August 2011
7 posts
Creed
Kevin Bill I believe that everyone has a natural tendency to want to learn and explore. I do not believe that schools need to force learning on students (as long as they tap into their natural curiosity). I believe that the purpose of schools is to inspire students to be curious, creative, innovative, passionate and compassionate. I believe that music has a unique opportunity to inspire students...
Aug 5th
Wonderment #2
Kevin Bill Natural Learning “Teaching and learning are human endeavors, holistic experiences that are constructed intellectually, emotionally, physically, and spiritually….Building curriculum solely around subject matter, programs of study, and abstract objectives derived from expert knowledge of the field of music is short-sighted because it fails to take sufficient account of all...
Aug 4th
Key Themes
Kevin Bill 1. Ask questions: questions are essential to teaching in a way the involves the students and lets them use their creativity, insert their personality and point of view into the class. Questions make you think, really think, not just remember. 2. Use problem-based learning: we need to create a need to know  through problem-based learning. If students have a need to know they will...
Aug 3rd
Wonderment #1
Kevin Bill Are We Conditioned to Promote the Idea that the Emperor is In Fact Not Naked? …when he actually is   I wonder what makes us feel so strongly about what is “good music” versus “common music.” We all have our own ideas about what music is of “worth,” but what makes us feel that way, and what makes those decisions correct? Estelle Jorgensen gives an extreme example of Christian...
Aug 3rd
If-Then: Chapter 6
Kevin Bill I was struck by the concept that nothing exists without context, and more specifically by the context that you yourself bring. It is interesting to think that everybody brings a different context and therefore sees the world in a different way. Some of us have similar contexts and other much more different, but we are all unique. On the one hand this seems so vast that it makes trying...
Aug 1st
If-Then: Chapter 5
Kevin Bill After reading about the role of creativity and feeling in music in previous classes, the concept of musical meaning seems to need to fit into the context of creativity and feeling. If music is a way that human knowings can exist, then it is important for us as teachers to inspire students to convey musical meaning through their musical experiences. It seems that students would have to...
Aug 1st
Chapter 6 Presentation
Link to GoogleDoc
Aug 1st