Dear Music Teacher friends,
As an Orff Schulwerk teacher, I know how hard you work to develop student-centered, creative lessons for your students every day. Two things I loved about teaching with Orff Schulwerk: seeing my own ideas coming to life with the students, and even better, seeing the students' ideas take over and guide the learning!
There were also some things I didn't "love" about teaching. One was documenting my lessons and assessments. I never quite felt comfortable teaching from any one textbook, as the pace of my classes never fit the perfect model. For assessment, I would rather be "in the moment" with the kids, giving them direct and immediate feedback to improve their skills, than standing aside with a gradebook writing down scores.
So I designed Unison.School to be a tool for busy teachers like myself. The lesson planner gives me the ability to write unit/project lesson plans based on repertoire and the creative process, and share them on Google Drive with my principal and colleagues. The calendar and daily planner, which functions just like a paper planner, lets me keep track of what each class works on with minimal typing. Finally, I designed the melodic and rhythmic assessments to be completely objective and automated, allowing students to take an authentic, skills-based test, with immediate feedback, from any internet-connected device. This means I can send a few students at a time back to a computer station to take a test, while continuing the creative process for the class. Alternatively, I can bring in a cart of iPads and test an entire class in less than five minutes! The scores are saved to a grade book, and can be used for Student Learning Objectives, Common Formative Assessments, report cards, or whatever system your district employs.
I hope that Unison.School can make a few "less exciting" parts of your job easier, and give you more time to focus on creative student engagement. To get started, register for a free account, and follow my walkthrough video, or just start playing with the free tools!
One last thing. If you're stressed out this last week before winter break, try sharing my Jingle Bells lesson with your classes! I'll try to add more interactive video lessons in the near future.
I'm always open to suggestions and feedback to make Unison.School serve you better.
Have a wonderful winter break, happy holidays, and a joyous New Year with your students!
-Tim