So after suggesting just moments (alright, days) ago that PowerPoint might not be all it's cracked up to be, I stumbled upon a good use of the program that's already received rave reviews from students.
I played some education concerts with the Lubbock Symphony on Tuesday (4 x Peter and the Wolf and Tales from Vienna Woods + 2.5 hour rehearsal = tired). As the kids were filing in, there were slides with orchestra trivia ("What is the name of the conductor of the LSO?" "What are the four families of instruments in the orchestra?" etc.). When the music started, the PowerPoint simply showed the title of the piece. Not too interesting, methinks. I thought it was a missed opportunity to show, say, pictures of Viennese woods (or better yet, Schwarzwalderkirschtorte) or pictures of Peter, and the cat, and so on, so that the students could begin to associate the musical themes with the pictures.*
I'm teaching two sections of harmony IV this semester back to back in the same classroom (one at 8:00am and one at 9:00am). The classes are large (for me): 20 and 30 students, respectively. So I've been trying to find ways to be more efficient and to maximize class time.
I put together a short (maybe 10 slides) PowerPoint show and set the slides to change every 15 seconds. I included observations about their homework, "Today in music history" (from here), advertisements for upcoming concerts, reminders about office hours, etc. I have this playing when the students come in, so the early birds have something to do, and I resume it during the ten minutes between classes. Here's the show from the first day:
Feedback was immediately positive from the students, which excited me greatly. One remarked that she felt like she was at the movies. To that end, I'm going to work in "Please silence your cell phones" and "Enjoy a Coke (just not in class!)" sorts of things as well.
*All that having been said, I think there's a perfectly good reason for not showing any pictures: having the students focus on listening to the music and not being distracted by the images.
I played some education concerts with the Lubbock Symphony on Tuesday (4 x Peter and the Wolf and Tales from Vienna Woods + 2.5 hour rehearsal = tired). As the kids were filing in, there were slides with orchestra trivia ("What is the name of the conductor of the LSO?" "What are the four families of instruments in the orchestra?" etc.). When the music started, the PowerPoint simply showed the title of the piece. Not too interesting, methinks. I thought it was a missed opportunity to show, say, pictures of Viennese woods (or better yet, Schwarzwalderkirschtorte) or pictures of Peter, and the cat, and so on, so that the students could begin to associate the musical themes with the pictures.*
I'm teaching two sections of harmony IV this semester back to back in the same classroom (one at 8:00am and one at 9:00am). The classes are large (for me): 20 and 30 students, respectively. So I've been trying to find ways to be more efficient and to maximize class time.
I put together a short (maybe 10 slides) PowerPoint show and set the slides to change every 15 seconds. I included observations about their homework, "Today in music history" (from here), advertisements for upcoming concerts, reminders about office hours, etc. I have this playing when the students come in, so the early birds have something to do, and I resume it during the ten minutes between classes. Here's the show from the first day:
Feedback was immediately positive from the students, which excited me greatly. One remarked that she felt like she was at the movies. To that end, I'm going to work in "Please silence your cell phones" and "Enjoy a Coke (just not in class!)" sorts of things as well.
*All that having been said, I think there's a perfectly good reason for not showing any pictures: having the students focus on listening to the music and not being distracted by the images.