think B I G.  think G R E A T.

My colleagues and I had a wonderful opportunity to attend the NAISAC13 conference on March 1st, thanks to the leadership of my school who funded our trip. It was a fantastic day to travel down town to Philly with the people I work so closely with. I was also very impressed that all of our admins and some of our board members came (some who are past and present parents). A day like this rarely happens, but it happened .

So lately, my trips to the Philadelphia Convention Center has been tied to conferences. Seeing massive crowds of educators and edu related people mean vis-a-vis meetings with teachers from my PLN or people whom I will connect with and learn from. But what was different about my experiences on March 1-2 was that these days were dedicated to independent schools and teachers.

It was my very first time attending the NAIS conference. I loved meeting teachers from independent schools around our country and having conversations about our classroom experiences. I attended sessions that pushed my thinking. I really enjoyed morning general session given by Dr. Tererai Trent, and the closing session by Dr. Cathy Davidson. Both women,  graceful and displaying strong leadership, guided us to “be the champion of quality education”  (Tererai) and to “move from critical thinking to creative contribution” (Davidson). I am inspired!

But something stuck out like a sore thumb to this music teacher.

Creativity and arts education are two important focus areas many independent schools are known for. If many (maybe all) independent schools are offering plethora of arts offerings to build a well-rounded student body, then why aren’t we seeing many arts related folks presenting and sharing their ideas?

Don’t misunderstand me. I really appreciated listening to students from Girard College and Baldwin School sing their hearts out before the morning and afternoon general sessions. The performances were inspirational and these moments remind us once more how music enriches our lives. And who can forget the graphic recordings by Five Elements? The recognition of the arts is not in question here, but rather, the presentation by the arts practioners is. What could be the reason for the big void? Lack of funding for IS (independent school) arts teachers to attend the NAIS conference? Not enough interest from the IS arts teachers for NAIS? Who can answer these questions?

I did, however, learned a great deal from a handful of sessions I attended in between the two general sessions I mentioned above. I listened to smart and inspiring IS teachers and thinkers who shared their practices. I want to think big now and hope to learn from many arts teachers when I attend future NAIS conferences. I wished that I had more time with people who came to NAIS! Luckily, the following day would be one of the most special learning day.

think  T O G E T H E R  at edcampIS: Saturday, 3/2.

@birv2, @ksivick, @lizbdavis, @jill_lebiedzins, @hadleyjf, @montysays, @doremigirl,
@lee_bruner, @cmpayne87 & @mpowers3: edcampIS13 organizers. Photo from @ksivick

I was very fortunate to work with the people above to organize edcampIS for 3/2 (absentia Jac de Haan). All of the communication and planning happened online (Google hangout, Google Doc, and emails). A handful of us had met through edcampPhilly or Educon, but most of hadn’t met until the morning of. It was an amazing way to plan for such an exciting day. It was invigorating to be with people who were excited to work to make this day of learning the best day for those who were trekking from NAIS conference to John Huntsman Hall of Wharton School (University Pennsylvania). Over 150  independent school and public school teachers from nearby tri-state areas registered to join us.

Edcamp is the BEST f2f free professional development. People who want to sacrifice a Saturday to learn from other teachers register and show up. And those teachers who have attended edcamps before come thinking about a session they might want to moderate.

Highlights

• 112 teachers and administrators were in attendance! Wow!
• 21 posted sessions. Some of NAIS conference presenters also presented at edcampIS! I wished I had time to attend all of the sessions.
• John M. Huntsman Hall of the Wharton School of Business is a beautiful building. We were very fortunate to use the rooms there and have tech support from U of Penn!
• Arts colleagues, Dina and Evan, came and we shared our stories of collaboration and arts advocacy around our school community during the second session. I am so proud to work with them!
• 12 amazing sponsors donated money for breakfast and gifted cool prizes, and swags. They are so generous!
• Organizing team – did I mention they were great to work with? Everyone contributed to ensure the day ran smoothly.
• Learners who came (attendees): Having conversations make us connect to inspiring teachers in a great learning community. There were many conversations and connections made. It’s good to know that I’m not alone. Exchanging ideas and learning from seasoned and new teachers is such a privilege. The edcamp was designed for this kind of exchange in a pretty relaxed and fun atmosphere.

If you attended edcampIS, thank you! You made it great!

If planning opportunity for an edcamp comes your way, take it! Recruit many teachers as possible to work with you. You won’t regret it!

Now, where can I find an edcampArts?

~Yoon

Related articles

• Teachers Unplugged – An unconference inside a conference (edtechpower.blogspot.com)
• #NAISAC13 here I come! (lorricarroll.wordpress.com)
• Reflections on #NAISAC13 – Part II. The message was clear. Now we must act. (andylammers.wordpress.com)
• @EdcampIS ’13 in Philly! (singimagination.wordpress.com)

So I’m being pushed.

I’ve been MIA on Twitter and G+ last year and a half due to many reasons. I don’t need to go into what those are, but I had made my decision after much thought. As I mentioned in my #etmooc intro video, my daily learning life changed since I started joining Twitter and building my PLN. This network included a wide range of educators, administrators, education groups, edu product builders (and some edu product promotors) etc. I started gathering resources and links. In secret, I became a ninja curator on Diigo and Delicious. Here was a music teacher, wanting to save a lot of things for other teachers to share and build relationships.

Connecting with people takes a lot of time. Reading & commenting blogs, tweeting, retweeting, cross-posting on G+, Pinterest, Learni.st or Facebook take some time (to set up, especially if you are anal about intricate ways to connect all your devices to services). Face-face meetings are the best in cool conferences, but they come with an expensive price and need a lot of planning to do all cool things. After a full-blown, all-power-to-me kind of start to social media learning plunge, I had to take a step back. I took a long break….ok, I wasn’t totally disconnected. I just wasn’t actively tweeting .

After all, I had changed because of online learning. I connected with the world and gained real, precious friends. Through many kinds of learning and connections, I’ve had the time to think/imagine/assess/dream about who I am as a learner and teacher. It was mostly good stuff. I just needed time to repurpose and reflect.

In the last two months, though, I’ve been imagining/dreaming again about connecting and learning. This time, not about curating (how to get stuff), but about creating. How am I enabling my students to create music? What essential skills am I teaching them so that they feel secure to wander and make their musical journey? What relationships am I building with them?

While I’m contemplating these things in between teaching, driving, being a mom & wife, I was trying to get to #etmooc archives (I signed on very late!) and had some Java upgrade problems. I tweeted and this is what I got:

@doremigirl @courosa Took me two upgrades because the one I got was “not secure”. Also, you should comment on the videos. #ILikeConversation

— Ben Wilkoff (@bhwilkoff) January 26, 2013

In the previous tweet, I told Ben I liked his video on #etmooc homepage “#ETMOOC Is Overwhelming. So, Let’s Make Some Meaning.” Instead of just saying, “Thanks,” he casually invited me to join the conversation – #ILikeConversation. I was nudged to respond, but it was late so I went to bed instead. Next morning, I find a G+ invite from Ben to join Reflective Practice Vlogging community. Naturally intrigued, I accepted the invite and started learning. Surprisingly there were only 40 people in this community. Lurking as the 41st member, I read some convo threads and started watching some vlogs. It was very cool that Ben et al made videos to think together with others. It’s like being f2f, but you’re not. The cool part is that you can respond to someone’s question/idea via vlog. I haven’t had the time to think about making a vlog and it might take me a while, Ben. The concept is brilliant and scary for me. Conversations need to be real and natural, just like how we talked at Educon two years ago, Ben. Just maybe this is what open online community needs!

Another push comes from a book I’m reading by Scott Watson, a music teacher who wrote Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity. I’ve known Scott to be a great role model as a teacher who enables his students to create music and share with their community. His book reflects his gentle spirit which guides teachers to “allow students to share themselves” (p.6). Thank you, Scott! Can’t wait to read more!

The last push comes from my students. I’ve shared with my middle school students how I’ve started photo-a-day challenge three years ago. I asked them a simple question this January to join me in seeing the good stuff and capturing it as a picture format. A handful of students got excited and started posting their pictures with descriptions on GDoc. So to be a hip teacher, I opened a Tumblr account and started posting pictures. I had no idea what pain it is to customize codes on it! I’m learning codes left and right, learning to add Disqus codes and all. Yesterday, I shared a post with my students giving them photo tips and ended the post with encouraging them to comment on each other’s pictures and having a dialog. Funny, reflecting and conversation found their way here, too!

So after 4 Java updates, I’m finally onto opening some #etmooc archives. I’ll be doing what I can and reflect. Thanks for the poke, push, encouragement, learning!

~Yoon

PS: Submitted my lipdub vid. Did you?

I’m not quite sure what I got myself into just yet All I know is that 1) I have learned a great deal through my Twitter PLN last three years, 2) I do a lot of daily online learning, and 3) today is a good day to begin my massive  open online course — with a huge class.

Here we go! Here’s my intro vid!

Happy  learning!

Up next: Massive lipdub!!

~Yoon

PS: made it in a hurry since I’m so late to the party. I used Animoto. If you’re an educator, get a free edu account here. Folks there are great for allowing teachers to use this cool app for teachers and students. I also used my pictures from Flickr and some slides from my Keynote. Song: “Closer to the Edge” 30 Seconds to Mars.

Saturday, March 2, 2013 | 8:30am – 3pm

JON M. HUNTSMAN HALL | UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA | 3730 WALNUT ST, PHILADELPHIA, 19104

I’m excited to be on the organizing team for EdcampIS 2013! If you are a teacher/admin from an independent school attending NAIS conference, or live near Philadelphia, I hope you will consider coming to a great day of conversation and learning. You don’t teach at an independent school? No problem! You’re invited, too!

It was my privilege to attend Edcamp Philly in 2010 (I think this was the very first of all edcamps!). It was an amazing day learning from other teachers and sharing what works in our classroom. @birv2 titled his recent blog post perfectly: ”EdcampIS – learn from the real experts“. See, every edcamp session is facilitated by teachers like you and me who teach every day. You design ways to introduce concepts and skills. You discover ways to ignite learning-passion in your students. You work through challenges and know what apps/tools worked for you. Like Bob said, you are an expert!

Share your ideas and discoveries at EdcampIS! I’m hoping that all of #isedchat or #nais teachers will come and encourage their art/music teachers come. As a music teacher, I’m always looking for ways to connect with arts teachers . Did I mention that #edcampIS is absolutely free? Find out more info or register here!

Our #eduAwesome friends from California made this great video about Edcamp. I invite you to watch and even share it with your colleagues if they do not know what unconferences are.

Great job, @billselak  + team for making this great vid! See you all on 3/2!

~ Yoon

As we usher in the new year, I stop to think about all that has happened in the past year. I am grateful for all the triumphs and struggles I have experienced. With each passing year, I am learning to see how precious life is and no matter how I feel about this crazy world, much grace shown to me.

I am thankful!

So let’s ring in the new year!

My hope for 2013 as a teacher, mom, and wife is to

1. lead with my ears,

2. follow kindness with my words,

3. and not react immediately.

Listening is probably the most important musical skill I teach each day. I would love to listen to those in my care with purpose. I need to do this!

Kind words can abate sticky situations and bring life to even the young. I want to practice kindness!

Not reacting immediately will be the hardest, for sure. I want my anger to straggle along….ever slowly. I want to live a grace-filled life!

I will leave you with a musical (really, life) thought from Edward Elgar:

“My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us;

the world is full of it,

and you simply take as much as you require.”

Take time to listen to the music around you. Let the music move you. Share the good and help those around you. Best wishes for 2013!

Yoon

Happy December!

It has been way too long since my last post. I apologize for being MIA here. I have been mulling over ideas, but mostly very busy  learning and teaching. The 2012 – 2013 school year has been fabulously rolling along with lots of great progress from my students.

Around Thanksgiving, I was contacted by the New York Times Learning Network editor, @kschulten, for an interview. I am delighted and honored to have been featured in an article published on November 29, 2012 about a rap project I did with my students last year. If you’re so kind, go here and read it!  I was very happy that NYT Learning Network allowed two of my students’ work to be included! I am very proud to share their work there

I am very thankful for many ways I am learning and sharing what I learn with my students.

Here’s to a great holiday season!

~Yoon

English: Fireworks during the Celebration Concert segment of the closing ceremony at the 2012 Olympics (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s August 13th and sadly, the 2012 London Olympics is no more…

The 2012 Olympic experience was an astonishing display of passion and discipline. Danny Boyle and his team delivered a breathtaking 2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremony. What a way to capture the spirit of the Olympics! I wish that the games would have lasted just a little longer.

Wondrous. Sensational. Dramatic. Astounding. These words come to mind summarizing the athletes, the games, and the opening and closing ceremonies.

Before I share a list of songs that were included in a set called “A Symphony of British Music” (so aptly named!), I wanted to highlight the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir and the Liverpool Signing Choir who performed John Lennon’s “Imagine”. During this beautiful tribute, the world watched a surreal performance of the choirs singing with a video clip of Lennon singing the song. There were also young dancers who built a sculpture of the legendary singer/songwriter’s face. As I have mentioned in my opening ceremony post, I think Danny Boyle was brilliant for including so many adolescences in both ceremonies. What do these choirs represent? For me, they represent the beauty of many passionate young individuals coming together to build a strong community with a common love. They will grow, transform, and become stronger as they work together. They make this imperfect world a beautiful place.

I wanted to include a video of these choirs, but IOC took the video down due to copyright issues. Maybe I will get it uploaded here later. In the mean time, I will leave you with a list of the songs that were performed during the closing ceremony. The Spotify’s playlist includes the songs, but the actual performance included many tribute covers by up-and-coming artists like Ed Sheeran. So I’m including the performer list and the playlist below. I can’t wait for the next Olympic games! ~Yoon

{N.B. on August 15: Spotify playlist of the closing ceremony music has been updating since my post! You will be able to hear tribute covers by younger artists, except for Imagine.}

Closing Ceremony Music & Performers, shared by Life of a Rock Star blog:

• Julian Lloyd Weber with the London Symphony performing Edward Elgar’s piece “Salut D’Armour”
• Madness performing “Our House”
• The Massed Bands of the Household Division performing “Parklife”
• The Pet Shop Boys performing “West End Girls”
• One Direction performing “What Makes You Beautiful”
• Ray Davies performing The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset”
• Elbow performing “One Day Like This” & “Open Arms” (accompanied by Urban Voices Collective and the LSO
• Freddie Mercury of Queen performing “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• George Michael performing “Freedom ’90’” & “White Light”
• Kaiser Chiefs performing The Who’s “Pinball Wizard”
• David Bowie compilation of music including “Fashion”
• Annie Lenox performing “Little Bird”
• Ed Sheeran performing Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” with Nick Mason
• Ed Sheeran, Nick Mason & Richard Jones (The Feeling) performing with Mike Rutherford (Genesis)
• Russell Brand performing “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
• Fatboy Slim performing “Right Here, Right Now” and “The Rockafella Skank”
• Performances by Jessie J, Tinie Tempah and Taio Cruz and together performing the Bee Gees “You Should Be Dancing”
• The Spice Girls reunite performing “Spice Up Your Life” and “Wannabe”
• Beady Eye with Liam Gallagher performing Oasis’s “Wonderwall”
• Eric Idle performing “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life”
• Muse “Survival” written for London 2012
• Jessie J performing “We Will Rock You” with Brian May and Roger Taylor

Spotify playlist:

This brilliant presentation contains much food for thought.

TRUST is an important word. I would guess that many of us like being on the receiving end (ie. people trusting us). Boy, isn’t it hard to trust others?

This quote by an unknown author deeply resonates with Maestro Hazlewood:

Trust is the best medium for success. It creates an environment in which people feel free to be authentic, passionate, committed, and willing to share all they have to offer. ~author unknown

I reflected a lot, thinking about the simile (conducting is like a small bird in your hand) and the lessons learned through the South African Music project, the singing demonstration by the TED Choir (the F-E-D motive), the extraordinary story behind the Paraorchestra, and of Haydn‘s wordless, but apparent revolt in Farewell Symphony finale. The Maestro challenged me as a musician and teacher to assess myself as an artistic leader.

What am I doing to create a safe and passionate space for my students? What needs to change?

Musicians and music teachers, think of your ensembles. What is your story? What is your experience building trust with your group? How do you inspire the young musicians to feel free to be themselves, but give all to their ensemble?

And do you agree with this statement?

Where there is trust, there is music, and by extension, life. Where there is no trust, music simply withers away….

Why or why not?

~ Yoon (will post a post regarding my experience with my choirs)

Andrew Maunders designed this alternative Olympic poster

It was an amazing night of celebration in London last night. The opening ceremony, under the direction of Danny Boyle, was full of spectacular visuals, integrated social media, tech, doused with delightful surprises and humor.

And of course, MUSIC.

It was a great mix of pop and classical music. I loved hearing two children’s choirs (were there more?) and the London Philharmonic under the direction of Simon Rattle. It was wonderful to see conductor and musician extraordinaire, Daniel Barenboim, carrying the Olympic flag with seven others.

I also loved that happy, energetic drummers stood on the sidelines as the athletes marched in. The drummers kept the atmosphere upbeat and moved the marchers at a fast pace.

Music, once again, played a vital role in the opening ceremonies. Congrats to Danny Boyle and the people of the UK. You have a great wealth of creativity. Thank you for sharing with the world.

So if you were looking for a list of music heard during the entire ceremony, here it is (thank you, Spotify)! My absolute favorite is Elgar’s Nimrod. What’s yours?

(N.B. I started watching the ceremony a bit late so if I missed something, let me know. I know there were some things I missed due to commercial breaks, too. Leave me a comment below!)

~ Yoon (PS. I absolutely love sharing world events with friends from all over the world. Tweeting during the ceremony was memorable!)

I have been wanting to write about this project for some time now. Now that I have the summer to reflect last year and plan for the fall, I wanted to share a fun project and highlight my students. 

One of the perks of being a “connected” teacher on Twitter is that I have an easy access to numerous resources. I connected with Katherine Schulten (@Kschulten), the editor of The New York Times Learning Network, on Twitter and had a chance to meet her in person at ISTE ’11. She is a former English teacher who is passionate about education. I enjoy learning from her and edu related people on Twitter. Some of these teachers have collaborated with me and others have been a source of learning inspiration (read about two examples from my previous posts: Connecting with students in Australia & Music in Me Project).

Right after the Winter break, I read a tweet from @Kschulten about a rap contest for students. The NYT Learning Network partnered with Flocabulary, an online learning site that teaches just about any subject through songs and raps. This project intrigued me because it combined music, tech and research. What important world events would my students remember and care enough to mention?

On the day I read through the contest rules, I realized that the contest closed the following day. I was disappointed that my students would not have an opportunity to submit their work. But I decided to go ahead and tailor the project for my students anyway

Project: Year in Review

• PREP – The students and I watched Flocabulary’s The Year in Rap:  2010 and discussed its content and style. The students compared and contrasted the this rap to popular raps they listened to (Kayne West, b.o.b., Nikki Minaj etc.). Discussion topics  included through-composed vs. strophic forms, the rap length, accompaniment, solo vs. BGVs, and what role words and music have in a rap. I segued way into the project by asking, “What do you remember about 2011?”

• PROJECT

Research: We went over this Google Doc which contains all of the information about the project. I let the kids know that they can decide to work in a group or individually. Most worked in a group, but a few chose to work alone. I worked on this doc with the frame work of NYT Learning Network contest rules, but adjusted to what I thought might work best to my students. I asked several Twitter social studies teachers on #sschat what sites are good for current events and listed a couple links they can go on. My reason: instead of citing just one source for all major news, I wanted to guide the students to seek out multiple primary sources. I allowed 4 class times (about 4 hours) for this project to be completed. Many of the students chose to come during study hall to get their work just right!

Music & Audio Recording: The NYT Learning Network contest provided music tracks from the fabulous folks at  Flocabulary, but since I teach music, I added this important music component to the project. My students have been using GarageBand (Apple app) for some time so I didn’t have to prepare them much for using loops. Unlike previous recording projects, I did not have the students use a separate recording mic. All audio recording and mixing were done from GarageBand.

So take a listen!

MY TAKE AWAY

1.  FASCINATING TO SEE THE YEAR’S HISTORY THROUGH 12 AND 13-YEAR-OLDS. There were a wide range of topics and highlights. I loved that I discovered that my students are developing global citizens who, for the most part, care about world events. Class and 1:1 research conversations proved to be invaluable. Because students were documenting their work on Google Docs, I was able to follow their work and comment real-time.
2. EXCITING TO SEE THE STUDENTS BEING EXCITED TO CREATE THEIR OWN MUSIC TRACKS. It was very interesting to watch students work. Partner groups needed to collaborate in class while listening to music (a headphone splitter is our friend). And because they had their Google Docs open, some chose to chat back and forth this way. Student group discussions on music style, lyrics, rhyming scheme, and instrumental choices were happening at a rapid pace. More than anything, they were listening. #win
3. IMPORTANT STEP: SEEING THE STUDENTS IN HIS/HER LEARNING PROCESS. Some students were great researchers. Some were fabulous at writing the lyrics and some were just excellent at creating the music. The same students, while being so successful at these areas, struggled to use class time, or struggled with another part of learning. Partners were good  (since they chose their own) in this case. They motivated each other. It was important for me to recognize each student’s strengths and struggling areas and work through challenges. I have to say that guiding each group/student was a time consuming task, but to their credit, they worked hard! So…
4. CELEBRATE & GIVE FEEDBACKS. It’s exhilarating when students call you like the world’s ending because they want you to listen to the short segment they have been working on (remember, I have {dramatic} Middle School students?). Run to them. Be excited for their successes, however short or minor. Also give them honest opinions and guide them to think about things they may have missed. The NYT Learning Network provided a rubric on their site, but I decided to give my own feedback as well as class feedbacks on each project. 

At the end of the school year, this project was mentioned many by my students as one of the memorable learning moments! If you decide to try, let me know how it went.

We live in a well-connected and resourceful time. Take some time to connect with teachers around the globe. You’ll be surprised how many generous teachers/organizations there are. Take time to learn and share! 

Last one…

This project has been shared via Skype with Samuel Wright (Wrightstufmusic) and for his Music Technology Presentation in March. He  is a music teacher and tech guru from Australia with whom I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. Samuel recently blogged about his presentation and mentions my students here. W00t!

Happy Summer!

~Yoon