"Tickling the Ivories!"

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 550

Manatee Elementary School's only keyboard instrument when I arrived to be the new music teacher last year was a very old acoustic Yamaha that had definitely seen better days.  Thanks to you - we were able to purchase a wonderful digital keyboard with many modern sound and rhythm capabilities to excite the students about learning music.

With the benefit of this instrument - I brought and orchestra and sound studio right into the classroom!  It was wonderful to see the children so excited about experiencing music because of this instrument.  They learned that sometimes - there is no right or wrong answer.  They could express their emotions by making the music fast or slow (tempo) or loud or soft (volume) and determine which suited the melody best, and decide which they enjoyed hearing the most.  This decision might even vary - and that was alright.  Music requires expression, and, it is creative.

Basic keyboarding and rhythm skills were taught in an unique and engaging way.
Students were able to arrange melodies into a variety of styles and genres utilizing the capabilities of the instrument - thus teaching basic composition and musical arranging to illustrate that the same melody can bring forth different feelings based on the "sound." 
Using melodies, we applied the technology of the instrument to experiment with how changing the voices/instrumentation features can dramatically effect the feeling of the piece - again, teaching musical arranging and expression. 
We had the ability to create inspirational accompaniments to songs, both for classroom instruction and learning, as well as for performances, that inspired students to truly engage in their study of music, singing, and performing, and to increase their level knowledge.
The students were taught to truly listen to, and experiment with, various sound applications of the instrument - then to analyze those musical sound qualities as we explored them. We decided the sounds/styles/to best fit melodies that were composed by the students, and of songs we learned in our curriculum. Those "preferences" changed depending on the mood" they were feeling​!

Having an instrument of this quality for our music education program promoted excellence in learning musical concepts and skills, and to take those skills to a higher level - composition and musical arranging! The technology used in this instrument is really fun for students - and that allows students to learn faster. It makes so much sense - when the fun factor goes up, the engagement level goes up, and the learning level goes up as well. A definite "win win!"
Learning basic music fundamentals - such as notation, rhythms, reading the staff, dynamics, tempo, etc. was  presented, explored, and learned in an unique and exciting way!
With this instrument, musical analytical skills were developed as the students needed to learn to listen to, and experiment with, various sound applications - then analyze those musical sound qualities, and decide which sounds/styles/etc. best suit various melodies. Thus - this instrument supported higher order thinking skills, cooperative learning, and problem solving.
My students felt accomplishment as they were successful in creating beautiful music!
This instrument helped my students realize that music without expression is merely notes. It takes organization, creativity, and feeling to be a musician.

The biggest impact of this grant, however, came as an unexpected gift.  After receiving this grant - I was contacted by the Music Foundation of Greater Naples.  They loaned us eight keyboards!  I was able to give keyboard lessons - with this digital piano as the "lead" instrument - before school started twice a week.  These eight students had a real desire and ambition for learning to play the keyboard, and would not have been able to do this without this grant opportunity.  They were able to come to the music room before school on other days to practice their lessons.  This was truly amazing!

Unfortunately, we were not able to accomplish out culminating activity.  I wrote a school song with a piano accompaniment that the children were learning to play.  I had the older children in the school create drum and rhythm accompaniments to the song.  The entire student body learned to sing the song.  It was my vision that we would perform this - again with the digital piano leading the way - at the end of the school year all together as a group.  This vision is not abandoned - it has merely been put on hold!  We will get to this together!​