Wk 4 Comment # 2

Week 4-Reading Cheryl's Post

My favorite part of this weeks reading was that we need to generate a spark of possibility for others to share (hence my photo).  Chapters 9 and 12 were for me the most meaningful.  Besides the spark in chapter 9, I also liked the story of the hyper ten year old doing soooo well at conducting! My youngest son has been very active his whole life, and now he is the top order puller at his warehouse job nearly every month.  As educators we need to remember to look for what our students can excel at and help them find that level of achievement.  In chapter 12, we are told to approach all issues with "we" instead of "I".  Now that I am dealing with 3 paraprofessionals, "we" has become a favorite word in my vocabulary! The other part of chapter 12 that I loved was the story of the girl telling the lady that she knew what she wanted.  After thinking, the lady went to the store and brought back a can of beef stew.  It was exactly what what was wanted, and sometimes we need to remember to give our students and the people we work with that can of stew.  It can change attitudes and whole days.  Have a great day! Cheryl

 Francine's Comment
Cheryl you are so right in your blog about this weeks readings. Being a choral conductor I will implement allowing my singers to practice the WE concept. By using the practice of the can of stew we CAN provide everyone with the possibility of making a difference in their approach to that daily walk we call LIFE. Great post!

Wk 4 Comment #1

Week 4- Reading The Art of Possibility

We must make our activities desirable to others, as desirable as a banana is to a monkey!

Cindy's Post

I have to say that I absolutely loved this book. At first I was skeptical but the further into the bok I got, the more I enjoyed it!!! This book could be related to all of our lives in one way or another, especially if you are in education.

The authors made a great point about using we instead of I. This is something we all need to learn to do. We are all in it together, good or bad. In order to be successful, collaboration and teamwork is needed.

Enrolling or sparking others is a must. Educators should create a spark in their students. To get anyone to do anything, we must create a desire in them. Make it endearing and intriguing. Our students must be provided with an anticipatory strategy to hook them in. As with any activity, the participants must be reeled in hook line and sinker. They must want to participate.

This is a must read for any educator! I firmly believe that this book will be beneficial for all of those in the world of education from administrators to educators to paraprofessionals.


Francine's Comment

Cindy I agree with you totally about this book being a must read for any educator. I believe that if this book were read on a national level by all teachers, admin and staff and the practices were implemented by all that our learners would be blown away.  This book has opened my eyes to many new possibilities of how I live my life and how I will approach teaching this year and in the future. Thanks for your insight!

Week 4 Reading - Art of Possibility

Chapter 9 did it for me. Enrollment according to Zander and Zander is the art and practice of generating a spark of possibility for others to share! Awesome! Lighting a spark in others is something that I feel that I  take part in doing on a daily basis, particularly my students. Whenever there is an issue or an adversity in my student's lives, I try to ignite something in them that allows them to keep moving forward.  Enrollment is an art of which I agree to, that provides others to see that there are many possibilities for them to achieve success and attain their goals in life regardless of what life offers them from day to day.  Just the other day I called a friend because I was stressed about my personal and social life being so blah. She is a business woman who owns her own company and is about the business of lighting that spark in others and her employees to achieve the mission and vision of her company.  Using these same strategies she talked with me about being in the right place and being able to market myself so that others would want to be around me.  How awesome is that.  Little did I know that she would use her business tactics  to "light that spark" so that I could move beyond the feeling that life was at a stand still. 

Wk 4 Publish Leadership Project - Part 3of 3 Improving Motivation and Engagement in the Performing Arts

PLP LINK
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VlX9arIn70UZCQdVWWxFmAtkBxLnKii89sRQsUkDj2M/edit?hl=en_US

My Capstone Project has not turned out like I wanted it to. I ran into issues with State testing and the Final Exam schedule at my high school.  I hope that I can finalize this project when school begins next month with some of my learners.  There were many obstacles in completing this project. When the schedule changes, the students ability to focus also changes.  The capstone project I feel is an excellent idea for this program.  Writing the literature review was challenging and my entire experience in this program has been very educational and enlightening.  Each class that we took brought new ideas and strategies for usage in the classroom.  The Capstone needs to be solidified because the changes we made earlier in the program were changed again this month.  I realize that we were the first to utilize the CBR and that all of the tasks that we needed to complete was not etched in stone.

Wk4 Publishing/Leadership project part 2 of 3: Improving Motivation and Engagement in The Performing Arts

My plans are to submit my PLP to the Music Educators Journal(MEJ) of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). MEJ is a peer-reviewed journal that encourages music education professionals to submit manuscripts about all phases of music education in schools and communities, practical instructional techniques, teaching philosophy, and current issues in music teaching and learning. The main goal of MEJ, like that of MENC, is to advance music education.  MEJ is not a research journal, but submissions should be grounded in the professional literature.

I chose this publication because the population that would most likely be interested in my paper have subscriptions to MEJ.  I read some of the articles from this publication regularly so I figured this publication would reach the audience that would benefit most from my paper. Furthermore I chose this publication because many of my colleagues and myself are having difficulty with learners who are placed in our classes who don't want to be in a performing arts class. I feel that my paper might possibly provide pertinent information that musicians could look into to facilitate student motivation and engagement in the performing arts.

PLP LINK
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VlX9arIn70UZCQdVWWxFmAtkBxLnKii89sRQsUkDj2M/edit?hl=en_US

Wk4 Publishing/Leadership project part 1 of 2: Improving Motivation and Engagement in the Performing Arts

I have always wanted to publish an article to a publication. Having an opportunity to do so seems to be a bit challenging.  Although we were provided with a list of publications to submit to,  I am seriously thinking about submitting my paper to a journal or publication.  This publication is a music publication, namely the Music Educators Journal of the Music Educators National Conference. Many of my colleagues and myself are having problems with learners engaging in the activities in our choral music classes, particularly those learners who really don't want to be in a performing arts class. 

WK3 Wimba Session

This weeks wimba was a review of our Abstract for our CBR website.  A sentence for each section, results and conclusion. We should tell the story of our whole project from beginning to end and it should be 120 words maximum.  We can include some 3rd person and a little from self and we are to post it in our CBR website on the final presentation page.

For the PLP we need to post one main blog post, make comments about thinking about the project. We need to link to two "think out loud" post, and another one paragraph about the process and links to paper I've written or the presentation doc and the posts. 

Next wimba week 4, we are to share where we are in this process. We can sign up for Tuesday or Thursday session. Not an actual presentation. Option of virtual sharing if unable to make either session and get feedback from 2 or 3 classmates and create a blog post for wk 4 wimba.

Joe suggested not submitting to several publications at a time.  He suggested to submit paper to one at a time because the publicist wants to be the first to publish. This is to be our 1st draft.  Thanks for the heads up, Joe! ALSO GREAT QUESTIONS about the PLP project and process everyone! Thanks!

As always, Rick asked some excellent questions! Go Rick!

Discussions about Roz and Ben Zanders practices in the Art of Possibility were great!  I have been really inspired by this book and am sharing unknowingly with just about everyone I come in contact with. I LOVE this book! 

Encouragement is what we need, Joe! We have so much going on in our lives that it is much needed, thanks! I liked the fact that you posed questions about the book, however, I have not read either of the books that we were to compare AOP with. Enjoyed seeing all of the responses too!

Wk 3 Reading - TAOP - 5-8

Well I am just amazed at what Roz and Ben Zander taught me this week!  "Leading from any chair" one of my favorite chapters out of the four allowed me to see that it doesn't matter where you are in your life or your career, that we can lead from anywhere.  We don't have to actually be the leader literally to lead.  I believe that a lot of people have this confused, particularly those who must have a big title before their names in order to function. The player that had never played in the 11th chair was particularly amazed that Ben allowed all of the players to have input into how the music should be interpreted prior to the performance.  She realized that it didn't matter whether she was the 1st chair or the 11th.  Many of us have declined leadership because of the huge responsibility that comes with it.  Our main focus should be on transforming those persons that we are leading and allow them to take the reins of responsibility too in helping to lead. 

The second chapter that I was enthralled with was chapter 6! Ben told several stories and they were all so very exceptional.  With my calculating self I need to "get over myself" and "not take myself so god damn seriously".  I believe that this is me. Sometimes we act like it is all about us, but it is not. As we get back in the swing of things in our teaching professions, we need to realize that it is not about how we provide instruction, it is about how that instruction is perceived by our learners.  It is about how they learn best and how they can achieve optimal success.  With all that I have been exposed to in this EMDT program, it is definitely about how my learners perceive themselves in the educational process. It is about what motivates them to be engaged in learning and being optimal achievers.

Wk 3 Comment #2

Ricks Original Comment
I have thoroughly enjoyed the book “Art of Possibility” by Roz and Ben Zander. I would like to discuss chapters five through eight,but I'll mostly talk about chapters five and six because they were my favorite. There is a great story in chapter 5 about American orchestra going to play with a Cuban orchestra in Cuba. I have not only had personal experience with teaching music from other cultures to students, but have also performed in choruses that have had difficulty learning complex ethnic rhythms. I love that the conductor told the orchestra players/students “Your job is to teach these rhythms to your stand partner.” This not only made the students responsible for teaching the music but also made the students responsible for whether they would perform the concert or not. This usually becomes a great learning experience for everyone involved.

I of course love music, and the music section in this book brings back so many memories for me. I have many fond memories of sitting in the dorms at the Conservatory or in the practice rooms listening to the various instrument players complain about who got first chair or second chair and how they are better player than all of them. All I can think of was how lucky they were to play in the orchestra because I would only play in chamber music. Does it really matter where you sit because the audience really only hears each section, strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion not first chair, second chair, third chair. I wish I could read them this quote from a youth orchestra student to the classically trained conservatory musician. “… I have the force of personality to power the section from where ever I sit and I believe that I led that concert from the 11th chair”

Francine's Comment
Yes Rick!  I like that section too about the stand partner teaching the other person the music and it worked! I was really surprised by this. What an amazing story!  I may try to this with my singers this year!  Hopefully they will understand the concept and be able to make it work.  Also the 11th chair violin player who had never played from that standpoint, realizing that her worth as a musician comes forth from any chair. What an eye opener.  Leading from any chair.  My favorite two chapters were five and six as well, that must be a musician thing, but maybe not!  LOL!

 Cheryl's Original Post
Well, week 3 and it is chapters 5-8.  There were many tidbits that I picked up from this reading of "The Art of Possibility".  I will share my favorites with you.  The first major ah ha moment for me came when the author told about getting in the taxi and the passenger tells the driver to hurry! They need me everywhere!!!! This is so true in life.  As a mother or father, you are needed everywhere all of the time! You wish you could grow 8 arms and 8 legs.  As a teacher it seems that every student needs help at the same time on a different problem.  The next one that struck me was that power is the ability to make other people powerful.  This thought we have heard before, but maybe not in this way.  We may have heard it as give a man something to eat and he eats right then, teach him to grow his own food and he will be forever full.  Here is another: grab what you love and give it everything.  So often we tend to meander through life, giving what we feel comfortable giving, but to give it everything possible leaves the possibilities completely open!  As I continued to move through the reading I came to a spot where the author asks us to think about putting Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" before every remark we make.  Can you imagine? The last chapter was all about letting go.  That is where this week's picture came from.  We have to jump without worrying about every little thing to reach the highest and furthest that we can.  I think of the movie "The Great Outdoors".  We often forget that very simple command to let go.  John Candy is water skiing and after giving his son lessons on safety and letting go of the rope if you get into a situation, he totally forgets this himself and his son is screaming for him to let go of the rope but he doesn't.  I hope all of of us this week can let go of our ropes and travel further and accomplish more than we or anyone else could ever expect! Have a great week! Cheryl

Francine's Comment to Cheryl
Cheryl great post on this week's readings.  I too was engrossed in the anecdotes that this book is offering.  To me I feel that this book of possibilities has created a monster in me.  I am planning to present many of these to my learners this year by placing posters and banners with the practices that Zander has offered in this book.  I applaud your ability to come up with ah ha moments and take them and make them your own.

Wk2 MAC Wimba - Copyright - PLP

Wordle Word Cloud: Created by Francine Jackson

Basically, week 2 Wimba was a recap of wk 1 reading and activities. Joe provided an assessment/review of the information that each of us should have gleaned from our 1st week's activities. All of the discussions regarding copyright, fair use and creative commons facilitated me in reflecting on how Joe phrased it, "the black & white of copyright. As copyright continues to be defined, challenged, revised, augmented and rephrased, it is our job as educators to pass on what we have received on this matter to our learners,  so that they are not definitively infringing upon copyright laws, fair use and creative common guidelines.  Furthermore, we can facilitate augmenting the population of people worldwide to be proactive in checking guidelines of copyright prior to downloading or copying.

Joe asked us to look ahead at the PLP so that we can get started. We will post blogs about the process and our decisions. We can also choose another publication that is not listed for us to choose from but I believe we need approval from first.

Thanks to Rick Stemple, we learned more about copyright and music, additionally we heard about when graduation is scheduled.  Friday, Sept 30, 2011, and Joe was able to confirm the date but not the time.The question was raised whether we would have grades in time to graduate and the response was yes because this month our CBR/AR websites need to be 99.9% complete. If any of our sites do not meet the requirements, those names will be put back in the hat to retake mth 11.

 

Week 2 Comment #2

Stephania' Original Post

Toes to your nose, Toes to your nose.

I took from this more than just the story, but I took this from an educational standpoint. Some times it seems that we have to say things over and over to our students. I know at my school there is an A, B, and C day for all grade levels, so that means I teach the same lesson at least 3 times depending on how well the students learn the information. This story lets me know that sometimes repeating that information is not a bad thing because in a test that's all the students would have is that memory of you and the information that you were quoting sometime daily. In the situation that he was in, I know that sometimes when in a stressful situation we can forget everything that we have been taught. In his case at first all he could think about was survival. Eventually he remembered what he had been taught to do. I think this story is the reason why we have teachers to guide us into the education that we deserve.

I think that it is important that we think outside of the box that we live in. Everything around us in this world is not always right, its just here. Some of these things we see, we can change and some we can't. Living outside of the box is a good thing to do, I would not confine myself to things that the world does as a means of entertainment or fun. The biggest thing that a high school students has problems with is being themselves. Most of them want to dress alike and act alike until they are not even themselves. Then you have some students that would rather hang with no one just to live outside of the normal High School box and it most cases these are the individuals that the followers cling to and hopefully start to be themselves.

So we should ultimately let go of that box and step out and be something that we have never been before.....OURSELVES.

Francine's Comment

Stephania you are so right!  High school learners are still very impressionable. They want to be like one another except they are quite unique from one another but don't want to accept their uniqueness in some instances.  I have learners that are loners too and they don't care about being like the others.  I believe these students have the concept of stepping "out of the box" by being themselves and they allow their uniqueness to guide them to their destinations.

Wk2 Comment #1

Cheryls Original Post
This picture depicts this weeks reading exactly as I interpret it.  Life is what we make of it.  We choose the direction.  There were many things in the reading that I enjoyed.  I loved how the author described success and failure as a two sided coin, but if we choose contribution instead, it is a one sided coin and therefore a win-win situation for all.  I also loved the wording well heeled and down at the heel. I had never heard that before.  It must be the way that other countries describe the highs and lows of life.  Something else that would do us all good to remember is to "engage people in your passion for life", and "don't speak to cynicism, but to passion" (Art of Possibility).  I try to envision a world where there was no cynicism, only passion for life, and it is definitely a mind blower! The thought of giving all students an A the first day of class was awesome! Can you even begin to imagine the look on a bunch of kids faces the first day you handed out all A's? Talk about a jaw dropping experience! The thought of throwing your arms up in the air and exclaiming "how fascinating" when you make a mistake is also cute.  All in all, I think that this weeks reading had the intended effect on me.  It got me thinking, and at just the right time. School is beginning and this was a great reminder that life is all a story, and it is all in the way we choose to tell it! Have a great day!

Francine's Comment
Hey Cheryl!
I love your analogy of what you read and the effects it is having on your walk on this journey.  I too liked the idea of throwing your hands up during a performance when a mistake is made and saying "how fascinating," I laughed so hard at this.  Anyway, this book has effected me too, in that I have learned that I need to step out of the box and invent something new that would give me other choices.  I also love the fact that this book was told from two perspectives. A musician and a therapist, how unique is that!  Good luck to you in your new position!

Wk2 Readings - The Art of Possibility , Chapters 1-4

Well first I will speak on the video of Benjamin Zander's presentation. Ben humorously engaged an audience of 1500 people to take a journey in listening to classical music. Awesome!  I was so amazed at how engaging he was and thoroughly enjoyed his antics and the analogies that he used to describe how human nature can direct us into negative or positive thoughts about our daily walk in this life, irregardless to what path we have chosen.  AND he did it all with his awesome and beautiful piano playing.  The video was a great preface or lead - in to the book, The Art of Possibility: Transforming  Professional and Personal Life!

Photo Credit: Francine Jackson - The Art of Nature

The stories that Ben and Roz have shared in this book have truly opened my eyes to the many possibilities that I still have left while I am on this journey called life!  Chapters 1 - 4 were very interesting and it is hard for me to choose which topic I want to address in my blog because they were all so very true and enlightening.  As a musician, the art of possibility spoke to me in such a way that I am considering the questions that were posed in the "first practice", What might I now invent, that I haven’t yet invented, that would give me other choices (Zander and Zander, 2000).  It is fascinating to think that "it is all invented!" And truthfully it is! Our thoughts, our interactions and how we approach life is all invented.  We tend to grab hold of the things that we were taught by our parents as our own, but actually they invented some of those things and now it is time for us to invent our own ideas and ways of handling adversity and positive outcomes that occur in our daily walk while on this journey.

We tend to encourage our children to accept the ideas that we have invented but actually we need to allow them to invent their own.  By protecting and sheltering them so much, our children have become stagnant in how they approach life, because their ability to achieve success and make good decisions in whatever they choose to do has been permeated ostensibly by our inventions.

Stepping out of the box is really hard for some people to do. In the "world of measurements," which is our familiar world we tend to stay inside that box because it is our comfort zone.  For example, my sister is a wonderful person, but is not able to step outside of the box of familiarity.  She is apprehensive in doing things differently than what she is accustomed to doing, and so is her daughter. The apple does not fall far from the tree. On the other hand, I am not afraid of trying new things or moving away from the familiar, and my daughter is just like me. My daughter is 24 now and has never been afraid of people or trying new things in seeking out new possibilities. In the final analysis I found the following statement of the Zander's to be very profound and that is; in the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold. I felt this was a very powerful statement.

In addition, after reading the 3rd practice of "Giving an A," I felt compelled to call my sister to read her a passage from the wk 2 readings from this section.  In short, she has been frustrated about her job and the fact that she is isolated in her position and it appears that her supervisor is not much help in assisting her with her low moral. So I read her the passage on page 46 which basically states that giving yourself an A is not about raising your self-esteem but it allows you to lift yourself from the success/failure ladder and spirits you away from the "world of measurement" into the universe of possibility and it gives you the opportunity to see all of who you are an be all of who your are, w/o you having to resist or deny any part of yourself."  I woke her out of her sleep to share this with her and she thanked me.

I believe that I am a contribution. I didn't know I was playing this game. But I am.  I believe that I am contribution when I am teaching my students about life and the games we must play to survive.  Although I teach "choral music," I believe that I do much more than that.  I am nurturing and provide my students with a place where they are comfortable talking about whatever they need to discuss with me.  This may seem small to some, but is is huge when it comes to the daily needs of our students.  The illustration of the 5 year girl who wanted to know what the music of the composer Mahler  was trying to convey and that she was able to discern that the first story that she was told was not the truth, was quite profound.  And the fact that after she attended the concert that Zander conducted, she wrote him a note thanking him for having the orchestra transmit Mahler's feelings through his interpretation of that music was just so insightful. Loved reading the book!  Thank you, Joe! 




 

Wk 1 Wimba Session

Photo Credit: Francine Jackson - Vacation 2010 Cap Cod

Week 1 Wimba was very informative! Joe informed us of all of the assignments and thoroughly explained the process for posting to our Blogs.  Class is like a good game, Joe stated. Just jump in!  I like that analogy!   A course overview was discussed and due dates were highlighted to ensure that we all are on the same page.  You guys had some issues with hearing Joe in Wimba, his voice did sound a little muffled to me too when I was listening to the Wimba Archive.  While watching the videos in prep for Wimba, I liked the fact that Joe recapped the information for us which helped me to organize everything.  I also took screen shots from the videos. So in this class, we get the chance to finalize everything in the Capstone Project so that by our last month (YAY!) we have everything in place.  This is also an opportunity for us to utilize what we learned in previous classes in MAC. Most of our activities will be posted to our blogs that we created earlier in this program.

The details that Joe shared regarding blogging and responding or commenting to 2 of our classmates blog post, the schedule, Capstone, due dates and our Lit Reviews really allowed me to see how everything falls in place for this class, especially with the Capstone (CBR) project and abstract. Having the schedule broken down really facilitates everyone achieving optimal success. Also the information concerning submission of our Lit Reviews was informational.  Having the information to reformat our lit reviews is quite helpful.

In addition we have a PLP to complete that is due week 4 which encompasses us editing our Lit Reviews and turning them into papers for publication of some sort.  We also have to make a decision on whether we want to publish it or present our research to various organizations and or publications. We can also include our phase 3 cycle in this paper. Wow! That is awesome!  Thanks for all of the insights into what is expected of us in this class, Joe.

Wk 1 Free Post

See "Drawing Credits" Below

 

 

I too was wondering what this class was going to have us doing in month 11. I am glad that we are looking at Copyright issues and laws as well as Fair Use and Creative Commons policies.  Having an edge on this information has helped me gained knowledge that will assist me when I am having these discussions with my learners on the high school level.  I hope that I will be able to persuade my learners to check the copyright status of music and videos before they opt to download media to their iPods and Mp3's.  High school students sometimes feel that they are above the law especially if they think that they can get away with doing something like downloading videos and music to CD's and giving them to their friends.  My goal this year is to show videos like those that Joe has shared with us in this class with the propensity of convincing them to do the research BEFORE they download and share.  I feel that the "Fair Use" and "Creative Commons" policies need to be taught on the secondary level beginning with Middle school aged learners.  I plan to share this with my supervisor and principal this year.

ClipArt Credits:
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Licens

Drawing That Explains Copyright Law 

Posted July 18, 2007, in Baseball, Copyright Law, Drawings, Erik's Favorites, How To, MIT by @ErikJHeels (permalink: http://erikjheels.com/803.html)

Wk 1 Comments #2

Stephania Vereen Posted.....

In watching the videos on Copyright, I must say I was pleasantly surprised to see the video A Fair(y) Use.  I previously taught a research class and at the beginning of each marking period, I showed this video to my classes so that they can constantly be reminded about copyright.  The class was mainly project based learning and I learned the hard way about copyright when one of my students made a video using clips from a news broadcast and was challenged by fair use and they could not submit it to a contest.  It was an excellent project on top of that.  My classes worked closely with our librarian to also learn more about fair use and copyright to protect their creative work in my class.

The documentary Good Copy/Bad Copy was truly enlightening particularly at then end.  I was not aware of the prevalence of remixing in Brazil and how much those who seemingly don’t have much take time and effort to create such amazing hybrids of music.  I see kids these days doing the same things though.  Taking the technology and equipment that is available to them and doing things that are so advanced that it is downright amazing.  Larry Lessing's TED Talk about remixing culture led me to think about the questions: Are we really comfortable stifling that level or creativity?  Or do we need to find some healthy balance to encourage our future leaders and artists to flex their creative muscle?

Lastly, the clip about "Eye on the Fair Use Prize"  really pushed my concern regarding lost historical accounts.  I've always felt that what is captured in history will be how the future views the past.  Our perspective of the Greek Era or the Romans or even the missing accounts of African tribes and cultures prior to slavery comes from historical accounts and documents that are left for the future.  What we choose to omit only paints a partial view of all that really occur and is that really fair to those who must piece together a picture of our today?  I guess in some things, copyright can be a blessing and a curse.

Resources:

http://web.me.com/edm613/m11/wk1-reading1.html

http://web.me.com/edm613/m11/wk1-reading2.html

http://web.me.com/edm613/m11/wk1-reading3.html

 

Francine's Comment to Stephania! 

Stephania you made an excellent point about the historical accounts or video footage being out of circulation regarding the Civil Rights Movement. In addition, the future depends on our history. ALL history should be told according to the actual events that occurred so that future generations will have a solid foundation of what occurred and the what resulted as the solution to those events. Partial pictures are being painted and the truth is not always conveyed the way that is should especially to our young learners who in some instances are clueless to how the Civil Rights movement is affecting their ability to go to any institution of higher learning in the world and it is allowing nations of color to prevail in places where we never thought we would be.  I am speaking of all colors not just African Americans.  

Wk1 Comment #1

Copyright “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” 

by Richard Stemple

Copyright has always been a great discussion in my music classes. All my middle school students to high school students have heard me talk about copyright laws and issues. I always found this especially interesting when I was teaching in a Catholic school were stealing is a sin. Well according to some of my students stealing copyrighted music from the Internet was only a small sin. I always enjoyed talking about copyright with middle school students end up because at this point they have all composed their own music or have written their own stories. Student students seem to have a problem in using copyrighted material from people that they don't know or from people they thought already had a ton of money so would matter if they obtain the song illegally. However they were very protective of their own music. Students were always divided that artist should always get compensation for their work while others said it's free advertising and they'll make their money in other ways. Some students felt differently when it came to their work, however some still felt it was okay to get music for free off the Internet.

Professor Joe Bustillos explained some great points in his presentation. I love the explanation of the 10 myths about copyright. I also enjoyed listening to Nathan from the expert Village, I was not aware that improvisation is not copyrighted unless it is recorded. That will be an interesting twist for my students in the future. It was interesting to also find out about Bridgeport vs Dimension films. I think the film answered many questions but also left some unanswered questions for the music educator. One example is copyright for the composer is for the lifetime +70 years but for Corporation is 100 years. This law becomes fuzzy when the composer has been dead for over 100 years yet the performance and recording are 71 years old. There are no living relatives and the corporation is claiming ownership. I believe this may still be up for debate, however I do believe I read somewhere if it is a recent recording then that Corporation owns the copyright. Here are some examples of music that I believe would qualify as public domain Robert Johnson performing Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson has been dead for over 80 years and had no relatives so his original recordings should be public domain. Another example would be Pablo Casals recordings of the Bach cello suites. Bach has been dead well over 100 years and Pablo has been dead over 80 years. I recommend everyone to listen to them if they get a chance Robert Johnson is one of the early creators of the Blues guitar genre and Pablo Casals played the best interpretations of the Bach cello suite ever. Here is a recording of Robert Johnson performing one of his most famous and memorable songs Sweet Home Chicago, enjoy.  

Fair use is very interesting, and could open the door to many different types of recording. I understand you can use recordings for teaching, the news, parity, or critical commentary. I also understand that there are certain conditions, the nature, the amount of the recording used, and its commercial effect however, those are all very ambiguous and can be interpreted in many different ways. My recommendations to everyone is use public domain music or video, or just create your own original work.  






Francine's Comment to Richard

Hi Richard!
Great posts on Wk1 readings and videos!  I agree with you on the copyright time line.  
You cited one example about the fact that copyright for composers are for a lifetime +70 years but for Corporations it is 100 years. I agree with you in regard to this law!  Much of the music from Western Civilization should be in Public Domain status, however because of the new time-frame copyright now last more than a lifetime.  You are so right when you say that "there are no living relatives and the corporation is still claiming ownership. So is this the case if we want to use samples from Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Tchaikovsky and others in our media content? 

Wk 1 Readings - Copyright

Photo Credits: Francine Jackson, TJ Ambassodors of Sound 2010

This week's readings, video lectures and videos were rather enlightening! An IDEA cannot be copyrighted and now copyrights can last forever. Wow! What an eye opener for me! The subject of copyright is one that I am familiar with, in that I am a Choral Music Educator.  When I hold discussions with high school learners about piracy and copyright issues, most of them are clueless when it comes to downloading movies and music. Even though I am fully aware of copyright and the plethora of problems that come with using music samples and or video clips for music videos and other media, viewing the videos was quite educational for me.  Lack of interest can cause us to lose focus on some of the components of our profession at times. However, I have gained a whole new perspective about copyright, and the stringent laws that are involved.   Many times the propensity of those of us who constantly download music and videos without giving a thought to copyright can be considered unintentional in some instances. However, most people do the crime knowingly, but have no thoughts about doing the time.

The notion of Fair Use is not new to me. But honestly I had no idea of how this affected copyrighted materials and media. The Shepard Fairey case and the Obama poster was interesting, but certainly Shepard augmented the photo and used it, not intentionally perhaps to enhance his financial condition, but he did gain substantial amounts of income from it.  I believe that he should pay the original creator for producing this media for the world to share.

The issue of Dr. Kings "Eyes on the Prize" documentary and the fact that it is out of circulation because of astronomical fees attached to it to retain licensing is very disheartening. Much of the African American history is not passed on now to subsequent generations of this culture because it is not taught in public education and possibly not in many of the higher institutions of learning.  What is the solution? How do we continue to allow this to happen?  Does re-licensing for all important historical truths have to pay extortionate licensing fees? Just asking!! No harm to anyone intended.  

The concept of Creative Commons (CC) by Mayer and Bettle made it plain for me. I am looking forward to visiting the websites for the online music community since I am an avid musician.  Cute and to the point! Also Professor Bustillos recap of the video helped me to have a better understanding of CC. The symbols for CC are great for those of us who are visual learners. As one spokesperson put it, "Creative Commons allows us to move away from thinking about content, to thinking about communities; communities develop around content, the sharing that the license allows these communities to come together."

ETC_Final Project-Video Link

ETC_Final Project Video

ETC_Final Project Wordle

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenarios

Target Audience  

Students enrolled in Choir at a High School; Grades 9-12; Ages: 14-18                                 

Materials 

Laptop, screen, LCD Projector, Speakers,  Individual computers (Media Center)

Objectives: 
The students will:

• Be introduced to a new Web 2.0 tool – WORDLE  - a colorful word collage
• View a slideshow of wordle projects produced by others on the Internet
• View the URL in class with teacher
• Assist the teacher in creating a wordle project using slang words that they use
•  Locate research on their favorite vocalist, musician or musical group
• Prepare an “information visualization” on an artist of their choice using Wordle.net.
• Deliver their wordle projects to the teachers email address (fjackson@richmond.k12.va.us) for a mid-term exam grade

Procedure:  

• 1.     Teacher explains how wordle can be used to produce an information visualization product.
• 2.     Inform students that the images they create with Wordle are theirs to use however they like. They can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with their friends.
• 3.     Ask students to think about slang words they use everyday
• 4.     Have students provide the teacher with words from their slang vocabulary
• 5.     Show slideshow of wordle projects produced online by the creator and others
• 6.     Go to the Wordle website
• 7.     Create a wordle project while students are watching
• 8.     Show students how to make the words really huge (by typing text more than once) 
• 9.     Let students practice inputting text into the Wordle “create” portal

                    

Web 2.0 Tool: Wordle – Colorful word collage tool for information visualization that is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. (Wordle. net website, 2011) URL – http:// wordle.net /

Social Participation/Social Learning:  Students will choose a partner to work with in the Media Center, and they will help one another find pertinent information via the Internet on the artist(s) they have chosen to create the wordle project on. 

Making Connections – Media Center - Through research and collaboration with a partner, students will make connections by dividing the research found online (prior knowledge of researching via Internet) and synthesizing their findings  (new knowledge) while deciding which facts will be recorded into their Wordle projects.

Create/Produce – Students will create a wordle collage by typing appropriate text that conveys the facts about the artist(s) they have researched.  Students will produce this document my saving it to desktop and then emailing final Wordle project to the teachers email address.

  

Student Reflection

Question: What did you think about using Wordle - Web 2.O tool to complete your project? Student responses were positive and inclusive of the following:  It was effective, fun, easy to use,  and cool.  There were about 10 - 15 students who created Wordle Collages for their projects. 

Teacher Reflection

Since students delivered their projects to my inbox, learners will not get a chance to see what other learners  have created.  In order to facilitate the students in reflecting on the projects they’ve created and those of their peers, I will create an iMovie of wordle projects for all of the classes to view.

Students appeared interested in using Wordle.net.

PE5_Wordle

PE4_ Wordle

Hi Again,  my fellow Bloggers!

For my "RILS" plan I really wanted to use Tagxedo because students could have created awesome word clouds and I had planned to showcase their artwork in my room or in the hallway outside of my room.  Unfortunately, I needed to download and install silverlight, which I assumed I needed to produce those wonderful word photos.  I installed silverlight about 4 times, but each time I tried to create a cloud at the website, the URL would request that I download silverlight again.  Quite frustrating!!!!

Since we were asked to keep it simple, I decided to use Wordle instead.  I have more than 50 students in my classes that have IEP"s,  that I was afraid to use a Web 2.0 tool that required more than inputting text into a document.

Students in Choir were asked to research their favorite singer/musician/group from the genre of their choice. Many of the students still seemed confused about doing research. The one question that got me was, "where do we get the information from to put into Wordle?"  Of course I said my favorite phrase (JKMNTC).

I have students with Down's Syndrome, and other physical challenges, so I wanted everyone to be able to produce something using a relatively easy application (NCLB).  Since finding the research is the most difficult part of my RILS plan, students will be able to create a project with a tool that they can go back to over and over again for fun or for future projects in other classes.

To use what I have created in Wordle into another application, I  would take a screenshot and then crop it, copy and paste it where I want.  The word clouds that you see below were created using the "advanced" button in Wordle.net. When you add weights ( i.e., 50 - 400)  to the text, wordle uses that to create specific sized text which then makes it custom designed to your specifications. See screenshots on the left and below. 

Same text, but I used the randomize button and it changed the color, placement and font on the next two screenshots.

Motivation + Engagement = Success!!!

BP7_ Commercial/Audacity

BP6_ Comments

Follow this  LINK  to view my comments on Cheryl's blog!!!

BP5- Link to Cindy's Blog

Follow this Link to my comments on Cindy's blog.

BP4_ AUDACITY

I found the ultimate Web 2.0 tool that can make the lives of choral music teachers instructional time more effective, engaging and much easier, particularly during rehearsals.  This Wiki tool is called AUDACITY.

AUDACITY is a free software download that can play existing audio files as well as record the voice, an LP or a tape.   Recording can be done with a USB turntable, tape deck or USB soundcard.  Sounds can be edited and exported to an MP3 or other audio file.  You can  edit Ogg, Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files as well as cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together and change the speed or pitch of a recording. A screenshot of some of the features is on the left. 

You can also burn a music file that you have recorded to a CD.  This last option would be a great way to convert all of those old LP’s and tapes that we have laying around in the attic or garage into digital recordings. If you do not have an internal microphone, then you will need to purchase an external microphone (USB preferably) in order to record anything using this wiki  tool to your laptop or computer.  The screen shots of the tutorials are available and user friendly.

I am so excited to be using this Wiki tool!  I heard about AUDACITY from a colleague from another school district who uses it to provide individualized vocal instruction for his choral learners.  He loves it!!

      Since our MacBook Pro laptops come with an internal microphone, I was able to fire this tool up immediately.   There is a “help manual,”that comes with the download. There are also tutorials; see screenshots above and to the right!  

I viewed the FAQs so that I could get answers to the questions I had. There are numerous FAQ's. This is just an excerpt of the FAQ below:

As soon as I clicked the record button I was able to record my voice.   So totally awesome!!!!  I can export recorded tracks as a separate file to my desktop and then attach the file to an email and send it to my learners email accounts.  How awesome is that?  I tried it out and sent the file to a colleague.  It works and it sounds crystal clear once delivered!  It is better than a digital recorder and it takes less time to navigate as well, in my opinion!

There is a license agreement that states that you can distribute, copy, modify and resell to others as long as you follow the guidelines of the GNU General Public License . You may use it for any personal, commercial or educational purpose, including installing it on as many different computers as you wish.

Students can listen to their vocal parts, sing with the tracks and/or my personalized instructions in the privacy of their homes as well as learn their vocal parts prior to coming to school.  This can also be use as an assessment tool to review choral literature learned as well as for testing purposes.  I can also record the full accompaniment so that learners can practice their vocal with piano or other instrumentation.  Students will no longer have an excuse for not being able to learn the music for my class. 

On the right is a screen shot of the email I sent to my colleague to test out Audacity. I have highlighted the file with a square in the bottom left hand corner of the email that shows that the audio file is attached.  Below I have captured the various components of this program by showing you the windows that were included in the download.

            In addition, I plan to use this tool in conjunction with my CBR. For the CBR I plan to survey my target audience using survey monkey from the web, however, with this tool, I can record additional open-ended questions that would allow my audiences to be able to provide more in-depth answers to my inquiries.  I can send an email to the teachers and admin and they can answer the questions within a certain proposed timeframe and email their responses back to me.   

This would also be an excellent to for teachers of foreign language.  They could record the pronunciation of vocabulary words for students to practice at home.  Also stories can be narrated and music can be recorded in the background.  There are so many ways AUDACITY can be use to motivate and engage today's learners.

PE3_iMovie

Since I am a musician and a Choral Music Teacher, I was excited to find that iMovie had a tool that you could add photos to the beat of the music.  This is so cool!  So I know that you know that is what I submitted as my Movie for my blog!    Watching my photos "pop" up to the beat of the music awesome!  Hope I get this right.  ENJOY!!!!

If I couldn’t resolve an issue that I was having with iMovie, I would go and search Lynda.com for a tutorial.  But I would have never gone through the entire tutorial on my own.  Thanks Rena for requiring us to watch this tutorial in its entirety

PE2_iMovie

While taping my CBR forecast project in our last class,  I had trouble with fixing the volume of my voice with the music track that I had attached to it, because the music was overpowering my voice.  Of course I did all wrong,  but,  YAY!  I recently learned the correct place is to put the musical track at the top of the clips not at the bottom.  The screenshot on the right is a view of the "voice over" tutorial where I learned how to make sure that my voice is heard!

 Below you will find a screenshot of my Certificate of Completion!  If I couldn’t resolve an issue that I was having with iMovie, I would go and search Lynda.com for a tutorial.  But I would have never gone through the entire tutorial on my own! Thanks Rena for requiring us to watch this tutorial in its entirety and get a certificate!  AWESOME!!!

PE1_iMovie

iMovie 

My first thoughts were,  this is TMI!  Too Much Information for me to absorb at one time!  After about the 7th or 8th video, I decided to take notes for later use, because I know that there is "no way" I remember all of this information.  Fortunately the tutorials won't be deleted after completion for I know I will be going back there for assistance real soon! 

              I began using iMovie during the first class at FSO when Dr. Sharon. 

It always took me forever to complete a movie, because I did not take the time to watch the tutorials, therefore my videos were okay but not extraordinary.  After viewing the lesson on adding selections to your project, I have a better understanding of how to navigate in the project library.

I have also learned how to edit the titles of my videos, I did not know this prior to watching the tutorials on Lynda.com. Here is a screenshot after I changed my movie titles:

 

Prior to the tutorials I sort of stumbled upon various aspects of iMovie after I recorded a movie, which prolonged my ability to finalize each project. Even though we stress reading directions and following the prompts with our learners, we as educators sometimes don’t follow our own rules.  Well,  I guess I’m only speaking of myself. (LOL)

BP2_MIXLR

MIXLR is a Web 2.0 tool that is exclusive of audio broadcasting. It functions similarly to YouTube, wherein other members files are available for listening purposes. This tool can be an excellent tool over iPhones, the web, iPad and mobile devices.  In my real world classroom I could record vocal tracks for students to listen to repeatedly so that learning music would take place at home.  I could also record the accompaniment for each choral piece so that learners would have tracks to sing to. Learners can study their voice parts at home as well as submit an audio file of their individual performance for assessment purposes.   Furthermore, using this tool would improve how learners are engaged during instruction because music being studied would be more collaborative since much of the learning would have taken place away from class and learners in the choral setting would be able to perform pieces together during class time.  With Mixlr, choral teachers can eliminate having students waiting to learn their voice parts in the classroom while other sections are waiting to learn their vocal parts.  Many students are afraid to sing out in class, therefore this would provide those students the ability to perform in the privacy of their own homes. There is a subscription fee based on amount of usage to use this web 2.0 tool.