Our Class

I just wanted to say that I enjoyed our class with Prof. Gilbert and it was great to meet all the students who were in the class with me.  Happy 4th of July, have a wonderful summer and hope to see everyone in the fall. 

-Sarah

Question # 3

In educational settings, discuss how technology enhances the teaching and learning environment. What do the viewpoints of Dewey, Bruner, Elliott, McLuhan, and Eisner provide for our consideration when thinking about technology, performing arts, and the process of teaching and learning.

We live in an era where the advancement of technologies has improved our quality of life.  Computers organize and run the world.  We walk around with mini computers  like blackberry's and Iphones in our back pockets.  I can email a friend from the mountain tops (provided I get service) or from the corner of 42ND Street and Broadway in Times Square, NYC.  We are fortunate to be enjoying theses innovations, the benefits, and we most certainly see how the level and standard of education has improved and made it easier for teachers and students alike.

I think back when I was in elementary school during the 1980's. No one had a personal computer. By the time I reached the 4Th grade, we had a computer class that met once a week. But the number of computers were limited and we had to share.  Everything we did was hand written. Book reports come to mind in regard to how much time it took.  Just about every school going child now, has access to a computer where they can set up a work station either at home or at school computer labs.  

Teaching and learning has become more dynamic and exciting for both educators and students. The countless number of software programs, act as tools to explain new concepts and ideas.  As a piano teacher, I have been incorporating  Garage Band in my lessons. I particularly love Garage band because it allows me to record lessons and then email them to my students who are then able to review every little detail as many times as they want.  The audio track can become portable if they choose to upload to an Ipod. 

The class I have been taking for the past few weeks, Technology Resources for Performing Arts Majors, has shown just how important it is to be able to use the advances in technology to our benefit as educators.  My team project was to look at how social networking sites can be used as a teaching tool.  Students of all ages are already on these sites, why not find a way to incorporate them in the classroom and beyond.  Visit my project page on my website to learn more.

Elliot Eisner has made many important contributions in arts education and his belief in "educational work as artistry." He believed that you could apply the study of the arts to any field of study like science and subjects in the humanities.  With my own personal experience, learning music from an early age has thought me discipline that I have applied to all other areas of my life.  Studying music education in a time like this is very exciting.  Jerome Bruner, one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century believes that one should be motivated to learn whatever it is they are studying.  This makes me think about how the advancements in technology like the use of a macbook or a site like Facebook encourages students to want to learn and study because we are using tools that they love and are familiar with already. Eiser, Bruner, and other influential figures in education like Dewey, Elliot and Mcluhan all believe that we learn by doing and being actively involved.  The technologies of the past 10 years have given us greater access to information than ever before.

 

Question # 2

Discuss some ways that you can use your art to enhance students acquiring English literacy skills.

Levels in literacy improve by studying music and the performing arts.  Being a musician, I know the importance and significance it has had on my academic career.  The same skills needed to learn music apply to reading and writing. Sound and rhythm come naturally to young children.  While doing research for my literacy page, I came across a website called "Songs For Teaching." It's a site that provides thousands of children's songs, sound clips, lyrics and teaching suggestions to educators to use music to help students gain better understanding and confidence in oral skills. Learning becomes more exciting and motivates students for success. As a teacher, I would utilize this service to enhance the literacy skills of my students.  I am a song-writer and I would love to write original songs that I could incorporate in my lesson plans.  Language in music and language in print have many similarities. They both use abstract symbols. Music creates excitement and an emotional response that can motivate children to improve there skills.  Learning any type of music, requires repetition and self discipline to spend time practicing and studying.  These are the same skills needed for literacy.  Participating in music is an enjoyable activity.  Learning to sing, by taking part in the school choir is a great way to improve reading.  Participating in musicals, requiring one to read and memorize lines.  

I am interested in becoming an elementary school music teacher.  I would create and organize musicals and story-telling sessions and challenge my students to create there own songs.  Ultimately, the idea is to create an environment that is supportive and allows students to experiment with there creativity.

Question # 1

Discuss three of the websites of your colleagues and write comments in response to their blogs (in their blog). Identify the three Blogs where you are making comments.

I was moved to comment on the following 3 websites: Aurora, Yan, and Gregory's. These comments are posted on there blogs.

1. Aurora - I learned a lot from your page. Your page was uncluttered, cogent and easily navigated. Your choice of color and overall design aesthetic was spot on. The overall organization of your page inspired me to continue improving my page until I felt I had equaled your standards. Specifically, I enjoyed the photo of your pug on your image page, the different manipulations of that photo made via photoshop, and your animation. Your assignment task descriptions were precise and instructive. Moreover, I appreciated your comments on my page. Respect.

 

2. Yan - I love the violin photo on your homepage and the lilac background color of all your pages compliments all the imagery you posted. I was impressed by your use of tables on the homepage and the tech assignment page. Specifically, the tech page because you chose to use imagery for each category and even made an animation for the animation box. I loved the homage to the Statue of Liberty on your images page, the variety of manipulations, and the animation that you created from it. Your Literacy and Arts Page was pithy. Your Powerpoint on Literacy and Music was very impressive and the introductory quote by Jewel made me nostalgic for the 90's. I enjoyed working with you on Team Green and very much liked your presentation on YouTube.

 

Gregory - Thank you for reminding how Harlem Renaissance has shaped not only New York City but also the world at large. The Neon Sign of the Cotton Club immediately drew me into your site and I wanted to know more. I like the fact that you used a table to organize the pages on your tech assignment page. I appreciated the progression of your manipulations on the images page. You demonstrate your command of HTML on your Literacy in Music Education page by creating a left margin and using 3 colors. Thank you for your kind words about my page.

Change

Here's are some words of wisdom I wanted to share, by Dr. Wayne Dyer

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

I find this phrase so powerful and have applied it in my life.

12 weeks in 2.5

I was thinking this morning, how quickly our class has flown by. I remember registering in March and anticipating with excitement for the start.  What's incredible is the amount of information I have learned in the past two weeks. We've learned an entire semesters worth of material.  I now can build a website using HTML! We're just scratching the surface and I look forward continuing work on my site and learning more so I can design my page exactly the way I've been picturing it.  Late last night, I spent some time writing tables.  I made a demo page called homepage to play around with some of the ideas.  I'd like my page to have a tool bar either to the left or on top consisting of 5-6 different links. Bio, music page, movie page, etc.. I'm also interested in having a photo in my background which remains stationary as you scroll up or down.

Blogging is new for me and it's been interesting connecting with our classmates and sharing our thoughts. I named this blog "Sarah's Thoughts" for that particular reason.   To be able to blog anytime, anywhere is all in part of all the technological advances we've seen in the past few years. Having an Iphone, Blackberry, laptop, or any other portable device with internet connection has given us unlimited access to be able to do this. I am writing from my laptop here in NYC.  

I love that I am more comfortable with programs like Imovie and Photoshop, and I will continue developing projects for myself, other artists and my students.  Having these resources and knowing how to use them is empowering.

Technology and My Lessons

In the past 6 months, I have been incorporating different computer programs as a tool during my lessons. All my students are keyboard/piano players between the ages of 5-12, all girls. The evolution of the computer has changed the way we learn and perceive information.  Our cognitive skills have sharpened and this is evident from an early on.

Earlier today, I was thinking about the first time I used a computer.  It was 1988, a prehistoric Apple. The screen black, the fonts green.  Computer class was once week for us fourth graders. Sometimes we had to take turns. I think about some of my fourth graders. Most have there own personal computers that they might share with another sibling. All with the latest programs including music related ones like ITunes and Garage Band.  Having access to a program like Garage Band exposes them to a library of musical sounds and allows them to create original compositions without even having to know how to play the specific instruments. Although some may look at this as a hindrance to ones' musicality; I see it as inspiration.  They gain the confidence to be able to create these original compositions which can then spark there curiosity in wanting to learn the actual instruments.

To be a great writer, be an avid reader. To be a great musician/song-writer, listen to all kinds of music.  Developing these habits at an early age is optimum.  A program like ITunes allows us to keep libraries of our favorite tunes, share them with others and make portable, uploading to an IPod.  I have used Itunes in my lessons.  Back in March, I gave a few voice lessons to one of my students in preparation for a competition she had with school.  She had never taken any vocal lessons before and I wanted her to listen to singers with unique, rich and sultry voices. We then went through my library to sample a few songs. The task proved to be successful as she was very curious about the singers she heard and wanted to hear more. I exposed her to a whole new world of music and voices she had never heard of before.  I recorded all of her lessons using GarageBand.  She was fascinated with these programs wanting to learn how to use them herself.

Teaching has become a much more interesting experience for me.  I love that I can integrate the latest technologies to enrich their minds beyond learning the instrument.