Conclusion

If i were in a "normal" class i would write a paper with a conclusion so here it is.  I think that technology is the next step of education.  Since kids are so tech ingrained at 3 years old we need to find a way to incorporate its ideas and goals so that kids are consistently challenged and interested.  We need to meet them where they are.  Making a class project be a website would be a wonderful idea.  Just like the website we did for the Tech Trends class.  Where they make movies or songs or tables and have to learn to speak computer just as they are learning to speak music and to speak their language.  Using what kids love is not a crime and it is not necessarily a loss of the "art" that is education itself.  It is a way to grab them and while they are there expose them to all the many things in the world there are to discover and attempt to master. Using technology sort of levels the playing field because while some kids may have used  computers, most have never created a concrete or written html code.  I love this idea and love always catching kids off guard with what is to be "learned" and "accepted" that day. While cheesy, Technology is the "new frontier". 

Community music

I think that the new minor available for mus. ed. masters students is wonderful.  I personally really want to open my own daycare center that would have a focus in music as well as just being a regular daycare.  If i do this minor i will be informed in the business and law side of music and this is something that i wouldn't get otherwise.  I truly hope that the little kinks are worked out as i was very inspired by Dr. Elliott and Adam when they spoke of the community music places they've been and ideas they've had.  I would love to travel as well as Dr. Elliott does.  My realllll life goal is to be able to open a school in india or in africa and has been since i was like 12. I would love it to be a gardener/music based school that focuses on individualized education and this minor will really help with my understanding of what needs to be and should be done so it works.

Music Ed. Nerd

I recently went to the NYSSMA conference to speak on behalf of NYU in a "what does college mean" seminar.  I felt like the ultimate loser because i was in heaven.  There were so many new ideas and colleges there to show off the programs they had.  I couldn't help but wonder what it would've been for me if i had done this stuff earlier in life.  I bought a book and got a few free things but the most impressive was the new Notation software.  They took the sounds from either the London or the LA symphony orchestra and recorded them into the software.  So now when you create something and play it back or you upload a song to practice conducting, it sounds like an orchestra and not Midi.  I was amazed and cannot wait to try my free demo!! What a brilliant new step in notation software.  The rep said that soon they will be adding a dynamics feature to it as well.  I hope the next step is to do this for choirs as well. 

i would like to be a record producer i think

After all of the different projects and ideas that i was introduced to in my Tech trends class, i think my favorite of all was audacity. The idea of being able to manipulate a pre-existing song or to create a new one for free blew my mind.  All i was thinking about was recording myself and then how i could record kids and have them make thier own songs.  I think, like Adam did with his students with down syndrome, having students get to make thier own music concrete at any age would be brilliant.  It would be them being artists in a way that music usually doesn't allow.  THey can play  a song or learn a song but they rarely get to compose a song at 5 years old. I cannot wait to try this on my nephews and niece at home and see what they come up with.

Gardener

After having to do a paper on Gardener in my Human Development class this semester, i stumbled across The Ross School.  The ross school in east hampton, LI is a school that runs on Howard Gardeners theory of multiple intelligences.  This school's mission is to "change the way education meets the future; to foster interdisciplinary, integrated and innovative leadership; to engage fully in the global community; and to facilitate lifelong learning".  This school is pre nursery to 12th grade and a unique form of education for these students.  There are several Howard Gardener based schools around the country and i actually would like to observe in one.  I agree with his theory and would like to integrate it into a school that i would start myself for kids birth to age 5.  Ofcourse this is just an idea i have but i think combining the different ways we can learn as individuals into a bigger umbrella so that everyone has a voice is the best way to run an educational setting. 

New Theories

I think one of the most important things NYU has given me thus far is a thirst for knowledge.  I truly now am more interested in all of the different ideas and theories that go along with  music education and education in general.  More specifically i am thoroughly invested in reading the book about the Music Learning theory of Edwin Gordon.  I am an early childhood person so this theory about starting music before birth really speaks to my interests.  It is an explanation of how we learn, when we learn music.  He focuses on the way in which we learn speech and other forms of communication and knowledge and compares how we don't learn music that way.  I cannot wait to be more knowledgable because this book has been wonderful so far. 

this just in... microsoft says more new software is good for YOU!

"CURRENT SPOTLIGHT: IMPROVE OPERATIONS Having the right software and tools can empower your people to work more efficiently, minimize costs and create a competitive edge for your company."  - MICROSOFT.COM

On the microsoft website i found this interesting tidbit of news.  I found it to be most absurd.  Yes you will do better but you must constantly be changing your company and updating.  You are never caught up or on the brink of technology and its advances because there is never an end to its growth.  While that is exciting it is also annoying because you can never just "be".  I also found it funny how this is on microsoft's website... DUH!! they would say that!  I would be all for constantly updating but i can't keep up with the costs.  I have an ibook G4 that is now dying because its technology just basically is saying no.  I can't have certain things and even if i did pay to get them they may not work because my operating system is "too old" or "too slow".  So now i am looking into purchasing and new macbook that i am sure will be too out of style for its own good in 4 years just like the ibook was.