PC Spring Cleaning, Music, and ESL

Spring Tune Up For PCs

The more preventative steps taken below, the better the workstations, whether at home or work, will be able to handle the demands expected of them.

If I can be of assistance or answer questions, please let me know.

Charlie

Download, install, update , and run the following:

1. Update Norton Antivirus and run full scan. Quarantine all detected items.

2. Glary utilities: Check all boxes. Run “one-click maintenance”. Remove anything found.

3. SUPERAntispyware:  Run full scan. Remove anything found.

4. AntiMalware: Run full scan. Remove anything found.

5. Hard Drive Powerwash: Run full scan. Remove anything found.

6. Smart Defrag: Install; unchecking all “optional” components in the process. Select and run “Defrag and Fully Optimize”.

URLs

2. http://download.cnet.com/Glary-Utilities/3000-2094_4-10508531.html
3.  http://www.superantispyware.com/downloadfile.html?productid=SUPERANTISPYWAREFREE
4. http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5756
5. http://1-abc.de/0212/harddrivepowerwash_free.exe
6.http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=6672&file=9&evp=80bbb524430ce6a16c5770219d89ba67

ATTENTION MUSIC EDUCATORS:

One of our county's music instructors posted this URL on Facebook.  It is an interactive website addressing music theory.  Check it out!  I'm confident that you and your students will find it quite engaging!

Music Theory.net   (http://www.musictheory.net/)

You might also find the drills at eMusicTheory.com interesting.  (http://www.emusictheory.com/practice.html)

ESL (English as a Second Language)

We just enrolled two ELLs (English Language Learners) whose native language is Gujarati.  That's a new one to me!  What to do about translating notes to home?  The Internet is simply amazing!  You can find anything if you dig deep enough.  I found an English-to-Gujarati program that allows for translating up to 100 characters at a time in trial mode. Good enough for me!

If you are a school with students who speak Gujarati, administrators, counselors, and all classroom teachers working with these children are required by Title III of NCLB to send home notices in BOTH English and the native language spoken at home.

The program (downloadable from the link below) allows for copying and pasting to and from word processing programs (i.e. Microsoft Word).

http://www.download3k.com/DownloadLink1-English-to-Gujarati-Character-Converter.html

Yet another program (a mere $8.00) called GujaratiPad, allows for typing as you normally would in English, but the text appears as Gujarati characters.


Read more about it at http://www.supershareware.com/download/gujaratipad.html
Download it from http://www.supershareware.com/action/download1/19146

Sound of Music!

Aside from technology, music is something that I'm very passionate about.  Just ask anyone who knows me.  They'll affirm that! In the past month or so I've been working on composing a song. The lyrics and poetic/musical structure came easily. Setting it all to music is taking a little longer.

This phase of the composition process is being made easier with the aid of two free music/notation/composition programs.

The first is called Crescendo Music Notation Editor.  It's actually suite of applications that happens to include the ability to digitally compose musical scores.

The second application is called MuseScore. It's equally as impressive, considering the price!

If you (or your students) want to experience some real-world, higher-level activities, then try composing your own song, or taking musical dictation using these two FREE powerful tools.  I believe you'll be impressed.

Music and Art - Universal Languages!

With Christmas (not "The Holidays" - it's the Advent season) now upon us, I thought I'd share a few discoveries that you might want to explore during your down time.

The arts, particularly music, are dear to me. They are universally understood. When language fails us across geographic borders, the arts can communicate in a manner that the spoken word can't approximate.

That being said, the following are a few that you'll want to explore and integrate into your classroom instruction:

1. Paint.net
   
2. PhotoFiltre
   
3. Jam Studio
   
4. Playlist

Paint.net is for digital image editing. Likewise for PhotoFiltre. JamStudio allows one to create music with all manner of complexity (instrumentation, voices, etc.). Playlist.com is a music social networking site. There are numerous genres from which to choose, listen, and share with others.

Observations and food for thought: The first decade of the 21st century is about to conclude. Web 2.0 has matured. Web 3.0 is developing.

• What have you learned about 21st century skills since the turn of the century?
  
• How many Web 2.0 skills have you learned in the past few years?
  
• Most importantly: How have you used these powerful skills in your instruction and shared your knowledge with others (especially with students)?

A side note: Explore the amazing opportunities at SharedTalk - Your Language Exchange Network. You and your students might just establish some global connections and learn more about spoken and written languages in an interactive, real-time manner!

Merry Christmas! May God bless you abundantly in the year ahead!

MusicNotes -WOW!

It's been some time since my last post. Things have been QUITE busy with technology here in the district. However, this afternoon I have a few minutes to speak about the arts and a multi-modal software tool called "MusicNotes".

The program is free. The executable install file is about 11 Mb in size. It's available from http://www.musicnotes.com/download/suite/default.asp The program will open music, play it, and highlight the notes as they're being played. The tempo can be adjusted to suit one's reading speed.

Sheet music can be ordered in downloadable digital format, printed, and played within the program. The cost is comparable to purchasing it from a retailer. I've used it for weddings and church related music. It's extremely powerful and feature-packed. The library of music available is substantial, including several genres.

The program also has a "Guitar Guru" that will guide one through the basics of playing the music shown on the computer screen. Pretty "suite"! Give this suite a try. You won't be disappointed!

Music & Technology in the Classroom

There are a wealth of resources available to the classroom teacher, whether choral or instrumental, that can be used to augment the music program and bring technology into the curriculum. These resources can also be used to enhance instructional delivery.

One such product is a piece of hardware called the MusicPad Pro Plus, from http://www.freehandsystems.com/products.html This product is an electronic-touch-screen based notebook. Scan your music, save it to a flash drive, then insert the drive into the MusicPad. It can then be opened up and read sheet music electronically. Pages can be turned by touching the screen or optional foot pedal. The unit comes with a stylus that permits one to make markups to the music, then saves the markups for rehearsal. The unit will also connect to a digital projector so your students can view the music on a large screen. You'll then be able to see their faces as they read the music behind you. No more "hidden faces" looking down at the music! I have such a device. It's easy to learn how to navigate this piece of equipment. It mounts on a music stand and is portable. It has a battery that is good for 2 or so hours between charges.

Another item is a free piece of software called Anvil Studio. This program creates midi files that can be played on a computer or through a clavinova. You can then accompany the clavinova with another instrument such as a trumpet or guitar. Chad Davis, a local musician, has used this program with great success. Get the program from http://www.anvilstudio.com

Another program that is similar to but much more versatile than Anvil Studio is one called FL Studio. The demo version is fully functional, but will not save your projects, HOWEVER, it will allow you to export them as .wav or .mp3 files. The program allow for multi-track composition and looping. I've not worked with it but have seen it in action. Local musician Dusty Merrill has used it with success in our church as part of the worship and praise team. It is VERY impressive. The fully functional version is $99.00. The demo version, though, should do what you want it to do if .wav or mp3 files will meet your needs. Download FL Studio from http://flstudio.image-line.com

Charlie