Blog Introduction in a Middle or High School Band

I've often thought of how I can integrate technology into my band classes. Frequently I run into issues of cost and practical application. Cost is obvious – some things are just too expensive to purchase them for the band to use. Practicality is an issue for other reasons. Having classes of 30 or more students makes it difficult to do some computer-based projects, and, when combined with the pressures of a performance schedule, it is hard to commit more than a couple of days (at a time) to a project. However, a Weblog, or 'blog,' may be just what I need to get students thinking about the practice of music, and using technology, within my time, size, and cost restraints.

Since some great blog sites are free, like this one, cost is not a problem.  Blogs also lend themselves to collaboration, so students in my larger classes can work in small groups to do posts.  Additionally, blogs can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection, so students can work on their posts at home, while those who don't have Internet connections can have first priority on the school's computers.
As an introduction to to blogging, I think I will begin with one of Will Richardson's scaffolding suggestions.  In the book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will writes, "to start, we could provide, or ask students to find, interesting and relevant sites of information and teach them how to write about what they find useful at those sites" (Richardson, 2010).  I would have students seek out websites and blog posts that offer suggestions for playing or maintaining instruments, counting music, writing music, and other sites that could help them become better musicians.  I would then have them write a review of the site, or an article found on the site, including why it was helpful to them and how it could be useful to someone else.  To start, this would probably be a single blog site where I write a prompt and students respond using comments.

Looking into the future, I could see my band classes using a blog, or blogs, to create a clearinghouse for music related questions and suggestions, helpful links, and more.  One idea I have had is to have all of the trumpets work together, each having their own login, on a trumpet blog, where they can ask each other questions, write how-to and help articles, and post links to helpful sites.  Other instrument groups would each have their own blog, with one student serving as an editor.  Of course, I would continue to monitor the content of each site using an RSS aggregator, and have the ability to modify content as needed.

A blog, or blogs, of this type would help students to become better musicians by providing them with helpful suggestions, and by getting them to think about their musicianship.  If a student were having trouble with a fingering on a clarinet, they could check the blog to see if another student has posted a fingering chart, and if not, they could locate one and post it to the blog for others to use.  Younger students could post questions, and older ones could mentor them.  Students wishing to hear how a song from class is supposed to sound might locate a YouTube video and post it to the blog for others to use.  Essentially, students could use the blog to find helpful information, or share helpful information.  I think the best part would be that students would probably begin working to find the information on their own rather than asking me when help is just a click away.


Resources:

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.