This week I will be at the TI:ME National Conference be held this year in conjunction with NJMEA at the Brunswick Hilton and Towers in East Brunswick, NJ (Exit 9 on the NJTP). SoundTree will have a huge presence at this conference, sponsoring the hands-on technology lab, sponsoring over a dozen sessions, and bringing tons of software and gear to sell in the exhibit hall. There are so many fantastic presentations scheduled, and wonderful events like the presentation of the TI:ME Teacher of the Year Award, the Keynote presentation - this year given by the amazing Don Muro, the Technology Sandbox, and more.

If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, please head down to Exit 9 this Thursday for the TI:ME Pre Conference. You won’t be disappointed. I hope to see you there!

I am very pleased to report that the book that I recently wrote with Tom Rudolph titled YouTube in Music Education won the “Best Web Tool Award” at the 2010 Best Tools for Schools Awards Ceremony at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA this past January. The awards, sponsored by School Band & Orchestra Magazine, were judged by music educators at the show who were asked to fill out ballots in 13 different categories. Both Tom & I are thrilled with this honor and look forward to teachers across the country utilizing the information we laid out in the book to make best use of the incredible resources available on YouTube for educators.

As a way to celebrate this award, SoundTree has set up a special coupon that will get you 20% off the price of the book, and as always, shipping is free. Just log on to the SoundTree Online Store, and use coupon code frankel when checking out to receive the discount.

We have set up a special companion website for the book as well as a YouTube Channel, and we will both be presenting a session about the book at the upcoming TI:ME National/NJMEA Conference next week. If you’ve read the book, I’d love to know what you think of it!

Today and tomorrow I am in Charleston, SC on behalf of SoundTree to present two sessions at the South Carolina Music Educators Association Conference 2010. I love the city of Charleston, and I am looking forward to seeing the many music educators that I have met from South Carolina over the past two years. There are also a ton of great sessions being presented by some fabulous presenters, and I am looking forward to sitting in on them. As always, I have created a special landing page for the event which contains all of my session materials, and I will post podcasts of all of my sessions.

That’s right - TI:ME is giving away an iPod Touch (8GB Model) to one lucky TI:ME Member who registers for the upcoming TI:ME National Conference being held in conjunction with NJMEA in East Brunswick, NJ from February 18 - 20, 2010.

All you need to do is register for the Pre-Conference & Conference by February 5th. If you have already registered, you are entered to win. We will announce the lucky winner at the TI:ME Reception on Thursday evening, Feb. 18th. You must be present to win! To register, visit: NJMEA and submit your registration for by February 5th. A terrific conference and a terrific prize should be all the reason you need to attend.

What are you waiting for?

Today I am in Grand Rapids, MI on behalf of SoundTree to present the Keynote Address and sessions at the Michigan Music Conference 2010 Technology Pre-Conference. I was thrilled to have been asked to present at MMC 2010, and I am looking forward to meeting with the many fine music educators here in Michigan. There are also a ton of great sessions being presented by some fabulous presenters, and I am looking forward to sitting in on them. As always, I have created a special landing page for the event which contains all of my session materials, and I will post podcasts of all of my sessions.

If you are on Twitter, follow the events of the day at #mmc10, and by following SoundTree and I at @SoundTree and @jimfrankel.

Tomorrow I will be presenting a full day of sessions on behalf of SoundTree along with his colleague Robin Hodson at the first ever NJSMA Workshop Day at Kinnelon High School in Kinnelon, NJ. I am presenting two sessions on Smartboards in the Music Classroom and Online Resources for Music Educators. Robin Hodson will also be presenting sessions on Groovy, Sibelius and recording and editing digital audio. As always, we will be podcasting the sessions and all of the session materials are available at www.soundtree.com/njsma10.

If you can’t make this workshop, please make every effort to attend the TI:ME National Conference next month!

I welcome your comments and questions.

Online TI:ME Courses - Spring 2010

SoundTree is offering three online TI:ME Courses for graduate credit through a partnership with Five Towns College starting March 1st. The courses will meet completely online, using both weekly live video conferences and Five Towns College’s online course management tool, BlackBoard™. Courses run 12 weeks and cost $750 per course (plus $50 application fee). Upon successful completion of the course, students will receive 3 graduate credits.

The following courses are being offered:

EDU 521, TI:ME 1A: Basic Skills - Electronic Instruments, MIDI Sequencing, and Notation
Instructor: Dr. Thomas Rudolph

EDU 522, TI:ME 1B: Basic Skills in Music Technology: Instructional Software, Communications, and Digital Media
Instructor: Stefani Langol

EDU 523, TI:ME 2A: Music Notation Software (Finale)
Instructor: Dr. Scott Watson

For more information and to register, please visit www.soundtree.com/timecourses or contact us at info@soundtree.com.

Registration deadline is Friday, February 20th. There is a minimum requirement of 9 registered students per course in order for each course to run. In case the course needs to be canceled, you will be notified by February 27th.

I am presenting a one hour workshop on behalf of SoundTree on utilizing SmartBoards/IWBs in the music classroom this upcoming Monday, and I need your help.

The workshop is focused on best practices with SmartBoards/IWBs and will provide lesson plan ideas for general, vocal and instrumental music teachers. I would love to feature some of your ideas in the workshop (and would credit you fully). If you would please take a few moments to share how you are using your IWB (Interactive White Board) with your students; what brand of IWB you have; what are the advantages and disadvantages of using an IWB in your classroom; and any resources that you use to create lessons using software like Notebook for the SmartBoard. By the way - special thanks to my dear friend Liz - the model in the picture above.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. The workshop is on Monday!

Today I am heading down to Tampa, FL for the FMEA 2010 Conference. This is always one of my favorite events to present at (and the weather ain’t too bad down there either). FMEA is a huge conference with over 10,000 attendees and it always attracts great presenters. This year the featured technology presenter is a good friend and colleague - Amy Burns. Amy is presenting two sessions: Podcasting in the Elementary Music Classroom and Integrating Technology in the Elementary Music Classroom. I am presenting a session tomorrow on behalf of SoundTree titled Finding Funds for Music Technology. As always, I have created a special landing page for my session and I will be posting a podcast of the session by tomorrow evening. I will also be tweeting from the show (follow me at www.twitter.com/jimfrankel and SoundTree at www.twitter.com/SoundTree). I’ll be using the hashtag #fmea10 if you’d like to follow the tweets.

If you are going to be at FMEA, please stop by my session, or visit the SoundTree booth - #6023. I hope to see you there!

First of all Happy New Year! I am looking forward to another year of blogging with you.

As many of you may already know, the TI:ME National Conference is coming to New Jersey this year - being held in conjunction with the NJMEA In-Service Conference in East Brunswick from February 18th through the 20th. I am absolutely thrilled that TI:ME is finally here in what I consider my home state (though I live in NY). The schedule of sessions has just been released, and there are some terrific presenters and sessions lined up.

To download an At-A-Glance schedule of events, click HERE.
To download the full schedule, including session descriptions and abstracts, click HERE:
To register for the conference, click HERE.

I truly hope that you will make every effort to attend this year. It’s not every day that you can see so many wonderful presenters in one place, and if you live in the Tri-State area, you should start making your travel plans today. Exit 9 on the turnpike!

I welcome your questions and comments.