Week 4 Viewing/Reading Reflection

      My fourth and fifth grade students play recorder and practice at home is difficult to keep track.  Seeing the students only once a week (if that), means that those students must practice at home in order to improve and be able to play the songs assigned.  I have tried practice logs and letting them practice for a small amount of time in class.  After this week's reading and lecture, I am seeing a few other options that would motivate my students to practice at home.  In addition to an incentive program called "Recorder Karate", I would like to implement a practice program at home.
      Tutorial software would be convenient to use in the classroom to reinforce skills taught as well as reach those students not motivated by paper/pencil methods.  Bauer(2014) mentions selecting software for the classroom by looking at many different questions. What is needed to make it work?  Will it help cover standards?  Will it track progress of the students? Something that I have used in my classroom is MusicAce.  It reinforces lessons already taught in the classroom, has lessons for students to follow, and tracks progress of the students through short quizzes at the end of each unit.
      With my fourth and fifth grade students using recorders, I could have them use SmartMusic at home and in class.  Bauer(2014) mentions learning management systems that have the capability to develop and administer quizzes, grading, and a discussion forum.  My only concern about using SmartMusic is the cost and keeping track of about 200 students in fourth and fifth grade alone.

Bauer, W. I. (2014) Music learning today Digital Pedagogy for Creating Performing andResponding to Music. New York, NY Oxford University Press.