Projecting Music!

"My school is located in Englewood on the south side of Chicago. It is an understatement to say that the community is plagued with violence; last week, all 450 of our students and the 30 some staff members went on lock down as the police chased an armed suspect through the very neighborhood that our..." more»

"My school is located in Englewood on the south side of Chicago. It is an understatement to say that the community is plagued with violence; last week, all 450 of our students and the 30 some staff members went on lock down as the police chased an armed suspect through the very neighborhood that our students live and play. The man was shot by the Chicago Police, our lock down ended, and learning commenced again.

And yet, most unbelievably, our school is very lucky.

Two years ago, our school received an amazingly generous grant to upgrade to a technology academy and special school. With this status came a giant amount of funded to fill our classrooms with document projectors, Smart boards, laptops, iPods, and recording technology. It has rejuvenated our school, challenged our students, and brought a stream of students transferring in from other schools that keep us fairly safe from the current trend of school closings in our area.

However, technology is exactly what this grant requests.

I am the music teacher at this technology academy. When I walked in in September, I was provided with a laptop, an ancient projector, a white screen, video camera, and a full set of hand-bells. I have built our music program from the ground up, leaning heavily on DonorsChoose.org, other local grants, and iTunes to inspire my students and help them to learn about and create music.

Instantly, my projector became critical to music class. From leading Kindergartners with Jordan the singing dog on TeacherTube.com to creating music videos, watching, and editing them on the large screen so all students can follow along, my projector allowed me to engage the entire class at once and show them all they could do and have already achieved. One dark day, my projector overheated for it’s final time and ascended to the technology heaven in the sky.

When I started the job and asked what the music budget was, the principal laughed at the very thought of a music budget. My request for a new projector was replied to in precisely the same manner.

We have recently begun production on a CD of original music written by small group of 6th-8th graders. Students choose instrumental tracks of their favorite songs off of iTunes, and write original raps and lyrics to record over the instrumental track. Because we are a technology academy, part of their grade rests in their use of our recording and mixing program. To demonstrate their agility in the program, I need a projector to attach to the laptop to show the entire class the process they used to polish their song.

The projector will be used for countless other things. Kindergartners will sing with their favorite CG dog again. The dance club can video tape themselves and use the tape to critique their performance. I can show clips of operas and musicals before we learn their songs.

Please consider funding this request for the most basic of projectors to bring life and opportunity back into my music room. hide»