Scholarship Essay

            Music has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember.  Every time I walked into the band or choir room at school, it was as if I was walking into my second home.  The music that was created with my peers stayed with me in all aspects of life.  Consequently, I decided I wanted to recreate the home that I had come to adore, and pursue a degree in Music Education to pass it along to future students.  Choosing the best university to learn the necessary skills was an absolute must if I wanted to become the best possible teacher.  Capital University has proven to be an incredibly valuable learning environment, as I had expected it to be when I first decided to attend. Its superior staff in the Conservatory of Music, modern and relatable classes, and the real-world experience it offers can not be emulated by any other school.

            Without a doubt, the university is only as good as the professors who work there.

The professors of music at Capital University each uphold the highest standards of music.  Both the instrumental and vocal staff have performed in countless countries around the world, many of them still doing so.  The music theory and history professors have either earned their doctorate degree or become composers.  The teacher education staff includes notable names, such as James Swearingen, who devote themselves to passing on as much wisdom about teaching as possible.  Most recently, Professor Bill Boggs won two Grammy Awards this past year!  The professors of this Conservatory are all extremely caring and intelligent individuals who have devoted themselves to their students.  I would not want to be taught by any other group of such highly-regarded professionals.

             Capital University also offers different types of classes that I could not find at other Conservatories.  "World Music Lab," for example, is a required course that teaches us about music and cultures in different parts of the world.  Japan, Brazil, and Africa are three of the countries that are covered in this course.  We actually are able to play the instruments from those countries, and therefore can have a better understanding of what music means to people around the world.  The "Middle School Methods" class requires us to take a "Technology" class.  We are given information about modern technology that can be used to improve the classroom, such as the SMARTboard.  These types of classes, along with the basic music education classes, work together to provide well-rounded knowledge about teaching in this century. 

            It is easy to take notes and read about teaching, but actually performing the task is one of great difficulty.  Capital University requires its Music Education students to partake in Field Experience starting in their second year.  I have had the rare privilege of working with elementary and middle school students and teachers very early in my college career.  I begin working with high school this upcoming fall. This gives each student a good idea of whether or not they are right for this field before their senior year.  In addition to field experience, Student Teaching is also required at Capital University. As a result, it provides the community with superb teachers from the beginning, because we began receiving real-world experience before we graduated.

            The Conservatory at Capital University is one that can not be compared to; I would never choose to learn at any other University.  Its first-rate staff, lessons, and experiences offer a unique opportunity to every devoted student.  Being able to take my passion and turn it into a career is a dream that Capital is helping me realize every day.  I consider it a great privilege being able to call myself a Capital Crusader!

This scholarship is sponsored by CenturyLinkQuote.com.

April 27 Reflection

Today, Professor Riley's wife came in to teach us about the SMARTboard.  This is definitely something that will be useful when I become a teacher (assuming that there is a smartboard in my classroom).  She taught us some of her favorite tricks as well as basic knowledge to help us get started with using the smartboard.  Our assignment was to create two games (one had to be interactive), record ourselves, and post it.

So here it is!

April 20 Reflection

Today's class was focused on podcasts.  This topic is actually slightly easier than video productions, but is still valuable to learn about.  Professor Riley showed us how to upload an audio (or video) file, make it a midi or wav file, and put it onto podomatic.com.  We were told to interview somebody about a composition that they created and put it onto podomatic.  

It's a fairly easy assignment.  All I had to do was record Sarah in garageband, import her composition into garageband, export that file into iTunes, and upload it on the website.  Quick and easy! My favorite kind of homework:) 

April 13th Reflection

Today was a very informative day. We filmed and edited a movie during class using iMovie (which is great, because now I know how to do it on my laptop!). I can now edit and delete footage, adjust equalizers, using the normailzing clip, among many other things. We were told to interview another student to prove our skills. So I talked to Brianna about her favorite composer. I had a lot of fun doing it! I can definitely use these skills in the classroom and just for fun:)

March 30 Reflection

Professor Riley was out of town for today's lesson, so Dr. Ryan stepped in to teach us about Smart Music. I had never heard of Smart Music before this class and I wish I had had the privilege to use it earlier in school! One of its features is an accompaniment feature. You can download a solo piece and the accompaniment will follow your tempo. Another feature is the assessment feature. You can sing or play the piece of music and it will show you which notes you get wrong and which notes you get right. For students, this software could be invaluable to learning. Sometimes, even if you can tell you aren't singing a passage correctly, you don't know where you're going wrong. Smart Music fixes that. If there is a song that is not in the Smart Music library, you can type it into finale and import it into Smart Music. As a teacher, you can make assignments for your students and then hear what they performed when they submit the finished product. I hope that when I become a teacher, I will be able to buy this software!

March 23 Reflection

Gamifying was a word that I had never even heard of before this class. When Professor Riley first said it, I thought he had made it up. It didn't sound real. But upon further information, it became clear that gamifying is a newly-found and uprising strategy used to enhance non-game contexts. Typically, gamification is utilized to encourage people to adopt non-game applications. For example, completing surveys, shopping, filling out tax forms, or reading web sites have all been gamified in the past. As a future teacher, the idea of turning boring concepts into a game is something that I should not forget! I could use gamification to help with music theory, audiation, memorizing songs, etc. I'm glad that I was introduced to gamification!

March 16 Reflection/Classroom Technology List

This day's class was pretty informative.  We learned about different kinds of mixers and speakers that can be used in the classroom! Professor Riley showed us how to set up a speaker that's hooked up to a microphone and a keyboard.  He then explained what all the different volume levels meant and how they affected the sound.  Another topic was the kinds of adaptors that are used for each piece of technology.  I didn't realize how much I didn't know before attending this class!

Our homework was to come up with a list of technology that we would be using in our future classroom, assuming the school has nothing for you to begin with.  As a future choir director, I figure I only need a keyboard, smartboard, microphones and speakers, and a mixer for shows. Here's what I came up with!

March 9 Reflection

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this class because I was at the ACDA conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Professor Riley sent us the powerpoint he used in class, however, so I have a gist of what went on while I was away.
It seems like the class mostly learned about copyright information.  As a future choir director, this is very important to understand! "Copyright" is defined as "A set of exclusive rights granted by law to the author for protection of their work."  A copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. It allows the author to reproduce the work, prepare derivative works, sell the work, and publish the work. If something can be used freely by the public, it's called public domain.  Traditional folksongs, for example, are in the public domain. Copyright material may also fall under the category of "fair use." This is a legal defense if somebody were to sue you for stealing their work.  Fair use may apply if you were minimally using their work for education, research, criticism, parody, or news reporting.
All of this information is valuable to anybody going into the music as a career!

February 24 Reflection

Class on this day was very entertaining! We watched Professor Riley's video about kids using garageband to compose their own songs.  First, they were split into groups. Then, they were given a topic to write about.  They wrote the lyrics and then later put those words to music.  At the end of the project, every person in the class had their song put onto a CD.  I think it's a really great idea to make a class CD because it gives them something to always look back on and remember.
Our assignment for the week was to do the same thing; we wrote lyrics to a song about winter, put it to music, and send our completed song to Professor Riley.  I sincerely hope he doesn't make a class CD, however, because I'd really rather not have other people listening to what I wrote.  It's not very good...but it was fun!

February 17 Reflection

Although I was not in class on this day, I watched the video that Professor Riley posted on YouTube and was able to not miss a thing!  The class learned all about microphones last Friday.  There are two main types of microphones, the first being a dynamic mic.  The second is called a condenser mic, and these are mainly used for recording whole rooms as opposed to just one person.  The Shure SM81 is the "entry level" condenser mic, usually used for live performance recordings.  The standard vocal performance microphone is the Shure SM58, and the main instrument microphone is the SM57.  The only difference between these two is the SM57 does not have a wind screen.  

Another topic that was discussed was IKmultimedia.  It allows you to hook small mics onto your iPhone or iPad, which makes these things easy to use in a classroom setting.

Distortion was another main point covered in class.  There are four major ways to avoid feedback:

1. Don't point the mic at the speaker

2. Keep the mic pointing at your sound source (which could be your mouth or instrument)

3. Don't hold the microphone over the wind screen.  It messes up the sound waves.

4. Keep everything at a reasonable volume. 

February 10 Reflection

The most frustrating part of class this morning was the way we started it out.  The first fifteen minutes were spent with Professor Riley answering two students' specific questions, leaving the rest of the class to sit and wait for them to be done.  I would much prefer individual questions to be asked at the end of class, so that everyone else can leave early if they want to.
Otherwise, it was neat to see the different websites that can be used for classroom purposes. My five favorites are below.

Piano Pedagogy Plus is a great way to teach kids about the different notes, key signatures, intervals, and scale degrees. Each of those has its own game for them to play.  It's fun and will be instructive at the same time.

Whack-A-Note is all about learning what notes fall on the staff. Kids are asked to identify the right now by clicking on it as fast as they can! It's a fun and interactive activity that will teach them to read music faster.

Interactive Orchestra gives kids the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of an orchestra.  Each section is labeled, and each time you click on a section, you learn specific information about it.  There is even a comprehension quiz that they can take after they've looked everything over.

Incredibox is not particularly useful for the classroom, but it is so much fun! You assign a different part to each passing person, and that part cuts off when that person is out of view.  Kids would have a lot of fun playing around with the different options!

Isle of Tune is another game simply for fun.  You are presented with a picture of a blank space of land, to be filled with houses, roads, signs, etc. that you put down.  Each object has a different music sound assigned to it.  As a car passes each object, that sound is played.  It teaches kids creativity and composition, and they have a blast doing it.

Google Docs, Prezi, and Glogster

Here are examples of three possible presentation devices:

Google Docs:

Prezi:

Eric Whitacre on Prezi

Glogster:

Kids and Technology

Every generation is different.  The cliche phrase, "those were the good old days..." becomes applicable every time a new generation is born.  Although our generation is upset that the kids these days are growing up with cell phones, laptops, ipods, ipads, etc., we have to accept that this is going to be the norm for the rest of our lives.  Very likely, when the children of this generation grow up, there will be some new form of technology for the next generation, which will upset the old generation, and they cycle continues.  So what do I think? I think that we should not try and fight the change; technology has proven to be a good thing (as much as it might upset our grandparents).  With proper parental advisory, there is no reason a kid can't be a kid if they own an ipod, choose to blog, have a Facebook, etc.  As long as they spend time outside and build proper social skills with real people, I'm sure the children will turn out perfectly fine.
When it comes to teachers having electronic communication with their students, I would be cautious.  There is nothing wrong with having a classroom blog or the teacher emailing the students information or reminders.  However, any kind of electronic relationship that is not professional (like being Facebook friends) should definitely be avoided until graduation from high school.  You want the students to respect the teachers and vice versa, so all relationships need to be kept professional.

Getting a Twitter

This week, the whole class got a Twitter account.  Since there were a number of students opposed to the idea, it was rather chaotic.  Once Twitter had been created, we went onto ifttt.com to link our Twitter  to our blog.  If This Then That is a website that allows you to automate various web tasks.

The directions for linking Twitter to Blogspot is as follows:
-On iftt.com, click task
-click create task
-click "This"
-click "Feed"
-click "New Feed"
-Enter the blog's RSS address here
-click "Create Trigger"
-click "That"
-choose Twitter
-Post a new tweet
-click "Create Action"
-Finally, click "Create Task"

You find the blog's RSS address by either clicking on the RSS icon or by clicking Subscribe to Posts.

I can see how If This Then That would be a huge time-saver as a teacher letting their students know when something new has been posted on the class's blog.  That is, assuming that Twitter does not die out the same way that MySpace did.  It will be interesting to see which social networking sites stand the test of time!

René Clausen

In my senior year of high school, I was lucky enough to be able to work with René Clausen.  He was the conductor of PMEA's Regional Choir two years ago. Along with conducting the Concordia Choir, he is the associate professor of music at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.  His undergraduate degree is from St. Olaf College and received the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in choral conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In all, Clausen has written or arranged 33 choral pieces.  His style is sometimes classified as Neo-Romantic, but his simpler pieces have the same structure as a Classical or Baroque piece with hints of Romantic expression, utilizing many traditional chord progressions.  Clausen's most popular harmonies are his use of tone cluster chords.  

O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose was one of the pieces that Clausen conducted at Regional choir.  He told us that he wrote this song in less than 24 hours!  He had decided spontaneously that he wanted to do something special for his wife on their anniversary.  Here is a video of this song, sung by the Concordia Choir:

How to Blog...

Creating a blog might be the simplest homework assignment I've had to date.  All I did was type "blog" into Google, pick one of the searches, and begin.  Every step was laid out for me! I had to provide my name, the name of the blog, the name of the link, and was immediately able to start writing.

No stress, no worries.

Done.

:)