect of music education for students who play an instrument. You can utilise technology at several points in their practice.
Tuning the instrument is usually the first step in every practice session. Try using an app such as TonalEnergy Tuner and displaying it on your interactive whiteboard. You will give your class or ensemble access to a large-size digital tuner. They will be able to see whether they are playing out of tune. This is a great way to teach students how to tune their instruments.

By using an app such as SmartMusic, you can keep tabs on your students' practice when they are not in school. They can upload and submit recordings of themselves practising for you to review in the app. Create assignments from the music library and students will receive immediate feedback from the app as they practise. SmartMusic includes built-in notation tools. You can import, edit and create music for your students to play. SmartMusic is available on an annual subscription.

There has never been a better time to use technology in the classroom. Music is one of the best subjects to teach with the use of technology in classrooms. The ideas we have presented are all very easy to put into action. There is nothing that requires specialist knowledge of technology or IT. Even if you rarely use tech at home, there is no reason not to try it out in your lessons. Your students will thank you for it.

The majority of school students use apps and other forms of technology every day. Using this familiar technology in music education will appeal to students. They will learn more as the information is presented in a familiar way. Try out some of these ideas during the semester and let us know how it goes.

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6 Examples of Using Technology in The Music Classroom - Solfeg.io

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Are you a technophobe? Or perhaps you use gadgets at home but find it hard to use technology when teaching. Many teachers went to school at a time when technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is now. We watched as our teachers wrote on blackboards, and then whiteboards.

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

I launched ETML in 2010 with the purpose of helping my fellow EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers integrate technology in English language teaching. Fast forward to 2022, ETML became among the top EdTech blogs with over 7000 published blog posts. ETML has been referenced in a wide variety of academic research journals, books, and news outlets including the New York Times, Huffpost.com, Hubspot.com... [continue reading].

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

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The Plan will Change.

Of course when we're planning we would love to think that all our plans will be able to be executed perfectly, without a hitch or hiccup.

However, we all know that even though we've planned in things like snow days and field trips, the reality is that we will likely get off from our curriculum outline.

That's okay.

Students may not learn at the rate we expect. Especially if this is your first time mapping out curriculum goals for your students or if you're starting at a new school, be prepared for the possibility that your curriculum outline may end up looking very different from where you started it.

Every situation is different

Every teaching situation is different, and every school culture has a different musical background. The concepts and corresponding grade levels outlined in a curriculum outline from The Planning Binder might not be the exact fit for your students. That's the reason all the files come as editable Google documents. Don't be afraid to move things around!

Keep a Sequence and Build a Foundation

If you choose to make changes, remember that the concepts in your curriculum outline should develop logically, step by step, so your students are set up for success. It's imperative that learning moves from the known to the unknown.

Also, remember that students need the knowledge and skills of previous concepts before moving to more advanced concepts. Especially with older grades, be sure students have enough of a musical foundation with the "easier" concepts so they can move to more advanced ones.

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Planning Ahead: Creating Your Ideal Music Curriculum - Victoria Boler

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It's never a bad time to think about your big-picture goals for the upcoming year. Especially now, many educators are taking this time to get organized and make plans for next year to be their best year yet.

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National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

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NAfME is an association where all people are heard, seen, and feel they belong throughout their lifelong experiences in music.

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Students build artistic literacy in an art form by applying foundational knowledge and skills while working in four processes fundamental to the arts: Creating, Responding, Performing/Presenting, and Connecting. The Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts include five arts areas: dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts.

Distance Learning Resources

Please visit the Student Instruction COVID-19 Resources webpage to find resources for providing student instruction via distance learning. You can also subscribe to email alerts to receive notifications when the resources on the Student Instruction page are updated.

Standards, Assessment and Graduation Requirements

The 2008 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts were revised during the 2017-18 school year. The rulemaking process is complete, and the date by which schools must implement the 2018 arts standards is the 2021-22 school year. Relevant rulemaking documents are available on the Minnesota Department of Education's Arts Rulemaking webpage. The next arts standards review will happen during the 2027-28 school year.

Arts standards are assessed at the classroom level through teacher- and district-developed assessments. Districts must have a process to assess and evaluate each student's progress toward meeting standards.

Professional Learning and Upcoming Events

For curriculum leaders: MDE hosts several meetings for curriculum leaders focused on implementing the arts standards each school year. Contact Alina Campana, Arts Specialist, for more information. Note: These meetings are targeted for district-level curriculum and instructional leaders. That can include teachers in some cases when they in leadership roles for the district. If you are also looking for teacher professional learning opportunities, the Perpich Center for Arts Education and professional arts education organizations offer professional learning for teachers.

For teachers: The Perpich Center for Arts Education is a state agency dedicated to supporting arts education across Minnesota. Professional development staff provide district, school, and one-on-one support statewide in the arts including: arts instruction and assessment, curriculum development, district arts programming, standards implementation, and other professional development opportunities.

Legislative Initiatives and Special Projects

Turnaround Arts
Turnaround Arts, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, is based on the premise that high-quality learning in and through the arts can strengthen school transformation efforts, boost academic achievement, and increase student engagement in schools facing some of the toughest educational challenges. Turnaround Arts: Minnesota began working with schools across Minnesota in 2014, and became an MDE program in 2018. Participating schools have demonstrated increased student achievement, increased student and family engagement, decreased suspensions and behavior increased teacher instructional capacity, and improved school culture and climate. Read more on Turnaround Arts in Minnesota.

Arts Education Data Project
The Arts Education Data Project is a partnership between Creative Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Education, and the Perpich Center for Arts Education. Its aim is to understand what student access to arts education looks like across the state. This tool helps schools, principals, superintendents, families and community members learn what arts courses are offered in public Minnesota schools. As reporting improves, the project will also examine whether access to and participation in arts education is equitable across Minnesota and for different groups of students.

Recognition and Awards Programs

The Minnesota Scholars of Distinction program nurtures and recognizes distinguished achievement by highly motivated, self-directed students. In the arts, Scholars of Distinction awards may be earned in Theater Arts. Learn more about this opportunity, in general, by visiting the Scholars of Distinction webpage, or for information specific to the Theater Arts award, visit the Perpich Center for the Arts website.

Content Specialist Contact Information

For more information, contact Alina Campana, Arts Specialist, at 651-582-8706 or mde.academic-standards@state.mn.us.

Resources for Instruction and Learning

MDE and the Perpich Center for Arts Education are partnering to develop supports and materials to aid local education agencies and arts educators in the transition to the 2018 arts standards.

Foundations Overview summarizes the shift in the way foundational knowledge and skills are present in the 2018 arts standards, and provides recommendations for how to address foundations in curriculum development.

Recommended Transition Timeline can be used to assist educators and local educational agencies in the transition to the 2018 arts standards. This timeline identifies phases between now and full implementation that could be followed during the district or school review process. Note: this timeline could change as a result of the formal rulemaking process.

Note about February 2020 updates to 2018 draft standards
As of February 2020, the draft 2018 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts are still proceeding through the rulemaking process. Some updates have been made to the official draft of the standards and were posted here in early February 2020. Those updates are:

No wording was changed.

A key and introductory language have been added.

Italicized terms are aligned with the arts standards glossary.

Bolding for foundations has been refined.

The computer science-related benchmarks have been accurately marked with **.

A few typos have been corrected.

Additional columns for tracking lesson/unit and assessment of each benchmark.Standards and Related Information

Standards and Related Information

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Students build artistic literacy in an art form by applying foundational knowledge and skills while working in four processes fundamental to the arts: Creating, Responding, Performing/Presenting, and Connecting. The Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts include five arts areas: dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts.

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American Choral Directors Association provides the professional network and resources you are looking for. Be a part of an inspiring community of thousands who share your love for the choral arts.

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The American Choral Directors Association provides the professional network and resources you are looking for. Be a part of an inspiring community of thousands who share your love for the choral arts.

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Minnesota Music Educators Association 6120 Earle Brown Drive, Suite 215 Brooklyn Center, MN 55430 763-566-1460 | Toll-free 888-678-6632 Fax 763-566-1578 | info@mmea.org

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**Dec 29, 2020 update: The issue of multiple correct answers in B Mode has been corrected!

The Rhythm Trainer is a free website for learning and practicing rhythm. There are two types of exercises: A Mode where you click in the rhythm you hear, and B Mode where you see a rhythm and choose the sound that matches. At the end of your session, you can email your results to anyone (for example, your teacher) and they can see how you are doing! NOTE: Some email systems block the emails.

This site is the original since 2007 and is accessible (free!) from all devices.
There is no Apple or Android app (and never has been, though many have "borrowed").
Feel free to email me with comments, suggestions, questions or just to say hello! at john@therhythmtrainer.com

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rhythm trainer john blank practice exercise free music school beat beats html html5

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a free rhythm trainer created by John Blank

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Music is for everyone. Play with simple experiments that let anyone, of any age, explore how music works.

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We develop workshops and sessions and deliver to organizations, districts, colleges, and other groups, focusing in our antiracist and decolonization approaches and how to implement them in classroom and music making settings.

We also provide consultant services to individuals, groups, and organizations to take advantage of our expertise in antiracist and decolonizing approaches, cultural responsiveness, and research. Contact us for help with projects, events, camps, curriculum, and more.

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We develop workshops and sessions and deliver to organizations, districts, colleges, and other groups, focusing in our antiracist and decolonization approaches and how to implement them in classroom and music making settings. We also provide consultant services to individuals, groups, and organizations to take advantage of our expertise in antiracist and decolonizing approaches, cultural responsiveness, and research.

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Tweets by MakeMomentsMatt

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Tweets by tracyking

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Noteflight - Online Music Notation Software

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Noteflight is an online music writing application that lets you create, view, print and hear professional quality music notation right in your web browser.

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PatternSketch - Online HTML5/JavaScript Drum Machine and Sequencer

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PatternSketch - Online HTML5/JavaScript drum machine and sequencer influenced by Roland TR-808 and TR-909. Create, save, edit drum loops. Export and download patterns to wav, ogg or mp3 formats.

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Web site dedicated to the study of Music Theory. Articles, reference, interactive exercises.

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Welcome to Music Tech Teacher

This site was used as an extension of my music technology and band classrooms. I taught Instrumental Music (Band and Music Technology) from 1992-2018 in the Birmingham City School System before retiring. My students learned how to read, write, compose, publish and perform their music. This site includes student projects and work, videos, photos and music compositions from my former students. The site also has music technology links, quizzes, resources and information for all music teachers interested in using technology to enhance music instruction. I hope that the site will serve as a valuable resource for teachers and students. Thank you for visiting!

Ms. Karen Garrett, Music Tech Teacher

Help support this site...

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Welcome to Music Tech Teacher This site was used as an extension of my music technology and band classrooms. I taught Instrumental Music (Band and Music Technology) from 1992-2018 in the Birmingham City School System before retiring. My students learned how to read, write, compose, publish and perform their music.

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The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a set of symbols that linguists use to describe the sounds of spoken languages.

This page lets you hear the sounds that the symbols represent, but remember that it is only a rough guide. There is lots of variation in how these sounds are said depending on the language and context. For example, in English voiceless plosives usually end with a puff of air called aspiration, but the voiceless plosives on this page aren't aspirated.

Choose a symbol to hear the sound it represents.

For best results, please use a browser with HTML5 Audio support. The latest version of any popular web browser will do.

Sorry, you have JavaScript disabled or your web browser doesn't support it.
This interactive chart won't work without JavaScript enabled. Please enable JavaScript or upgrade to a modern web browser.

Vowels

Pulmonic consonants

Bilabial

Labiodental

Dental

Alveolar

Post alveolar

Retroflex

Palatal

Velar

Uvular

Pharyngeal

Glottal

Non-pulmonic consonants

Clicks

Voiced implosives

Ejectives

ǁ Alveolar lateral

ʛ Uvular

ʼ etc...

Other symbols

ʍ Voiceless labial-velar fricative

w Voiced labial-velar approximant

ɥ Voiced labial-palatal approximant

ʜ Voiceless epiglottal fricative

ʢ Voiced epiglottal fricative

ʡ Epiglottal plosive

ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative

ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal fricative

ɺ Alveolar lateral flap

ɧ Simultaneous ʃ and x

Affricates

t͡s Voiceless alveolar affricate

t͡ʃ Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate

t͡ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate

ʈ͡ʂ Voiceless retroflex affricate

d͡z Voiced alveolar affricate

d͡ʒ Voiced post-alveolar affricate

d͡ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate

ɖ͡ʐ Voiceless retroflex affricate

Queries and comments can be directed to [email protected]

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© 2020 Minnesota Music Teachers Association. All rights reserved.

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piano magazine
piano
music
music teacher
music teaching
piano teacher
piano teaching

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was founded in December 1998, ported to ChoralWiki in August 2005, and incorporated in May 2010 as a U.S.A. 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. Here you will find free choral/vocal scores, texts, translations, and other useful information.

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The ABCs of Creating the LGBTQ-Friendly Classroom
By NAfME Member Stephen A. Paparo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Music Education
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Do you know your ABC's when it comes to an LGBTQ-friendly classroom? As students across the country come out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning, you might be wondering what you need to know and can do to create a more inclusive and affirming classroom for all students, regardless of sexual and gender identities.

Before sharing some practical suggestions, let's first answer the question: why?

Throughout our society, there is an assumption that everyone is heterosexual-meaning that they are romantically and sexually attracted to the opposite sex. While heterosexuality is most common, sexuality, in fact, varies. Kinsey's research from the 1940s revealed that human sexuality falls along a continuum. More recently, other theories and research suggest that one's sexuality can be fluid and change over a person's life.

Similarly, there is a belief that gender is a binary concept-meaning that one is either male or female. However, like sexuality, gender identity-one's own internal sense of who they are-may be fluid and may not correspond with one's biological sex. Given these widely-held societal beliefs, students-those who identify as non-heterosexual and non-gender conforming and those who are merely perceived as being non-heterosexual and non-gender conforming-experience discrimination, harassment, and victimization in schools. Teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community members must take an active role to create safe and welcoming environments.
About the Author:
Here is a preview of my session on "ABC's for creating an LGBTQ-friendly classroom":

Address the class as a group, such as "Ms. Thompson's class" or "Eighth Grade Band," rather than by "boys and girls." In choral settings, address sections as "sopranos and altos" and "tenors and basses," rather than "women" and "men" or use "part 1" and "part 2" etc., so the focus is on the music rather than on students' gender.

Build a network of colleagues and other professionals in your school and community who support LGBTQ students and their families.

Come out as LGBTQ or Ally, where appropriate. While it may not be appropriate to discuss your sexual identity in your school setting, it is absolutely appropriate to show support for LGTBQ students whom you teach.

Display "Safe Space" stickers in your classroom and on your door. Stickers are available as free downloads at http://www.glsen.org/safespace.

Expect that students will treat each other with respect in accordance with "Zero tolerance," "No bullying," or other school policies. Always intervene to stop name-calling, bullying, and harassment.

Facilitate discussion with individual students regarding their vocal range and voice part assignment. Ask if they are comfortable with their singing voice relative to their gender identity and make adjustments as necessary.

Get to know your LGBTQ families. According to the Williams Institute Report (2013), as many as 6 million children and adults have an LGBT parent, and there are more than 125,000 same-sex couple households with children.

Honor students' names. While certain names are gender-specific, such as John and Sara, other names are unisex or gender-neutral, such as Jordan, Taylor, and Storm. It is common for a student to choose a name other than what is on the official class roster to better fit their gender identity.

Include LGBTQ composers, musicians, poets, and artists in the curriculum, when appropriate.

Join the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educators Network (GLSEN.org).
Did this blog spur new ideas for your music program? Share them on Amplify! Interested in reprinting this article? Please review the reprint guidelines. The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides a number of forums for the sharing of information and opinion, including blogs and postings on our website, articles and columns in our magazines and journals, and postings to our Amplify member portal. Unless specifically noted, the views expressed in these media do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Association, its officers, or its employees.
If you'd like to know more, I invite you to attend the 2016 NAfME National In-Service Conference in Grapevine, TX, where I will present "The ABC's of Creating the LGBTQ-Friendly Classroom" on November 10 th at 1:30pm. During that session, I'll share more about what teachers need to know regarding their students' sexual and gender identities. Together, we'll discuss how to handle several LGBTQ-related classroom scenarios. Finally, I'll unveil the remaining 16 best practices for creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom for all. I look forward to seeing you in Grapevine!

NAfME member Stephen A. Paparo is Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He holds degrees from Michigan State University (Ph.D.), Syracuse University (M.M.), and Ithaca College (B.M.), and is a Guild Certified Practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method® of Somatic Education. Dr. Paparo is active as a guest conductor and regularly presents at state, national, and international conferences. He is President-Elect for the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and has served as Student Activities Chair since 2013. His research interests include the application of the Feldenkrais Method to singing instruction in the choral setting, non-traditional choral ensembles, such as contemporary collegiate a cappella, virtual choirs, and circle singing groups, and LGBTQ studies in music education. He is published in Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, and Music Education Research, and has a chapter, "Circle Singing: Composing Improvisation and Improvising Composition" in Musicianship: Composing in Choir, published by GIA.

Stephen Paparo presented on the topic "The ABC's of Creating the LGBTQ-Friendly Classroom" at the 2016 NAfME National In-Service Conference last November in Grapevine, TX, and will be presenting on " Inclusivity in Action: Honoring LGBTQ Students in the Music Classroom " with Joshua Palkki, Russ Sperling, and Mari Esabel Valverde this November in Dallas, TX!

Join us for more than 100 innovative professional development sessions; choral, band, and orchestra Directors' Ensembles led by renowned conductors; workshops focusing on diversity, advocacy, popular music, Gospel, and more; and tons of networking opportunities with over 3,000+ other music educators! Learn more and register today: bit.ly/NAfME2017. And follow the hashtag #NAfME2017!

Catherina Hurlburt, Communications Manager, August 18, 2016. © National Association for Music Education ( NAfME.org).

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The ABCs of Creating the LGBTQ-Friendly Classroom - NAfME

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By NAfME Member Stephen A. Paparo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Music Education University of Massachusetts Amherst Do you know your ABC's when it comes to an LGBTQ-friendly classroom? As students across the country come out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning, you might be wondering what you need to know and can do to create a more inclusive and affirming classroom for all students, regardless of sexual and gender identities.

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Assessment Tech/Tools in the Music Class

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Assessment Tech/Tools in the Music Class

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Sooner or later it happens to all of us. We give a test or listen to an etude performed by a student and mark down what we believe is an appropriate and fair grade for that assessment. A week later we receive a call or an email from an irate parent asking why Johnny got a C when obviously he is the greatest musician ever to step into your classroom. If the assessment was a paper and pencil test then you could easily refer back to that paper to prove that the grade you gave was valid, but in the music classroom we do a lot of stuff that can't be assessed that way. Much of what we do is subjective and in the case of a live performance also fleeting. Once it is done, it's done. There is no way to go back and reproduce that evaluation unless you have taken steps to archive the performance in some way.

This being the SmartMusic blog it should obvious that SmartMusic could be used for this purpose, especially on performance-based assessments where a student plays something on their instrument. However, there are many other facets of instruction in our classrooms that require us to think outside of the box in order to adequately assess and record the data we need to save. We're going to look at some of those options later in the article, but first let's look at something that is every bit as important to consider, your gradebook.

The Right Gradebook

Most school districts have settled on a single online method for recording student grades. These methods typically stink at recording the kinds of data that music teachers need. For this reason I have been on a hunt for the perfect gradebook program for music teachers and I may have found what I am looking for in an iPad app called iDoceo.

iDoceo offers the things you would expect from a gradebook but adds much more that music teachers can use to record classroom experiences for later evaluation or validation. When entering a student's assessment scores you can also choose to record a video, take a photo, or scan a document with your iPad's camera. That audio/visual record is then saved along with that specific score and can be recalled at any time should the need arise. This alone makes iDoceo almost indispensable in my classroom. It allows me to keep all of the assessments and their associated grades in one convenient place.

I also love it for its flexibility in how I can record different parts of the class day. I can set up and view multiple tabs; one for lessons, full band, assessments, assignments, etc. I can also link my gradebook to my student's Google Classroom accounts. Taking attendance is a breeze: I can mark a student present and give them a score for the lesson with just two clicks. It can save photos as well which helps me immensely when I'm trying to learn 160 new faces at the beginning of the year. Backing up all of that data is also easy by using a Dropbox account.

iDoceo isn't without its drawbacks though. All of the data is stored on the iPad, so over time it will fill up with all of the recordings, photos, etc. If you have an iPad with very little storage you may not be able to use iDoceo to its fullest extent. There is no easy way to work around this, as the previously mentioned Dropbox integration is for backups only. You can't offload the images, videos, etc. to cloud storage and still leave them available to the app. They have to stay on the iPad if you want to have easy access to them through the gradebook interface.

Other Assessment Apps

Of course your gradebook can't do everything. Fortunately, there are many specialized offerings available to help you assess almost every part of your curriculum. For a list of dozens of different ideas visit musicedmagic.com/assessment . Below are some of my personal favorites that I use on a regular basis.

Assessing Basic Concept Knowledge

If you want to assess basic concept knowledge but loathe the idea of paper and pencil tests, there are lots of options available. In classrooms that have one-to-one computers or other online devices, Kahoots and Quizziz are great options to consider. While both provide multiple choice testing options, they are presented in different ways. You first add your questions to the system and then give your students a code to use to log into the quiz. Assessments can be set up to be like an interactive game show (Kahoot) or can be done as low key, "move at your own pace" activities with time limits of up to 15 minutes per question as in the case of Quizziz.

Note Names and Fingerings

For teaching and assessing beginners on things like reading note names and remembering fingerings, iPad apps such as NinGenius and Staff Wars Live are great. They not only encourage skill practice, they can also assess a student's competence. With NinGenius students play a game to identify notes on a staff or fingerings that pop up on the screen by touching the correct answer. With Staff Wars Live they actually play the note shown and the difficulty and speed ramps up with every ten correct answers.

Self-Evaluation

One aspect of teaching that has always been difficult to assess is when you have a student analyze and critique their own performances (or the performances of others). For this purpose you might want to try Playposit.com or EdPuzzle.com. Both of these websites will take online videos and allow you to ask the students questions as they watch. At a specific point in the video playback it pauses and a question pops up on the screen. Multiple choice or long answer options are available, and the results are saved for the teacher to review at a later time.

More Options

As I said before these are just a few that I use on a regular basis but there are dozens more, all of which are outlined and explained in detail on MusicEdMagic.com . With the growing amount of technology-based assessment options out there, your classroom can be a whole lot easier to manage and maintain if you only know where to look. Give some of them a try and share your experiences with other

Chad Criswell teaches beginning band for Southeast Polk Community Schools in Altoona, IA. He has been the technology columnist for NAfME's Teaching Music Magazine for the last ten years and maintains his own personal music education site at musicedmagic.com .

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Assessment Technologies and Tools for the Music Classroom | SmartMusic

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Sooner or later it happens to all of us. We give a test or listen to an etude performed by a student and mark down what we believe is an appropriate and fair grade for that assessment.

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Interactive music exploration, Yume by Helios.