Technology Project- 1st Placement

​At my River Bend placement, technology is used a TON during classes. One specific technology we began working with was flat.io 

Flat.io is a great simple music notation program which allows you to compose for multiple instruments with ease. You can also share your scores with friends, teachers, and even other collaborators.  For my technology project at River Bend Middle School, we used flat.io to allow students to create bass line compositions.

We assigned a bass line project for our students. One piece we had learned was "When the Saints Go Marching In". The students had this piece memorized and had the bass line memorized. We gave two assignments to the students. The first assignment was to write out the bass line for their instrument and submit it. The second project was for students to compose their own bass line rhythm with the same notes.  One disconnect we had was that students could not separate the words rhythm from notes.  So instead of changing the rhythm they began changing the notes. Once we submitted feedback, students were able to correct their compositions and receive full credit.  Another issue with this project was that students only knew rhythms with half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes. This severely limited the rhythms that students were able to confidently compose. Our way of assessment was by comparing the two assignments AND by comparing the first submission to the submission after feedback.  Most students >80% showed improvement and general understanding of the topic.  If time allowed, I would have liked to have students play the melody on their own while we played the different bass lines that they composed, OR have myself and my cooperating teacher model both parts simultaneously.