Reflective Wiritng

Discovering the Artist in me or rediscovering the artist in me, has been a wonderful process. Actually I have always been more of an artist than a teacher. Some may disagree with me because due to the incredible amount of time I have dedicated to developing my teaching skills over the last 20 years, some people I have come in contact with did not know anything about my ability to perform. Oh sure throughout my classroom instruction, certainly students can testify to the fact that I have a great voice, or that they have heard me adequately model what vocal skill or ability, or musicianship skill or ability I have requried of them but, not as many can testify to the artist in me. This tells me that there has been an imbalance in my this area. Although I love sharing my knowledge with my students and enjoy the act of imparting knowledge, skill, and experiences. I LOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEE performing for them. I have taken a serious assessment and realized one thing. And more I perform, the better teacher I will become. Thanks for this time of reflection.

Reflective Writing 5.8.10

This book review and discussion was based upon James Jordan's "Musician's Soul". I would like to point out some of the information from the chapter regarding Personal Growth, Jordan shares key stratigies to ensure success in the area of Personal Growth. They are:

A. Stay the Course
Assess the matters of your life, people in your life, roles that you play,etc. and ask yourself if it has to consume you. Jordan shares that we can be freed from unecessary issues and cares of this world and the importance of prioritizing what is important and what is not.

B. Intisification
This area deal with the quality of life and simplicity. Ask yourself what are we trying to get at and place value on the right things in our lives.

C. Shedding
This deals with taking away things that are no longer of value. It is freeing to accomplish this task. Throw away things in the house, or the yard. Ask yourself if you really need them. Doing this is important to personal growth because if you periodically do so, you will not have to be forced by a catastrophic situation.
D. Repitition
Any great artist practices and performs. The process of repetition is what is necessary to learn a difficult part. Many of the our students do not value practicing. They expect to get it right the first or the second time however we know that this is not realistic. Many of our students lack the disciplined mind . However it is through repetition that one can find meaning.

E. Emptying
This section is about really getting to that quite place and being still. One need to hear one's musical voice in order to communicate it. Jordan expresses that if one is able to hear their interactive musical voice, it will help them become more creative and more disciplined.


I found the review of the book to contain profound truths.

Self/Assessment Tools/Sample Work from Action Research

sample lesson plan

sample rubric

sample sight singing selection

Sample Student Work for Action Research

This a copy of s study guide used for Kodaly Hand Signs.

Sample of student work on intervals.




Sight- Singing Pretest and Post Test.

Pitch challenge where the students sight read and wrote in the solfeggio syllables where applicable.

Use of solfeggio syllable for Alleluia. 1st assignment.

Action Research

ACTION RESEARCH

I. Statement of Problem: There is too much inconsistency in pitch recognition of students in my 2nd period class.


II. Aim
I would like to improve the student’s ability to recognize pitch and sing in tune on a more consistent basis.

III. Domain
I will be using my 2nd period class which is a mixed chorus class. They meet daily during 2nd period.


IV. Method
Methods used to assess research findings will be:

Surveys, observation, teaching video, audio, collaborative groups, pretest, post test, remediation, oral examples, warm-up exercises, sight singing drills, interval study, and Kodaly Hand Signs.

V. Results/Findings
Daily observation of students revealed that a number of remediation strategies had to be employed. Students received remediation in the area of music notation, rhythmic notation, music terminology, singing. Peer assistance, afterschool tutorial, sectionals and rigorous daily drills were necessary to achieve the overall objective and help the student’s unlock the mystery of reading music and training the ear.

Pretest assessments were conducted to allow the student to compare their progress and to realize the need to improvement. This assisted them with taking ownership for their learning and personal goals.

Post test assessments was conducted to reveal and analyze the actual progress and to provide the students with tangible results.

During the course of interval study the students were grouped and studied primary intervals. The used the keyboards and identified common or popular songs that utilized those intervals and performed them for the class as a group. In addition they used the Ear Master Pro for ear training, remediation for pitch and intervals.
This appeared to be more challenging for them as it required more familiarity with hearing and being able to locate the pitch on the keyboard.

Surveys gave the students and opportunity to reflect on what they had accomplished and provided an opportunity for feedback. Students felt more connected and began to see more clearly the purpose for our classroom objective, GPS standards and National Music Standards.

VI. Analyze

Based up on the pretest pitch challenge it was evident that 9 out of 20 students scored a 69% or below on their evaluation. Student surveys revealed that 100% of the students in 2nd period unanimously and consistently felt they needed improvement in singing pitches in tune.

98% of students surveyed thought that the use of Solfeggio Syllables assisted them most in improving their ability to sing pitches in tune, this compared to the use of Kodaly hand signs and interval recognition.

3 out of 20 students admitted that they practiced regularly at the time of the study. In addition 3 out of 20 students did not feel that their lack of practice adversely effected their level of performance.

The students participate in many pitch challenges and were required to write out solfeggio syllables. By doing so they were able to demonstrate their knowledge of the relationships between, the pitches, their intervals, their solfeggio syllable and Kodaly hand sign. In writing solfeggo syllables for the melodies in “Alleluia”
by William Boyce, 18 out of 20 students scored an 89% or above.

On the written “Pitch Challenge” exercise 18 out of 20 students scored an 89% or above on the assignment of solfeggio syllables and use of Kodaly hand signs.

The students overall performance evaluation of students singing “Alleluia” by William Boyce improved and revealed out of 20 students 18 of those students scored 79% or above and 9 of those students scored an 80% or better.

Surveys said that students’ use of Kodaly Hand Signs improved their overall confidence level in singing more than interval recognition or solfeggio syllables. The Kodaly Hand Signs also improved their overall participation in singing.


VII. Discussion
I found that 98% of students that a more rigorous and consistent use of Solfeggio Syllables assisted them most in improving their ability to sing pitches in tune. Overall the use of the Kodaly Hand Signs tapped into the kinesthetic learners and improved the participation of some students who would not regularly participate.

The students really began to understand the concepts of
“symphony” and could explain the relationships
between intervals, solfeggio syllables, the sound of
pitches , and the Kodaly hand signs.

Surprisingly, students were required to write solfeggo
syllables for the melodies in “Alleluia” by William
Boyce in which 18 out of 20 students scored an 89% or
above. In addition, they wrote the syllables on the
“Pitch Challenge” whereby 18 out of 20 students scored
89% or above on the assignment. The writing of
solfeggio syllables forced them to pay closer attention to
the rules of music notation and improved their overall
ability to notate music.

VIII. Conclusion
In conclusion, I plan to continue to employ all three strategies, Solfeggio Syllables, Kodaly Hand Signs and Interval Study. Many of my students have never participated in chorus before entering the class so much of the music signs, symbols and notation seems foreign and meaningless. Over the course of the year, I have emphasized the importance of the following performance factors, pitch, tone, rhythm, diction, interpretation, and stage presence. During the action research, I observed the students really beginning to identify the importance of these performance factors connecting in the classroom rather than on stage at a concert.

I plan to continue the use of the blog and allow it to be open for feedback from the students and encourage them to post their work. I plan to utilize more technology in the study of intervals, pitch recognition and rhythmic recognition.

Reflective Writing 4.17.10

We explored waht Daniel Pink refers to as "Seeing the Big Piture". According to Pink, what seperates the long remembered from the quickly forgotten, is the ability to marshal these relationships into a whole whose magnificence exceeds the sum of its parts. So it is also in Symphony the boundary crosser, the inventor, and the metaphor maker all understand the importance of relationships. And in the Conceptual Age, it demands us to understand the relationships between relationships.

We analyzed the various positives and negatives that the students must feel in preparing for a performance. We then compared them to some of the feeling my collegeaues and I were experiening in preparation for our performances.

The outcomes was that we agreed that it challanged our pespectives we had concerning our students and help to identify with the negatives and positives they must be experiencing in preparing for a performance.

Conclusion: If you can see the big picture it would effect the way that we do what we do while we are doing it, in hopes that understanding the dynamic of relationships can foster a different outcome and perspective as we interact with our students.

The Process...Preparing for performance

The Process......Preparing for performance
I may be a little different than my other collegues in that I perform quite often. Even though I do perform quite often, I have found it harder to maintain the "Artist" in me particularly this school term. I am a high school chorus teacher and I am in the process of building a program pretty much from the ground up. My chorus class has been treated as a class where anybody who needs a fine arts elective can go as oppose to, anybody who is serious about singing.

I did not have the luxury of picking up from where the last chorus teacher left off. My class were filled with students who were beginners, mixed, advanced and those who do not know or care to sing. Therefore, I have spent quite a bit of time after school trying to make up for the scheduling nightmare. Back to the "Artist" in me...though I have been performing regularly in past years, in the past year I have had a great challenge finding quality time for practicing. Choosing a selection that both myself and my colleagues would enjoy was a bit of a task. I chose a song that I believe would challenge me vocally and also that I could relate to and communicate well.

Lyrics like, "If I were a drummer, I would use my cymbal", I thought my colleagues would appreciate. It happens to be a song in the gospel style sung by a great singer, J. Moss who is know for his melodious runs and smooth and silky tone. I hope that I do him justice. The title of the song is "We Must Praise".

Chapter Review "Play" by Daniel Pink

PLAY
CHAPTER REVIEW
By Karen Wrenn
According to Pink, Play is essential because it activates the right side of the brain. Since the right side is unlimited a person can be who they want to be.

Movement of Laughter Clubs which spring up out of India and spread to other parts of world through Mandan Kataria, a physician in Mumbai, India. His plan is to change the world by making it laugh.

1. Today there are over 2,500 laughter clubs throughout the world.
2. Fastest growing venue for the laughter clubs is the workplace.
3. Pink reflects in contrast to the movement, the Ford Company of the 1930’s and 1940’s considered laughing, humming whistling or smiling a disciplinary offense and was evidence of insubordination. The overall philosophy of Henry Ford was when we are at work, we ought to work and when we are at play, we out to play.
   
   Professor of education at University of Pennsylvania states, “The opposite of play isn’t work, its depression. To play is to act out and be willful, exultant and committed as if one is assured of one’s prospects.” In the Conceptual Age however some corporations included play as a corporate strategy. Southwest Airlines mission statement says, “ People rarely succeed at anything unless they are having fun doing it.”

According to the Wall Street Journal more than 50 European companies including Nokia, Daimler-Crysler, and Alcatel have brought in consultants in “Serious Play” a technique that uses Lego building blocks to train corporate executives. British airways have hired its own “corporate jester” to give the airline a greater sense of fun.



According to Pink: Play is becoming more important part of work business, and personal well-being. 3 main ways : games, humor, and joyfulness.

Games especially through the use of computer and video games in teaching a whole-minded lessons to produce a whole-minded worker.

1. In an effort to recruit military, Wardynski, a West Point professor presented a plan to the pentagon and formulated a game that would include Army life, be engaging, and challenging to play. Released it on GOARMY.com in 2002 and today is distributed to recruiting offices and now has more than 2 million registered users. Players learn teamwork and responsibility. They earn points for protecting fellow soldiers, rescuing prisoners, stopping weapon sales to terrorist and so on. The Army sold the game and earned about 600 million in the first year.

2. Playing Games resulted in over half of Americans over age 6 play computer and video games. In U.S., the video games business is larger than that of motion picture.

3. James Paul Gee, a professor at University of Wisconsin author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy argues that games are the ultimate learning machine. He states that “The fact that kids play video games they can experience a much more powerful for of learning than when they’re in the classroom. Learning isn’t about memorizing isolate facts. It’s about connection and manipulating them”.

4. One study found that Physicians who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who did not play.

5. Many arts schools now offer degrees in game art and design. DIGIPEN Institute of Technology awards four year degree in video gaming is “fast becoming the Harvard among joystick-clenching students fresh out of high school” according to USA Today.


Humor is proving to assist in managerial effectiveness, emotional intelligence and thinking style in the right hemisphere.


1. Two neuroscientists, Prabita Shammi and Donald Stuss conducted an experiment in which they administer this pick-the punch-line test to a series of subjects. They wanted to test the role of the two hemispheres of the bran play in processing humor. Neuroscientists concluded that the right hemisphere plays an essential role in understanding and appreciating humor.

2. They concluded when the right hemisphere is impaired, the brains ability to process even semi sophisticated comedy suffers.


3. Humor embodies many of the right hemisphere’s most powerful attributes that make this aspect of Play increasingly valuable to the world of work:

a. the ability to place situations in context
b. to glimpse the big picture
c. to combine differing perspectives into new alignments


FABIO Sala wrote in the Harvard Business Review that humor used skillfully, greases the management wheels. It reduces hostility, deflects criticism, relieves tension, improves morale, and helps communicate difficult messages.

Negative humor, for instance, can be destructive. It can divide and organization and make it difficult to bridge the gap.

Instead of disciplining the joke crackers, organizations should be seeking them out and treating a sense of humor as an asset.


Joyfulness is demonstrating its power to make us more productive and fulfilled.

Pink expounds on how Kataria got started with the Laugh clubs.

Kataria says there is a difference between joyfulness and happiness. Happiness is conditional and joyfulness is unconditional. When you depend on someone to make you laugh, it’s conditional and the laughter does not belong to you. But in laughter clubs, the source of laughter is not outside of the body, it is within us.

Kataria point out that children really do not grasp humor but they laughter.

Laughter can decrease stress hormones and boost the immune system.

Book Laughter: Scientific Investigation: Laughter has aerobic benefits. It activates the cardiovascular system, increases the heart rate, and pumps more blood to internal organs.

William Fry laugh researcher found that it took 10 minutes of rowing on his home exercise machine to reach the heart rate produced by one minute of laughter.


Kataria believes that laughter can play a major role in reducing stress in the workplace; laughing people are more creative people; more productive; people who laugh together can work together; laughter can lead to joyfulness which in turn can lead to greater creativity, productivity, and collaboration

A few websites to explore play:

www.tinyurl.com/6t7ff
http://www.inventionatplay.org/

for the gamers:
http://www.newsgaming.com/
http://www.womengamers.com/
http://www.games.yahoo.com/
http://www.childrensmuseums.org/
http://www.blueavawireless.com/

Reflective Writing 3.13.10

We further reviewed the process for our action research projects. We gave an update of we are in the research process. I Identified my local problem to support my Hypothesis, Title , Means of collecting date for my project.

In the Teachers as Artists, we discussed the of staying in touch with who we are as artists. management of time is essential to the creative process. We asked ourselves what we would need to prepare for a performance. We reflected on what ignited our interest in the arts to begin with . I can remember as a child, my parents often played music through the home. Ond of my foundest memories is my mother singing to me while I bathed in the tub as a child. My mother recognized a gift in me to sing and would always have me perform the hits of the day before the neighbors. I had very found memories and a lot of positve feedback. My father was a physican who played piano and oboe in the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra so we of course began taking up private lessons.

Reflective Writing 3.13.10

Today I had any opportunity to review the action research that Courtney Bryant. It was an excellent presentation that pretty much sums up Daniel Pink's "A Whole Mind". We viewed some of the presentation of which made allowed her work to be presented in Arts Education publication. She shared the aspects of an action research project. She used all the elements in the her research project to include . The students worked on an Arts Animation Project. The research took about a month and one half. The students incorporated video and music. They used software including Garage Band that comes with the Mac computers at no extra charge. She used observation, interviews, examples of work afterschool tutorial to collect data. The student found a way to incoporate thier personalities into their work. The Findings were as follows:
Students showed an in improvement in interpersonal behavior. Students were engaged in giving and receive feedback, confirming meaning and acting as a guide,and participated as a guide.