notes | Scarfe Sandbox

Tag Archives: notes

by kapoho17 | July 2, 2019 · 2:35 pm

Sketchnotes

Sketchnotes are a way to take notes that organizes thoughts and ideas in a visually stimulating way, without requiring artistry skills.

The ability to summarize or synthesize what we have learned is an advanced skill and sketchnotes are one way of teaching and practicing this skill. They allow the listener to focus on what they are hearing so that they can pick out what were the most important things to remember.

Keywords can be bolded, arrows & lines allow eyes to follow sequences, boxes or bubbles can help categorize thoughts that are related but might be thought-tangents, and icons are the visual pieces! None of these require master drawing skills but the more practice occurs, the better your sketchnotes will appear.

Students aren’t always taught how to take good notes which can cause them to write EVERYTHING down. The practice of sketchnoting is really just a way to learn how to paraphrase, summarize, and refocus to what’s really meaningful. The can be used in PD events, taking notes for various classes, and even a way to present information.

Decide on your medium!

– Paper, pens, pencils, highlighters, rulers
– Tablet, digital stylus, sketching app

Popular Digital Tools

– Apps: PaperBy53, Sketchbook, ProCreate, AdobeDraw, and Forge but any drawing app will work (even Explain Everything or Book Creator!).
– Styluses: Apple Pen, PencilBy53, Adonis Jot Pro, Targus, **or find any cheap/free pen with a touch-sensitive tip!

What Can I Sketch??

– Visit sketch50.com and try a different sketch over 50 days – you can view what other’s are sketching too using the hashtag #sketch50
– Check out what other educators have done with their students
– Visit Sylvia Duckworth’s website (A Canadian Teacher) or read this quick visual guide to get started by skethnote-love.com

Practice the Elements & teach them to your students!

Many of these elements are great for teaching basic art skills too!
– Lettering & Fonts
– Bullets
– Frames/Dividers
– Connectors & Arrows
– Shadowing/Bolding/Highlighting – when is it too much or too little?
– People & Icons

Image by By @meacherteacher, Jody Meacher

Ear Training Apps

Ear training is a skill that enables musicians to identify different musical elements such as melodies, pitches, and chords solely through hearing. This skill is invaluable to musicians and as a result, numerous apps have been developed to improve listening skills. Some apps focus on being able to decode notes, intervals, and chords, which can help students who sing or play an instrument. There are also other ear training apps for music technology students who produce music or sound engineers who wish to adjust the frequency of music.

Ear Trainer Lite has 32 exercises to help train music students in identifying notes, intervals, chords, chords progressions, and scales (major, minor and pentatonic). Statistics are generated from the exercises to guide music students in keeping track of their progress. Available on Apple platforms.
MyEarTraining is similar to Ear Trainer Lite in that is provides music students with exercises in identifying short melodies, intervals, chords, chords progressions, and scales. In addition, there are singing exercises to ensure vocals are in tune. Statistics are also provided by the exercises to allow music students to track their progress. Available on Android, Apple or a web browser.
Complete Ear Trainer is a low-cost comprehensive ear training app that provides a variety of ear training exercises at various levels. In addition, students can customize drills according to their needs. Available on Apple or Android platforms.
TrainYourEars is an app made specifically for sound engineers. This app will provide music technology students with the opportunity to detect equalizers in the music and how to correct them. It can take years for sound engineers to develop this skill, but with TrainYourEars, students are able to quiz themselves on songs they are familiar with and are then asked to distinguish the difference between different equalizers and frequencies. Continuous training will allow them to enhance their skills and develop a quicker pace.