THE BLOCK...and ICT

So...First week back after the block placement, and let me just say... IT WAS AMAZING!

I had such a great mentor teacher that allowed me to develop my own teaching style while still developing my skills that are essential to becoming a good teacher. We were able to have many great and constructive conversations about teaching, the school, the students, life of a teacher etc. I found these conversations and 'learning experiences' we invaluable - Especially the fact that my mentor teacher has had over 20 years teaching experience as well as years of being a professional musician.

In terms of ICT Technology, I had the opportunity to use a few different pieces of Software and Technology in my teaching.

I was introduced to the SONAR Home Studio Software, which involves students using the MIDI controller (a Keyboard in this case) to compose different Sound Scapes. I had never used this sort of technology before so I had to take a bit of a crash course on this. I think all in all the Students enjoyed using the technology to assist them in there learning of what a Sound Scape is and how it can enhance other Art forms - for example a Cartoon, Picture/Image or a short story/film. 

I also got to use the Sibelius Software - a Musical Notation program. I was also lucky enough to attend 2 PD sessions on this program. The first was a part of the Staff Conference which was held through my placement school conducted by my Mentor Teacher. It went through the basics of the software (which I was familiar with), however it was nice to have a refresher on this software. The second session was held by the makers of Sibelius and other Music Software such as Pro Tools, Auralia, Scorch etc, AVID, launching the new Sibelius 7! It was interesting as this is the biggest development in the Sibelius with the introduction of the Ribbon format, to bring it in line with the latest Microsoft Office applications.

So as you can see from this now rather long blog, technology is here to stay in teaching and I feel that it is important to stay up with the latest advancements as schools are moving more and more towards implementing this in their curriculum.