I work in a small district in Northern Illinois and there is only one elementary school in our district. We have one big performance a year along with singing a song at a few assemblies, which limits performs e possibilities. I like the fact that performance requirements are not stressful, but at the same time, I believe performing teaching my students new lessons. Through Twitter I learned about using Skype to connect with other classes. I currently have a Skype performance scheduled for my fourth graders, am in the process of scheduling a date for my third graders and am talking to another teacher about connecting with his class in Indiana. All of these connections are due to Twitter, which is just another example of its power.
My plan is to perform one song/piece for the class we are Skyping with and then they will perform for us. After both performances we will have a short question and answer portion. The first school we are Skyping with is from New Hampshire. I am excited for the opportunity this brings my students: learn about time zones, geography review, audience skills and performing skills. This is also a great opportunity to expose my students to different accents. My guess is that many of my students have never talked to someone from the east coast.
I created a Skype specific permission slip and after our Skype Perfomance I am going to have my students fill out a short reflection form. My hope is that this experience will expose them to new music and will give them an opportunity to perform for people outside of our schools. These performances will also help focus our learning of new music by giving us a performance goal.
All you need is a webcam (or a way to capture picture), a computer with the Skype program and a microphone (if you camera does not have one). I purchased a webcam (under $30) and a Blue Snowball mic for $110 through Amazon.
Document cameras or an iPad will also work as a camera.
All you need is a webcam (or a way to capture picture), a computer with the Skype program and a microphone (if you camera does not have one). I purchased a webcam (under $30) and a Blue Snowball mic for $110 through Amazon.
Document cameras or an iPad will also work as a camera.
Skype Permission Slip
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