MAC - Week 3 Blog Post #4 Publishing Project

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In continuing with the work of our Publishing project, I've begun work on the paper for submission to the following journals:

My goal is to have a working paper for our final week Wimba session for presentation. Of course this will feature the work of my ARP in Music Education technology to enhance musical performance skills.
My biggest concern is determining how much rewriting and editing their will be when compared to a lot of copying and pasting. I'm looking forward to developing a cohesive document that features the content appropriately.

MAC - Week 3 Blog Post #3 Response to Kristi Swartz

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Kristi,


It was interesting to hear your personal experience with the reading this week. Your story about your son's play and the power that the teacher utilized in focusing on the students potential for greatness was great to read about. As teachers, its something of a great importance that we not overlook the great work of students and their individual abilities no matter how big or how little.


Kristi wrote on her blog:

The 4 chapters we focused on this week again had me thinking in a new way. Leaders are always said to be the strong, loud, commanding type, yet, in this reality, the leader is the one that makes others strive to have a vision of what is possible. As I read this week, I could not help but think of my son’s 4^th grade teacher. He truly is the best teacher I, or any of my own children, have ever had. I began to reflect on the readings and this particular teacher’s qualities. What quality does he possess? How does he lead? This is what I found. His quality is inspiration. He leads quietly. He leads by making each student feel worthy of great possibility, of vision.

When my son had this particular teacher, we attended a short play the students created in the classroom. We have all attended classroom plays, yet this one was different. Student made invitation letters went home, student created props lined the walls of the classroom. Student actors and actresses played the parts of the student written scripts. There were even student created commercials between the acts. All students were involved and the leader sat silent and just took it all in. A student made the introduction and all the leader said in the end was a simple thank you for coming to see you students amazing production.

At the time, I did notice how different the feel of the classroom was that day. Students were empowered to learn and grow, and proud to show the product they had created. The reason that teacher is such an amazing teacher is because he gets what Zander spoke of in his video this week and through The Art of Possibility. He gets that it is a teacher’s job to inspire possibility and watch students live into that vision. May it be so for all of us as educators.

MAC - Week 3 Blog Post #2 Response to Josh Tolar

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Josh,

I found your comments on Buddhism and their connections to the reading this week were very interesting. More specifically your thoughts from the reading on music and performing with passion made for some very interesting ideas. I connected in the same way with my experiences playing percussion in many situations. Having played with many talented musicians, the passion for music exists as long as you believe in your own performance but that passion seems to be augmented when you know the players around you are bringing their passion as well, the experience can be life altering.


Josh wrote on his blog:
The past 4 chapters of the “The Art of Possibility” started to remind me a little about Buddhism and a book called “The Power of Now”. Looking at the way things actually are instead of resisting everything around you is one of the characteristics of Buddhism and one thing that is discussed in “The Power of Now”. This is one of my major downfalls too. When something happens unexpectedly, I often get upset and become disappointed in my own little world. I have learned throughout the years to not focus on material things and these last 4 chapters are a great reminder of that. I like in chapter 7 how it explains negative emotions and not to bury them deep inside or cast them out, but rather realize that they are there. This is very powerful as you somehow step outside your self and see how you are acting. Being present to our emotions takes a lot of practice, but it gets us one step closer to being more optimistic.

“The Art of Possibility” has surprised me several times when music is mentioned, and how orchestra players play with intense passion. I admit that when I was younger I never thought that orchestra players could ever feel the passion of the music because they were always so stiff when following the conductor. In so many cases I saw people play in orchestras and symphonies and never once saw any passion in what they were doing. There were however various virtuosos that would come on stage and warmed the audience with pure passion for the music. I soon started to think about how passion in music, or anything else for that matter, can be transferred to another person. Is it how you look you when you play the instrument or how you act when working on something you love? I love asking these questions and I started to ask them again when I read about the quote that Stravinksy supposedly said about wanting to hear someone trying to play the passage instead of someone just playing it. When we enter into the unknown, we might fail or we might succeed, but there is something there that enables us to feel alive. This is what I feel when I play music. There is something about the guitar that really makes you feel when you bend the strings. Every bend becomes a part of the spirit and soul of the song. You can feel the tension in the string as you bend higher and higher, leaving way to passion.

MAC - Week 3 Blog Post #1 Reading Chapters 5 - 8

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Chapter 5 Leading from Any Chair

I took away the concept of the silent conductor and their role in bringing out the passions, energy and overall power of the other players. Much the same,  a teacher plays a similar role in learning how to bring the passion out of every student. It is important in knowing how each student reacts to certain situations or simply exposing the strengths and talents of each student with the intent on cultivating a motivation from the group to achieve great success in any given situation.

Chapter 6: Rule Number 6

In this chapter, a fundamentally sound concept is presented: don’t take yourself too seriously and overall, lighten up. Life has many more moments of seriousness than the moments we create for ourselves.

Chapter 7: The way things are

This chapter spoke to me in on a personal level. Taking a new position this year, I had to come to grips with the reality of teaching middle school instead retaining my old job at the high school. Needless to say, I went through many stages of denial and transition to adjust, learn and grow my teaching skills and experience to meet the needs of a completely different kind of student.

Chapter 8: Giving way to passion

This chapter seem to continue the concepts of chapter 7 and at the same time was a chapter all in of itself full of content. The idea that we as teachers must give into natural tendencies and not be limited in practice to the structural mindsets that are built up over time due to pragmatic influences. Being able to let loose your instincts on a regular basis and not reserve judgment can play a significant role in how you perceive the world as well as your students. To give yourself completely to a situation is equally a difficult task due to the fragmentation of each persons daily life.

MAC - Week 2 blog post #4 Project question

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With this week's blog to myself, I thought I would answer the Publication question: Presentation or Article?

With the way I collected my research and the fact that I expedited the process to skip any photographic or videographic documentation, I felt that my material would be better spent in developing an article for a scholarly journal. To do a presentation would involve more pre-production and further research to facilitate the amount of content that would be needed for a full production.

Based on many of the journal articles I've read in the past, my research as it stands right now would fit into that template much easier. As a result, I am considering submission to the following Academic Journals:

International Journal of Music Education
http://ijm.sagepub.com/

International Journal of Music Research
http://jrm.sagepub.com/

Journal of Music Perception
http://ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=mp

I will consider more journals but these seem to be the closest fit to the kind of research that I have produced so far.

MAC - Week 2 blog post#3, comments to LeVonda Vickery

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LeVonda,

I enjoyed your reading your reflection about the idea that grades do not define the work of a student. I couldn’t agree more. There is an endeavor happening to Nationalize the curriculum of schools to a “Core” curriculum that is standards based and lean more towards evaluation and assessment of student mastery of skills and concepts, getting away from letter grade system.

The old system of evaluation become a predictable and expected outcome for our students and families. Even to the point that they are not ever concerned with the work they have to do, they just want to know how to get the A letter grade which is a tragedy. I look forward to seeing the system change in my lifetime to have the community be worried about mastery of skills and achievement of acquiring abilities rather than simply getting an “A” or a “B”.

LeVonda Wrote on her Blog

As I read our reading assignment this week in the book, "The Art of Possibility" by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander, I was particularly struck by chapters 3 and 4 on "Giving an A" and "Be a Contribution".  Wouldn't it be something if every educator just started giving A's to students to watch how their perspectives changed and/or evolved?  Personally I feel that would be easier said than done, but in courses where you can use project-based or game-based learning I feel that it is an easy fit.  It is more the creative based course like Music, Art, Graphic Design, Photography, etc... that allow for the actual effort put in to the work to show in the final result of the project and therefore to allow for that feeling of accomplishment. I know that most of us are used to tying that letter grade to our sense of achievement to show others and tell ourselves that we did a great job, but I have learned a lot through my time here at Full Sail in the EMDT program that while yes it is wonderful to see that letter grade it is not what defines me or my work.  That is a very hard concept to get across to students who are used to always being judged by others on the work they do. I loved working on my Action Research project because it involved using a game to teach social skills, which allowed for the participants to not receive a "grade" for the work they did, but instead to have that sense of accomplishment on a job well done whenever they successfully completed a quest/mission in the game no matter how many times they had to do it over again to get it right.  After all isn't that what we should want to instill in students is that no matter how many times they have to do something to get it right that once they have that "aha" moment and it finally clicks it teaches them that they can do it and they feel as if they actually accomplished something in the process. 

As far as the fourth chapter on being a contribution I feel that everyone should strive to do this in their life.  As teachers I would hope that all of us are a contribution not only to our students, but to our colleagues as well.  I feel that it is important to be a contribution to society, our friends and family, and others around us and I try to live my life thinking in that manner.  I know it is hard when we always seem to be so busy with our daily lives to just take a minute and try to help others with theirs, but it is what makes us different and better people.  I have been unemployed since last February and believe me it has been very tough over the past year, but I still try to contribute to those around me. I would rather help others than sit and dwell on how miserable I can and would be if all I did was think about how worthless I felt for being unemployed and not supporting my family.  Life is funny that way, on the differences a positive versus a negative outlook can have on a persons life.  

This book just helped me affirm what we could and should be teaching our children, our future, to help them be a better person as reflected in their contributions to society and the actual pride they get from a job well done versus what grade they may be given on it.  I feel more people should have that outlook on life.  What did I do today?  I made a birthday cake for a friend who was down because no one at work remembered her birthday yesterday.  I contributed!  What have you done today?

MAC - Week 2 blog post #2, comments to Kristi Swartz

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@ Kristi,

I appreciated your take away from the reading this week in your idea about our ability to enhance not only our own quality of life but also for those around us.

I've dealt with a very difficult year being a new teacher at a middle school replacing a loved teacher. In the final 4 weeks of school I've only recently started to get kids to respond to me and not just give me a hard time.

Beyond the transition, I've felt that it requires believing that what you teach really means something to your students and it should show in the deliberation. Students know when a teacher is not on top of their game vs. when they are and they respond accordingly.

Kristi Swartz wrote on her Blog page May 10^th, 2011:

My Contribution

I love Zander’s idea that a leader does not doubt peoples’ abilities to do what it is they are to do. As I look at education I ask, What if all teachers believed in the abilities of all of their students? How would education change? Stop thinking about everything along the way, and see the big picture. Have a vision, a long line, and see it through! How would education change?

Zander’s video on Ted was moving and showed the connection possible for classical music through Zander’s determination and perception.  His connection to the conductor as a person to make others powerful, and make others feel it is possible. I loved his question: Who am I being if my children’s eyes are not shining?  I hope to take this and use it in the classroom. I want a classroom with children’s eyes shining.

The idea of enhancing our quality of life and the quality of life for those around us as we have the power is really meaningful to me. I think this year has been eye opening for me as I look and understand perception and the big part it plays in each of our version of reality. I have looked at this through my Masters courses, my own Bible study, through the students I teach, and now this book. It is amazing how life opens something up to us, and we see it all around. I see this as the power of God.  In this book, I feel the importance of perception and I love thinking about how our brains constructs our reality, and how that reality is just ours, we can not know if it is the reality that is real, or created, because our brain constructs our own thoughts. The idea of it all being a story we tell, can change our own thoughts about every situation. For me, the closer I become to God, the more I want his will, this leads me try to be a better person, think about others feelings, and desire good. I love the idea in the book of setting the context and letting life unfold

I loved the thoughts on giving an A, not just in the classroom but also in the everyday world. It is so true that we measure everyone according to a standard measure. When we can believe everyone has a unique gift to share, and that not all of us have the same gift, we can begin to accept and love people for who they are, learn from their gifts, and accept their differences, as well. I love the idea of giving A’s, looking at what is great about this person I meet that I can learn from, rather than comparing them to a standard measure I set.