The inspiration “boom” for my Boom™ Cards
It was the summer of 2020. During a FaceTime call with Diana, a fellow music teacher and coworker of my wife, we were discussing the challenges of trying to teach music classes virtually during the COVID pandemic. One of her frustrations was trying to teach rhythms to her students.
When teaching in person she usually used flash cards to drill note values and a counting system. Trying to do this through a computer or iPad screen was more than difficult. Before this conversation my wife had been creating some interactive task cards on a site called Boom™ Learning and suggested I create something that would be helpful.
Since I had been a music teacher and band director since the invention of dirt, I had a few ideas and methods I had used, usually using a chalk or white board. After some experimentation on the Boom™ site, making examples on a music writing software program and several hit and misses, I eventually came up with a format that I thought might work.
We visited Diana that following October and I showed her the few examples. After her enthusiastic response I then went to work and created several rhythm units for her specific needs. I shared these with her so she could try them with her students virtually and they seemed to work.
Recently Diana used these with her “in person” class by projecting the rhythms on a white board and working with her students on counting and clapping rhythms. To quote her after using my Boom™ Cards during a recent class, “…. It was magic….. It was truly amazing….they all stayed focused ……”
I’m thinking I might be on to something.
I have been developing a series of digital products to help music educators. Though designed to help with remote and distance learning challenges, these have also had success with in-class individual review and drill as well as in-person group lessons. Check out my growing list of offerings on the links below.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tbmusic
https://wow.boomlearning.com/author/tbmusic
Tim Baldwin Music 