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Robby Burns
David MacDonald unboxes the Odla music notation ...
David MacDonald unboxes the Odla music notation controller

App of the Week: Timery for Mac

I started time tracking around this time last year as a way to see how long I was spending on making virtual ensemble videos and other creative projects I was pursuing in my personal life.

Toggl is absolutely the tool for this job, and Timery is the best Toggl experience on iOS.

Using Apple’s Catalyst technology, Timery for Mac is built off of the iPad experience, with tweaks that make it adhere to macOS standards.

Using Apple’s Catalyst technology, Timery for Mac is built off of the iPad experience, with tweaks that make it adhere to macOS standards.

The hardest thing about time tracking is remembering to start and stop the timers. Because Timery has such a user-friendly design, it becomes way easier to trigger timers. Support for always-visible iOS widgets and support for Shortcuts make the experience even more frictionless.

The app is now available for the Mac using Apple’s Catalyst technology which I have recently taken about on my podcast (listen and subscribe below). forScore for the Mac is also made using this technology.

A TImery widget on iOS can be fixed to your Homescreen where you can see which timers are running and quickly launch the ones you need most.

A TImery widget on iOS can be fixed to your Homescreen where you can see which timers are running and quickly launch the ones you need most.

I enjoy using the same apps for doing things across platforms. Timery is no exception. And because the Timery app takes advantage of macOS platform norms (like putting all of its commands in the menu bar), you can do cool things like automating it with Keyboard Maestro.

The only reason I might continue to stick with the standard Toggl app on Mac is because it does even more to take advantage of the system. For example, you can pin the window so it stays permanently visible on the screen no matter how many other windows you have open. It can also detect when your keyboard and mouse aren’t in use and offer to backdate the time you were idle (or working) based on your computer activity.

If you want to learn more, check our the MacStories review, linked below with a quote:

Timery Comes to the Mac and Makes Time Tracking With Toggl Easier Than Ever -- MacStories:

I’d still like to see reports added to Timery in the future, but I’m glad the Mac was addressed first. Time tracking is the sort of activity that needs to exist everywhere to be most effective. I’ve spent the past couple of years using Toggl’s Mac app, which has improved dramatically in that time, but I’m glad that I can now learn one set of keyboard commands and use them across both the iPad and Mac. If the lack of a Mac version of Timery was holding you back, now is a perfect time to give the app a try.

3 Soundtrap Projects Your Students Will Love

Listen to the podcast episode and subscribe below!

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

This is the first year that I have had consistent access to a cloud-based DAW and notation editor with all of my students. The result of this experience has been dozens of new Soundtrap project ideas. I plan to do an episode and post about how I am using these tools for composition projects in the band classroom later this year.

In the episode above, and in this post, I give an overview of three of my most successful Soundtrap projects this year. These projects can be done in any digital audio workstation, including Bandlab, GarageBand, Logic, Ableton Live, etc.

Listen to the episode for a more thorough explanation of each idea.

C Melody and Loop Audition

Melody writing in Noteflight and producing in Soundtrap go hand in hand. Because of Noteflight’s many export options, you have many ways to get your melody out of Noteflight and into your Soundtrap project.

Melody writing in Noteflight and producing in Soundtrap go hand in hand. Because of Noteflight’s many export options, you have many ways to get your melody out of Noteflight and into your Soundtrap project.

After giving students some time to experience the user interface of Soundtrap, I have them write a short, 8 measure long, melody in the key of C using Noteflight.

Next, I have them export this melody as a MIDI file and then import it into a track in Soundtrap. Next, I have them add three more tracks and create an accompaniment for their melody using at least one of the three loop types.

  1. Bass

  2. Percussion

  3. Harmonic (guitar, synth, piano, etc.)

Here is a recent submission of this project one of my students made. This assignment was submitted later in the semester when we had expanded the project into composing two alternating melodies which became the basis of a song-form in Soundtrap. By alternating between both melodies (and varying the loop accompaniment) the student made a song that follows the form: Verse—Chorus—Verse—Chorus—Bridge—Chorus. This particular student chose to improvise the blues scale over the bridge.

Row Your Boat Multi-Track

This idea was taken from the amazing Middle School Music Technology class content in MusicFirst. I recommend checking out their subscription options if you like this idea. MusicFirst combines the activity with curated YouTube and Spotify playlists that give students an idea about early recording studio practices for multi-track recording before music was produced digitally.

I am giving an overview of this project with permission from MusicFirst. Full Disclosure: MusicFirst is a past sponsor of the Music Ed Tech Talk blog and podcast.

To start, the student performs the song Row Row Row Your Boat into a software instrument track in Soundtrap. After it is recorded, they quantize it to the nearest 1/8th or 1/16th note so that it is rhythmically accurate.

Next, they duplicate this track two times. Using the piano roll to edit the MIDI content of each loop, students select all notes and drag them higher to create harmony. I have them move the second track a third higher and the next track a fifth higher so that they get a nice three-part voicing.

After multi-tracking the melody of Row Row Row Your Boat, this student moved the starting point of each region to create a round.

After multi-tracking the melody of Row Row Row Your Boat, this student moved the starting point of each region to create a round.

Next, I have them move any notes that land on black keys as a result down to the nearest white key so that every note of each voice is in the key of C.

Next, I have them duplicate these three tracks and transpose them up an octave. Next, I have them take the lowest voice and transpose it down three octaves to add some bass. You can have students make the final result as dense as you like.

Optionally, students can experiment with using different instrument sounds and adding groove-based loop accompaniment.

Here are three recent examples of my student’s submissions:

All-Star Remix

In this assignment, I take a popular song that students choose and separate the voice from the instrumental accompaniment. Then I add it to an audio track in a Soundtrap template and match the tempo and key of the Soundtrap project to the vocal track.

This way, students can drag and drop loops and have them match the pitch and tempo content of the vocals.

I have a post with more details about this project here.

You can watch a video of how to do it below.

Here are two examples of my own student’s recent work:

For a Soundtrap project idea for teaching band/choir/orchestra students to compose, check out the podcast episode and blog post below:

Episode Info

See below for all notes associated with the podcast episode…

Description

Robby overviews his three most successful Soundtrap projects in 2021.

Chapters:

  • 00:00:00 - Intro

  • 00:00:14 - Sponsor: DMV Percussion Academy

  • 00:01:24 - About this Episode

  • 00:03:51 - YAY SUMMER

  • 00:05:11 - 1: Melody Composition / Loop Accompaniment

  • 00:14:35 - 1: Student Examples

  • 00:16:15 - 2: Row Your Boat Multi-Track

  • 00:22:19 - 2: Student Examples

  • 00:24:27 - 3: All-Star Remix

  • 00:34:38 - 3: Student Examples

  • 00:36:00 - Grading for Mastery Not Creativity

  • 00:37:47 - Tech Tip of the Week

  • 00:39:20 - App of the Week

  • 00:40:00 - Album of the Week

  • 00:42:44 - Conclusion

Show Notes:

App of the Week: 
Reeder 5

Album of the Week:
Alison Balsom - Paris

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, the DMV Percussion Academy. Learn more and register here.

Please don’t forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Subscribe to Music Ed Tech Talk:

Subscribe to the Blog

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

6 Tech Podcasts I Listen to Every Week

I am often asked where I go to learn about technology.

The truth is that most of it comes through a few blogs and podcasts. I don't listen to many podcasts that deal specifically with integrating technology into the music classroom, though there are a few good ones. (Aside from my own, I recommend Katie Wardrobe's show Music Tech Teacher and MusicFirst's Profiles in Music Teaching with Technology.)

I don't listen to prescriptive "how-to" shows. I focus more on industry analysis, details of hardware and software features, and extended discussion. My favorite shows are conversational in tone rather than the hyper-produced style of the modern-day shows that NPR has popularized.

I find this style of show to be far more listenable and engaging while giving me a deeper and underlying understanding of the technology I use. This way, I am more empowered to adapt the technology I have to my unique professional challenges and lifestyle.

Here are my six favorites...

Upgrade

Probably my most listened show. Heavily focused on Apple technologies, news, and the streaming media landscape. The show is deeply informative but also has some produced elements like theme music and segments, which keep each episode moving at an engaging pace.

Here is a recent episode where the hosts review the new M1 iMacs and M1 iPad:

The Vergecast

The Verge is a great website for learning about all things in consumer tech. Their podcast is the most produced on this list, but the camaraderie between speakers allows for the ideas to present as looser and more raw than they do in written articles.

I have been considering an electric vehicle lately and enjoyed this episode about recent EUVs:

Mac Power Users

This show delivers tips for making the most of your computing devices each week. It includes pro tips, app recommendations, and interviews with professionals spanning many industries. Listening to MPU is one of the inspirations for my book, as it focuses on not just the tools, but how to implement them creatively.

If you are looking for a place to start, check out Music Ed Tech Talk frequent guest, David MacDonald, on this episode of Mac Power Users:

The Talk Show

John Gruber's The Talk Show is one of the shows that made me love podcasting. Though episodes are inconsistent in length, scope, and irregularly released, Gruber and his guests always have engaging discussion. So much so that I don't mind rants about sports, politics, and other "off-topic" diversions. This show is in some respects a prototype for the kinds of discussions I like to have on my podcast. Personal, detailed, and analytical.

Accidental Tech Podcast

Also very Apple-focused, but with more perspective on software development and adjacent technologies. This show is lengthy and more unstructured but also very deep. The three hosts are in software development and sometimes talk about topics that are just on the outside of my wheelhouse, but I am still able to follow along. The perspective of these hosts has strongly influenced the kind of quality and detail I expect from my technology.

This episode is a fan favorite, and gives you an insight into the kind of detail the hosts cover, and also their relationship:

Dithering

This is a paid show. For me, it is worth the $5 a month because it includes John Gruber from The Talk Show with one of my favorite of his reoccurring guests, Ben Thompson, who is a brilliant technology analyst. Two 15-minute episodes are released each week. The tight format keeps the discussion fast and rich.

Here is a clip:

The Prime Directive, featuring Will Kuhn and Ethan Hein (Music Ed Tech Talk Podcast #32)

Description

Ethan and Will join the show to talk about their book Electronic Music School, the Prime Directive, writing apps, and the future of the iPad.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, the DMV Percussion Academy. Leran more and registere here.

Chapters:

  • 00:00:00 - Intro
  • 00:01:25 - Sponsor: DMV Percussion Academy
  • 00:02:03 - Star Trek
  • 00:04:18 - Electronic Music School
  • 00:10:09 - Teaching Underlying Musical Concepts of Electronic Music Styles
  • 00:18:33 - Perceived Threat by Traditional Performing Arts Teachers
  • 00:24:28 - Teaching Songwriting
  • 00:27:23 - Scaffolding
  • 00:37:15 - Fighting Racism with Music Education
  • 00:48:37 - The Prime Directive
  • 00:52:34 - Staying Relevant?
  • 01:07:15 - We Live on Twitter
  • 01:07:15 - Writing Apps
  • 01:13:21 - Bedtime
  • 01:16:07 - The M1 iPad Pro
  • 01:35:51 - Tech Tip of the Week
  • 01:38:14 - Album of the Week
  • 01:41:07 - App of the Week
  • 01:43:24 - Closing

Show Notes:

App of the Week:
Robby - Tot
Will - In Haler Radio
Ethan - Figure

Album of the Week:
Robby - Tauk - Shapeshifter II: Outbreak
Will - Suburban Lawns - Janitor (Original Video)
Ethan - Clipping - The Deep

Where to Find Us:
Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book
Will - Twitter | Website
Ethan - Twitter | Website

Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Subscribe to Music Ed Tech Talk:

Subscribe to the Blog

Subscribe to the Podcast in... Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

3 Things I Started Doing with My Band Class During COVID That I Will Do Every Year From Now On

It seems plausible that some people subscribe to this blog and do not follow me on Twitter, so allow me to expand this recent Tweet thread into a lazy blog post.

Thread: a few things I am doing in my band teaching this year, that I previously didn't have the time or resources to organize, but COVID forced my hand. (I will definitely be doing each of these every school year from now on)...

A chart designed by my colleague Ben Denne. By thinking critically about music that will challenge, but not overwhelm them, students pick their select their own, grade appropriate, solo music.

A chart designed by my colleague Ben Denne. By thinking critically about music that will challenge, but not overwhelm them, students pick their select their own, grade appropriate, solo music.

  1. Solo prep: by asking colleagues for rep ideas across all instruments, I created a resource in my LMS that guides students through a process of selecting appropriate solo rep for our district Festival and then registering for it. Student enrollment is up over 300 percent this year.

  2. Composition: students LOVE writing short themes and ostinato patterns in Noteflight After recording their comps, they will make unique band arrangements out of each other’s recordings in Soundtrap by dragging them on top of one another and splicing/editing them, like loops. Inspiration for this idea and supporting materials provided by Alex Shapiro and can be found here.

  3. Recording: having my students record video performances is not new. But having them record in a DAW, with respect to measure number, beat placement, and a metronome has been huge for our understanding of rhythm and form. Also it requires them to practice way more.

And then there are 100 new things I can do in my general music class simply by having access to a notation editor and DAW. I don't have enough time to detail them now but here is one example:

As much fun as I have grinding in Final Cut Pro, I do NOT see virtual band videos becoming a thing beyond this school year. It was fun while it lasted. Here's last year's WW Quintet:

Are any of these ideas worth writing about in more detail? Let me know on social media or by heading over to my Contact page.

DMV Percussion Academy - Find your rhythm at the best percussion workshop around!

Thanks to my sponsor this week, DMV Percussion Academy, a summer percussion workshop in Maryland.

The workshop is for students grade 6 through 12. Students experience clinics, masterclasses, personal coaching, and college/career advice by the region’s top performers and educators. Students will also present a percussion ensemble concert at the end of the year.

The clinician list is full of local and national all-stars! Be sure to check it out and follow the program on social media @DMVPercussion

“Find your rhythm at the best percussion workshop around! We hit different!”
IMG_0212.JPG

🎙 forScore for the Mac, featuring David MacDonald (Music Ed Tech Talk #31)

Robby and David talk about forScore for the Mac and its new syncing feature. But also, lots of music theory.

Also included:

  • Loop-based music theory

  • GoodNotes for the Mac

  • Transcribe Apps

  • Lots of music apps and utility apps

  • Tech podcasts we like

  • Music YouTubers we like

  • Our favorite music, tech tips, and albums of the week

Show Notes:

App of the Week: 

Robby - Soro for Sonos
David MacDonald - Diagrams

Album of the Week:

Robby - Lettuce - Elevate
David MacDonald - Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society - Brooklyn Babylon 

Where to Find Us:

Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book
David MacDonald - Twitter | Website

Please don’t forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Subscribe to Music Ed Tech Talk:

Subscribe to the Blog

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

➡️ Develop Performance Skills With Cloud Software

*The following post first appeared on the NAfME Blog on April 19th, 2021.

Over the past year of remote and hybrid instruction, teachers have reimagined the tools, assignments, and methods that best engage their students. The need to engage my band students from a distance has challenged me to depend on cloud-based tools that still foster the development of their performance skills. The features of these cloud tools allow me to engage students in new ways by introducing interactive projects, collaboration with peers, and automated grading.

The ideas below will be featured in my presentation at the NAfME Eastern Division Conference this weekend. Register here to join me and the many exceptional presenters who will be sharing their ideas.

What is Cloud Software

Cloud software is a buzzword in the technology industry that is used to describe apps that run in a web browser. Examples of cloud-based music software include BandLab, Soundtrap, Noteflight, MusicFirst, and Flat for Education, to name a few. Because these offerings are web-based, they can run on nearly any computer with a web browser, as long as you have an internet connection. For this reason, they are more widely accessible to all students and can be integrated into an LMS (learning management software) like Canvas, Blackboard, and Google Classroom.

Here are some practical ideas for assignments in a performing ensemble using cloud software.

Noteflight

Noteflight is a music notation tool that runs on the web. In recent years, Noteflight has expanded to offer Noteflight Learn, which allows teachers to take Noteflight content and assign it to students in their class, much like an LMS. In the past year, Noteflight has added a feature called SoundCheck which can take these assigned Noteflight scores, and assess student performance for note/rhythm/pitch accuracy.

The line beneath the staff represents the pitch and note accuracy of the performance.

Students can play these scores, practice to them at any speed, and loop tricky sections. When they are done recording themselves, Noteflight provides an accuracy score and a line beneath the notes which indicates pitch and note inaccuracies by the counter and color of the line.

Changing the tempo in SoundCheck

You can make any Noteflight score into a Soundcheck-enabled assignment. If the score is linked to an assignment in your LMS, the student score will automatically go into your grade book. Because computers are not perfect, I prefer to go back and listen to my students who don't receive good scores on assignments, to make sure I agree with the automatic grade.

Generally, is better at assessing note accuracy than pitch, so I tend to use SoundCheck as a first step to ensuring students are prepared for their music. Finer qualities in the music like tone and articulation are best left to video assessments with more comprehensive rubrics.

Getting Existing Music Into Soundcheck

If you have music that outside of Noteflight that you want to turn into an assessment, some apps can help. I use an app called Sheet Music Scanner on my iPad to take pictures of paper sheet music and turn them into XML files. XML is a file format that can pass notation projects from one notation editor to another. Once the XML version is saved to my device, I can import it into Noteflight and then assign it to my students.

Notation editors like Sibelius and Dorico can export to XML. If you have already created a score in a professional editor, it is easy to turn into an assignment.

Sheet Music Scanner can take sheet music and turn it into an XML or audio file.

Sheet Music Scanner files can be played back, tempo adjusted, and exported to a variety of useful file formats.

Flipgrid

If your LMS does not have a video recording feature built-in, you might want to check out Flipgrid. My LMS has a video feature, and I still use Flipgrid because it makes video recording whimsical and fun. The Flipgrid interface puts an active circle around your face when you have submitted a recent video (like an Instagram story). Students can add filters, emoji, text, and other effects to their final videos. Students can watch each other's videos, and leave video responses. It is like a mini social network for your class, with lots of control over the privacy settings.

Flipgrid also integrates into LMS software, so you can use it as an alternative to the basic video recorder if you wish.

Flipgrid videos can feature engaging effects, emoji, and filters. Student submissions appear with a colorful ring around their face like an Instagram story.

Soundtrap

Soundtrap is a web-based DAW (digital audio workstation). I have heard it described as "if Google Docs and GarageBand had a baby." This is because it looks and functions like GarageBand, but runs on the web. Like Google's apps, it is also collaborative. This means that you can have two or more students editing the same project at the same time while discussing their progress in a chat.

Soundtrap is great for producing beats, songwriting, and all of the things you would expect to do with access to limitless software instruments, samples, and pre-made loops. But what I use it for in the band room is to teach chamber music.

If I have a flute trio, for example, I can provide the music to my students and then invite them all to a Soundtrap project. Each student can create their audio track and record their part to the metronome. They can all be doing this simultaneously. Once they click save, they can play it back and hear what they sound like alongside one another in a somewhat real-time experience.

This template provides students with a play-along track, and a separate track for each part. The pre-recorded tracks were performed by a high schooler to model notes/rhythms/tone for my students. The reference tracks can be independently toggled on and off. Before saving, my students toggle everything off except their own performances.

A fun alternative to this is to give a small ensemble piece to a single student and have them overdub themselves playing each part. This can help them to better understand how the varying parts fit together and complement one another. In cases like this, I have reached out to the local high school and asked for student volunteers to play all of the parts to a metronome. I then take all of the high schooler's recordings and add them as tracks in a Soundtrap template so that my students can toggle each part on and off for reference while they are recording.

You can see an example of this around the 20-minute mark in the video below.

Conclusion

These cloud-based assignments empower all students to participate in engaged music-making, alone and in groups. Nailing down the accuracy with a metronome will do wonders for their sense of timing and internal pulse. With recording assignments in Noteflight and Soundtrap, my students will do numerous takes until they get it just right! I cannot speak highly enough of these tools, and I certainly plan to use the assignment ideas above even when we return to a fully in-person learning environment.

If a video of this process is more your speed, you can watch how some of it works below. I also have a podcast version of this post available here.

🎬 Creating a Song Remix Project for Your Music Class using Soundtrap and Neural Mix Pro

UPDATE: I talk about this project on the latest episode of my podcast, as well as two other Soundtrap project ideas. Listen and subscribe below.

Last week I mused on Twitter about the subject of teaching harmony to middle school students.

In the opening Tweet of that thread, I shared a project idea for my middle school General Music II class and provided a sample of student work. Be sure to read the whole thread for more context.

Here is a brief description of how I set that up.

If I don’t have the track, I use Downie or ViDL to download it from YouTube as an mp3.

For the vocal track, I am using Neural Mix Pro, which allows you to import any song and separate the voice, drums, and other accompaniment parts separately from one another. The results aren’t perfect, but they are beyond acceptable for a project like this.

Neural Mix Pro.

Neural Mix Pro.

Once I turn down the drums/accompaniment, I export the resulting sound as a new file on my computer. On export, Neural Mix will tell you the key and BPM of the exported track. If the song is something awkward like 83.6 BPM, you can tell it to export at something sane like, 84 BPM and Neural Mix will adjust the final file accordingly.

Neural Mix isn’t cheap. It’s 50 dollars. But it does the job quickly and reliably while offering the user good control over the results. If you do not have access to something like this, there are tons of places you can find isolated vocal stems, like for example, the reddit community r/IsolatedVocals

In Soundtrap, I set the project up using my district’s LMS, Canvas. If you are using an LMS, you should be able to create an assignment and have it link out to Soundtrap as an “external tool.” If you can do this, you can create a template in Soundtrap that will already be set up for your students when they click the link.

CleanShot 2021-04-18 at 12.44.39@2x.png

When I set up this template, I set the project’s key and tempo to match that of my exported file from Neural Mix. I drag the vocal-only track I exported from Neural Mix from my desktop into Soundtrap and it automatically makes a new audio track for me. Once the vocal track is imported, I have to slide it around left and right until the first measure of the song lands precisely on beat one. If the vocal part has an introduction or pickup note, you will need to consider that and make sure to tell your students that the loop accompaniment starts on a different measure than one.

Set your project key and tempo to match the song.

Set your project key and tempo to match the song.

Once this is set up correctly, save the results. When choosing Soundtrap as the external tool for your LMS assignment, a mini Soundtrap shows up within your LMS (or at least it does in Canvas), and you can navigate to your pre-made template. Having the tempo and key preset for them ensures that the loops all sound mostly decent. It is still possible to wreak chaos, but it is enough structure that some of the loops will end up sounding pleasant.

There is a video at the top of this post covering everything I just explained. Hope it helps.

➡️ Apps to Help with Time Management and Planning (NAfME Blog)

This blog post originally appeared on the blog for the National Association for Music Educators (nafme.org) on April 6, 2021.

In "Digital Organization Tools for Music Educators," I detailed apps that can help you plan large goals, turn them into actionable projects, and reflect on your progress.

Next, I'd like to talk about apps to help you manage your time and save your ideas digitally.

Put Only Hard Commitments in Your Calendar

Managing your time is a key part of being a music educator. Sometimes it feels like we have more responsibilities than there is actually time in the day to complete.

In "Digital Organization Tools for Music Educators," I recommend apps to help you wrangle your to-do list. Now I would like to recommend some apps and tips for managing the events on your calendar.

If your calendar needs are simple, I recommend you go no further than Google. It runs entirely in a web browser but can also be used in combination with your calendar app of choice. My music team uses a Google Calendar to publish all of our classes, sectionals, concerts, and events. This allows us to edit this data right from our calendar apps on our phones and computers, while also publishing them to a website for parents to view.

Google CalendarGoogle Calendar works perfectly fine for most needs. It is available to anyone for free on the web and has a functional mobile app on most smartphone platforms.

Microsoft Outlook and the Apple Calendars, despite being created by big tech companies, are actually capable of showing you a calendar from any service (Google included). My personal calendars are in iCloud, and our school uses Exchange. I can log into my iCloud, Google, and Exchange calendars all from within the same app to see everything I am committed to.

Apple calendarApple Calendar and Microsoft Outlook are two of the most widely used calendar apps on desktop and mobile operating systems. Either of them can handle calendars from Google, iCloud, or Exchange accounts and show them all alongside one another.

daily tasks

Tip!—Avoid putting tasks in your calendar. Tasks have due dates, but they rarely need to be worked on at a specific time. I find that putting tasks in my calendar adds lots of noise and I eventually just end up ignoring all of it. If you want to stay sane, put only time-based appointments on your calendar. You can make an appointment with yourself to tackle a big task, but try to avoid putting things like "print concert programs" and "design seating chart" alongside events with concrete start and end times.

If you want more power out of your calendars, I recommend you check out Fantastical. (Currently iOS and Mac only. Android users can check out SolCalendar). Here are my favorite features:

natural languageNatural language input is not only fast, but you can set a keyboard shortcut on your computer to invoke a mini-calendar for quickly adding events.

  • Natural language input: Typing "Choir Rehearsal tomorrow at 7 pm @2032 Beaverton Road /Work" will add an event called Choir Rehearsal to your calendar at the designated time and location. The "/Work" will put on the "Work" calendar.
  • Calendar Sets: I subscribe to my school and school district's master calendar to better plan after-school rehearsals, concerts, and space use. I subscribe to these calendars in Fantastical, but I have them toggled off by default. I created a Calendar Set called "All" that turns on the chaos and shows me every single calendar I have at once. Many things overlap, but it enables me to be informed as I plan without needing to visit my district's website.
  • Conference Call Detection: Fantastical also has built-in Zoom and Google Meet integration. If it detects a meeting URL in the calendar event, it adds a one-touch button to the event which will launch you right into the meeting. calendar zoom link to help time managementThis event was shared with me and has a Zoom call URL associated with it. Fantastical automatically added the Zoom icon so that I can click on it to immediately enter the call. FantasticalFantastical integrates with all of these services.

A handful of Fantastical's features are free, and some of the more advanced features are paid.

Other great calendar apps:

Quickly Clip Ideas from Everywhere

There is much to say about note apps. The one feature I see least utilized by busy teachers is the clipper. A clipper is a tool that runs in the Share Sheet of your phone or as a web extension. Clippers are perfect for "saving it for later." A good one can handle mixed media including photos, websites, emails, text notes, files, and more. Here are my favorite apps that have easy ways to capture data for later:

  • Evernote: Known for being cross-platform and having a free tier. Its web extension can grab almost anything from the web and clip it to your notebook in a neatly formatted article view that is text searchable. EvernoteThe Evernote web clipper can be installed as an extension or from the share-sheet on mobile devices. You can choose how it will save the content, and even categorize it with tags and a memo before clipping.

  • Microsoft OneNote: Similar features to Evernote. It's free if your district has Office 365. Plays nice with the rest of the Office Suite.

  • Apple Notes: Apple Notes has caught up with most of the major features of competing note apps. From almost anywhere on an iOS or Mac device, press the Share button to save something to Apple Notes. Almost any type of media can be clipped.
  • Drafts: Drafts is text-only, but I prefer it for my note-taking because I can capture quickly and then easily send the text out to other apps once I have decided where it belongs.

  • Google Keep: Leverages all smart AI features and integration with Google Services that you would expect. Google KeepGoogle Keep is simple, but it provides plenty of features. Notes can be turned into reminders, Google Docs, or shared with others.

  • Instapaper: Primarily for saving web content like news articles. It strips out the ads, buttons, and other chrome, so you get an experience less like reading a website and more like reading a newspaper.

Of these apps, Evernote is most able to handle whatever kind of data you throw at it. Because it's available on the web, it's easy to share your data with others and even get your data out and into another app, if you choose to.

Instapaper snipping tool

Before and after a website has been parsed by Instapaper's clipper.

Tip!—In the same way I try to avoid putting tasks on my calendar, I also try to avoid clipping things I want to check out later to my to-do list. It clutters things up. I put only actionable tasks on my task list. If it doesn't have a verb ("email Jacklyn choir rosters for 2021–22," "tune the bass drum," "draft grant proposal"), save it to a note instead.

no clippings or to-do lists

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