Grading: The Finale

((This is a continuation of Monday's post, "No Cowboy Boots at the Symphony".))

Grading concert reports, part trois. Some of these are so damned funny, it is my obligation as a human being to share them. 

-- "I was looking extremely dapper with a sexy collared shirt and some nice trousers, while my roommate was looking a little grungy."

-- "We were sitting so close that my roommate was able to identify a hickey on the neck of one of the violinists, later we realized it was just a mark from the chin strap of his instrument."

-- "Strauss's Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 11 was more impressive. The beat was catchier, and at times, surprisingly hip."

-- "I was even honored when a drop from his spit-valve so eloquently splattered off the stage and landed on my left shoe." ((same guy as above, referring to the horn soloist))

-- "Although, I never fell asleep in the concert, I did solve my problem of restless nights by downloading a Strauss song to play everynight." ((This guy said Death and Transfiguration put him to sleep...I really wonder which song he downloaded, considering Strauss is known for his loud, flashy brass fanfares! >D Bwahaha...))

-- "The conductor raised her conducting twig and the symphony began."

-- "It was interesting to see how with a tiny stick the conductor orchestrated each and every instrument within the orchestra like she was a quarterback." ((This amuses me because it's an example of how my football player students like to relate EVERYTHING back to their sport. Not a bad thing, just a bit funny! This same guy also produces hip hop music himself, which I think is really cool!))

But more important than all the humorous quotes in the world, one girl said this about Mahler's "Adagietto":

-- "I found myself covered in goosebumps and my eyes slightly wetted with tears from the peaceful effect of the notes and the perfect tune and harmony of the instruments playing together."

That's what it's all for.

Catharsis Through Clarinet

Grading concert reports, part deux. Of course, I have more hilarious student quotes to share, but now isn't the time for that. This assignment of theirs is actually making me realize some pretty important things. 

For the past 10 years, since I first picked up a clarinet in the 7th grade, I have always been a member of a large ensemble of some sort, usually a symphonic band. Ten years of intense ensemble work, everything from beginning band in junior high to the nationally-acclaimed Stetson University Symphonic Band. My experience as part of the Stetson band is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I can't even count the number of times I was moved to tears by the music we were making, both during rehearsals and concerts. I bawled like a little girl at the end of my final band rehearsal in my senior year, knowing that going into composition, I would probably never have such intense musical experiences as a performer ever again. I really poured my whole emotional self into performing that music, and now for the first time in 10 years, I don't have any sort of outlet. I also took a lot of inspiration from the pieces we performed and the emotions they evoked. I'm beginning to wonder if my lack of ensemble participation is contributing to my dry spell of creativity. Ultimately, I feel a giant hole in my life that needs to be filled by the sort of cathartic musical experience only a large ensemble can provide. If next semester goes well enough and I think I can handle it, I'm going to talk to the conductor here and see what sort of time committment is involved in both the symphony orchestra and the wind ensemble. Yes, I already play in the New Music Ensemble here, and it's a lot of fun, but it's very small chamber music work. And ultimately...as much as I admire and enjoy the music of Cage and Reich, it just doesn't grip my heart the way Strauss and Maslanka and Lauridsen do. 

Of course, the choice of program for the concert these kids did their assignment on is particularly poignant. Check out the selection:

Wagner, Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman): Overture

Strauss, Concerto No. 1 for Horn and Orchestra

Mahler, "Adagietto" from Symphony No. 5

Strauss, Death and Transfiguration

The first two pieces are wonderful and dramatic, but the last two...well, they're two of the most emotional pieces ever written. Adagietto was written about Mahler's longing for his future wife. The story goes that he gave her the score when he proposed to her. The conductor described it as him "pouring his heart out in strings". Death and Transfiguration was written when Strauss was only 25, and describes a man who lay dying with his life flashing before his eyes and his eventual death and ascension to heaven. As Strauss himself lay dying so many years later, he told his friend that dying was exactly as he had written about all those years ago. Powerful stuff. It makes my chest swell just thinking about it. I need to have these experiences again, I have to have this part of my life back. I'm not content to merely sit back and listen, though experiencing music live from an audience perspective is a different and wonderful experience in its own right. I need to play again. Soon. 

Isn't Blue Supposed to be Calming?

I am not my most efficient when working on the living room couch. This seems like an obvious, dumbass fact, but it's something that's been bogging me down for months now. When we first moved to this town in June, we did a pretty good job of unpacking and setting things to right. We even painted our soon-to-be office an amazing color of bright blue that we find very creatively inspiring and made plans to graffiti the walls and use chalkboard paint to recreate the sort of working environment we were used to. Then, my husband finally landed a job, and I had to start school. Progress halted. We eventually got sick of looking at all the unpacked boxes and shoved them all into our would-be office so the rest of our house could actually feel like home. The room remained in this box-filled state until this past weekend, when I finally decided that enough was enough, if I'm going to make it through finals this semester, I need a place to work that isn't soft and cushy and full of puppies and video game systems. So. There is now room on my desk to work. There's lots of open floor space to walk to my desk. We even bought some drawer sets to store cables and mics and such in! I now have a Work Space that is not the same as my Relaxing Space. This is a Good Thing. This will hopefully mean my productivity for the last three weeks of school will be much higher than the rest of the semester. The end is in sight. The deadlines are looming, now. My schedule is not nearly as hectic as some, as the work load for Composers in Production is unusually light, but I'm still quite worried. For my own benefit:

Deadlines

-- Prepare a one-hour presentation on my project for Composers in Production (12/1)
-- Create a nearly-finished draft of composition for visiting ensemble (12/1)
-- Prepare a one-hour presentation on my paper for Materials of Contemporary Music (12/2)
-- Administer and grade final exam for Music 101 (12/5)
-- Turn in 20 page paper for Materials of Contemporary Music (12/10)
-- Write a paper of indeterminate length for Supervised Research? (12/?)

Wish me luck. 

No Cowboy Boots at the Symphony

((Brief note: the entry from 11/13 about teaching evaluations is finally done. Check it out!))

As usual, I'm spending another night grading a seemingly endless stack of Music 101 papers. The assignment this time was to attend the symphony orchestra concert and write a 2-3 page concert report. I've found reading these papers to be very uplifting so far; some of the kids really had a wonderful time at the concert and seem to have finally gotten what this is all about. There are a few, of course, who just resist every single thing in this class, but for the most part the response has been overwhelmingly positive. As usual, I have to share some particularly funny, terrible, and touching moments from my students' assignments:

-- The week of the concert, we had the conductor of the orchestra come in to talk about the pieces they'd be playing and give the kids a bit more information about how an orchestra works and what a conductor does. She explained the sort of feedback loop of energy that exists between the orchestra, conductor, and audience during a live performance that makes it feel different from a recording. She knew she was sounding new age-ish and mystical, she said, but that they would understand at the performance. One student admitted in his paper that he had been very skeptical about the whole energy idea, but after experiencing the live performance he couldn't possibly deny the connection and that he was completely carried away by their performance of Strauss's Death and Transfiguration. I'm always wary when I read papers like this because I feel like the kids are telling me what I want to hear, but this really rang with a sincerity that I found moving. 

-- During the intermission, one student began talking to the elderly woman next to him. She asked why he was taking notes and said that she didn't know anything about the upcoming pieces. He told her he was there for music class and proceeded to tell her what he had learned about the next pieces! She was very impressed. He said, "It seemed for me astonishing at the time, but I made a new friend, fifty years older than me, in a music concert!"

-- "There was a specific part in the concert I liked where the people in the concert sped up the paste of the violins to make the tempo of the music speed up drastically." ((yes...he actually put "paste"))

-- My favorite excerpt from these papers actually came from a student in the other TA's class. This kid, knowing that he should dress better than usual to go to the concert, put on his nicest button-up shirt and his best pair of cowboy boots. Almost his entire paper was about how self-conscious he was when he showed up to the concert and saw all the nice old people in suits and dresses. It was apparently very poorly written, but so sincere it made the other TA want to cry! The final line of the paper: "Now I know that I should not wear cowboy boots to the symphony." ((It's so funny, but so sweet at the same time! *sniffle*))

More entries featuring the wisdom of my students will be posted as I finish grading these papers over the next few days!

Cake in a Mug

No, really. My subject line is neither sarcastic nor intended for humor (alone). Cake in a Mug is quite possibly the world's most perfect food. I admittedly haven't tried it yet, but just LOOK at it! It can be prepared just about anywhere. You can mix the dry ingredients ahead of time. You can add chocolate chips! My mind is blown by cake. In a mug. Could there be a better snack for those late night paper writing sessions? 

There's even a variation for Honeybun Coffee Cake and Lemon Glaze Cake. I fully intent to modify this recipe in as many ways as possible and abuse it to get me through the rest of this semester. It can be prepared anywhere, even the grad office in the trailer!

I think I'm in love.

To make your own Cake in a Mug, see this wired article

How's my Driving?

So, I asked for midterm teaching evaluations from my students today. Since this is my first time teaching a class, I gave them a pretty long evaluation to fill out: What do you like/disklike most about this class, what do you want more/less of, do you feel comfortable participating in discussions, do you do the readings, and what do you like/dislike about my teaching style. All three of my classes have very distinct personalities and work ethics, and it definitely came out in the evaluations. My 9:30 class, by far the best of the three, gave me glowing reviews. My 12:30 class, which is full of slackers and whiners, still gave me pretty good reviews overall, but with much more complaining. Here's a summary of all three classes' responses:

• - They enjoy my very laid back classroom environment & teaching style
  
• - They think I'm easily approachable
  
• - They wish I would grade their assignments faster (lawl, not happening!)
  
• - Most of them actually do the reading, except when they're really swamped
  
• - They enjoy it most when we use discussion time to look really in-depth into a particular piece of music
  
• - Some want more music theory, some want less music theory 
  
• - Some want me to talk more, some want me to talk less
  
• - They like how I play random music as they get to class in the morning
  
• - They all hate the long awkward pauses when I ask a question and no one has an answer. (way to win, guys)
  
• - A few of them want more extra credit (lawl!)
  
• - Several of them wish I would basically teach them the test (quote: "I don't like discussing things not about tests/quizzes")
  
• - They want me to spend more time reinforcing the week's lecture material (this is a good idea, but the professor gives us brand new material that she specifically wants up to cover in discussion. Very frustrating)
  
• - In general they want more listening examples, some even want to do more singing in class
  
• - They want more ties to modern day music (again, I'd love to, but I'm bound by the stupid syllabus ><;;)
• - They wish we could cover some world music, too (again, wish I could)
  

There is one thing I know for sure I really need to work on, and fast. I think I may actually be subconsciously treating my 12:30 class differently from the others because they're my worst group. That needs to stop. The kids in that class tended to think I was more uptight and unapproachable, whereas the other classes said that they loved the exact OPPOSITE about me! I'm obviously doing something quite wrong in that section, so I'm really going to try to fix that

And now, of course, we need some of the winning quotes:

Do the reading? - "Yes, of course, who not? It's homework, it's required." ((Hooray!!))

Like the least? - "asking dumb questions about the music. I don't care how it makes me "feel", it's a subjective not an objective question. If I wanted another subjective class I'd take creative writing not music." ((Oi, music is subjective by nature, like all art!))

Like the least? - "I wish we would spend less time on Gregorian Chant." (Amen! Got this comment several times.)

Teaching style - "Megan's great. One of the best TAs at this school." (Haha, I just had to include this one for the ego stroke. I know it isn't true, but it feels nice anyway!)

Here's hoping I can make some changes for the better!

Beethoven Composed for Caribou Barbie.

Short post today for two reasons: 

1) I have an assload of prep to do for class tomorrow

2) The Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack for World of Warcraft releases at midnight tonight. 

Hopefully I'm making up for length with content. I'd like to share with you some excerpts from papers my students have written. The assignment was as follows:

"Listen to Beethoven's 5th Symphony and write a narrative to go along with the music. Be sure to connect the events in your story back to events in the piece."

Memorable quotes:

"BITCH!!!"

"The cheese is too big and clumsy to roll gently over the rug. [...] He can almost taste the cheese of victory."

"This builds and builds into an inclusion of the entire orchestra as McCain re-energizes his conservative base with the selection of Caribou Barbie (Sarah Palin) as his Vice Presidential candidate."

"This piece open up dramatically and really grabs your attention. After listening to this piece all the way through, it kind of reminded me of a football game." *proceeds to tell a football story without connecting it to music at all*

"No aspect of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony protrudes itself more robustly than the unavoidable rhythmic motive."

...And now, for my personal favorite. This student portrayed themself as the chairman of Apple. His story involved travelling back to the era of Beethoven...to sell iPods. The Apple employees he created for his story are named Bill Gates Jr. and James Obama. Some excerpts:

"Sir, even if it may affect our present, I think that overall your idea is brilliant." 

"In front of me stands a funny apocalypse."

"Now, it is the French army that comes from the hole."

"Hey, Vienna, laugh with me. It is the end of the world!"

I love my students. :)