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Thank You for 20 Years.

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After 20 years of teaching at Brookfield Central, I am saying goodbye. Although I spent the majority of that time in the physics classroom alongside my learners. That changed for my last 18 weeks. I ended up in a place similar to where I started, teaching chemistry and biology. So, rather than dealing with juniors and seniors at the end of their high school careers, I was in classrooms with freshmen and sophomores still trying to find their place. At the same time, I was learning and teaching a set curriculum I hadn't taught in over a decade. So, we were learning. But, of course, I already knew the content.  The point of this post is to take a step back, take in, and share the gratitude from the last students I had in my 20 years at Brookfield Central High School through the cards and notes they made for me on my last day with them.  I don't take many yay me moments. But after 20 years, I think I'll soak this one in.
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Music to Our Ears

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I recently posted about the collaboration Megan Peschke and I have created a shared Flipgrid grid between her kindergartners and my high school physics students. We conducted introductions which took on a life of their own.
We have moved on from hellos to address to science content. My students are currently in a unit on sound and waves. Flipgrid was a great way to share learning during our energy unit. So, my students are sharing their learning with me and the kindergartners. The one major online interactive hub for exploring sound that is easily accessible across devices and different age levels is Chrome Music Lab. If you are not familiar with it. It is a free set of interactive labs created by Google exploring different aspects of sound. 
This exploration and sharing took place over a couple of different activities. In our physics class, these activities were part of a series of applications of concepts students had learned during flipped interactive lectures conducted in Pear Deck. Here's is a link to one on my Student-Paced Pear Deck if you'd like to explore the experience. 

Introduction to Chrome Music Lab

The first activity was a chance for the high schoolers to dig into Chrome Music Lab, create a simple piece of music, and share it using the Screen recorder in Flipgrid. The 4 major music creation labs are:
 

Here's a Link to a Duplicate of the Topic (It'll be in the Disco Library soon)

Chrome Music Lab Instruction

Once the high schoolers learned to create in Chrome Music Lab, it was their turn to teach the kindergartners. I created a topic in which each physics student choose one of the music labs to create instructions. Each lab had some specific elements they needed to be sure to explain so a 5 year old (a literal 5 year old) could understand
  • Rhythm (Be sure to discuss shapes of objects. And how heights relate to pitch)
  • Kandinsky (Be sure to discuss how height relates to pitch and what different shapes do)
  • Melody Maker (Be sure to explain how height relates to pitch)


 
We took a handful of those videos to present to the kindergartners in an activity just for them. This would be their introduction to the Chrome Music Lab and they would create and share their own music. Megan makes accessing activities easy for the littles and their parents by creating Google Slide Decks with links and QR codes. Also, she uses the Speaker Notes to provide additional instructions to the parents! How great is this!
It is an amazing way to keep everyone organized. 

She also uses Audio and Video in her Slides to be sure to reach all learners and keep that personal connection during these virtual lessons.



Here are some of their wonderful creations.

 

Here's a Duplicate of the Topic (It'll be in the Disco Library soon)

Chrome Music Lab Explanations

Our final activity with the Chrome Music Lab was specifically for the high schoolers to demonstrate their understanding of sound waves using one of the other labs in Chrome Music. Students needed to use one of the labs to explain:
  • What wavelength is
  • What pitch is
  • What frequency is
  • How frequency and pitch are directly related
  • How frequency (pitch) and wavelength are inversely related for example a longer wavelength has a lower pitch
The four different labs that worked great for this were:
Again the Flipgrid Screen Recorder and edit tools in the camera were priceless (although they are all free) for quick and intuitive student creation.


We'll be taking sound collaboration into the physical realm next with some basic musical instrument creation, but we'll save that for another post. 


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