Thursday, May 20, 2010
Into a neat little bow
I believe I have now have everything uploaded that needs to be. I have posted my concert attendance program and concert ticket. I also posted my concert critique. However, I wanted to give credit where crdit was due. Throughout the whole critique I failed to mention Martha Shaw as the conductor of the choirs which I saw in my concert attendance. She has been a force to be reckoned with. She is a wonderful conductor and I have heard of her throughout my years in musis education. The last picture I posted was from my video self assessment. I had tried to upload this earlier in the month and the computer was apparently made at me.
Concert Attendance Observation Critique
Concert Attendance Observation and Critique
Descriptive:
Date and Time: May 16, 2010, 3:00p.m.
Location: Spivey Hall
Performers: Spivey Hall Children’s Choir & Spivey Hall Tour Choir
There were 114 children in the Children’s Choir and 51 in the Tour choir. The kids who performed in the Tour choir also sang with the Children’s Choir. The Tour choir is the elite choir that performs at other venues and has higher performing students. All of the performers were in middle or high school from 17 Atlanta counties. The choir used full four step chorus risers situated along the middle of the stage. In front of the risers there was a grand piano and in front of that was a conducting podium. The full choir came out and performed three songs. The choir then exited the stage: the children’s choir members who were not in the tour choir sat in the audience.
Analytic:
1. O, Praise God in His Holiness, C. Armstrong Gibbs
This song followed a simple ABA form. This piece was rather short in performance. It was a sacred genre, two part harmony, high melody, and mostly unison.
Let Beauty Awake, Ralph Vaughn Williams
This song was also rather short. This song also used simple melodies and harmonies. This song was very light in texture and was of course in English.
Selections from Misa Pequena, Francisco J. Nunez
This song was very different than the first two. The song had a lot of call and response. As the song went on, it intensified in volume and strength. This song had three part harmony, high soprano parts. The conductor chose to have no applause in between movements, thus almost combining them with a small pause. I did notice in the program that they used several different soloists depending on the day of the performance. There were intermittent soprano solos mixed throughout this piece. This song was very lamenting and was sung in Latin.
Cantate Domino, Ruth Watson Henderson
This piece used a trumpet soloist. Again sacred text, ABA form, the exposition was louder and much faster. The conductor had a small group of sopranos stand in front of the risers in front of the rest of the choir. The piece had several interludes where there were soprano solos almost in rounds.
Gate Gate, Brian Tate
This piece had multiple meter. There seemed to be a two part harmony. In the middle of the piece there was a distinct key change. The use of clapping as part of the song was also incorporated.
Over the Rainbow, Harold Arlan
This song sounded almost exactly as written. Mr. Arlan apparently changed something to the piece. The only thing that I heard that was changed was that he slapped a big sax solo in the middle of the song. This particular solo was very out of character for the song and I didn’t understand where the saxophone came into play. The tempo was very medium, nice mix of voices and timbres. Again, simple harmony and meter.
2. The performance style of this group is vastly different than the performance style of the groups I teach. The main difference of course is that this group is comprised of middle and high school kids and mine is comprised of elementary kids. Another major difference is that this was a choir and my kids are in band. I know that people say there should not be a difference, that musicians are musicians…but there is a difference. There is a reason why I chose to concentrate on band and not middle/high school choir. I thought all of the pieces sounded great, but I couldn’t imagine myself teaching that genre of music. This was a very well rehearsed and very put together group. They were professionally behaved and performed to very high standards. In the schools that I teach, I am lucky to even get a rehearsal on the day of a performance, much less time to really put together a nice performance.
3.
Design: The design of this concert was very well thought out. The students had been designed and taught where they would go and when. The conductor had an escort on and off the stage as a professional would. The design of the clothing even marked what group the child was in. The design of the stage suggested a very professional environment, with a grand piano and full conductor’s podium.
Story: The story of each song was evident in the way the group was set up. For the full choir, the group used all four risers. For the tour choir only the group was set up more intimately. This suggested that the conductor wanted you to get more from the music. The more intimate setting proved to the listener that this was more highly developed performers/music. This was evident in the story of each song, the intensity of the music, and the way the performers arranged themselves on the stage.
Symphony: The groups displayed symphony techniques of Pink simply through the music they chose. There was definite symphony to the pieces and how they interrelated to one another. Most of them were sacred texts, or texts that seemed to have a sacred feeling. Throughout the concert, the listener could tell that there was a theme of lament and reflection from each song.
Empathy: One of the things that impressed me was how the conductor showed empathy to the listeners. The audience members rarely get the respect they deserve. The conductor made it a point to acknowledge the applause of the audience before continuing. She also gave a gracious pause to the choir members on stage so that they could receive their just applause as well.
Play: Even though there were many serious songs included on the program, the choir looked like they were having the time of their lives. They smiled as they performed and seemed to take real pride and joy in their performance. There were several songs that were more relaxed and seemed very playful, but also in keeping with the theme of the concert.
Meaning: Besides the obvious of having meaning within the sacred texts that were used for this concert, the performers and conductor gave meaning to music in general. They obviously have put a lot of work into their concert. There have been multiple rehearsals and plenty of time and effort that has gone into making this event what it was. There have been parents, etc involved in the making of this concert. This in itself gives meaning to the concert. The fact that so many parents, teachers, and staff have been involved in this one music endeavor means a lot for music and its future.
Reflective:
1. Listening can make us better performers because it does a multitude of things. Listening trains our ears on how to listen for melody and harmony, where the important parts are, where the moving parts in the music are located. Listening trains us to hear the different parts of the music and how it interrelates to the other parts going on around it. Listening makes us better prepared to play our instruments. Whether we sing or play an instrument, listening gives us the tools necessary to perform better either by ourselves or with a group. Listening makes us tune it to what is going on around us, either within the audience or as part of a performing group. As with many music performers, listening to other groups also gives us a sense of our own hierarchy. We always like to know where we stand as compared to other players.
2. We can become better teachers by listeners. We teach it every day in our classes, but why? Because we know that when you listen you hear. When you listen you show different routines and aspects of music that you normally may not have paid attention to. Listening exposes you to new music, it might give you ideas on new music for your groups, new music you should make your groups listen to, or music your groups might like to hear and then sing/play. Listening to music can also expose you to different versions of the same old tune. When you listen to music you become reflective and thoughtful. It may be that you hear a piece you already know but done in a different way. Music is meant to played with, to be changed and molded as necessary…listening can help you to make that change. It can help you to engage in different methods that you might shy away from. Listening also gives, as teachers, stepping stones. It gives us/inspires us to do different performances with our groups. It might even inspire us to take our groups places we normally never would have thought of.
3. It altered my perspective in that I realize how encapsulated I am sometimes. I try to keep my kids on a certain area of the band methods book at certain times of the year. I become almost too much of a robot in thinking that I must get them to so and so page or they will never learn what they need to. Listening to this performance made me remember of what is like to be young and enjoy a performance just for the sake of performing. Little kids that I teach are still in that phase and I think I need to keep that more in mind. In the end, its not about what the principal, teachers, or parents think…its about what I think…what the kids think of themselves and the pride they feel in their accomplishment of the performance.
4. I think that in the short run, music teachers have always had a fear of being cut from school budgets. We live with that fear every year. However, what I saw at this performance was exactly what Pink had described in his book. Yes, we may be a technological country, etc…but we are still people who need interaction to survive. Music gives us that way to interact. We can listen and enjoy music and continue to feel that we are all interconnected with each other, through the audience and as performers on stage. It is a way of sharing thoughts and ideas that no one else can. After all, not everyone can perform music, can they? As music teachers we must understand that there are still people out there who enjoy what we do and do not want us to go away. There are still parents that will fight for our existence in their children’s lives. Because they know that we exist to make help make their children’s lives better. They might not be able to identify why we make it better, but Pink makes it clear in his book. We exist because there is still a need for our brain to interconnect with itself. We are there to help make that connection stronger, so that in the future we can grow not only as people but as a society. Politicians and school board members may not see it now, but if society goes in the direction Pink says it is, music teachers will be there waiting.
5. Listening Guide: for 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders::::
1. Describe the sound in the recital hall.
2. Can you hear the male versus female voices?
3. Are there any other instruments playing with the choir? If so, what?
4. Are they singing in English?
5. If not, can you identify the language that it being sung?
6. How do the chorus risers affect what you hear?
7. Are all of the singers singing at the same time?
8. Describe how one of the songs makes you feel.
9. Do you think that a song’s tempo makes you feel a certain way?
10. What instrument was used as a jazz instrument?
11. Do all of the performers start and stop at the same time?
12. How are the audience members around you behaving? Are they clapping at appropriate times? Are they talking?
13. Describe what the choir does in between songs.
14. What does the choir do when it is finished or about to start a song?
15. How does the choir know when to speed up or slow down? Do they do it when they are supposed to?
16. Is the conductor saying anything to the group? To the audience?
17. How does this group compare to the group you belong to?
18. Do you think that you sing this well? Or play an instrument this well?
19. How many hours do you think they practice at home? With the group?
20. If you had to describe this performance with one word, what would it be?
Descriptive:
Date and Time: May 16, 2010, 3:00p.m.
Location: Spivey Hall
Performers: Spivey Hall Children’s Choir & Spivey Hall Tour Choir
There were 114 children in the Children’s Choir and 51 in the Tour choir. The kids who performed in the Tour choir also sang with the Children’s Choir. The Tour choir is the elite choir that performs at other venues and has higher performing students. All of the performers were in middle or high school from 17 Atlanta counties. The choir used full four step chorus risers situated along the middle of the stage. In front of the risers there was a grand piano and in front of that was a conducting podium. The full choir came out and performed three songs. The choir then exited the stage: the children’s choir members who were not in the tour choir sat in the audience.
Analytic:
1. O, Praise God in His Holiness, C. Armstrong Gibbs
This song followed a simple ABA form. This piece was rather short in performance. It was a sacred genre, two part harmony, high melody, and mostly unison.
Let Beauty Awake, Ralph Vaughn Williams
This song was also rather short. This song also used simple melodies and harmonies. This song was very light in texture and was of course in English.
Selections from Misa Pequena, Francisco J. Nunez
This song was very different than the first two. The song had a lot of call and response. As the song went on, it intensified in volume and strength. This song had three part harmony, high soprano parts. The conductor chose to have no applause in between movements, thus almost combining them with a small pause. I did notice in the program that they used several different soloists depending on the day of the performance. There were intermittent soprano solos mixed throughout this piece. This song was very lamenting and was sung in Latin.
Cantate Domino, Ruth Watson Henderson
This piece used a trumpet soloist. Again sacred text, ABA form, the exposition was louder and much faster. The conductor had a small group of sopranos stand in front of the risers in front of the rest of the choir. The piece had several interludes where there were soprano solos almost in rounds.
Gate Gate, Brian Tate
This piece had multiple meter. There seemed to be a two part harmony. In the middle of the piece there was a distinct key change. The use of clapping as part of the song was also incorporated.
Over the Rainbow, Harold Arlan
This song sounded almost exactly as written. Mr. Arlan apparently changed something to the piece. The only thing that I heard that was changed was that he slapped a big sax solo in the middle of the song. This particular solo was very out of character for the song and I didn’t understand where the saxophone came into play. The tempo was very medium, nice mix of voices and timbres. Again, simple harmony and meter.
2. The performance style of this group is vastly different than the performance style of the groups I teach. The main difference of course is that this group is comprised of middle and high school kids and mine is comprised of elementary kids. Another major difference is that this was a choir and my kids are in band. I know that people say there should not be a difference, that musicians are musicians…but there is a difference. There is a reason why I chose to concentrate on band and not middle/high school choir. I thought all of the pieces sounded great, but I couldn’t imagine myself teaching that genre of music. This was a very well rehearsed and very put together group. They were professionally behaved and performed to very high standards. In the schools that I teach, I am lucky to even get a rehearsal on the day of a performance, much less time to really put together a nice performance.
3.
Design: The design of this concert was very well thought out. The students had been designed and taught where they would go and when. The conductor had an escort on and off the stage as a professional would. The design of the clothing even marked what group the child was in. The design of the stage suggested a very professional environment, with a grand piano and full conductor’s podium.
Story: The story of each song was evident in the way the group was set up. For the full choir, the group used all four risers. For the tour choir only the group was set up more intimately. This suggested that the conductor wanted you to get more from the music. The more intimate setting proved to the listener that this was more highly developed performers/music. This was evident in the story of each song, the intensity of the music, and the way the performers arranged themselves on the stage.
Symphony: The groups displayed symphony techniques of Pink simply through the music they chose. There was definite symphony to the pieces and how they interrelated to one another. Most of them were sacred texts, or texts that seemed to have a sacred feeling. Throughout the concert, the listener could tell that there was a theme of lament and reflection from each song.
Empathy: One of the things that impressed me was how the conductor showed empathy to the listeners. The audience members rarely get the respect they deserve. The conductor made it a point to acknowledge the applause of the audience before continuing. She also gave a gracious pause to the choir members on stage so that they could receive their just applause as well.
Play: Even though there were many serious songs included on the program, the choir looked like they were having the time of their lives. They smiled as they performed and seemed to take real pride and joy in their performance. There were several songs that were more relaxed and seemed very playful, but also in keeping with the theme of the concert.
Meaning: Besides the obvious of having meaning within the sacred texts that were used for this concert, the performers and conductor gave meaning to music in general. They obviously have put a lot of work into their concert. There have been multiple rehearsals and plenty of time and effort that has gone into making this event what it was. There have been parents, etc involved in the making of this concert. This in itself gives meaning to the concert. The fact that so many parents, teachers, and staff have been involved in this one music endeavor means a lot for music and its future.
Reflective:
1. Listening can make us better performers because it does a multitude of things. Listening trains our ears on how to listen for melody and harmony, where the important parts are, where the moving parts in the music are located. Listening trains us to hear the different parts of the music and how it interrelates to the other parts going on around it. Listening makes us better prepared to play our instruments. Whether we sing or play an instrument, listening gives us the tools necessary to perform better either by ourselves or with a group. Listening makes us tune it to what is going on around us, either within the audience or as part of a performing group. As with many music performers, listening to other groups also gives us a sense of our own hierarchy. We always like to know where we stand as compared to other players.
2. We can become better teachers by listeners. We teach it every day in our classes, but why? Because we know that when you listen you hear. When you listen you show different routines and aspects of music that you normally may not have paid attention to. Listening exposes you to new music, it might give you ideas on new music for your groups, new music you should make your groups listen to, or music your groups might like to hear and then sing/play. Listening to music can also expose you to different versions of the same old tune. When you listen to music you become reflective and thoughtful. It may be that you hear a piece you already know but done in a different way. Music is meant to played with, to be changed and molded as necessary…listening can help you to make that change. It can help you to engage in different methods that you might shy away from. Listening also gives, as teachers, stepping stones. It gives us/inspires us to do different performances with our groups. It might even inspire us to take our groups places we normally never would have thought of.
3. It altered my perspective in that I realize how encapsulated I am sometimes. I try to keep my kids on a certain area of the band methods book at certain times of the year. I become almost too much of a robot in thinking that I must get them to so and so page or they will never learn what they need to. Listening to this performance made me remember of what is like to be young and enjoy a performance just for the sake of performing. Little kids that I teach are still in that phase and I think I need to keep that more in mind. In the end, its not about what the principal, teachers, or parents think…its about what I think…what the kids think of themselves and the pride they feel in their accomplishment of the performance.
4. I think that in the short run, music teachers have always had a fear of being cut from school budgets. We live with that fear every year. However, what I saw at this performance was exactly what Pink had described in his book. Yes, we may be a technological country, etc…but we are still people who need interaction to survive. Music gives us that way to interact. We can listen and enjoy music and continue to feel that we are all interconnected with each other, through the audience and as performers on stage. It is a way of sharing thoughts and ideas that no one else can. After all, not everyone can perform music, can they? As music teachers we must understand that there are still people out there who enjoy what we do and do not want us to go away. There are still parents that will fight for our existence in their children’s lives. Because they know that we exist to make help make their children’s lives better. They might not be able to identify why we make it better, but Pink makes it clear in his book. We exist because there is still a need for our brain to interconnect with itself. We are there to help make that connection stronger, so that in the future we can grow not only as people but as a society. Politicians and school board members may not see it now, but if society goes in the direction Pink says it is, music teachers will be there waiting.
5. Listening Guide: for 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders::::
1. Describe the sound in the recital hall.
2. Can you hear the male versus female voices?
3. Are there any other instruments playing with the choir? If so, what?
4. Are they singing in English?
5. If not, can you identify the language that it being sung?
6. How do the chorus risers affect what you hear?
7. Are all of the singers singing at the same time?
8. Describe how one of the songs makes you feel.
9. Do you think that a song’s tempo makes you feel a certain way?
10. What instrument was used as a jazz instrument?
11. Do all of the performers start and stop at the same time?
12. How are the audience members around you behaving? Are they clapping at appropriate times? Are they talking?
13. Describe what the choir does in between songs.
14. What does the choir do when it is finished or about to start a song?
15. How does the choir know when to speed up or slow down? Do they do it when they are supposed to?
16. Is the conductor saying anything to the group? To the audience?
17. How does this group compare to the group you belong to?
18. Do you think that you sing this well? Or play an instrument this well?
19. How many hours do you think they practice at home? With the group?
20. If you had to describe this performance with one word, what would it be?
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Video: Written Critical Reflection
Well, I think I have officially given up on uploading my video. I have tried several different ways on several different computers and nothing has worked. I do have the video on a dvd, so at least I have something to turn in. I wanted to take a moment and do the critical reflection on the video that I taped of my class. I had written this same reflection last week, but the computer froze up and I lost everything I had written. So, I will now attempt to redo it. In looking at the video, I was actually pretty surprised. When I have done videos in the past of myself teaching, I have always been surpirsed that what I thought had happened in class didn't. It seemed as if I had a false truth of what had actually happened in class. It not only had to do with certain behaviors, but my teaching as well. I would cover things I didn't have in my plans or not cover the things that I did. Well, in watching this video I became surprised by what I saw. I found that the video did not hold as many surprises as I had thought that it would. I started the class with a review of whole, half, and quarter note rhythms. We discussed how many counts each of these receive and the class had the opportunity to practice counting each one. We also reviewed the notes, played them, and then added the rhythms to it. We did a warm up exercise which involved the students playing each note for a certain count. We then rehearsed certain songs out of the recorder book so that we could review seeing the notes and rhythms in written form. We then moved chairs and talked about duets and rounds. We practiced each and did several examples of each. I really wanted the kids to get the idea of a round and be able to implement it with minor hassle. This is the first time we have attempted rounds and I thought the kids did a pretty good job. We have worked with duets before and I think the kids put that knowledge to use during this lesson. The lesson I saw myself doing in the video matched up pretty well with my lesson plan I had in written form. My ultimate goal was to get the kids to perform a duet and round without me having to prompt and guide as much. For the most part, I think the kids did a pretty good job. I have noticed that sometimes as a teacher, I get used to prompting and guiding too much. I have to reteach myself sometimes to not help as much as I want to do sometimes. I want to use the condcuting as a way to show the counts, but I find myself counting aloud and singing while the kids are playing. This is fine when the kids are practicing and learning a new technique, but I find myself doing it with songs the kids already know. In this video, I saw myself singing true, but I was surprised that I conducted as much as I did. When I watched the video, I found myself thinking more and more of Pink and his chapters on symphony and play. This class to me exemplifies these concepts. On one hand, I am letting them 'play'. This is a class that only certain kids have the opportunity to take. I let this class do fun things like work in groups, compose, and have competitions. THe 3rd graders really like this class and it has become an honor to be chosen. At the same time, I am teaching them basic fundamentals and techniques so that they can play and perform together as a large group. THey have to learn that mistakes are common at this stage and that they should keep going. They learn this concept that in band, recorder, choir, etc. that each member is part of something bigger. This is symphony in its finest form because the kids are not exposed to this kind of mentality in their other classes. Sure they work in groups, but they are working in groups for an activity, not for the success of the class in general. I did find something fascinating in the video. I remembered that one of the kids started having a hard time concentrating. I remember that I finally had enough of him sittign and twirling his recorder. I took his recorder away and told him to move his chair back. At the time, I wondered if I had been too harsh, but watching the video I agreed with what I did during class. This particular student has a hard time with anger management and following directions. I know him well enough now that I can usually tell when I just need to give the final ultimatum. As I watched him in the video, he was very restless and I had to say something to him several times. This class is actually one this particular student enjoys and has been working hard in this year. I noticed that most of my other students were on task and really trying hard to do what I was asking of them. I was happy with what I saw in the video. This was a worthwhile endeavor and I would definitely do it again. I think as teachers get older and more seasoned we forget that we can still learn from ourselves. We know what is supposed to happen in our classes, but we just get bogged down or accustomed to the same old routine.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Reflective Essay
In contemplating what I have learned through the A.R.T.S. process and class I have come up with several worhtwhile mentions. Let me start with the reading. I think as an educator it is vitally important that we keep learning. A great way that I learn is through reading. Reading gives me a sense that I am learning through my eyes and not someone elses. The reading we have done in this class has been very worthwhile. In Pink, it was amazing to learn more about how the brain works, why it applies to what we do, and how it will help us in the future. As a music teacher, we constantly hear how our programs are in peril of becoming extinct. We are threatened with that even now with budgetary crisis' and shrinking revenues. It is nice to know that at least we will have some kind of future, but we will probably have to fight our way there, as usual. Pink has some very good ideas about what our future in the workplace holds. To know that more people will be looking for people who can create unique solutions to problems is again a comfort. Music teachers have always known that we are a key element to any educational endeavor. We hold a lot of knowledge with how the brian works and why music is important in the learning process. We know the reasons why kids who learn more, faster, and better just happen to be in our music classes. Music helps, it connects, it shapes. To know and see it in writing in Pink's book that our genre of education, our little corner of the world is about to be rediscovered is comforting. We have known all along as music teachers that we held a critical key component of learning and shaping minds, now the whole world might discover us again is heartening. I found Gardner's book helpful as well. He explained the concept of synthesis very well. His book was a little harder to read, but once you became familiar with the sytax it started to take on the effect of being a really brainy adventure. Synthesis is again something that music teachers use all of the time. We teach our kids where the music came from, why it was written, who the composer is, and how they came to write the piece. We also indulge our students with synthesis everytime we play something. After all, it is math and science that we use every time we play an instrument or sing. We are using science techniques to tune (sharp/flat), to physically play our instrunent; math to determine note counts and rhythmic passages. We use all of this at a split second. It is nice to see that Gardner has put this technique in writing and put it in writing for the layperson to see and read. It is also important as an educatior that we not forget how important it is that synthesis should be a part of everyday school life. These kids need to know how and why things are interconnected. They need to understand that what they are learning is important and does have an affect on their situation and world around them.
Next, the portfolio. I admit this has given me some trouble. I have had difficulty in determining how to get my portfolio items uploaded onto the blog. Some things have been very difficult and I have felt very frustrated at times with the blogging uploading aspect of the class. I do, however see the importantce of keeping portfolios and evidence of learning. At times it has been difficult deciding what I wanted to include because I did not want to betray anyone's trust by putting something on a blog for the whole world to see. I think the blogging idea in itself has been really nice. It has been great to sit down at my compter and be able to complete a blog, much faster than I could have ever written it by the way.
I have started to think more about how to deliver these ideas into the classroom and what I can include at what grade level. It has been interesting to think about synthesis, Pink's ideas, and the components of the action research project when contemplating lesson plans. Using the ARTS concepts and including them in the classroom has been a worthwhile endeavor. It has given me a chance to really think about how to include another aspect into my classroom that I might not have thought about otherwise. The concepts of syntheis, community, and integrating whole brain thinking has helped me make more out fo my classess. The ARTS class in itself has proven to focus my teaching in the classroom and make it more enjoyable for my classes. I have seen surprises along the way. When doing the action research project, I saw my kids get excited about something I never would have imagined or tried otherwise. As a travelling band teacher, it is hard for me to give up time to focus on a worksheet, I prefer to tie it in with what we have been learning in the book. In doing my action research project though, I included a simple worksheet. The kids went crazy. They absolutely loved it. Although I'm not sure if it was because it was just something different, or that they really liked the worksheet I'll never know. The point here is that I have learned and I will start including more of those types of activities. That this class has shown me that there are things I can still do to up my game and make my students enjoy and learn more, this class has definitely proven to be an asset.
Next, the portfolio. I admit this has given me some trouble. I have had difficulty in determining how to get my portfolio items uploaded onto the blog. Some things have been very difficult and I have felt very frustrated at times with the blogging uploading aspect of the class. I do, however see the importantce of keeping portfolios and evidence of learning. At times it has been difficult deciding what I wanted to include because I did not want to betray anyone's trust by putting something on a blog for the whole world to see. I think the blogging idea in itself has been really nice. It has been great to sit down at my compter and be able to complete a blog, much faster than I could have ever written it by the way.
I have started to think more about how to deliver these ideas into the classroom and what I can include at what grade level. It has been interesting to think about synthesis, Pink's ideas, and the components of the action research project when contemplating lesson plans. Using the ARTS concepts and including them in the classroom has been a worthwhile endeavor. It has given me a chance to really think about how to include another aspect into my classroom that I might not have thought about otherwise. The concepts of syntheis, community, and integrating whole brain thinking has helped me make more out fo my classess. The ARTS class in itself has proven to focus my teaching in the classroom and make it more enjoyable for my classes. I have seen surprises along the way. When doing the action research project, I saw my kids get excited about something I never would have imagined or tried otherwise. As a travelling band teacher, it is hard for me to give up time to focus on a worksheet, I prefer to tie it in with what we have been learning in the book. In doing my action research project though, I included a simple worksheet. The kids went crazy. They absolutely loved it. Although I'm not sure if it was because it was just something different, or that they really liked the worksheet I'll never know. The point here is that I have learned and I will start including more of those types of activities. That this class has shown me that there are things I can still do to up my game and make my students enjoy and learn more, this class has definitely proven to be an asset.
Gardner Thoughts
After reading Gardner's thoughts on synthesis, I am a little cloudy. Gardner is very lofty with some of his word usage and I found myself having to read some passages more than once. However, I think that what he is trying to say is that people have to be taught how to synthesize. In almost any situation, people have to put many different facts together and then make a decision. Many could argue that this is synthesis. He talks about interdisciplinary ideas. He states that this idea actually starts when we are very young and that as time goes on we are taught to ignore some of those impulses. Young children try to force things together, to make correlations where there might not be any to make. When we enter school, we are taught facts and not necessarily how these facts intertwine with one another. Hitsory is separate from math is separate from English, etc. Every subject is its own discipline with its own set of facts to decipher and learn. I tend to agree with him. I was asking my students the other day who Shakespeare was. None of them knew who I was talking about. They didn't know who he was, what he did, or where he lived. It seems to me that might have come up somewhere along the line. How could Shakespeare not have come up in all the years that a 5th grader would have been in school? How can you even teach poetry, sonnets, early literature, etc without mentioning him? To go on, I asked what country he would have been from. They told me Mississippi, London, and Europe. Note that none of these are countries. I wonder if this would have happened in a more interdisciplinary classroom environment. I think students would learn more if they were given the opportunity to make more links from one subject to another. As a music teacher, we try to link things together all of the time. We link history, geography, science, etc to what we do because it is an integral part of what we do. How can we teach notes without teaching how those pitches are created? It seems to me that once again, musicians take the lead.
Gardner: Chp. 3 Notes
5 Minds for the Future: Howard Gardner
Chapter 3: The Synthesizing Mind
Kinds of Synthesis:
Narratives: synthesizer puts material together into a coherent narrative
Taxonomies: materials are ordered in terms of characteristic
Complex concepts: A newly stipulated concept can tie together or blend a range of
Phenomena
Rules and aphorisms: folk wisdom is captured by short phrases, designed to be
memorable
Powerful metaphors, images, and themes: bringing concepts to life by invoking
Metaphors
Embodiments without words: powerful syntheses can be embodied in works of art
Theories: concepts can be amalgamated into a theory
Metatheory: overall framework for knowledge, a theory of theories
Components of Synthesis:
A goal- a statement or conception of what the synthesizer is trying to achieve
A starting point-an idea, image, or, indeed any previous work on which to build.
Selection of strategy, method, and approach.
Drafts and feedback.
Interdisciplinary: applied to studies that draw deliberately on at least two scholarly disciplines and seek integration
The author discusses the fact that in order to be truly interdisciplinary the person has to see the two sides of the two separate disciplines. He discusses that fact that even though a presenter may present two different disciplines, the student may not see both sides. He goes on to state that even large companies and true interdiscipline people may not see the end result as the same. You can present the same material to a group of people and everyone will get something different from the information.
Interdisciplinary work is typically motivated by one of three considerations:
A powerful new concept has been developed, and it is inviting and timely to test the reach of that concept.
An important phenomenon has emerged, and a full understanding of that phenomenon calls for, or even demands, its contextualization.
A pressing problem emerges, and current individual disciplines prove inadequate to solve that problem.
It is difficult for people to correctly synthesize in work type environments. When people have been expected to work in a certain way, it becomes hard for them to think outside of the box. As they focus on certain aspects of their job, other areas of their expertise may wane because of disuse. It works the same for people who typically work alone are asked suddenly to work with people, the situation may be difficult.
The synthesizing mind comes into play at an early age. However, with schools focused on cramming facts and information into the heads of young people, the synthesized mind usually does not get any attention. Educators are focused on certain ways to solve problems or explain things, when students would benefit greatly from differences of solution solving.
Multiperspectivalism: recognizes that different analytic perspectives can contribute to the elucidation of an issue or problem
Chapter 3: The Synthesizing Mind
Kinds of Synthesis:
Narratives: synthesizer puts material together into a coherent narrative
Taxonomies: materials are ordered in terms of characteristic
Complex concepts: A newly stipulated concept can tie together or blend a range of
Phenomena
Rules and aphorisms: folk wisdom is captured by short phrases, designed to be
memorable
Powerful metaphors, images, and themes: bringing concepts to life by invoking
Metaphors
Embodiments without words: powerful syntheses can be embodied in works of art
Theories: concepts can be amalgamated into a theory
Metatheory: overall framework for knowledge, a theory of theories
Components of Synthesis:
A goal- a statement or conception of what the synthesizer is trying to achieve
A starting point-an idea, image, or, indeed any previous work on which to build.
Selection of strategy, method, and approach.
Drafts and feedback.
Interdisciplinary: applied to studies that draw deliberately on at least two scholarly disciplines and seek integration
The author discusses the fact that in order to be truly interdisciplinary the person has to see the two sides of the two separate disciplines. He discusses that fact that even though a presenter may present two different disciplines, the student may not see both sides. He goes on to state that even large companies and true interdiscipline people may not see the end result as the same. You can present the same material to a group of people and everyone will get something different from the information.
Interdisciplinary work is typically motivated by one of three considerations:
A powerful new concept has been developed, and it is inviting and timely to test the reach of that concept.
An important phenomenon has emerged, and a full understanding of that phenomenon calls for, or even demands, its contextualization.
A pressing problem emerges, and current individual disciplines prove inadequate to solve that problem.
It is difficult for people to correctly synthesize in work type environments. When people have been expected to work in a certain way, it becomes hard for them to think outside of the box. As they focus on certain aspects of their job, other areas of their expertise may wane because of disuse. It works the same for people who typically work alone are asked suddenly to work with people, the situation may be difficult.
The synthesizing mind comes into play at an early age. However, with schools focused on cramming facts and information into the heads of young people, the synthesized mind usually does not get any attention. Educators are focused on certain ways to solve problems or explain things, when students would benefit greatly from differences of solution solving.
Multiperspectivalism: recognizes that different analytic perspectives can contribute to the elucidation of an issue or problem
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