Online Musical Resources for Performing

This post is a bit off of the beaten path for this blog.  However, most schools have at least part-time music teachers, and most schools put on productions, programs, or PTA/PTO programs.  School librarians may be called upon to help find sources of music for performing – musical scores.

(Also, I have found in my many years of working with school librarians that many have a musical “sideline”  job or hobby.  This is true in my case.  I am thinking about keyboard here, in particular.)

Copyright law, as you know, is particularly challenging, if not downright obstructive, in the arena of music.  I won’t get into that here, but I’ve tried hard to avoid the many illegal sources of music available.  The worst culprit, of course, is the copy machine located in the office!

So what can you do if someone rushes down to the media center and says: “Help!  I need a copy of ______    for the Fourth Grade Program tonight!”

Here are two places to try:  JW Pepper and MusicNotes.com.  These are both commercial sources of musical scores and sheet music.  However, their online access to downloadable sheet music provides many titles almost instantly at a reasonable cost.  (Anyone who has spent hours driving around town looking for a copy of  a certain song at various music stores will appreciate this fact!)

Both sites have search engines – MusicNotes’ interface is better.  I suspect JW Pepper has more inventory; they are a well-known music vendor in the Atlanta area, and used by musicians within hundreds of miles.   You can choose between versions of a song.  With a downloaded plugin you can view the score (or part of the score).  If you choose to buy, you pay and then print out the music.

Here’s a really nifty feature:  both sites can transpose into different keys.

I’m looking forward to the day when a laptop can display music in such a way that it can be performed.  This works fine for one or two pages (I’ve tried it), but there’s no easy way to view multiple pages with the standard computer set up.  In the meantime, I’ll keep my musical score collection and use sites like these to fill in the gaps.

You can use GoogleDocs to type up an index to your collection of music.  Share it with the other musicians in your network.  Hopefully, they will add their titles as well.  Copyright law does not keep us from “interlibrary loaning” our musical resources, as far as I know!

Mary Ann Fitzgerald, University of Georgia

Is it July already?

I can’t believe that five weeks have passed so quickly! Tomorrow will be my last day in the Baldwin collection. This truly is a case of “so many books, so little time!” I was invited to give a lecture at Goering’s Bookstore on storytelling in the content areas. There was standing room only! Children’s lit students, public librarians and media specialists. They all had wonderful questions, leading me to believe that I have struck a nerve with this topic. As I continue to read I find more and more research confirming the fact that story, or narrative, is a terrific strategy for deepening comprehension. It works for English as an Additional Language students and differently abled students as a differentiation tool. It allows all learners to contextualize their knowledge.

If you have any interest at all in telling stories, you can easily add a strong component to your lessons and lead classroom teachers to new research and resources. Imagine the collaborative opportunities if you look ahead to next year’s curriculum map and think about all the stories you know or books you have that tie into the standards. Put a few titles on bookmarks and place them in teacher mailboxes. Promote cross-curricular lesson plans and offer to help plan them. Let them (teachers) know what you can do to help them achieve their classroom goals.

I have been swimming in books for the past five weeks. I hope to have a bibliography organized by subject posted to my website next week. As time goes on, I will craft some of these episodes I have found in the Baldwin books into ready-to-tell stories. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a 3 minute math story to keep kids’ attention as you wait for the teacher to pick them up? Or give her a story to tell as they get ready for lunch or the bus? How about telling a story about Deborah Sampson who dressed as a man to serve in the Revolutionary War? Let that be a lead in to a digital storytelling project on the war. As I reflect upon this experience, I know that I’m just beginning to mine the possibilities.

Library of Congress Now on iTunes!

Now you can access podcasts and resources from the Library of Congress at iTunes!  Here is what Matt Raymond of the Library of Congress blog has to say about this exciting new Web 2.0 addition for LOC:

Blog. Twitter. YouTube.  iTunes.  Yeah, we speak Web 2.0.

You nation’s Library has millions of stories to tell, so we’re trying to tell them as many places and to as many people as possible–whether on our own website or elsewhere.  And now you can add another biggie to the list: iTunes U.

For those who don’t know, iTunes U is an area of the iTunes Store offering free education audio and video content from many of the world’s top universities and other institutions. (The iTunes application is needed to access iTunes U, and is a free download from www.apple.com/itunes.)

The Library’s iTunes U page launched today with a great deal of content, with much more to come.  (Link here, opens in iTunes.)  A nice bonus, for those in the know, is that the content is downloadable and even includes materials such as PDFs.

As always, it’s also available in the Library’s own corner of the web.

So as long as people keep finding new ways to get information, we’re going to keep finding ways to get it to you!

ANIMOTO Rocks!!!

I just wanted to share an awesome site with all of you because it’s one of the best, easiest-to-use tools I’ve seen. It may have been discussed here previously, but even if it has been covered before,  it is well worth mentioning again!!

Animoto is a website where images are used to create video as opposed to still slides. The transitions between photos are most engaging! The music audio that can be selected or imported makes the video even more entertaining.

Applications for uploading to an iPhone, blog site, Facebook, email, even YouTube are available. Use it to create content for your lesson plans, assignments, or course materials. You can also have your students create their own educational pieces. At the Animoto site, you can access a printable flyer to use for staff development or faculty meetings to help teachers see excellent uses for Animoto in their instruction.
Here are a few ideas for Animoto…

Create:

An invitation to an event;
A message to family or friends with a video made from your photos;
A documentary of your local community
A science experiment
A field trip
Lesson teaching colors to Kindergarteners
Yearbook for your class
Author’s tea, with original stories from students
Step-by-step instructions for anything!

The list goes on and on…the teacher or student is only limited by their imagination!

Animoto is free to use for creating short videos of a limited number of seconds. Music selections are limited when using the free option. However, once you’ve used this little gem, you will find it is well worth the $30 per YEAR to create full length feature videos with music or narration of your choice. It is not only educational and easy to use, but it’s FUN!

Phyllis Snipes,
University of West Georgia

GLMA Summer Institute Web 2.0 Tools for Librarians Resource Page

Georgia Library Media Wiki – GLMA Summer Institute Web 2.0 Resources via kwout

Please surf over to our GLMA wiki to see our “Web 2.0 Tools for Librarians” resource page!  Here you will find helpful “how to” videos and real-world examples of how school libraries, as well as public and academic, are using Web 2.0 tools to promote their library programs, enhance information literacy instruction, and use social media as an emerging form of social scholarship.   We hope you find this page to be a valuable learning resource wherever you may be on your Library 2.0 journey of learning!

Please note that most of these tools are FREE to you to use!  This page offers you a treasure trove of resources that won’t cost your budget one penny.

Buffy Hamilton, School Library Media Specialist
Creekview High School

Monday’s Morning Session

GLMA Summer Institute 2009

Check the Delicious feed at the right for resources mentioned during the Summer Institute.

Susan Grigsby opened today’s session with remarks concerning the importance of data-driven decision-making of our media programs.  By demonstrating evidence-based practice in the schools, we reinforce the profound effect of a media program on student achievement in the school.  As an organization, we need to align the GPS to the Standards of the 21^st Century Learner to help demonstrate how a media program aligns to student learning.

GPS alignment has begun with work on elementary ELA standards.  After uploading the standards documents to Google docs, media specialists are collaboratively working on determining which standards coincide with information literacy skills.

Mary Parrish walked everyone through creating an account on Georgia Standards (GSO) to use the lesson builder component.  Log on to the website to create your account.  You can create work groups to enhance collaborative work.  The site is a way to build a database of standards-based lesson plans, activities, and support for all educators.

Summer Reading the Web 2.0 Way

Last night I attended the webinar on the Future of Books and Reading. I have to admit that I lost track of the discussion because I got so distracted looking at one of the new Web 2.0 tools that 2 of the presenters had developed. It’s called Book Glutton (now that’s a great name!). The idea is that they’ve taken books no longer under copyright restrictions (so lots of classics of course). You can access the electronic versions of the text and mark them up as you read them. The real Web 2.0 wrinkle is that you can form groups who can read the books together and annotate them together! What a cool way to bring a fresh look to some classic titles. You can set up  your own group or join an existing group.

I found an interesting group called Junior English Summer 2009 (currently reading Wuthering Heights). In a recent post in the Washington Post, Ron Charles shared that the Montgomery County school system can no longer require specific summer reading titles because students can no longer be required to purchase school related materials (a topic for another blog post I guess). Mr. Charles says that’s a great way to promote the use of the library (and the advice of librarians). It also might be a great way to get students to try out Book Glutton!

Judi Repman

GLMA Summer Institute Agenda

GLMA Summer Institute
June 22-23, 2009
Macon State College

Dear Colleagues:

The GLMA Summer Institute will be held next Monday and Tuesday (June 22-23, 2009) at Macon State College in Macon, GA. This year’s theme is “Recipe for Success: GPS is the Spice and the Media Specialist is the Chef” and we’ve put together an exciting agenda that will be a great working and learning opportunity to help you integrate GPS into your program.

Because we will also be working during this meeting, I would like to ask that you bring with you a laptop and electronic and hard copies of a few lesson plans. This will be useful during our working sessions.

Below you will find a draft agenda and directions to Macon State College. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me or Amanda Griffin in the Executive Office.

We look forward to seeing you next week!

AGENDA 

MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2009

8:00 – 10:00 AM – Committee Meetings

• HRRB Steering Committee
• Grants Committee

9:30 AM – Registration Opens
10:00 AM – Summer Institute Begins

• Opening Remarks – Lynn Strickland, Susan Grigsby, Cindy Thompson
• Ice Breaker – “Quick Fire Challenge”
• Goals of Summer Institute and History of GPS/Info Lit – Susan Grigsby

11:00 AM – Lesson Plan Builder – Mary Parrish
12:00 PM – Lunch
12:30 PM – Reading Literacy and GPS – Diane Gomes
1:00 PM – Add a Dash of Fun to your Media Center Classroom – Tommy Johns
2:00 PM – Work Sessions
3:00 PM – Break
3:15 PM – Group Report
4:00 PM – Adjourn
4:00 PM – Board Meeting

TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2009

9:00 AM – Using Data to Design Curriculum – Cindy Thompson
9:30 AM – Pulling it Together with GPS – Pam Smith
10:00 AM – GALILEO Presentation – Karen Minton
11:00 AM – “Quick Fire Challenge” – Using GALILEO
12:00 PM – Lunch
1:00 PM – Web 2.0 Presentation - Buffy Hamilton
2:00 PM – “Quick Fire Challenge” – Using Web 2.0

• Work Session
• Presentation of Work and Framework for Continuing the Process
• Closing Remarks – Judy Serretilla

4:00 PM – Adjourn

Directions – The GLMA Summer Institute will be held at Macon State College in the Learning Support Building Auditorium. To get to the Learning Support Building, enter at the main entrance to Macon State, turn left, and continue on around to the rear parking lots. You will see the Technology and Conference Center building (the last one) and next to it is the building where we will meet in the auditorium on the first floor.

Parking – Parking is available anywhere in the lots except for the faculty section. There is no need for a parking pass.

June 18 Panel Discussion: “Is There a Place for Media Specialists Who Don’t Know Social Media?”

Panel Discussion: “Is There a Place for Media Specialists Who Don’t Know Social Media?” – The Future of Education via kwout

“The Future of Education” will be hosting another thought provoking and FREE web event this Thursday, June 18 at 8PM EST. :  “”Is There a Place for Media Specialists Who Don’t Know Social Media?” This session will be held via Elluminate for free;  you will want to log in about 20-30 minutes ahead of time to load the Elluminate platform (at no charge) and to test your audio settings.  If you cannot attend, the session will be recorded and archived; you can access the session archives at the link above.

In this session,  Joyce Valenza leads a discussion on the future of librarians and their role in education with Buffy Hamilton, Cathy Nelson, and Carolyn Foote.

Participants will also want to visit the wiki Joyce Valenza has set up to supplement and facilitate the conversation on Thursday evening; you can access the webinar wiki by clicking right here.

Free Web Event: The Future of Books and Reading, June 17!

Panel Discussion on The Future of Books and Reading – The Future of Education via kwout

I would like to alert you to an upcoming web event this week from “The Future of Education” series hosted by the wonderful Steve Hargadon.  This “webinar” is free and open to anyone; if you miss the live show, it will be recorded for viewing at a time that works for you.  The web event will be held via Elluminate, which you can install/download for free; I suggest logging in about 20-30 minutes ahead of time if you have not used Elluminate so that you can configure you audio settings before the web event begins.

On Wednesday, June 17, 8PM EST, you can listen and participate in the web event,  “The Future of Books and Reading”; you can access the event by going to this link at the Future of Education.  Here is how Steve describes the upcoming panel discussion:

There are dramatic changes taking place that seem likely to change our experiences with books and reading. They include: pre-publication “wikified” collaboration, electronic delivery, open licensing, increased author-reader and reader-reader conversation, shared annotations, and more. Join this amazing panel as we peer into the near and long-term future of the reading experience.

For more details about this session, please visit the event page!