Overview

I asked four peers—one music instructor, two computer instructors, and a Touro IT student—to evaluate the project. I gave them the choice of either evaluating individual blog posts—by commenting on the blog itself—or the whole project. Two peers decided to comment on individual blog posts and the other two decided to evaluate the entire project.

Individual Blog Evaluations

Dan Wix—Computer Instructor

Dan and I worked together at MLK Art and Technology high school in NYC.

Dan evaluated the Rubric Posts in Section II:

I love the fact that you have a redo section. It is definitely more positive then a zero point value, which gives the students the idea that they can learn and grow. However all the rubrics need to be consistent. Point values, look, and how they are arranged. You can win or lose a class with inconsistency. If one has a redo, all should have a redo, otherwise they’ll feel that some parts are less important then others and you’ll see that in their work.

Dan also evaluated the Needs Analysis Post in Section II:

The details should be apparent in this. You might want to identify that when assessing the needs, itemizing and listing every possible cost and current piece of equipment will ensure the program is picked up.

Dan’s Rubric comment was helpful. Since I developed the curriculum’s units at different points in the project, the consistency was not quite there. This will be addressed in future project implementations

Dan’s Needs Analysis comment was also helpful. I decided to back to those original posts in Section I and add the specific monetary costs to each application. This will make it easier for educators to decide if it’s the right application for their learning environments.

Ben Metzger—Music Instructor

Ben and I worked together at Queens Gateway to Health Sciences building their after-school music program.

Ben evaluated the Reason Lesson 2 post in section III.

I usually load the drums up in this order, bass drum, snare drum, hi hat. Kinda the way you’d be playing 2 and 4 in songs most of the time, and then keeping subdivision with hi hat, just my opinion, it’s easier to grasp programming—vis-a-vis physically playing the drums that way with an emphasis from the bass drum up.

Ben’s insight regarding drum programming organization was helpful. This will be addressed in future lesson implementation.

Umbrella Project Evaluations:

Todd Connell – IT Coordinator – Levittown School District

Todd and I worked together as IT consultants. Todd has been working in education since 2002.

The project seems like a good fit for my district. It would give our music and computer instructors incentive to work more collaboratively. The resources listed in the project are not a problem as we already have most of the application in our computer and music labs. I enjoyed section II, particularly the instructional analysis posts. The objectives are clear and concise and the diagrams are easy to read. The rubrics posts are well thought out.

Overall, the only challenge I see in implementation is time. The music and computer instructors have somewhat of a structured curriculum already designed. Since this project is—at a minimum—two weeks long, well, in order to fit it in within the school year, we would have to shift things around a bit. Also due to the critical thinking level that the project requires I recommend a higher grade level than what is recommended.

Todd made a solid point about the amount of time the project takes in relationship to the recommended grade level. I agree the  umbrella  project could also be geared toward a higher grade level; however, I think 9th grade is also appropriate.

Tatyana Neverova—Touro Classmate

I think that the use of modern technology in the classroom is very helpful to the way in which students interpret information. Teachers can provide them with many resources and programs to brush up on the material, which they learn in a creative way. The programs presented seem appropriate for use by the students, and are guaranteed to keep them excited throughout the learning process.

The Reason and Scratch lessons are developed very well. The instructor uses student’s prerequisite knowledge about the sound and waves to introduce them to analog and digital recording. During the lessons activity an instructor successfully creates the sets of instructions helping students to make associations that aid in learning. It includes the use of images, computer screen shots, fragments of PowerPoint presentations, and video lessons from the YouTube. The lesson’s instructions are very well organized, consecutive and seem like they are developed for the appropriate age group of 9th graders.

I think this is a realistic project and can be implemented into curriculum in every NYC public school.