Article Response 2

Olivia & Sarah

     Olivia and Sarah started their presentation with a YouTube clip from Mr. Holland's Opus. They did this to demonstrate their over-arching theme which was that music educators are "part of a team" of people striving to implement real-life skills in their students, while fighting the pressures of standardized testing and budget cuts. The ladies also presented the class with an activity which they entitled the "knowledge chart." In the chart, they asked the students for their knowledge about how music prepares students for life, as well as the ways they could observed after reading the article by Steve Williams.
     Some ideas that made it on to the "prior knowledge" side of the chart were that music education provides students with culture and greater worldview, as well as increased motor skills and a sense of belonging in musical ensembles. On the "new knowledge" side of the chart were factors such as the playing of musical instruments teaches spatial awareness, eye-hand coordination, and high level cognitive processing skills. I believe that while this article was written from the viewpoint of an obviously irked music educator, it still has its valid points. When school districts brag on how much of a team their educators are, and then they remove the budget from many of their educators' classrooms, it creates division. It also sells students short on programs, such as the music program, which could have a life-long impact on them as learners.

Article Response 1

   After having our interests piqued by a vocabulary flood regarding Facebook, as presented by Professor Crawford, the class was assigned two short articles to read. In the articles written on the topic of Facebook, it was written that while some people know how to manage their time correctly and are able to maintain real-life relationships outside of electronic circles, there is a growing group who do not. For them, Facebook can be compared to illicit drugs. It is distracting, and inhibits their success in the off-line realm. Unfortunately, the two articles frequently contradicted each other, specifically in levels of severity and statistical analysis. In class, we divided into groups to discuss our views on the severity of the Facebook question. As a group, we came to the conclusion that there are certainly those who have lost sight of how to maintain relationships outside of those formed on the base of electronic platforms. However, we felt that the analysis of the articles was a bit harsh.