Easter is a busy time for musicians, especially us trumpet players. As you can see, my trumpet got the royal treatment Sunday morning at church:
Our music department's soon-to-be juggernaut of popular music doom, the Eastside Story Variety Show, was Monday and Tuesday night of this week. Give us a few years and we'll be on tour. Or in jail for our pyrotechnics burning the school to the ground. I think the next time we play Larry Barton's classic educational jazz band rock chart Area 51, I want to be flown in on a flying saucer. In any case, it's been a wild ride this semester.
However, I've had my understanding of Google Forms reaffirmed. I spent much of yesterday and today learning the ropes of and fighting with Google Sites. I might even be able to create a website for my band tomorrow. Or I might avoid technology until next week. The trials and tribulations of what we've done and accomplished is why organization and time management are paramount.
Today I finished up my WebQuest. I think it's a neat project. I also think it will be very daunting for our students. EPortfolios were another project I wrestled with the Google Monster to accomplish today. Also an excellent way to keep track of growth and what you've been up to. I do hope, however, that when we engage the new Educator Effectiveness model in Wisconsin next year that Teachscape is more user friendly than Google. There are a few things in Google that just aren't like I expect coming from a lifetime of fighting with Windows.
All-in-all, there was a lot to learn this semester, but also a lot was affirmed. That was a difficult balance. Much of my time was wasted with step-by-step instructions on things I knew how to do... Twitter, MuseScore, digital calendars, etc. But then, I needed more information on how to run Google Sites. My poor colleague Janell, a certified Google educator, tried to be so helpful after school with giving me a quick rundown on what I was frustrated with.... it's too bad that I didn't have any chocolate to repay her kindness with, nor did either one of us really have the time to commit to me actually getting things right. Alas, it will be what it is, formatting errors and all.
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