MusicEdMajor.net» Tips and Tricks

The Job Search Process: Where to Begin

Elizabeth Heist — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:29:49 +0000

Maybe you are getting ready to graduate or have recently graduated, have a degree in music education and are ready to begin teaching, but now the challenge of finding a full-time music teaching position begins. If you find yourself in this position you are probably starting to realize that this can be quite a daunting and overwhelming task. You are overwhelmed with where to begin, how to find job postings, applications, portfolios, resumes, and eventually interviews. As we all know interviewing is a challenge itself, but actually finding and applying for jobs can be a long and tiring journey. In this post I will give some resources for finding job postings, tips on filling out applications, and some general tips on the daunting task of job searching.

Where To Begin

Know What You Are Looking For- Before your start your searching you need to know what type of job you are looking for. What area or areas of music education do you want to teach. Also, think about what area of the country you want to work in. This helps to narrow your search and keep you focused.
Do Your Research- After deciding on what you are looking for make sure you do your research. Start by researching schools in the areas you would like to work and find schools that seem like a good fit. Also, make sure you research each state you are applying in so that you know their application requirements. If looking out of state be sure to find out the requirements for transferring your teaching certificate.
Have All Your Materials Prepared- Get all of your materials prepared such as cover letters, resumes, portfolios, clearances, and recommendations ready before you start searching. This way as soon as you start to find postings you are ready to mail in your materials.
Be Open Minded Yet Selective- Have an open mind as to where you search, but also be selective. What I mean is don’t apply to every job posting you find even if it is where you are looking. Before you apply make sure it is a job you could see yourself in for at least a few years and the area is right for you.

Tips On Filling Out Applications

Know the Expectations and Requirements- When starting to fill out applications make sure you read the job posting and make sure you know all of the requirements. Each state and often each school district requires different essays, applications and materials. Also, many schools are starting to use online applications and don’t want you to send anything by mail. Finally if you are interested in a school district that hasn’t posted a job yet, check before you send in your materials. Some schools are fine with this, but others only want materials for jobs they have posted.
Allow Time- When filling out applications allow plenty of time as it is a very time consuming process. This is especially true if you are using job search sites such as USReap or PaEducator which require extensive profiles. These take a long time to fill out and need to be done before postings start coming out. I recommend getting this done in the winter or early spring before you start searching.
Have Standard Essays and Applications Prepared- If your state has a standard application or essay get these prepared ahead of time. Also make sure to keep a hard copy of these on your computer so you can print them out for other schools or update the information.
Appearance is Half the Battle- When filling out applications and preparing your packet of materials make sure that everything is neat and organized. Appearance is half of the battle. Since schools get hundreds of applications for one position they often start weeding out the applications by just glancing at them and checking if you followed directions before they even start reading your qualifications.
Find Ways to Stand Out- When sending applications find ways to make yourself stand out. One way to do this is by making a mini-portfolio or brochure about yourself that you can send with every application. Another way to do this is by making an online portfolio and including the web address in your materials. WordPress is a great way to do this for free. Here is mine as an example: www.elizabethheist.com

Resources For Finding Job Openings

There are many easily available resources for job searching. Below are some specific sites and and also some more general ways to find postings. For anything below that is state specific, most states have their own version of the same website.

PA Educator- A specific site for PA that many PA schools use to post openings.
US Reap- Online job portal for many states. Create a profile once and then use it for any of the states that post jobs.
Teaching In PA- Postings for all fields of open jobs in PA. Many others states have sites just like this one.
Teacher Catapult- Another site specific to PA, but is a great resource if you are looking for jobs in PA. Also, has great general job searching resources.
Teachers- Teachers- An online job portal where you can search for jobs worldwide and also private schools. All you have to do is create a profile, select what types of jobs you are looking for and it will automatically show you related postings.
School Spring- Similar to teachers-teachers where you can search any states for postings.
Classified Ads- Websites such as Indeed, Craigslist, and Monster have postings for music education jobs.
State Education Boards- Most stated school boards update regular job postings such as Pennsylvania School Boards Association
State Department of Education- Check out your states department of education website. Most have an online job search portal.
State Music Education Associations- Most state music education websites have a job board.
NAFME Job List
Local School Districts- If you are looking in a certain area check the local school district websites for a list of postings.
Local Newspapers
Private Schools- A directory that links you to private schools by state.
Job Fairs- Attend local job fairs or do a search for job fairs and see which school districts are attending and what subject areas the are looking to hire.
Word of Mouth- Sometimes the best way to find openings is by word of mouth. Ask friends, co-workers, professors, private lesson teachers, music stores etc.
Professional Learning Networks- In my opinion this is one of the best ways to find postings and also ask about certain areas or job opportunities.

General Job Searching Tips

Start Early- Don’t wait until summer to start searching because you will miss out on a lot of opportunities. End of April/beginning of May is when many schools start positing, but you will often find a lot of postings earlier in the year as well. Some schools will even start interviews as early as February or March.
Search Often- While job searching is definitely time consuming I have found that it is extremely important to get into a routine and do your searches often. Many times schools will only keep a posting up for 1 week. So you want to keep checking back and have everything ready to send in so that you don’t miss a chance at a job because of being unprepared.
Continue Gaining Experience- While you are job searching, continue to gain teaching experience. This could be through student teaching, substitute teaching, a long-term assignment, working at a summer music camp, or being on a marching band staff. The more experience you have the better your chances are for landing and interview and securing a job.
Have a Backup Plan- We all hope to land that first job right out of college, but unfortunately that doesn’t always happen. Try to have a backup plan in mind in case you don’t land a full-time position right away. If you are planning on subbing if you don’t get a full-time position get your materials in during the summer. It is better to get your materials in early and possible have to tell them you got a full-time job instead of waiting until August. If you wait until then you probably won’t start subbing until at least the end of September.
Don’t Give Up- This is definitely easier said than done, but try to not give up. There is a job out there for you, but sometimes it takes awhile to find. Some of the best educators I know didn’t get a full-time position for a few years. Just keep plugging away and something will eventually come your way!

I hope you find the above tips and resources on landing a music education job helpful. My biggest piece of advice is to stay positive and be patient. I have been job searching for over a year now and the biggest thing I learned is that you will get hired when a job is the right fit for you. Not getting hired means that the job wasn’t a good fit for you or the school district. Job searching is definitely a challenging process, but remember that you are not in this alone. There are plenty of other educators that are in the same situation, or music educators who have landed a full-time job and are more than willing to give tips and advice. Happy job searching!!!

Private Lessons

Andrew Ritenour — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:13:13 +0000

I started teaching private music lessons when I was in high school, so I’ve been doing it for about four years now. This by no means makes me an expert (or anything resembling an expert), but I’d like to think that I’ve learned a few things about teaching since I started.

As an undergraduate music ed major, I approach teaching probably a little different than some other people. I teach my students facility on their instrument, but I believe it is just as important (if not more important) that they develop overall independent musicianship. In other words, I try to teach my students to be good, independent musicians by using/playing their particular instrument. I choose this approach for a few reasons. Most importantly, I believe that it is my duty as a music educator to create good musical citizens. It is critical that people are able to listen to music, evaluate and analyze music, sing melodies in tune, and keep a beat in their bodies. These skills transcend the playing of any particular instrument, and having them makes for a more fulfilling life.

I try to teach independent musicianship to my private students so that they can carry their musical knowledge into the rest of their musical lives. When I was in fourth grade, my first instrument was the clarinet. I played it in school for five years. I am now in my third year as a tuba major in music school. If I had only learned the technical aspects of pushing the correct buttons on the clarinet, and nothing else, I would have been out of luck when the time came to learn the tuba. Instead, because I knew scales, reading, theory, how to sing in tune, and how to audiate, I had a much easier time transferring my musical knowledge in a relevant and applicable way.

Another reason I try to ‘make good musical citizens’ out of my students is very related to the previous reasons. Basically, I want my students to be able to appreciate and enjoy music to the best of their ability. Too often do we see people experiencing truly beautiful musical moments, but they find those moments incredibly boring or unlistenable because they have not been taught how to appreciate them. That does not mean I try to brainwash all of my students to enjoy classical music; I don’t. Instead, I try to work with the student to help them ‘open their ears’, and learn how to listen to more than just the surface of whatever particular piece of music they are listening to. I don’t care if it’s Mozart, Duke Ellington, or Lady Gaga, I want my students to be able to experience, appreciate, and enjoy the music that they play and listen to.

When you get right down to it, I think that is what it is all about, that is why we do what we do: to teach students how to have a genuine and enjoyable musical experience by using their independent musicianship. This is what I try to accomplish with my students.

Matt Ercolani is in his third year as an undergraduate music education major at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. At Rowan University, he is the Vice-President of the Rowan chapter of Collegiate NAfME (National Association for Music Education), and helps lead the most active collegiate chapter in the state. Mr. Ercolani has taught at music camps across the country, including as a member of the all-volunteer SWAG Team at the 2010 Music-For-All Summer Symposium in Normal, Illinois. Most recently, he was selected for participation in the first-ever TI:ME Leadership Academy at the 2012 TI:ME National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Ercolani is an active freelance private teacher and musician in the South Jersey area. His research and teaching interests include early childhood music education and utilizing technology to teach non-traditional music students. You can find more about him at http://mattercolani.wordpress.com.

Majoring in Music Education: Graduate vs Undergraduate

Russ Callahan — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 02:10:49 +0000

Coursework

I think the biggest difference between undergraduate work and graduate work is the depth of coursework. The scope of undergraduate coursework is typically very broad, as universities want to prepare students for a variety of possible teaching scenarios. Consequently, the courses you take in your Bachelors are not always the most interesting or even directly related to teaching music. Graduate work is much more in-depth and specific to music education. Most Universities typically require only a few specific courses for the degree, which typically include some type of introduction to research course and some type of bibliography course. The rest of the degree programs are outlined by elective categories and or a specialization track you choose. You may be have the ability to focus on performance, pedagogy, research, etc. depending on the school you attend, and the resources they have available. I don’t think the degree defines the person, but the person defines the degree. With careful planning, one can hone in on very specific skills within the music education Masters program. I want to really emphasize how important this point is because I believe a number undergraduate music education majors have an impression that they have to get a conducting degree to be an excellent conductor. One can have the best of both worlds!

Course Loads and Class Time

Reflecting on my undergraduate experience, I’ll never forget the semester I took 21 hours or the semester when I had 13 classes! This is a familiar story for many undergraduate music education majors. In graduate school, course loads are much more reasonable. Full time graduate students typically take between 9 to 12 hours, which translates into 3 to 5 courses. I tend to focus more on the number of classes rather than the number of hours since each course will require a lot of work regardless of how many credit hours you will earn. It’s also important to take into account any time commitments that an assistantship may bring.

Final Thoughts & Things to Consider

Many schools require proficiency exams in music history, music theory, aural skills, piano, and possibly more. All I can say about this is good luck!
Prior to entering a program, get familiar with some of the most common music education journals and read a few articles (hint: skip the statistics-laden results sections for now).
Be prepared to do a lot more reading and writing than you have ever done!
Finally, I think it is imperative that a person goes into graduate work with very specific goals. For me, the key to establishing my goals was spending a few years outside of the college environment teaching. This may not be the route for everyone, but it certainly can’t hurt anyone to enter graduate school with some time away from higher education.

How the Community Uses Evernote [BONUS Tip!]

Andy Zweibel — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:00:08 +0000

I have written many posts here on staying organized and productive (by setting goals, using a calendar, and staying focused), but there is not one resource I have found that has helped me be organized better than Evernote. Evernote has transformed how I keep myself organized, both in my professional and personal life. This series of short posts will take an in-depth look into how I use Evernote for a more organized life.

Before you read: Check out the other posts in this series: Evernote Series: A Primer, How Evernote Changed the Way I Job Search, Evernote Series: Student Teaching, Evernote Series: How Evernote Helps Me Deliver Killer Presentations, and Evernote Series: Evernote in Daily Life

Over the course of the past week, I have been detailing how I use Evernote to enhance my productivity, both in my professional and personal lives. Throughout my writing, I have asked readers how they used Evernote in their own lives. There were some great and insightful responses; people are using Evernote in creative ways all over the place! Here’s how:

Twitter Responses

Here are the responses I received via Twitter (follow me at @Zweibz7 and this site at @MusicEdMajor):

@katiesw: “Home improvement ideas (pics), lists of movies/bks to watch/read, rep. list for a cappella group, gig info”
@katiesw: “Meeting notes (tag w/ what we discussed), PD course descriptions, drafts of blog posts, to-do lists by project”
@jaydorf: “I use @evernote to sync to-do lists across devices, and to take notes on my iPad at conferences. Love it!”
@musictechie: I use Evernote for class lists, 4 fire drills. audio notes to self. All teachers meetings, so I can add info myself
@bliporto: I use @evernote to take notes in meetings or doing an observation. I can sync them with my laptop to type up my report.
@tubachic: I use evernote to save a copy of my (few) blog posts in case anything happened to the site. Of course the typical grocery list.
@tubachic: I also use EN to save sheet music. Public domain stuff from the internet, stuff I write. That way I can access it from anywhere.

Shameless plug: If you’re a Music Ed Major on Twitter, consider joining our 100 Music Ed Majors on Twitter list! A new update to the list is coming early next week!

Blog Comments

We only had one blog comment with an Evernote use case through the series, so a very special shout-out goes to David Ahrens! David is a band director in California, and writes a great blog at Sound Education; his blog is definitely worth subscribing to! Follow David on Twitter at @MrAhrens. Here’s what David had to say in his comments to my Evernote Series post on Student Teaching:

I use Evernote constantly. Aside from saving everything, I’ve been using it as a GTD tool following the plan by @ruudhein at http://ruudhein.com/evernote-gtd. It is worth it to download the desktop version and pay for the premium service. I also make use of the email in function a lot. Whenever I have any parent communication via email, I always bcc it to evernote so I have another backup (beside gmail, which is also great). I also use it for student portfolios, creating a single note for each band student with all of their personal info, instrument serial number, uniform number, folder number, etc. Plus you can attach mp3 or wav files or whatever else you have.

When asked if he found it helpful for his organizational system, David responded:

I use it daily. Once you get a teaching position, you’ll find that the level of organization that is required is way above what you anticipated. (Now, you may have had better training on this than I. The fact that you have already been researching it and your professors was using Evernote with you is great). I simply do not have the ability to keep all of the plates spinning without a good system in place. Between Evernote (as GTD), gmail, google calendar, Twitter, and my band website I keep the crashes to a minimum.

BONUS TIP: For the Job Search

Through developing this series of posts, I have come up with even more Evernote use cases for myself! Here’s one for those of you job (or college) searching right now:

Many applications have a number of short questions they ask you to respond to (concisely) regarding teaching. A few examples I have encountered include:

What are the top three reasons you chose to become a teacher?
How would you inspire creativity in your classroom?
What is your basic behavior management philosophy?
How would you use assessment to ensure students are learning?

I am beginning to see a lot of repeated (or very similarly worded) questions on different applications. I am using Evernote to record my answers to these questions, putting them in my Job Search notebook, and tagging them appropriately. This way, if I see a question on an application that I have already answered, I can easily refer back to my notebook instead of having to rewrite my response.

NOTE: This is not meant to imply that you should use the exact same answers on all applications. It is very important to make your answers specific to the school/district to which you are applying; Evernote just helps provide the foundation upon which you can build.

There You Have It!

This concludes the series of posts on how I (and you) use Evernote in my daily life to be more productive. Once again, here’s a list of all the posts in the series:

Please leave any feedback you may have on the series in a comment here, and be sure to stay tuned to MusicEdMajor.net for more tips and tricks about using Social Media/Web 2.0 services as a music educator!

Evernote in Daily Life

Andy Zweibel — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:00:58 +0000

Before you read: Check out the other posts in this series: Evernote Series: A Primer, How Evernote Changed the Way I Job Search, Evernote for Student Teaching, and How Evernote Helps Me Deliver Killer Presentations

Over the past week, I have detailed how I use Evernote in my professional life for job searching, student teaching, and presenting. I also use Evernote outside of “work,” though. Here are a few ways I use (or have used) Evernote in my personal life:

Personal Life Applications

These are a few of the applications Evernote has for me in my personal life:

To Do Lists: Using Evernote, I can email or Tweet (@MyEN) anything I need to add to my to do list straight into my “To Do” notebook. All I have to do is include “@ To Do” in the subject line of an email, and it gets sent straight to the correct notebook. This way, no matter where I am, I can add things to my to do list. Also, it syncs with me wherever I go!
Recipes/Grocery Lists: I have been spending more time this semester experimenting in the kitchen. When I find a recipe I want to try, I can clip it into Evernote and tag it with the appropriate ingredients, and then do a tag search to find out which ingredients I need when I go to the store. From here, I create my list in Evernote, and it syncs to my phone for easy portability when I go shopping.
Class: While this isn’t necessarily “personal,” I used Evernote to take notes in my classes when I was enrolled in on-campus courses. I had a “Class” notebook, and tagged each note with the course code to keep them separated. Even if I forgot my laptop, I could take notes by hand and snap a photo of my notes (or a photo of the whiteboard) into Evernote afterwards. Remember, the text in the photos is searchable!
Books to Get: I get a ton of book recommendations from classmates, friends, family, and colleagues. If I ever see a book I want, I put it in my “Books to Get” notebook. If I have access to a copy of it, I snap a photo of the cover and the ISBN number for easy searching down the line. Whenever I have a little extra money for books (what a concept, huh??), I can just refer to this notebook for the next one to get! Here’s an example of a note I clipped reminding myself to get Susan Haugland (@shaugland)’s book, Crowd Control: Classroom Management and Effective Teaching for Chorus, Band and Orchestra, which is also available on Amazon (affiliate link)!

How About YOU?

This was the last post in my Evernote series that details how I use Evernote. Tomorrow, however, is all about you! I have been collecting, both over Twitter (find me at @Zweibz7 and this website at @MusicEdMajor) and through blog comments, the ways in which you use Evernote (yes, I have been tracking them in an Evernote notebook!). I will take some of the most innovative responses, and include them in tomorrow’s wrap-up post, along with some bonus tips that fit into the categories I’ve already written on.

So what are you waiting for? Leave a comment and tell me how YOU use Evernote in your life. you could be featured in tomorrow’s post!

How Evernote Helps Me Deliver Killer Presentations

Andy Zweibel — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:00:28 +0000

Before you read: Check out the other posts in this series: Evernote Series: A Primer, How Evernote Changed the Way I Job Search, Evernote for Student Teaching, and Evernote in Daily Life

I have had the opportunity in the past few months to deliver a few presentations at local, state, and national events. As I planned my presentations, it became clear that a simple organizational system was necessary to manage all the “stuff” I was processing. Enter Evernote… Here’s how I use Evernote all throughout the process of developing a presentation:

Phase 1: Research

My first step when putting together a presentation is to collect information… a TON of it! I look up and down around the web for information related to the topic of my presentation, and collect anything that could potentially be helpful when putting together my presentation. I also look for tips about giving good presentations. Some of the things I curate include:

Blog Posts
Web Pages
Wikipedia Articles
Dictionary Definitions
Videos or images I might want to use
Other presentations on similar topics

Evernote makes curating this information super easy with the Chrome Web Clipper. I simply click the Evernote icon in my Chrome browser, and can clip either a link to the page in question or the full webpage into my Evernote notebook. I can choose the specific notebook into which I want to clip the page, and can even add tags and my own additional notes:

Clipping my post on Evernote into Evernote. Will this create a hole in the space-time continuum?

I also love collecting Tweets when doing research for presentations. My incredible Professional Learning Network of music educators always has great ideas that I love sharing with audiences. Clipping tweets directly from Twitter is easy, too! Simply follow @MyEN, validate your account using the link you receive in your DM’s, and then any Tweet you send to @MyEN goes into Evernote! I like to ReTweet (RT) the responses I want to clip, and append @MyEN to the end. This way, the tweets end up in my Evernote notebook and get shared with my followers all at once!

Phase 2: Creating the Presentation

Once I have collected and sifted through the information in my notebook, it’s time to start putting together my outline. I use Dvernote for this, as well! In a new note, I create a basic outline of the information I want to cover. Then, I go back and boldface the “main ideas” – these will become my slide titles – and add supporting information for each. I will reference where I want to include polls or media, and if there is anything I specifically want to say out loud but not put on a slide (these will become my slide notes).

Once I have my outline ready, I will hop into PowerPoint and start creating! I can grab any information I want to put in my slides from my Evernote notebook, including images, videos, and websites. The best part? Evernote keeps track of the URL from which any online content came, making citations extremely easy! As I make my presentation, I use the strike-through style on that portion of my outline so I know it is completed.

I also use Evernote to put together my supporting materials for my presentation. I save or clip any information I want to include in hand-outs, as well as the QR Code image to my landing page, so they are accessible from wherever I am. This way, no matter where I am when I’m ready to make my handouts, I have easy access to what I need.

Phase 3: The Presentation

There isn’t much Evernote can do for me during my actual presentation, but it still helps me on presentation day! When it comes to be time for the presentation, I always try to record audio of my sessions so I can post them on my landing page after the fact. I record the sessions using my Zoom Q3HD, and immediately import the audio file into Evernote so I can access it later on. Afterwards, I am able to download the file wherever I am working, trim it in Audacity, and upload it quickly to the web.

Phase 4: Reflection and Assessment

My use of Evernote does not stop when my presentation is over, though! I use Evernote to reflect on my presentation, both immediately after the fact and once I have taken a few days to decompress. This lets me easily and quickly collect my immediate thoughts, as well as my more focused (and probably more rational!) thoughts after some reflection time. These reflections come in handy when I am preparing for my next presentation.

If the conference or location at which I am presenting chooses to ask for feedback or ratings for their presenters, I will save this information in Evernote, as well. I can either scan in paper copies of the evaluation forms, or clip the webpage where the feedback is located. All this text (even if it’s in a .pdf or image) is searchable, so I can go back and search for the content of a specific evaluation if I need!

Do you use Evernote in preparing for any presentations you give? If so, how?

How do YOU use Evernote in your everyday life? I am collecting answers via Twitter (find me at @Zweibz7) and through comments to these posts; responses will be posted in a wrap-up post at the end of next week! Leave a comment and let me know how you use Evernote!

Evernote for Student Teaching

Andy Zweibel — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:00:07 +0000

Before you read: Check out the other posts in this series: Evernote Series: A Primer, How Evernote Changed the Way I Job Search, How Evernote Helps Me Deliver Killer Presentations, and Evernote in Daily Life

I am about halfway done with my student teaching (and I have been reflecting on it in my first three editions of the Student Teacher’s Notebook) on my way to graduation. One of the requirements that the University of Miami has of its associate teachers in Music is that we keep a binder containing observations, copies of our lesson plans, and reflections on each lesson we teach. While our supervisors ask for a hard-copy of the notebook, I choose to maintain mine in Evernote, and print when they need. Here’s how:

Each lesson I observe or teach has its’ own note in my “Student Teaching” notebook
Notes are tagged by period for high school and grade level/teacher for elementary
If I am observing, I record all my observations in this note. Afterwards, if there were any handouts or notes written on the board, I take a picture of them with my phone and use Evernote’s Android application to attach the photo to the note in question
If I am teaching, I attach my lesson plan to the note (either by pasting the text or attaching the file), and write my reflection straight in the note.

This method allows me to easily refer back to my notes each week and have a record of what I accomplished with each class. When I am planning for the next class, I can refer back and be reminded of where I need to pick up in my lesson. Additionally, printing out my notes for my hard-copy notebook is super easy using the Evernote for Windows application!

The Ideal Situation

As much as Evernote helps me organize my Student Teaching notes, there are unbelievable ways in which it could help make the entire Student Teaching organizational system even more smooth. This requires some support from the university faculty, however. In an ideal situation, this is how Evernote could be used to simplify the organizational system for student teachers:

The university supervisor creates a notebook with all associate teaching preparation materials (handbooks, contracts, rules, calendar, etc.), and uses Evernote’s sharing feature to share the notebook with all soon-to-be Student Teachers
The Student Teacher creates a notebook for his/her placement, keeping track of observations, lesson plans, etc. as outlined above. This notebook is shared with both the clinical teacher and the university supervisor
When student teachers are observed, the observer takes notes in Evernote and shares them with the student teacher. This can be done in two ways:
- Save the observation notes as a PDF to ask the student teacher to attach to the note they already have containing the lesson plan and reflection
- The note is saved directly into the student teacher’s notebook (requires an Evernote Premium account), and a tag is used to relate this note to the note the student teacher already has, containing the lesson plan and reflection
If Evernote Premium accounts are used, videos of lessons can also be attached to the corresponding note, so the student teacher can follow along his/her lesson plan while watching the video
At the end of the placement, ALL materials from student teaching can be shared with anyone (certification programs, potential employers), simply by sharing the notebook

Are any university professors who supervise student teachers using Evernote to help manage the organizational experience? Are any student teachers out there using Evernote in a similar way? I would love to hear from you; just leave a comment and let me know how you’re using Evernote!

How Evernote Changed the Way I Job Search

Andy Zweibel — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:00:46 +0000

Before you read: Check out the other posts in this series: Evernote Series: A Primer, Evernote for Student Teaching, How Evernote Helps Me Deliver Killer Presentations, and Evernote in Daily Life

My job search is probably one of the biggest things in my life right now, and Evernote has helped me every step of the way. As I am looking for jobs teaching high school band next year, Evernote has provided a way for me to organize the jobs I am looking at. My mom has been very helpful in sending me links to a TON of job postings I might be interested in, and as I decide which postings I want to apply to, I clip the application webpage into Evernote using the Evernote Chrome Web Clipper. Here’s how:

The Procedure

I have a notebook called “Job Search” into which I save these websites
I tag them with
- The grade levels (i.e. “Middle School” or “High School”)
- The state in which the job is located
- The name of the school or county (i.e. “Anywhere HS” or “Main County”)
- The tag “Apply” for schools I have yet to send an application to
For positions I have applied to, I create another note, tagged the same way, with a list of the required application materials. I can check off on this list what materials I have sent to the school district, and what I still need to provide. I also use this note to keep track of who I listed as my references for that particular job.

I also save other important notes in my “Job Search” notebook, including notes from any discussions I have had regarding what school districts to look into, what counties to “avoid,” or particular connections I may be able to call on later in the process to get an edge! All these notes are tagged similarly to those above.

I have also created a few saved searches to help me find my information more quickly. For example, I have saved searches by region (the “Midwest” search pulls all notes tagged with states from the Midwest, etc.) as well as status (the “apply” tag). This helps ensure that I can always have access to the information I need quickly.

The “Networking” Notebook

I have another notebook that I keep for more general networking reference. I take photos of any business cards I receive at conferences and clip them into this notebook with similar tags from above (state, school if applicable). The best part about this? Text from images that are clipped into Evernote is searchable! That means that the text on any business card I clip can be searched. This makes searching for individual people’s contact information very easy.

Evernote Series: A Primer

Andy Zweibel — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:18:26 +0000

Before you read: Check out the other posts in this series: How Evernote Changed the Way I Job Search, Evernote for Student Teaching, How Evernote Helps Me Deliver Killer Presentations, and Evernote in Daily Life

Before digging into the “how,” it’s important to understand the “what.” So…

What is Evernote?

Evernote is a cloud-based resource for capturing everything important in your life, all in once place. It allows you to capture text, photos/images, websites, audio, and important files all into a notebook that is synced with your account and accessible to you wherever you go.

Evernote has free applications to support the following platforms:

Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows
iOS (iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad)
Android
Blackberry
Palm Pre / Palm Pixi
Windows Mobile
Browser Extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE, Bookmarklet)

Additionally, Evernote has a great web interface for use when you are away from your home computer.

Notebooks and Tags

The real power of Evernote, though, is in its organization system. Evernote allows you to place each note in one notebook, and assign it as many tags as you want. This lets you keep all the information you collect (and trust me, there could be tons!) organized, while keeping it easily searchable and easy-to-find.

Notebooks

Notebooks are the “macro” categories for your notes. Each note can only be classified in one notebook. The notebook helps you remember what general aspect of your life the note refers to. Some of my notebooks, for example, are called:

Books to Get
Student Teaching
Job Search
Blogging/PLN
Classes
Presenting
General Notes

NOTE (no pun intended…): I will delve into the contents of a few of these notebooks through this series of posts

Evernote also has options that allow you to send content to Evernote by way of Twitter (follow, authenticate with, and send a tweet to @MyEN). Finally, each Evernote user is given a specific email address to which they can send content that will be automatically stored in Evernote.

Saved Searches and Sharing

Two other features that set Evernote apart as a special tool are the ability to create saved searches and to share notes and notebooks. These features take Evernote-initially a helpful note taking application-into a fully social resource for sharing thoughts and ideas.

Saved Searches

Saved searches allow you to put together a set of multiple search criteria that you reference often. Want to quickly access only the notes with a specific tag that are located in one notebook? The notes you have created today? Notes that were created at a specific geolocation? Notes you created on your phone? Notes that have images in them? Evernote lets you search with all these different operators, and save any search so you don’t have to re-enter complex search queries each time.

Notebook Sharing

The most social feature of Evernote is that it lets users share notebooks publicly. This is a fantastic feature for educators, as it provides teachers with the opportunity to share any course documents, resources, or notes they may have from class with their students quickly and easily. It also is great for collaboration; if you’re working on a project with someone else, you can track to-do lists, progress on the project, resources and research, and other pertinent information in an Evernote notebook that is shared between the two of you.

These are just a few of the basics of Evernote, and are the foundation for the series of posts that will be going up this week about how I use Evernote to stay organized in my life. Stay tuned for more!

College Shopping- School Visits!

Sari Feinstein — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:00:07 +0000

This is the realization moment for all of us youngins. We will end up one of these prospective campuses soon, and we will be waking up every morning to an either breathtaking view, or a sandy beach or some beautiful architecture. The feeling of college hits us! But while in the midst of this dreamlike reality, be sure to take action! This is your time to determine if you can truly live here for the next four years. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be sure to be on your way.

Roam aimlessly around the school before the big events begin - You get to see the students walking around on their everyday routine. It’s a perfect time to ask, “Hey, do you like it here?” Look at the campus. Too big? Too small? Spread out for miles on end and unable to walk anywhere? How’s the weather? Just get a general vibe from the students and the departments. You can most likely walk inside the buildings. Peek your head into classes! Although college might seem intimidating, don’t worry, the people don’t bite.
Take a tour of the music school – If you want to be a music major, make sure you become acquainted with the building(s) you will spend hours on end in, practicing, in class or simply just hanging out. Are dorms in walking distance to the music school? Also, when on tour, stop by the professor of your particular instrument’s door. Most professors have bulletin boards outside filled with information. I find myself lost in bulletin boards at every school I visit. They’re filled with such interesting information! If you just so happen to see the professor walking through the hallway, introduce yourself! Don’t be a stranger!
Take a tour of the entire school – If you happen to know someone at the school, ask them to give you a tour. I’m telling you, they’ll most likely give you the “all-exclusive unabridged and completely true” tour. All those tours that sound completely memorized and rehearsed, you can find all that information on the website. You want to learn something new and exciting about the school! If you don’t know anyone, take the school’s tour. Most of the time the tour guides are very nice and you can keep in contact with them, in case any questions pop up along the ride home.
**AVOID: “Open Houses” and other huge Prospective Student Events**

Why do you ask? You lose a sense of the school. You want to go visit on a normal weekend, an ordinary time for college students. On huge open houses, it’s jam-packed with prospectives that you don’t know who to talk to and most of the college students are advised to watch out for the big crowds so they avoid the scene.

It’s time for a little short story! When I visited UMiami, it was the only open house I attended. It was HUGE! So many students, and at first I really was not loving the school. They brought us all into a gym the size of my town and then separated us into our prospective schools. This was the realization moment for me. The crowd for the Frost School of Music was much smaller, much more intimate. I actually really enjoyed the music school! I took a complete 180 from the morning spent at the school. I met Andy and found a way to contact him because I knew as another trumpet player, music education major, he would be perfect in answering all the questions I would have on the plane ride home. Which is exactly what happened! If you happen to attend an open house, just don’t lose hope when overwhelmed by the size of prospectives. It’s hard to hear and see during the general tour (especially if you’re really short like me) but if the school gives you the opportunity to break out into your department (yours being music) it shall definitely help!

IF YOU CAN…

If possible, take a lesson with the professor! It helps getting to know the vibe of the professor, but in no way is it necessary. You can still prove yourself perfectly well through the audition! No worries!
Also, if you know someone at the school, ask to spend a night in a dorm! They’ll most likely let you! You get to go out with them at night, and see what the social life is like. You get to go to class with them and see how their professors are. It is a win-win situation!!!
Some schools like Boston University have a program like that, where you don’t even have to know the person! You can simply spend the night in a dorm and just get a feel for the life there. Check it out before you go. Programs like this are sure to have more information on the website.

And there’s just one thing left to do. Travel! Happy shopping fellow music majors!