Tool Nine

1. Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective?

Congruency and accountability are the first reasons that come to mind.  If we're using technology during a lesson, it has to directly tie in to what we're teaching or there is no validity to using it.

2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers?

Once again, if we do not hold the student accountable for stations/centers - then what's the point of using them at all?

3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?

Unless I totally missed out on something, the only site I found that offered anything for the music class was Learning Games for Kids.  There are quite a few activities there that are applicable to teaching instrumental families.  I think students would enjoy a station where they could play the various music games available in order to learn and review the members of the instrumental families.  A check off sheet matching instruments to their families would provide accountability.

4.List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?

This is not a relevant question for me since music classes will be receiving Macbooks rather than iPod Touches or iPads.  The Macbooks can be used in similar manners to the Notebooks to locate music videos; research particular music genres and performers; and locate appropriate composition sites and music game sites etc.  Accountability can be shown through the use of a finished product or rubric.

5. What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station.

Student input would be a fabulous way to develop a station/center in my music classroom.  They are the technological experts in my room and I love the ideas they come up with.