Week 7 Reflection

The beginning of this chapter talks about productivity. This is an area that I continue to work on each year. I was introduced to Google Drive and all of the Google Suite applications that Google offers. I use my Google Drive more than I ever thought that I would. I used to use Dropbox for almost everything, but there is a maximum capacity issue with Dropbox that Google doesn't have. Having all of my files in Google Drive and being able to access them on my phone or iPad has been an excellent way to stay organized.

The next section in the reading talks about communication. I think that music educators have to be excellent communicators. For me, my students have a lot of after school activities including marching band, pep band, jazz band, and other performances. If you don't have an open line of communication between you, your students, and their parents then that reflects poorly on you as the director. This can potentially cause issues between you and the administration. I use a few different technology based methods of communication. The method of choice is email. I check my school email multiple times a day and I try to respond as quickly as I can, so I do not forget to reply. I also use the Remind app. It is a free texting service that you can sign up your students and parents and send them text messages directly to their phones. This is a wonderful app that has been a great communication tool. I am also in the process of creating our band's website. I think that this will be a great addition to the other methods of communication because anyone, grandparents and other family members, will be able to find information about upcoming events. I am excited to incorporate this technology with my group!



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