Another installment in my “how to” series. If you have any suggestions or need any help feel free to get in contact with me through comment on here or through this blog’s new Facebook page www.facebook.com/Celticnovelist I love new visitors!

There are so many different ways to play music tracks in your classroom now, the possibilities are endless. Most have involved plugging your music device into something, whether it be a dock or an adapter. Now though, with emerging technologies you have the option of connecting your device using bluetooth (a capability that allows music from the device to stream wirelessly to an output device. I can walk around my room with my iPod in my pocket running class and be changing songs while not tethered to the front of the room)   The only iDevices that have bluetooth capabilities are the newest nano, the iPhone, iPod touch, and any iPad 2 or newer. There are many devices you can use to transmit from your bluetooth device to an output. In my classroom I have an Apple TV that is hooked up to my projector speaker system

and an Ion BlockRocker

both are reliable and allow for me to just turn them on and connect within seconds. This also allows me to hide my iPod in my pocket so I do not have any sneaky students trying to change the song on me! To use your bluetooth first make sure your output device is turned on and ready to accept a new pairing. After you have basically two options to turn on your device. The first one will work if you have the newest iOS for devices. First turn on your device and then with one finger quickly swipe from the bottom up and a tool bar will appear:

hit the button on the top right in the center to turn on your device and then swipe down. If you’ve already paired your device before with your output device then sometimes it will automatically connect. Other times you might need to go into your settings app:

and hit the bluetooth option:

make sure the toggle at the top is turned on and then hit the device you would like to pair with. I have three because I can connect to two different car systems and then my block rocker. Devices you have paired with before will show up in that list. If they are on and within reach then they will say connected.

Are you connected yet? I love using bluetooth in my room. I have several devices and now can use them whenever I feel like with just the push of a couple of buttons. There has been many days I’ve forgotten my iPod and used my iPad or I’ve downloaded a song on my phone but haven’t had time to send it to my school iPod. The biggest thing is the freedom to move. I cannot tell you how awesome it is to be able to walk around the room managing my classroom when needed and if I need to stop a song or change it I can do it wherever I am without diving back to grab my iPod before it turns to something else. One less stress!

Bluetooh is just one way to play music in your classroom, how do you play music in yours?