iPads

QR Codes in the Elementary Music Class Nothing about this past week was normal, but amazing experiences happened in the middle of the chaos as we used QR codes in the elementary music class. Spirit Week! Have you seen that funny MAD TV clip about Bon Qui Qui at the King Burger?   This week, I felt like every class was a complicated order!! It was Homecoming Spirit Week, so our students who normally wear school uniforms, came dressed in their favorite PJ’s, Neon clothes- head to toe, the tackiest outfit they could put together, and/ or something from Throwback day. We ended with a crazy RED and BLUE Friday Pep Rally and finally sent them home!! What a difference it makes in the behavior of our students without uniforms!! Broken Air-Conditioner! On top of Spirit Week festivities, the air-conditioner broke in my music room. By the end of the day, it was over 80degrees in my music room so we opened all the windows and doors and did the best we could! As Bon Qui Qui says, “Dang! Anything else?” Originally,  part of the lesson I had planned involved the children scanning a QR code linked to a MadLips Beethoven introduction. They were to also scan a QR code linked to the 3rd Movement of Symphony No. 5. Rookies!! We are a new 1:1 iPad school, and this was my music students’ first experience using i-nigma to scan QR codes. Once they tried it, they were captivated by it hook, line and sinker!!! I must confess that I lost their focus and, like horses escaped from the barn,  they took off scanning all the QR codes for the Music Memory pieces we are memorizing this year. It was crazy fun. The children couldn’t stay in the room because it was so hot, so they would scan a code on the bulletin board and go outside to listen to the funny MADLip introduction and the musical work. Candy Store!   It truly was like they were let loose in a candy store with all the money they could spend. They couldn’t listen to the pieces fast enough. I taught them how to make a folder to store all the musical bookmarks. They loved the Beethoven piece, Chopin’s Minute Waltz, Duke Ellington, Vivaldi’s Spring, The Anvil Chorus, Rondo All Turka, etc.  When they left, they were walking away listening to their favorite “Classical” piece! How cool! It was magical and every boy and girl was engaged. What do you like about iPads in Music Class? The following clip is a collection of interviews done during the last class. It was especially hot in my music room and the kids were especially I-can’t-help-it kind of crazy! Their excitement was too special to keep to myself! Enjoy!