know how important personal feedback is to our students . Unlike Smart Music , Sight Reading Factory doesn ’ t assess students , so you are in complete control of the grading .
Smart Music is a fabulous resource , but not all of my students are able to utilize it ( funding , time and access are limiting for us ) so I use Smart Music mostly with my beginning band students and middle school instrumentalists who are looking for extra help , or more challenging music or exercises . If you want to learn more please visit www . smartmusic . com .
Since discovering Plickers this summer ( www . plickers . com ), and writing about it in the fall edition of Maine Motif , I have been using it all school year so far and love it ! I use this simple system to not only start my rehearsals with music trivia , terminology , or theory questions , but also to hold each student accountable for having their music and it ’ s an easy way to take attendance too ! My students love it so much , they get very upset if I skip a day . I have found it to be very helpful to show parents reports of their child ’ s answers and get summaries of class and individual results over time . If you don ' t know what Plickers is , please have a look , it is free and very simple to use .
I hope this brief review of online technology is helpful to you . I certainly am no expert , but I am having great success using these tools to streamline my instruction , assessments and engage my students in new , challenging and fun ways .
Rebecca is the 5-8 band director , 6-8 choral director and jazz band director at Reeds Brook Middle School , RSU22 in Hampden , Maine .