Top 10 Lessons from NDCE

10 Sometimes, simple is best. We try so hard to teach our students EVERYTHING, that I think we get too complex. If we keep it simple, students may be better able to grasp each idea. Then, maybe, after the simple, main ideas are presented, we can get more complex.

 

9 Encourage or provide connection. Not every student will be able to relate to every subject. But if I can make it relevant to each student, then they will be able to take more away from it. This means that when I'm teaching scales, I will likely have to tell each student exactly what scales are good for and why we play them. They're not terribly exciting by themselves. But if I can help my students to see how they will help their playing, then the results can be terribly exciting.

 

8 When considering my teaching, I have to remember that every student is an individual, and has individual needs. The same things are not compelling for every student, so it's important to get a variety in there. This is good for me, as I primarily teach private lessons. However, it also makes it even more important for me to get to know each student. I currently have between 20-30 students, and while that may not seem like many to those who teach over 100 students every day in middle or high school, I am working individually with each student. I also only see them once a week. So I have about a half hour window each week to get to know each student. Students that I have had for a few months to a few years, we have a rapport and this comes easily. But new students, that don't know me, don't want to open up to me yet, this is more difficult for. I have to constantly remember that they are their own individual, and will need their lessons designed to make them compelling for them.

 

7 Just like in photography, composition of a lesson can have a big impact on whether or not it is compelling. As teachers, there's no way we can teach our students everything. We only have so much time. So we need to pick and choose what makes it into the lesson plan, and frequently I don't have enough time to teach the lesson plan, so from there I have to pick the most important things. Just like in photography, the addition or subtraction of one element can make a huge difference.

 

6 Everyone's interpretation is different, and right for them. I may think that Dvorak's Humoresque has a funny, lighthearted section, a bittersweet section, an angry section, but that's not the only way to interpret that piece. My students may think something completely different. And that's okay. Because with music, it's not about right or wrong, it's about taking something beautiful and making it your own.

 

5 Focus is important. There is an epidemic in the United States right now, of being so concerned that students learn everything for their standardized tests, that teachers tend to give students a lot of subject matter to learn, but barely skim the surface. I don't know anyone who thinks this is compelling. In my teaching, I need to be sure I take a deep breath, pick just a few topics, then focus on them. Allow my students to explore them in-depth. They will not only learn more about them, they will be able to extrapolate from them, and I can ensure that these focus areas are more compelling.

 

4 Surfaces matter. How I present a lesson will directly influence how my students perceive it. If I tell them, “Okay guys, pay attention. We're going to start learning about fractions. Fractions are really hard, so we'll have to work hard to master them,” then I'm creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. They'll expect them to be hard, so immediately they're going to struggle with them and likely hate them. Whereas I can introduce it, “okay, we get to explore some really cool, fun numbers, called fractions. We'll start with snack, which is apples today. Everyone gets half an apple,” they'll start out thinking that this might be something easy they can master. I could also introduce it, “okay everyone, settle down. The next thing we're learning is really boring. We're going to learn fractions,” immediately they turn their brains off and disengage. Presentation really does matter. So I need to stay invested and excited for lessons, so my students will be.

 

3 What is beneath the surface matters. We frequently get so caught up in our daily to do lists, everything we must do, that we only skim the surface. But there are ideas and experiences that are within layers, that we have to dig deeper to find. I'm thinking of music, the way you will have a melody over the top, and that's all a lot of people hear. But if you listen, there is activity beneath the surface. Chord changes, unique rhythms, sustained notes, etc. So much is going on, and sometimes it's not the melody, the surface, that is the most exciting or meaningful. Take a moment each day to look beneath the surface.

 

2 It is the raw, unedited, undiluted experiences that are more compelling. In order to keep my lessons compelling, I need to stay fresh. I continuously am changing my focus, staying fresh. If I linger too long on one topic (like I taught ONLY Suzuki for the first 2-3 years), things get over-edited, sterilized, and they are no longer compelling. When I change my focus, to a different method book, a different style, then my lessons are fresher, more real, and more compelling.

 

1 Allow choice and ownership. I discovered, in exploring the way I have fashioned my home, that I find my own creations to be compelling to me. So if I am able to encourage my students to fashion their own creations, and give them some choice in how they go about it, they will be more invested in the learning process and find it more compelling.

On "Surface and Substance"

I don't ordinarily write a response to just a single reading, but my response is so strong that I felt compelled to.

First of all, you can't necessarily say that Coke and Pepsi are exactly alike, only differentiated by packaging.  Now, to me, sure they are, but I don't particularly care for soda.  However, they are made by two different companies.  And while I'm sure they're similar, I'm equally certain that they're not exactly the same.  And if people get more excited about one or the other, because of the packaging?  Where's the harm in that?

The critics of "surface," who claim that it erodes the "Puritan values" capitalism was built on . . . really?  You're going to connect religion and economy?  While the two certainly influence each other, I do not believe it is right to demand that they work together.  Certainly, our country was founded on at least Protestant ideals, but we are by no means the only country with capitalism.  Capitalism exists in Muslim countries, Buddhist/Hindu countries, Catholic countries, etc.  It's absolutely ridiculous to shun design and fashion because it influences capitalism away from Puritan values.

It was also argued that all surfaces deceive.  They all tell lies, manipulate consumers, and detract from content.  Certainly, this is sometimes the case.  But definitely not always.  There are many very functional products that also happen to look nice.  Like my new flooring.  It does the job of being a floor very well.  My allergies have decreased since putting it in (we had carpet), it's much easier to clean, and it certainly withstands walking very well.  It also looks really nice, which I consider a good thing.  As far as manipulating the consumer, and getting them to spend more?  Go for it.  If people can't realize that they have no use for the thing they're buying, then they deserve to spend more money.  Actually, the way some of the views were expressed, made me wonder if the people expressing them had been "deceived" into buying something worthless and pretty.

Now, the minister worrying about aesthetics taking away from worship, that I can get.  He can worry about that - it's relevant.  However, some of the most beautiful things in the world have been created because the artists were inspired by religion.  Handel's Messiah, The Sistine Chapel, and the vast majority of Bach's works are great examples.  If I were religious, I imagine my faith would be enhanced by experiencing them.  Who knows, maybe today's Christian rock bands will be tomorrow's Bach?

I have definitely seen my fair share of movies that are more special effects than anything else.  Take Avatar, for example.  It wasn't a bad film; it was actually pretty good.  But I don't feel it deserved all the hype it got from actual substance.  It got that hype because of the special effects.  Sometimes, though, you just want to see something pretty.  Or as my husband says about Transformers, "Sometimes you want a compelling film that makes you think and changes the way you feel.  And sometimes you just want to see giant robots wailing on each other."  Then there are undoubtedly movies that are very good, in and of themselves, but also have great special effects.  I'm not a huge movie-watcher, so I don't have an example, but I'm sure there are.

Maybe I've got it easy with my own looks.  I'm okay looking, not gorgeous, not ugly.  And quite frankly, I don't have the time, patience, or energy to care about my hair, clothes, shoes, or makeup.  So I get my hair cut on a semi-regular basis, make sure it's short and I won't have to worry about it, and otherwise take the stylist's recommendations.  I buy clothes that while they're not "in style," they don't look horrible.  I have a pair of serviceable boots that I wear everywhere, and I wear jeans.  I simply do not wear makeup.  And if some people don't like me for it?  So what.  I've got better friends that don't care.  What if I lose customers over it?  Big deal.  I have plenty of students, and always appreciate more time.  My students pay me for my expertise, not to look at my face.  If that's what they care about, they won't worry about my looks.  If they don't care about my expertise, then I don't really want them as students.  But luckily, I was warned by my teachers that I would have to pay attention to my looks, so I got into the business prepared.

I don't understand why people are freaking out about other people spending more on surface.  If I want to spend $50 to get my nails done, well, that's my decision, and I'll make that decision on my own.  If I needed to spend that money on something else, then sure, I'd forgo the nails.  I have often enough.  But I see no need to worry about how someone else is delegating their resources - that's their business, not mine.  The argument that surfaces are all about status is just bogus.  Sure, I'm happier that my floor is nicer so when I'm teaching out of the home my students will see a nicer home.  But I wanted these floors long before I decided I wanted to teach out of my home, and never thought any of my students would see them.  I love my new floor for itself - both the function, and the form.  However, I just realized that Frank's ideal world where everything was drab, does indeed exist.  The Amish have all agreed to wear drab colored clothes, eschew music, and only invest in function.

"A bad person can be beautiful or create beautiful things." (pg 90)  Case in point: Wagner.  He created some truly beautiful and moving music, but his character was not exactly the best.  He was Hitler's favorite composure, which should give you an idea.

So, what does all of this have to do with teaching?  Other than directly, what I've already mentioned, a lot.  If we, as teachers, can take valuable content, but package it in a way that is pleasing to our students, they will learn more.  For example, I used to teach solely from the Suzuki books.  I happen to really like the music, but not all my students do.  Now, I encourage students to play other music, music they find fun.  It has occurred to me that it really doesn't matter what they play.  Any music they play will only contribute to their education.  And actually, a lot of popular music is written in more difficult keys, with more accidentals, and weird, difficult-to-count rhythms.  So it really stretches my students, sometimes more than the "traditional" lesson music.  And, because they find it fun, and find intrinsic value in playing popular music, they practice more, learn more, and become better musicians.  All through "fun" music.

Fashion . . . in a sense

When I first looked on Angel today and saw that a unit on fashion had been added, I was appalled.  I detest fashion.  I purposefully buy clothes that aren't necessarily "in fashion," rather, I buy clothes that will always work.  I hate shopping, and the idea of having to buy new clothes every season to fit the latest fashions really terrifies me.  In fact, fashion is a cause of a major gulf between my mother and myself.  She'll buy me a shirt, or a dress, and it will be so horrendous that I'll never wear it.  I'm sure it was "in fashion" when she got it for me, but honestly, it looked like a painting smock I would have worn in kindergarten.  Or it was a tad too . . . revealing . . . for a teacher.  She has since been outlawed from buying me clothes.

Now that I have that off my chest, I think I'll take a somewhat creative view on what fashion is.  In the readings, it's been asserted that you can also look at fashion as a verb, the act of fashioning something.  I'm going to look at it that way, and explore how I have fashioned my home.  Not the inside, as I already explored that during the interior design unit, but the outside.

My home sits on a beautiful 3 1/2 acres.  We have a pasture in front that is fenced in for my ducks and chickens, and their coop is on the side of the house.  In between the house and the pasture is the old coop.  This is where I'm raising this years' chicks.  In the backyard, I have 2 beehives, 3 garden beds, and a turtle enclosure.  I have 2 rows of different kinds of fruit trees, and along the left side is a row of vines - blackberries, raspberries, and grapes.

I'm not a landscape architect.  Most probably would not consider what I've done to be the most beautiful thing I could have done.  But it is compelling to me.  Why?  Because it's mine.  I created it, planned and built the garden beds, put in the fence, built the coop, painted my beehives, planted my fruit trees.  It is more the act of fashioning my home that is compelling.

What about education?  I fashion lessons all the time.  However, would it be more compelling to encourage my students to fashion their own lessons?  To encourage them to ask questions, and direct their own learning?  Of course, they have to have a certain maturity to manage this, both as people and as musicians.  And they have to be motivated to do it.

I've already been working on allowing my students more choices.  I encourage them to find fun music they want to play, to bring it to their lessons, ask questions on that.  Because I've come to realize that any playing they do on their instrument is going to help them improve.

One thing I've been working on improving in my playing as well as my teaching is improvisation.  In English, students are expected to be able to not just read the language, but also to write and speak in it, to analyze novels, hold discussions, and think of things on the spot.  The equivalent of this in music is improvisation.  If I can teach my students how to fashion their own pieces, would that not be more compelling for them?  To be able to create their own songs, and have ownership.  In addition, it will undoubtedly increase their understanding of music.

Mendelssohn and Mozart

I have a lot of favorite composers.  It was really hard to choose just two to look at today.  But I managed, at least until I start thinking of more.  First, I'll analyze Mendelssohn's "Reformation" Symphony, his fifth:

I am forever in awe of the way Mendelssohn is able to combine instruments to make such beautiful, amazing harmonies.  His work is intricate, but the melodies are simple enough that we feel at ease listening to them.  I think I can learn a lot from Mendelssohn to use in my teaching.  The way Mendelssohn goes back and forth can be compared to using different teaching techniques.  If you're always teaching the same way, not only are you boring, but you are likely missing a lot of your students.  Not every student learns the same way, so we need to use different approaches to allow all students to learn.  This also helps students learn better, and makes things more interesting.

A good teacher can also weave a beautiful story, much like Mendelssohn's symphony.  When done well, this story pulls the students through the lesson, and they can't help but learn.

Next, I'd like to look at something by Mozart.  Here's his Concerto #3 in G, K. 216, mvt 3: Rondeau, performed by Itzhak Perlman with the Weiner Philharmoniker:

(blogger would not let me upload a second video, so here it is on youtube.)

What I love about Mozart is the simplicity, transparency, and clarity of his pieces.  Sure there's some hard music, but it's very playable because it is also so predictable.  Mozart follows very closely the "correct" chord progression of I-IV-V(7)-I, so as you are playing, you know what is coming.  This also makes it very pleasing to listen to.

I can learn from this with my teaching, too.  If I present clear, simple lessons, they will be easier to understand.  Oftentimes we get so caught up in everything we want our students to learn, that we make our lessons far too complex.  While these may be really cool, the details tend to get lost and contribute to our students' confusion.  However, if I take a page from Mozart's book and teach simple, transparent lessons, they will have better understanding.

Music Project

Just in case it doesn't work on Facebook, here is my Music Project:

It's also up here.

Music

For my project for this unit, I analyzed some bits of Barber's Adagio for Strings.  However, the song is over 7 1/2 minutes long, and I was only able to play less than half that.  The entire piece is totally amazing, so I thought I'd analyze the entire thing here.

(If that is not viewable, it is also up here.)

So, how does this relate to teaching?  Other than the obvious (me being a music teacher and all)?  I think it tells us that we can find a story in anything; indeed, many different stories.  We need to help our students look beneath the surface to find these stories.  For example, I presented two different stories for the Adagio.  If I were to ask my students what they heard in this piece, they would likely respond with something like "a lot of really hard notes that are played really slowly, with some super high notes."  If they saw the music, they would describe it something like, "a hard piece with a lot of flats."  They need assistance to see beneath the surface and discover a story in a piece.

This also shows us how many different things go into creating a compelling experience.  There are TONS of elements here that contributed, and everyone will interpret every experience a little differently.  It relates to our own experiences and education.  So what may be very compelling to one person, perhaps is not compelling to another at all.  Or it might still be compelling, but perhaps for different reasons, or compelling in a different way.

Work of Art Project

I'm still struggling with how, exactly, to complete this project.  I'll definitely be playing Bach's Partita #2, but what about the commentary?  I'm supposed to be exploring what makes a piece more or less compelling.  I know how to do this, but I still need to figure out how this affects the experience for the audience.

It's not so much a matter of I don't know what the audience is experiencing.  I do.  I've experienced several performances, the good, the bad, the ugly, the really fabulous, and everything in between.  It's a matter of articulating what I'm feeling.

How exactly does adding dynamics and phrasing effect the experience?  Or adding different bowings and bow techniques?  What exactly am I changing to create a different experience?  One of the problems of doing something for a long time, is that it stops being part of your conscious thought, and becomes much more automatic.

However, on the other side, I am a music teacher.  I should be able to articulate these thoughts, in order to teach my students about them.  Having thought about it some, I'm still not sure what I'm going to end up saying, but I know it will help me be a better teacher.

I think, in reality, I'm going to end up having to do all my recording before the storyboard is due.  I will need to actually experience it in order to figure out how these different elements affect the experience.

Diverse Interpretations

Last week, I came home to a missing duck.  I couldn't find her anywhere.  In the morning, when I went to let out my birds, I found her . . . carcass is the only word for it.  She'd been quite thoroughly eaten.  There were feathers everywhere.

I should mention here that I live in a rural area.  I knew, when getting ducks and chickens, that I would lose some.  Just 2 years ago, I lost over 10 birds - I have one bird left that survived that year.  So while I might seem terribly uncaring about it all, I went into this whole thing with the mindset that wild animals would occasionally eat my birds.  But it's still hard.

I was pretty sleep deprived that day, so my reactions were a bit dulled.  I moved her body out of the pen, let out the remaining chickens and ducks, and went inside.  Then I looked at the camera system.

A couple years ago, we had some kids come by when we weren't home and shoot our ducklings.  We of course couldn't prove it was them, but we're pretty sure.  So a couple months ago my totally awesome husband installed a camera system around the house, so if something like that happens again, we can catch it on video tape and actually do something about it.

So anyway, I went into the camera system to see if I could find out what had happened to my bird.  It took a couple tries, but I finally loaded up the pertinent screens.  And sat back to watch.  Even on 8x acceleration (which is as fast as our playback goes), an entire day takes a LONG time, so I very quickly started jumping randomly around.  I wasn't even positive my duck's demise would be caught on camera, as they don't cover our entire yard.  But, right about 4:30, I saw it.

On the right hand edge of the screen sat a bald eagle.  Right in my pasture.  Eating.  While details couldn't be seen, I'm pretty certain our resident bald eagle that lives across the street was indeed the culprit.

On the one hand, I'm upset to lose my duck.  She wasn't a favorite duck, I couldn't even tell her apart from her sisters, but she was my duck.  She rather regularly laid an egg a day.  But more than that, she was my animal, my responsibility, and I take keeping my animals safe very seriously.  However, it is nice to now know what happened to my animal, whereas before I'd find a dead/eaten bird, or just never find it, and never know exactly what happened.

On the other hand, I had a bald eagle sitting in my front yard!!  Now, I've worked with these birds quite a bit, doing rehab work, and I'm not nearly as enthralled with them as most people.  But still, a bald eagle!  Was sitting in my front yard!  Eating my duck.  Not so exciting.

Next summer, when I move my teaching studio to my house, that probably will not happen, as I'll have students coming and going the entire day.  And if it does happen, a couple of my students will probably get to hear some rather colorful language as I run off whatever predator.

But what does this teach me about teaching?  This was a pretty horrific event, but even I had different interpretations of it.  I need to remember that every student is going to have some different interpretations.  I'm sure some of the things I said about this event seem pretty off to you - you might have a completely different reaction.  Similarly, when I'm teaching a student a new piece, or even reviewing an old piece, playing a scale or exercise, whatever, I need to remember they may take away something different, and that's okay.  However, if I want them to learn something specific, like say, from a scale, I need to tell them about it.  But when it comes to their pieces, their music is their own, and their interpretation is right for them.

Work of Art

Initially, my thought for this project was to feature the orchestra I play with.  There is so much that goes into the work of art that is orchestral playing.  It starts with the composer.  Every composer makes numerous decisions about how they want their piece to sound.  Form, chord progressions, instrumentation, dynamics, accents, the list goes on and on.  Then the conductor gets his or her say.  They, ultimately, decide the tempo (composers often indicate a tempo, but the conductor really gets the final say), ask the musicians to play in certain ways, with certain styles, some get all the way to what part of the bow to use or what string to play on.

Then there are the musicians.  Each musician is constantly making decisions that affect the whole work, and all these decisions come together to help create the final product.

I thought, this would be great.  I could film some of our rehearsals, with Dr. Falskow, the conductor, making decisions and changes, I could film the final performance, could interview Dr. Falskow as well as several of the musicians.  However, as I got down to the end of the assignment, there was a major bug in this plan.  The project is due April 15.  We just had a performance, and are now beginning a month-long break, and we won't get back together again until early April, with our next performance in mid-May.  So, that wouldn't work.

Instead, I'll take a look at a solo work.  Bach wrote six sonatas and six partitas for unaccompanied violin.  These will be much easier from a practical standpoint, and also much simpler to explore.  That's not to say they're simple; not at all.  However, with only one instrument, there's only a couple hundred different little details to look at rather than thousands.  I can also include a clip of a professional playing the piece, which will assist in showing the difference between an "ordinary" performance and a "compelling" one.

The Forms of Music

This week during our Facebook discussion, we were supposed to discuss the forms of a unit we had already completed.  However, I feel far more comfortable discussing music, so I thought I'd take a look at the forms of music here.

First, there's the obvious forms.  The layout of the piece, if you will.  Some pieces have an ABA form, where you have a section "A", followed by a different section, "B," and ending with the same beginning section, "A."  Some are more complex; ABBA, AABA, ABACA, etc.  Then there's popular music.  You generally start with the first verse, move into the chorus, second verse, chorus, third verse, chorus, etc.  Oftentimes, the chorus may be repeated a couple of times at the end, and there may be one or more "bridges."

How about concertos?  Concertos often have a fast movement, slow movement (which may or may not be in another key), ending with a fast movement.  Sometimes there's an extra slow movement at the beginning of the piece.  Symphonies are often arranged with a fast movement, a slow movement, a minuet (or 3-beat dance), and finally another fast movement.

You can also arrange most pieces with the following format: introduction, development, and coda, or ending.  I think of this format kind of like an essay.  The introduction brings in the main theme, and gives you something to listen for.  The development takes that main theme, and turns it on end, inside out, and explores all the different ways you can hear it.  This is the body of the essay, where you back up your main points.  It is also often the most difficult portion for a musician to learn.  Finally, you have the coda, where you arrive back at the main theme, safe and sound.

Now, these forms help give music order.  Eisner writes that as humans, we seek order in our worlds, and our music is no exception.  It is pleasing to the ear to hear something we expect.  Another example of this order-seeking can be found in chord progressions.  The most common chord progression is I-IV-V (or V7)-I.  There is a great sketch I saw on youtube that illustrates this beautifully.  This example uses a collection of popular tunes, but it is also basically true of many classical pieces.  The exception can be found with modern "classical" music.

In the 1900's, "classical" composers felt that nothing new could come from the same chord progressions that had been used.  They sought some different ways of harmonizing music.  One way they sought to create new music was with "12 tone" music.  Most people, after listening for a few seconds, grow uncomfortable.  We're not used to music sounding this way.  Another example is harmonizing with fourths, rather than thirds.  This doesn't sound as uncomfortable as the 12-tone music, but it still seems odd.  Again, because we're not used to it.

In addition to the previous forms, there are many technical and musical elements that go into making a piece more or less compelling.  Elements like vibrato (how much, how wide, how fast, etc), bowings or articulations, what string to play on (for a strings player) as each string has a slightly different tonal quality, dynamics (loud versus soft), accents, tempo, etc.  There are many more, but this gives you an idea of the number of choices a musician makes in performing a piece.  In addition to the aural elements, a musician can also move while they play, which tends to add a lot to a performance.  Just watch a performance of someone standing perfectly still - it seems irrevocably boring.  Watch the same song with someone moving, and suddenly it gains a whole new perspective and meaning.

This reminds me that my students have so many decisions to make.  Not only in their playing, but also in their day to day lives, in their "normal" school subjects, in the simple act of leaving a phone message.  There are so many details in all of our lives.  Sometimes we need a break from all these details, but we also have to work at processing them and making decisions.  Music can help with both.  As I've shown, music is full of details and decisions.  However, at the same time, it can also provide an escape.  While you're thinking about the music you are creating, the rest of the world falls away and becomes insignificant.  This provides perspective, relaxation, and relief.

A Tale of 2 Retail Spaces

Interior Designing and Fish Tanks

And fish tanks?  Yep.  I finally got fish for both my tanks, so thought it would be cool to write about their setup.





In Susanka's writings, one of the things she talks about is varying ceiling heights, and sheltered spaces.  Well, fish need that too.  They need low logs and caves to hide under.  A space to feel safe that they can look out on the bigger world of the rest of their fish tank.





Another concept Susanka wrote about was light.  How important it is to have "light to walk towards" to help make a house a home.  Light is very important in fish tanks, but so are shadows.  Fish need to be able to go in and out of light as they are comfortable.

Different fish have different needs.  Some love wide open spaces where they can swim a lot, others like dark sheltered spaces where they can feel safe.  My seahorses need "hitching posts" - things they can wrap their tails around and just hang out.  In people terms, they need chairs and sofas.




What this teaches me about teaching, is that different students have different needs, too.  There are guidelines that we can follow that will help most of the time, but we also need to be flexible, because we work with individuals.  What works for one person, or even most people, might not work for another.  This goes for interior design of a classroom, as well as in general teaching practices.  What is compelling for one student, very well might not be compelling for another.

So even as I'm learning how to be a better teacher, I need to keep in mind that what I'm learning is not going to apply to every student.  They're guidelines, that I may need to break on occasion.

Interior Design of my Home

In a little over a year, my lease on my teaching studio will be up for renewal.  But lately I've really been getting the itch to teach out of my home.  No more driving, no more staying out way too late, no more wondering if an owl has eaten one of my ducks because I haven't been home to put them to bed . . .

So after completing our first assignment for this unit, I thought it would be fun to look at the rest of my house from an interior designing perspective, with the goal of making it more friendly for teaching in.

Here's the view as students would walk up to the front door:

I love the covered entryway, which keeps the rain off as you're unlocking the door or waiting for someone to answer.











When students first walk in, here's what they will see:

One of the things I love about my home is the light.  We have windows in every room, a skylight in the kitchen, and no long hallways.  So even in our dark Pacific NW weather, we always have "light to walk towards."

I'm hoping this "arch", if painted a darker color, might act as a mental barrier to help keep students out of my kitchen.  In addition, it should help to divide the spaces, so the house seems bigger.

Looking over the banister, this would be my teaching area.  There is a large window, flanked by 2 smaller ones, to the left, which provide natural lighting, "light to walk towards."  Most likely, I would need to move my indoor plants outside, into a greenhouse.

The plan, eventually, anyway, is to replace the carpeting with the same flooring that is in our entryway and eating area.  This would make the floors easier to clean, but have the disadvantage of decreasing the perceived barriers between the two areas.  But one thing that could help, is getting a large area rug to place in the teaching area.

You can see in this picture how the ceiling in our living room is all the same.  While this isn't as cozy as having a lowered ceiling, there are physical spatial requirements.  My students always play standing up, and I have some pretty tall students.  Add the length of a bow to that, and I need a tall ceiling.  I also live in a manufactured home, so changing ceiling height just is not feasible.





However, the ceilings in either side of our house are lowered.  So while my students can't take advantage of the sheltered feeling, I can.

Another thing that was mentioned in Susanka's writings was a theme throughout the house.  Now, this is kinda dorky, but my husband is a huge nerd.  I'm not as big of one, but my favorite superhero has always been Batman. 

It's subtle, so most people don't notice it, but whenever I see one I always smile.

Now, obviously, before I start teaching out of my house, I have some work to do, but I think with the help of my new interior designing knowledge, I can make the experience more successful for me and my students.

Video Module Project

Please watch video on YouTube
(For some reason, it wouldn't embed or post directly on here.)

Director's Commentary:


In creating this video, my goal was to portray the panic that accompanies performance preparation, especially as pieces fail to come together.  I began with a shot of a calendar, with the impending performance highlighted.  Then we see shots of the music, followed by going back a month in the calendar. I wanted to convey how overwhelmingly much there is to learn.  Each of these shots is kept brief.  They had to be long enough that the viewer could actually take them in, but the brevity of each of the shots is designed to encourage the sense of panic.

Finally, there's the speed-warp practice sessions.  I had originally intended to show my ineptness at each piece.  However, that would have been painstakingly boring, as I still play the pieces far too slow.  Not at all the feeling I was aiming for.  Instead, by speeding up these videos, I ended up looking far more competent, but I feel there was a greater sense of panic and urgency.

Throughout the practice scenes, I jumped to new shots of the calendar, showing time progressing, and the performance flying nearer.  This was supposed to help create a feeling of impending doom, as well as urgency.  I ended up not showing any sort of final performance for a couple of reasons.  First of all, since the final performance hasn't happened yet, it was logistically impossible.  But I also felt that the current ending, in leaving it open-ended, made the video scarier.  Instead of a nice, happy resolution, the viewer is left wondering how things will work out.

I experimented with the zoom feature in my video editing, and found that zooming into and then out from my hands made the video more interesting.  It emphasized that the hands were the important thing, as indeed they are.  If only my hands do things correctly, at least the music will come out sounding as it should.
While I know this project was not supposed to be about the music, music is a vital part of video.  Coupled with music being my area of competency, I wanted to have at least one aspect of this video be successful.  Finally, I was loathe to play the actual recording of my playing, as, well, it's not great.  However, Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" suited this video perfectly.

Overall, I would say my video is largely successful in portraying what I wanted it to. However, looking back on it again, I thought of some ways I could perhaps make it better.

One thing that bugged me today, is that the idea was that I was practicing this music over a period of time. I showed different calendar dates to demonstrate this. However, I did all the recording in one day. So I was wearing the exact same thing. If I had thought this through a little better, I could have done some costume changes to help enforce the idea that time was passing. Not a huge deal, but costuming is a tool that movie makers have, and one I did not use.

After watching it again, I suddenly noticed the cars driving by in the background. This last time, that was a huge distraction for me. I think, in retrospect, I should have moved my piano against one of the walls, so there wouldn't be a distracting background.

In addition, I did nothing with the lighting. Truth be told, I'm not sure what I could have done, or how it would have changed it. If I had more time, that would be an interesting element to explore. Perhaps darker lighting could make the situation seem more dire?

From this project, I learned the importance of considering many elements in creating a compelling experience. For my bird show, I can create a more compelling experience if I have an appropriate location. While this isn't something I'm in direct control over since I go to my audiences, I can request smaller, quieter rooms, which will allow my audience to focus on my small birds, rather than a lot of distractions. I also learned the importance of using the right tool for the job. In this video, I had to discard a lot of film I took, because it just did not work. Similarly, I should carefully choose which birds I will bring to which program. Not all birds are a good fit for the educational experience, and though it is tempting to bring every bird possible, it may be more compelling to only bring birds that will do their job well.

Performance Panic

As I'm trying to figure out what to do for my compelling video project, and beginning to panic about it, since the due date is drawing ever nearer, I'm also panicking about something else.  See, my students have this big performance on March 3rd, called Junior Festival, and I, idiotically, thought I could learn half a dozen pieces on the piano (NOT my main instrument!) to accompany them.  Okay, so when I first decided this, I did have two months to learn these pieces, and this semester hadn't started yet, so I had no idea how swamped I'd be otherwise.  But now there's less than a month, and most of the pieces aren't even close, and I have entered performance preparation panic.

That being said, it's pretty much the only thing I can think of, when I'm trying to come up with an idea for this video.  I'm thinking maybe I'll be able to instill a sense of panic and impending doom in my viewers by videotaping my less-than-stellar practice sessions, with shots zooming in on a calendar at different dates, to show the passage of time as well as the approaching performance.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to offer any sense of closure, as the due date for this project is before the performance.  Although, maybe that can work for me.

As I write about my difficulties in finding a topic, I find myself wondering how I could be having this hard of a time.  I have lots of interests, a variety of different skills, and really should be able to decide on a topic.  However, as I continue thinking, it occurs to me that perhaps at least some of my difficulty lies in my lack of familiarity with the medium.  I think I've taken all of about 6 videos in my life, including random weird ones of my pets.  So I think at least part of my panic lies with the medium, not just the lack of a topic.

I need to remember this feeling as a teacher.  It's great to expose our students to different mediums, different elements, let them explore different ways of doing things.  However, I need to keep in mind that something that may be incredibly every day and simple to me, might be completely new and foreign to them.  So when students seem to be struggling unnecessarily with something seemingly simple, perhaps they are experiencing this same panic at a foreign medium.  I hope experiencing this for myself can help me to be a more understanding teacher.

What can creating a video teach me about teaching?  There are different effects and tools I can choose to take advantage of with my teaching, and they can help to create a more compelling experience for my students.  For example, I wrote above about how I plan to zoom in on a calendar to show the passage of time.  Similarly, rather than try to teach my students everything, I should "zoom in," or focus on, a few particular details.  So in my video, you won't see every practice session, but you'll still get the idea.  My students won't learn about every day in history, or every single aspect of science, but they can still learn about a few key points, and gain a better overall understanding through them.

Photography Module Project

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  Last week, there was this horrible ice storm, and here in the Pacific NW we don't really get that nasty winter weather you do. So it was a big deal. I had this enormous, gorgeous black locust tree in my front yard. It was quite stately. These photos are of this once-beautiful tree. 

  I wanted to show the beauty and terror of the ice storm. So while I took some photos that only showed the beauty, I ended up not choosing them because I wanted the contrast with the terror. In both photos, you can see the beauty of the ice and snow, but also the terror of the damage this poor tree withstood.
  

  In my more compelling photo, I did a couple of things. Most importantly, I positioned myself so that the fresh wound down the side of the tree was readily apparent. In the not-so-compelling photo, the wound is there, but not as noticeable. In addition, I tried to position the tree, with that obvious fresh wound, off center, using the rule of thirds. This creates a bit of white space on one side, but I think it works. In the less compelling photo, the tree is more or less centered, and takes up the whole photo. I didn't think this worked quite as well.
   

  I also attempted to work with lines. I read that intersecting lines are more powerful, and that you want incoming not outgoing lines. Now, I can't tell the difference between lines that come into a photo and those that go out of it, as it seems to me any line can do either. However, I did see many interconnecting lines in both photos, as the tree still had many branches. In the less compelling photo, the lines are every which way. However, in the more compelling photo, the main branches all intersect near that gaping wound, which I think adds emphasis to it.
   

  Another thing I learned about was framing. In the less compelling photo, there is no framing. The picture is just of an ice-laden tree, all mid-ground. However, in the more compelling photo, one of the branches is more in the fore-ground, which, if I understand correctly, adds some framing to the photo.
  

   _____________________________________________________________________________

  Carolyn Moss I think you should play up the color of the moss! That is what strikes me the most from the photo. I think because it is so green but then the snow puts me in a different season. Interesting!
  

  Ashley Wright I hadn't even noticed it. I was just so traumatized by the damage done to the tree, and trying to focus on everything I learned in those readings about how to take a good photo.
  

  Filius Infinita Ashley, I think that your second picture is more compelling than the first. With the close focus that the first picture ushers the rest of the devastation is concealed that the second picture shows. To me, the wider area shown in the second picture elicits a stronger sense of nature's fragility
  

  Marrakech Arbuckle I actually found the first photograph more compelling, perhaps because of the overall layout, or as Carolyn Moss mentions, the striking green moss - so out of place. Good job! 

  Laurie Steed I have to agree iwth Filius on this one. I think the second photo is very strong, especially with the pull from both sides of the photo down to the center and the middle of the tree.
  

  Neringa Katiliute T I agree with Carolyn. When I look at the picture, I see this lonely tree. But what makes it stand out is the moss. I think the first picture is more compelling.
  

  Tara Swanepoel I also like the green moss! The tree is nicely off center, following the "rule of thirds." The dark trunk makes a great contrast against the surrounding white. And then that green just makes the whole thing stand out.

Photography

I want to say, that I am very much NOT a photographer.  In fact, I don't really have too much interest in photography.  Maybe someday.  However, I was pretty excited by this project when we got some snow last week.

I need to explain here.  I live in the Pacific NW.  Our winter consists of lots of rain, usually about 40F weather, some wind, lots of clouds.  Not a lot of snow or ice, or anything else most of you would consider "winter."  So when we get snow, everyone tends to freak out.  And I thought, "wow, I can get some really beautiful photos!"

But then, the ice storm hit.

 I was able to get not just beautiful photos, but ones that combine beauty and terror.  In each of the photos, I worked to design a compelling experience using what I had learned in our readings.  Lines, framing, background, placement (rule of thirds).  Some were more successful than others.

I learned a lot with this project.
1)  I'm not a photographer.  Really, I'm not.  This was HARD.
2)  I do have some ability, now, to perhaps create a more compelling experience with a photograph, but I'll prefer to let the experts take and choose the photos.
3)  The effects of the ice storm were devastating.  Today, we're still out of power.

How can I apply this unit to my teaching?  Well, I'm unlikely to really use much in the way of photographs to attempt to create a more compelling experience.  But, I did learn more about compelling experiences that I can use in my teaching.

Compelling experiences speak to the audience.  They don't all say the same thing.  What I see in my photographs is going to be different from what you see.  And that's okay, as long as I take that into account.  But I want each of my students to be able to connect, on a personal level, with what I am trying to teach.

Different elements can help to make an experience more or less compelling, but they're not guarantees.  I can follow all the rules to create a compelling photograph and still not take a successful photo, because the rules don't make the photo.  Similarly, there are some elements that can help a lesson to be compelling, but they don't make the lesson.  So I could have a hands-on experience that my students can really connect with on a personal level, but unless the lesson works, it's no good, as far as a compelling experience is concerned.

Ice Storm

I'm not sure how much everyone watches the news.  I know I don't, much.  It's just too depressing and scary.  I'm not even sure if this made the news.  But here, it did.

Thursday, we in the Pacific NW were hit with a massive ice storm.  I woke up to our power being out, trees crashing down around us.  A tree in my neighbor's yard had lost a limb, that fell into our yard, taking out our fence.  I went over to their house to ask what they wanted to do about it.  They have dogs, and I have chickens and ducks.  It's important that the two don't meet.  I noticed they had a lot more trees down than we did, and they had a giant tree that was already mostly dead, and could fall into their house.  I offered them our chain saw, which they used to chop up the tree limb that had taken out our fence.

While this ice storm has been quite the inconvenience (we're still out of power, water, and internet service; I'm using my phone to access the internet), it was quite the opportunity for me to take some photographs for this unit.  While I read everything on Monday night, I am still having difficulty with the photography thing.

What makes a picture more or less compelling?  According to our readings, things like lighting, framing, the law of thirds, intersecting lines, and lines leading into or out of a picture.  Speaking of which, how can you tell whether a line is leading into or out of a picture?  Seems to me lines can go either way.

But in reality, also according to the readings, those "rules" are just guidelines, and what really matters is what works.  Which leaves me questioning, again, what works?  I'm just not sure I have the eye for it, at least not yet.

But, I went out there, and got several pictures of the disaster.  My first set of pictures were from Tuesday.  I thought, "how cool, we actually have snow, this will be really pretty, and maybe compelling."  I was hoping for the "aww, how beautiful" effect.  Then on Friday, I think it was, maybe it was Thursday, I went out and got pictures of some of the carnage.  We have whole trees down in our backyard.  My big tree in the front yard had several limbs start to break under the strain, though they're still attached to the tree.  It'll be interesting to see how much, if any, of that tree survives till spring.

Did I get some compelling pictures?  I'm not sure, honestly.  They seem compelling to me, but maybe that's because this is a place I know and love for its beauty, and its purity.  To see so much damage, so quickly, had quite the effect on me.

How does this relate to teaching?  One way to create a compelling lesson is to include great tragedy or destruction.  As much as I hated it, I'll never forget my units on the holocaust.  I would say those were compelling, merely by content.  Another way is in presentation, much the way photos are supposed to be compelling.  For this unit, we're supposed to present two photographs, one more compelling than the other.  The way I understand it, they're supposed to be of the same thing, so the compelling part comes from presentation.

Much the same way, I could present a lesson on classification in animals, and it could be pretty boring.  Or I could present it in such a way, to make it more compelling.  One way to make something compelling (I think) is to make it relevant to the audience.  So if I can get my students to connect with the idea of classification, it will make it more compelling.  I could do that by having them group several different animals into different groups, and then explain their classification system.  Afterward, I would present the "correct" classification system, and see how closely students' classification systems matched the "real" one.  I could also point out that humans, too, belong in the class mammalia.

Nature and Design of Compelling Experiences

I have to admit, I'm super psyched about this course.  Like, really, really excited.  When I first read the description, my first thought was "that's what I DO!!"  And I was only thinking about my bird show.

You see, I have an educational bird show.  It's still developing, and really, I'm kind of putting it on hold while I work on my degree.  But I have about a dozen different birds that I bring to classrooms and libraries mostly, with the occasional birthday party or retirement home thrown in.  And while every program is educational, it's really about getting kids (and adults too!) interested and fired up about birds.  Birds are AWESOME.  They can fly, they have feathers, and air sacs, instead of only using about half their lungs like we humans do, they empty then refill their lungs with every breath, thanks to those air sacs.  They've got this really cool part of their wing, the trioseal canal, which allows the muscles powering the updraft to be attached to their keel, maintaining their low center of gravity . . . okay, I get really excited about birds.  But like I was saying, the main point of my bird show isn't necessarily to teach my audiences a whole bunch of new facts, it's really to facilitate a connection between my audience members and birds.  Which means they get to hold some birds, touch some, I bring feathers and eggs and a skeleton they can look at.  My show can be used to wrap up a unit in school, to help solidify all the kids have learned, but it's also great to start out a unit.  To get kids thinking about birds and animals, get them asking questions, get them wondering.  So, I thought, what better for me, than a class on compelling experiences?

But as the class started and Dr. Wong introduced us to his main ideas and I read the syllabus, I realized, this is really what I do every day.  As a matter of fact, my bird show is really a side venture.  One day it'll be big, but now it's mostly just fun.  What brings in the money to pay my bills is my other business.  I teach private music lessons.  I'm not just a teacher, I'm also a musician, an artist.  One of the categories Dr. Wong said we'd be looking at.  And it made me realize, that compelling experiences are exactly what I provide my students every week.  The process of teaching them how to create their own compelling experiences, is, in itself, compelling.  At least, that's the idea.

So, like I said, I'm really excited for this class.  I'm already brainstorming ways to incorporate what I'm learning here with the 4th grade science classroom I volunteer with, with my private studio, my bird show, and years down the line, with my own kids when I have them.  What excitement!

Most immediately, I'm thinking about how I can make the lessons I teach my 4th graders more compelling.  This Friday, we've planned to have a bird-fest.  Well, that's what I've been thinking of it as.  All year, the kids have been learning about birds and adaptations, and completing a webquest.  Well, since all their work has primarily been on the computer so far, that's what they think scientists do.  So our goal for this Friday is to introduce them to what scientists do - make observations, ask questions, make more observations, conduct experiments, etc.  I'm hoping to make this a compelling experience for the kids.  While I really don't care if they take away all the facts they've been learning, I want them to catch the main ideas - different birds eat different things, fly in different ways, use their feet in different ways, etc.  I'm really hoping that getting to see all my birds interacting with each other, with perches, with food, with water, will really help them take these main ideas home.  I'm hoping that when they go home, not only will they remember the main ideas, but they'll continue thinking, come up with new questions, and be instilled with a love and awe of birds.

Now, to make it compelling.  I'll be bringing most of my birds, including several that aren't actually "show birds".  Most of the birds will be in a large cage together, so kids can see which birds prefer to eat what, and how they do it.  I'll also bring some of the show birds out, so they can see some more flight, take a closer look at beaks and feet, and generally get to interact with them on a deeper level.  Will the novelty and thrill of having real, live birds in their classroom be enough to make it compelling?  We'll find out, and I'm sure I'll learn better as the semester progresses.