Class Reflections

Wow, what an awesome day we had on Saturday, April 17, 2010.

Well, let me begin. Class: Critical Aesthetic Response - Dr. Adriana van Rensburg, Instructor. This was a very informative session. We listened to each class members' action research abstract and exchanged ideas and professional dialogue between each other. This was very insightful and empowering at the same time. Dr. Rensburg is an awesome instructor and she skillfully directed us on what to do. As for myself, I was trying to do too much with my project. She helped me focus on one key idea. Along with my classmates, Dr. Rensburg gave me more direction concerning my action research. I have chosen for my topic: How to Improve Intonation in Middle School Orchestra Students. I have already administered one survey to my students and have given them a playing test and compiled the data. In a few weeks, I will re-test my students and compare the data from the playing test that they will take at the end of April. I have been trying new strategies for improving intonation with my students. I am very anxious to see the results. I hope to pinpoint which methods work and which ones do not work.

Did I already say we had an awesome day? Well, there's more. Teacher as Artist - Natalie Colbert, Instructor. This class was also awesome. She steered us in the direction that Pink and Gardner would have us to go. She really had us working and thinking outside of the box in an attempt to create this original composition. We tried to incorporate as many of Pink's abilities that matter the most. The ones we aimed to incorporate were story, empathy, symphony, meaning, and definitely play. We attempted to synthesize according to Gardner. We were satisfied that we put our composition together in a way that made sense to us. We hope that the audience will be able to understand it the way we intended for it to me understood. If we can communicate what our intentions were with the composition, then we have reached the level of synthesis. We didn't want to overdo it, but we did want to create a work that would get our point across. This was a great project that we were assigned to do. I am currently working on the notation for the piece as well. I'm not quite sure how I got selected to conduct the piece, but I know that it will be a lot of fun. I would love to give this assignment to my students. It would be great to see what they come up with.

Please take a short listen to our rough draft below and give me some feedback on what it is you think we are trying to convey. I look forward to reading your feedback. - Toni Butts