Reaction+Reflection

> > In this speech, Ken Robinson discusses the issue of education killing children's creativity rather than letting it flourish, and the effect that this mentality is affecting our children and our future. He says, "We are educating people out of their creativity." Robinson defined creativity as the “process of having original ideas that have value”. Education has been fixated on being "right" and without mistakes, so that our students have learned to be afraid of being wrong, and therefore abandon their natural creativity. Robinson also explained the hierarchy of education in virtually every country. Each education system puts the greatest importance on Mathematics, literacy, sciences etc. and the Arts are always at the bottom of the hierarchy. He goes on by tell the story of a young girl, who has a multitude of issues in the classroom. Although ADHD was not identified back in the 1930's, this little girl exhibited characteristics of ADHD. Her mother took her to the principal and told him all about her lack of focus, that she couldn't sit still, wasn't motivated etc. He told the little girl that he needed to speak to her mother in private and left her in the office as he turned up the music to his radio. The principal and mother watched though the window as she stood up and started moving to the music. The principal exclaimed how the little girl didn't have a learning problem, she was a dancer! The little girl went on to study at the Royal Ballet Theatre, directed her own dance company, and choreographed the Broadway shows Cat's and Phantom of the Opera, and is now a multimillionaire. He ends the speech with the idea that we have all been given the gift of imagination and we must use it wisely, and always remember to educate the whole being.
 * Reading/TED Video for Class: Due February 23rdmedia type="custom" key="5335581" width="220" height="220" align="right"**
 * **Link: @http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html**
 * **TED Video Titles: Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity**

I love this story, because in many ways, this little girl was me! I had a horrid time sitting still and found true happiness dancing, singing, and playing the piano. I was meant to create, and so are so many other children. I absolutely loved this video because he advocated for the Arts programs and the need to let children explore and continue their natural creativity rather than stifling it. I believe that during the 50 minutes that my students spend in my classroom, their bodies are more than a vehicle to move their heads. They sing, dance, play, improvise, perform, learn and teach, and hopefully carry these skills throughout their life. The speech was very witty and entertaining and really made me think about how education has taken one skinny road, and we need to be thinking of alternate routes that allow our students to be the creative souls they were born to be.

media type="custom" key="5618517" align="right" width="197" height="129" Reaction Assignment; March 16th Ted Video; Tod Machover and Dan Ellsey play new music

@http://www.ted.com/talks/tod_machover_and_dan_ellsey_play_new_music.html

Tod Machover begins by suggesting that music means a great deal to people, and it can be even more powerful if you don't just listen to it, but your make it yourself. He, and his partners at the MIT Media lab are devoted to extending musical expression to everyone, from virtuosos to amateurs. By creating "Active Music Activities" such as Guitar Hero and Toy Symphony, untrained musicians and children are given the opportunity to explore and create their own music. Tod discussed how music can accelerate physical and mental recovery, restore speech and movement skills, and aid in depression and schizophrenia. MIT works closely with Tewksbury Hospital residents, one of which is Dan Ellsey, a man with cerebral palsy. Dan has always responded to music, and Tod Machover and his team developed and a system called Hyperscore, that would give Dan Ellsey the interface to compose and perform his own music. It was a unique process of watching all of the ways that Dan could show expression, such as body movement, sounds, facial expressions etc. Then they created the program so that he could make up precise and purposeful rhythms, melodies, textures with his expressive abilities. Dan come out and performed his piece, My Eagle Song and showed the Hyperscore Score on the projector.


 * Reaction:** This was a very moving example of how music is a form of expression that should be accessible to everybody. Hearing Dan Essley perform his piece was in some ways shocking. Here, a man who at first glance unable to communicate or purposefully move, can absolutely communicate, compose and perform music. It makes me realize how technology can make what seems impossible, possible! Great video!

//teaching MUSIC February 2010 Volume 17, Number 5 //**
 * Making the Tech Connection** by **Catherine Applefeld Olson [[image:Techconnection.jpg width="234" height="306" align="right"]]

This article in the //teaching Music// publication encouraged music educators to continue their learning of technology and use it as another method of teaching music. Even our youngest students are extremely capable, proficient, and excited about technology says Amy Burns, president-elect of the Technology Institute for Music Educators. Burns says that learning new technology is definitely worth the time and effort, as long as the teachers always think of technology as a means, not an end. Teachers often miss step, she notes, when they begin thinking otherwise. "It's a common error, but any time you build your lesson around technology, it's not going to succeed the way you would like it to" Technology is as important to use as all the other methods, but it's simply another tool for creating music. It is there to enhance your lessons. Another main part of the article was on a music technology class that is being offered at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to all students on campus rather than just music majors. Brian Moore, an associate professor of music education at UNL, teaches some of the courses, and said, "My role is not to turn them into music majors, but to help them be better creative artists and influence their creative work in other disciplines." He says that his top priority is to empower future teachers to be creative thinkers. "If all you learn from me this semester is what buttons to push to put out a piece of music using software, I have failed you miserably. Because the software you are using in your freshman class will certainly not be available to you when you are ready to equip your own classroom."

I have been getting this magazine for 5 years because it comes with my membership to our National Music Educators Conference. Honestly, I have never cracked open this publication until this week because it never really caught my attention. It was sitting in my recycle bin and I saw in big white and yellow letters, **Teaching the Digital Generation**. Knowing I was going to be choosing an article or video to do a reaction assignment, I picked it up and read the article. Not only was this specific article worth reading, so was the rest of the magazine. I'm glad that this assignment led me to discover a very worth while publication. I enjoyed the suggestions that were given to incorporate technology into the music classroom even when there is only one computer. Using technology can enhance your lessons and can possibly connect with some alternative students that don't learn as well through traditional music education. Being a national publication, I was so happy to read about Bryan Moore's work at UNL. I think that my favorite part of the article was when he suggested that his class was much more than teaching them how to push a button and print out some composed music, but rather give them build-able tools that foster creativity.