Mitch Davis: Inadvertent Criminal, Episode 12

I will start off with an admission of guilt and a story of redemption.  Tuesday was a blusteringly (I know its not a word.  I am using it anyway) cold day.  The wind was intense, the temperature was low, and some genius (yup, that's me) forgot to put the winter lining inside of his jacket.  I hadn't made dinner for the week last week.  Time got away from me and it just didn't happen.  So, I had to buy dinner this particular Tuesday evening.  I was standing outside this Middle Eastern food cart that I have come to really enjoy.  And it was so cold; I was shivering in my proverbial boots.  Most food trucks on campus that I had been to so far take payment when you order.  This place, however, takes payment when you pick up your food.  So, as I was waiting for my food to be ready and feeling my body temperature dropping by the second, somehow I forgot that I hadn't payed for my food.  When my food was ready, I grabbed the bag, thanked the guys in the cart, wished them a good evening, and walked away... without paying!  I didn't realize I had forgotten to pay until I reached that evening's class.  I felt like such an idiot.  I had committed a crime!  By the time class was over, the cart was closed.  But the next morning, I stopped at the cart apologized, explained myself, and payed the gentlemen for my meal from the previous night.  They didn't speak a whole lot of English, so I am not sure if they understood what I was saying.  But, they took my money and I am assuming accepted my apology.

Other than that, it was a pretty good week.  Monday got things off to a great start.  My presentation (I talked about working on it in last week's episode) went super well.  I felt like I had great flow and many of my classmates remarked to me at the end of class that they really enjoyed my presentation.  I made a concerted effort not to just describe each of the studies I read, but to synthesize all of the content, gleaned across the studies, into a logical presentation of the main ideas and themes that arose in the research.  It turns out that my efforts did not go unnoticed.  Here is my grade sheet:

I am not sure how my grade stacks up against my classmates', but I feel like 113/115 is a pretty solid effort.  I only lost two points: one for going over time, and one for some "nervous" gestures.  I think I need to invest in a shot clock.  I honestly didn't intend on running over time.  There was no clock in the room to gauge my pace by.  I had practiced the presentation to the point that I was able to get everything in within the time limit.  But, I did it with a clock.  Not having a clock bit me there, I think.  I didn't feel nervous, but I guess I had some body language that seemed like I was.  I do fidget and have trouble standing still.  I wonder if that is what she was talking about.  I wish I had recorded my presentation so I could have watched it and identified the presentation skills I need to work on...

... because I am submitting a proposal to present a session at the NAfME (National Association for Music Educators) conference in Nashville, fall '15.  I am sure I will have more opportunities to practice my presentation skills before then.  I am really excited about this session proposal, though.  As always, I cannot divulge my content here to protect my intellectual property.  But, I can tell you that the theme for the conference is creativity and I am putting together a session proposal about creativity in band and orchestra classroom instruction.  I realized as I was jotting down some ideas that I don't actually know a whole lot about creativity.  I mean, I know that I am creative and I can identify when others are being creative.  But, I don't really know a lot about what it actually is in the scientific sense of the word.  So, I decided to do some research on the empirical studies that have investigated creativity.  But, I didn't know where to start.  I ran across a textbook review, which regaled Mark Runco's Textbook, Creativity: Theories and Themes: Research, Development, and Practice, as the textbook to read.  It was described as being impartial and an exhaustive survey of creativity research.  Moreover, Runco is (or at least was at the time) the editor of the Creativity Research Journal.  So, I downloaded the book from the library and I have been absolutely enthralled by its content.  So much of the research into creativity is supporting my own beliefs.  Runco also makes points which have challenged what I believe creativity to be and which have opened my eyes to new possibilities for what creativity could entail.

Instead of reviewing a particular research study, this week I will review the Preface of Runco's book for you all.  As I finish each chapter, I will include reviews of them as well.  I am only halfway through the first chapter.  Runco starts out by stating that creativity is hard to define.  It has many permutations and exhibits itself differently in different people.  He goes on to say the children may even be more creative than adults due to their lack of inhibition, though he admits this to be a controversial stance.  Runco explains that the diversity of creativity is cause for its study; it is possibly one of the greatest human resources and should, therefore, be understood.  Language is given as an example of the use of creativity in every day life.  "It is the creativity of language that demonstrates that it is not entirely acquired through experience and learning.  If language depended entirely on experience, we would have difficulty saying things we had not heard before" (p. x).  He expands that statement by saying that once background knowledge and some governing rules are learned, humans can manipulate knowledge and content within that framework and that is creativity.  This leads into his definition of creativity.  Creativity breeds things that are original and useful.  Runco argues that "creativity is a potential each of us shares and a talent each of us should employ, probably every day" (p. x).  He goes on to say that "creativity is associated with, but distinct from intelligence, innovation, imagination, insight, and health" (p. x) and that "it plays a role in many things, including problem solving, adaptation, learning, and coping" (p. x).  Runco ends the Preface by saying that creativity has many influences and that the book will explore many of them.  The first chapter is about cognition and creativity and, I must say from what I have read so far, it is fascinating!

Runco, Mark. (2007).  Creativity: Theories and Themes: Research, Development, and Practice. Elsevier.

I got my paper back in Child and Adolescent Development this week.  I got an A.  Bam!  The professor had only glowing remarks at the end of my paper.  I guess I can write pretty well.  Our final paper in the class is an observation paper.  We have to pick an adolescent, observe their behavior, and then write about it.  However, my PA clearances have not all come back yet, so I cannot legally work with children in the state yet.  So, I get to do my paper on a movie of my choosing: Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Bow, bow.. chick, chickah.

On Wednesday, the director of bands strolled into the Pet Shop while I was working.  She was looking for some supplies.  But, we got to talking a little while she was there.  She had just been in Baltimore, conducting the BCPS honor band and ran into Mr. Miles, of Morgan Stat University, while she was down there.  It turns out that Mr. Miles spoke glowingly of me to her.  I could tell that whatever he told her boosted her opinion of me, not that she had a bad opinion of me to begin with.  But, any bit helps!

In my brass methods, I have decided to use the last few classes to let the students do some peer teaching.  The problem is that you don't really get real world issues when teaching your fellow, classically-trained, musicians - even if those musicians are playing secondary instruments.  So, I make up fake personas for some of the students and didn't tell the student-teachers what I had done.  Some of the characters portrayed in my classes this week were:

• You don't know how to keep time.  You always speed up.
• You don't know how to keep time.  You always slow down.  (Those two were sitting next to each other, of course)
• You tap your foot loudly to keep time.  Be obnoxious.
•  If asked to sing, you sing the wrong notes.  If asked to clap, you clap out of rhythm
• Every note you play is either in first position (trombone) or with no valves (trumpet), regardless of the actual fingering for the note.

The student-teachers had no idea what was going on.  It was devilishly evil and wonderfully educational all at the same time!

That is all for now.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I will be taking a week off from the blog for the holiday.  Keep your eyes out in two weeks for the next episode!

Future Dr. Mitch, out!

I learned something very important about being a grad student this week, Episode 11

I learned something very important about being a grad student this week: eating is important.  Monday was a crazy day.  I had a long morning of teaching my brass methods classes.  Usually, I am able to stuff some food in my face right after brass class, but I had to run right off to wind ensemble rehearsal.  So, I didn't have time to eat.  And then I settled in for some work on a project for Psychology of Music Learning and Behavior (we will come back to this project later).  I got so wrapped up in the project that class time rolled up and I still hadn't eaten anything.  After class, I had to go upstairs for Night Owls rehearsal, still not having eaten.  By the time I got on the podium to conduct, I had no energy.  I felt very off my game.  I did fine, but I wasn't in my regular, Future Dr. Mitch form.  The moral of the story is that I need to eat so I can keep being awesome all day long!

So, remember that paper I wrote for Psychology of Music Learning and Behavior?  I am sure you all read it in last week's post.  Well, it turns out that my rant on my hate for Microsoft Word last week was not destined to be complete yet.  We need to journey back in time, a week and two days ago.  I was getting to work on my paper (yes, that same paper that you read and which changed your life) and the trackpad on my computer stopped working.  That's this part of the computer:

I tried rebooting the computer and it did not help.  Still no track pad.  Normally, I would have done tons of research on how to fix the problem.  But, I had the paper due on Monday.  So, I reinstalled Windows.  Success!  Trackpad, operational.  I finished my paper.  As you all know (because you read it, right?  Right?  RIGHT?), I posted my paper here last week for the world to read.  Well, at least one person read it because she told me about all the spelling errors.  SPELLING ERRORS!  And this was after the paper was submitted!  I was mortified!  Of all people to turn a paper into with spelling errors, this was the last professor I would have wanted.  Well, I tried to figure out what had happened.  I know I spell checked it.  I got the little window that said "Spell check complete.  You are good to go."  Well, as it turned out, when I reinstalled Windows and, subsequently, Office, the spell check function did not install properly.  Apparently, this is not an uncommon problem.  I fixed the spell check and checked my document.  Spelling errors, fixed.  Phew!  Except, my paper had already been submitted.  And... AND... it had been posted so the whole class could read it.  Well, I emailed my professor, sent her the updated copy, apologized, and then requested she swap the copy with errors with the new copy.  Thankfully, she allowed it.  I don't know which copy she will grade, but at least my classmates will get to read the copy with the errors corrected.

Now back to the project from this past week that I told you I would come back to.  If we do all the work for Psychology of Music Learning and Behavior, we are given a B+ in the class.  In order to get the A, we need to complete an Extra Evidence assignment.  This assignment can be anything we want as long as it pertains to the class.  Well, since I already did all that literature review on instrument choice, I decided to write a research project proposal on the subject.  I want to do a study to see if there is a way to better support balanced instrumentation in beginning band.  I can't post my actual proposal here; I wouldn't want anyone stealing my ideas.  But, I am hoping that after the proposal is reviewed, I will be given the green light to actually carry out the research.  Hey, elementary school band director friends of mine, want to be part of my study?  Yes, I am looking at you!

Seriously, if this project gets approved, I will be calling.


Remember that stats quiz?  The one that I finished in record time?  Well, it turns out I didn't do so hot.  Don't get me wrong; I didn't do poorly.  I still beat the mean score on the test.  But, I did markedly worse on this exam than on the first one.  I need to meet with the professor and figure out why I went from top of the mountain to middle of the pack.


This past Thursday, I played my first concert with the orchestra.  I wasn't digging the music.  As I talked about last week, all this contemporary music is getting to me a little bit.  But, something happened on stage at the concert.  The conductor seemed much more into the music and I think the orchestra was really vibing off of him.  I actually rather enjoyed the performance.

Also, it snowed that evening.

I have decided to be more proactive in meeting people at school.  So, I proposed starting a music grad student kickball team.  There is a winter indoor kickball league.  And people are totally down for it!  Granted, we are going to be a bunch of musicians trying to play sports.  This could be fodder for Youtube videos for the next century.  But, we are going to do it anyway!

I woke up to an email from the Dean of Students on Friday morning.  It was short and dry.  It said, "Mitchell: please stop by my office or call me as soon as possible."  I didn't think I had done anything to get in trouble yet!  It was very much like getting called to the principal's office.  But, it turned out he just wanted to say hi since he hadn't met me yet.  Crisis, averted.

I replaced a clarinet pad during my Pet Shop hours this week.

 Before

 Missing pad

 Took off the key

 Put the pad in the cup

Clamped the key

Tools used: leak light, screwdrivers, pad slick, pliers, butane torch

I am still struggling with Temple Prep.  We read (read: attempted to read) the beloved winter band tune, Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson.  It did not go well.  We have 2 more rehearsals before the concert and I do not know how I will get that tune and the other tunes ready for the show.  I will figure something out.  I have requested that I be allowed to teach a section of theory for the kids in the Wind Ensemble in the spring.  I think that is going to happen, which will be great.  If I can teach them to read, we will be able to approach the music in a much more musical way.  Time to start writing a theory curriculum!

Finally, I got a package in the mail.  It is my master's degree.  I am officially a Master of Music.

Well, that is all for now.

Future Dr. Mitch, out!

Dear Microsoft Word, I hate you! Tales of formatting and other woes, Episode 10

It was a busy week!  Though, that doesn't seem to be any different than any other week.

I spent a lot of time this week working on a paper for Psychology of Music Learning and Behavior.  The paper, a review of literature, was to be 14 pages in length (this will become important shortly) and based in literature written no earlier than 1990 (this will also become important shortly).  We were allowed to pick any topic we wanted, as long as it relates to the course material.  I chose to research psychological factors that influence children's decisions regarding which instrument to play.  Promoting good instrumentation is a focus of mine and I figured that doing a review of this literature would inform some potential, future, original research of my own.

So, I set out to find research on the topic that has been written since 1990 (I told you it would become important in a minute).  Unfortunately, as one of the articles I read was quick to point out, there has been a paucity - yes, I learned a new word; it means a lack of something or an insufficient quantity of something - of research on the topic over the past couple decades.  Gack!  Those are the decades I was supposed to be finding research in!  Well, it turns out, we were allowed to use some earlier research if it is regarded as being pivotal research on the topic.  Phew!  Fortunately, I found enough new research that I only had to use one, pre-1990 study.  I did reference some others, though.  So, I read and wrote and read and wrote and wrote and wrote...  You get the idea.  I kept my eye on my page count (I told you that 14 page limit was going to be important too) because I figured I would miss the mark either way small or way big.  Oddly enough, as I finished writing I was in a really good spot.  I had written about 12 and a half pages.  I figured that gave me a little wiggle room if I wanted to expand my introduction or discussion section.  But, alas, the contented feeling of a job well done was not long lived.  As I started my final formatting, I realized my computer has a default font setting of 11pt Calibri.  "No biggie," I told myself.  I'll just switch it all over to 12pt Times New Roman.  Easy enough.  Except, when I did it my page count jumped to 15 pages.  15 pages!  15 PAGES!  And you know what did it?  It was my reference section.  It was one reference too long, so it took up 2 pages of my page count instead of 1.  And because Word has this wonderful automatic reference function, I had so much trouble getting it formatted to fit on one page.  And then, my headers kept disappearing!  I know they have streamlined Word so anyone can use it.  But, all the default settings drive me nuts!

Anyway, I ended up solving all my issues and put out a pretty solid paper.  Or so I hope.  Read it!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1sduojYTl_cdW1nSkMxUEpFMUE/view?usp=sharing
(Now without spelling errors.  Thanks, Katy!)

This concert cycle with the ensembles (I am playing with both Wind Symphony and Orchestra at the moment) has been an interesting one.  We are very heavily immersed in contemporary music.  I totally understand the need to study and perform this genre of music in an academic setting.  I am just not sure I like the music.  I am working my butt off, playing it as best I can, and am keeping an open mind to it.  I am actually appreciating the music a bit more the more I study it.  But, I am starting to have a craving for a cadence.  Just a quick little PAC would be fantastic!

(PAC = Perfect Authentic Cadence)

 

Also, here is a page from the piece I am playing with Orchestra:

  

Notice anything?  Let me help you out:

That's right, folks.  A contrabassoon part written in tenor clef!  I never thought I would see the day.

On Tuesday, I went to a Pennsylvania Music Educators Association event.  Dr. C. asked me to help her with one of her sessions.  So, I did.  Hopefully I earned some solid brownie points.  I sat in on her second session and learned a lot, both about her topic and about giving presentations at an event like that.  Then I got free lunch.  Woo!  The second half of the day was all about Gordon's Music Learning Theory.  The jury is still out about how I feel regarding Music Learning Theory.  Sitting through the sessions didn't quite make a believer out of me yet.  I did learn some things I liked about the theory, though.  It has a solid emphasis on improvisation, which I think is important.  It relies heavily on singing, which I think is good for instrumentalists.  But, it promotes a delay in reading and relies, at least in the early stages, on rote teaching.  I am not sure I can get behind this aspect of it.  I have a lot more learning to do about Music Learning Theory and will dismantle it all for you once I am much less of a fledgeling on the topic  More to come later.

I had my second statistics quiz on Wednesday.  I missed the actual quiz date because of the PMEA event.  So, the professor let me take it the next day.  When he handed me the quiz, he told me that a lot of the class had trouble with it and took the entire 2 and a half hour period to complete it.  He also described wrestling the quiz out of some folks' hands when time was up.  Unfortunately, I only had an hour in my schedule to take the quiz.  He told me to do what I could in the hour, that we would see how far I got, and assess the situation after the hour was up.  So, I finished the quiz in 50 minutes.  This is either a really good sign or a really bad one.  I felt like I understood all the questions.  He remarked that I was really fast at completing the test.  I hope I did ok!  We will find out on Tuesday.  Well, I will find out on Tuesday.  You will find out next week.

On a bright note, the Ravens are back to winning.  Although, it was against the Titans.  But, a win is a win.  And, even with that win and a Steelers loss, we are still in last place.  How about that AFC North?  All of the teams with winning records.  And the Browns in first place.  The Browns in first place?  I had to see it a few times before I believed it.  We should be back atop the pack before long... I hope.

Well, it is almost 1am and I am exhausted.  So, I am off to bed.  Until next week,

Future Doctor Mitch, out!

One Day, I Will Be Able To Look Back On This And Laugh., Episode 9

As we learned from How I Met Your Mother, everyone has gaps in their knowledge: integral pieces of information needed for life or career that somehow got left at the station when the cognitive train rolled out.  My week started off with one such incident.  I was discussing teaching rhythm with my brass classes Monday morning.  I introduced a few of the major methodologies for teaching rhythm: ta, ti-ti; watermelon, apple; Takadimi; number counting; and a few others.  I kept referring to the ta, ti-ti method by its creator, Kodaly, whose name I pronounced Ko-dah-lee, as I have since I learned about him in undergrad.  Well, as one of my classes was quick to point out, his name is actually pronounced Ko-die.  Silly Hungarians.  But, it doesn't stop there.  You see, I had heard of this guy, Kodaly (Ko-die).  And, somehow, I never made the connection that these two people, Kodaly (Ko-dah-lee) and Kodaly (Ko-die) were actually the same person.  How on Earth could this have happened?  My only thought is that I must have had a professor in the past who mispronounced the name or who didn't correct me when I mispronounced the name and that maybe I encountered his name in one class in written form and in another in spoken form and never actually made the connection between the two.  Yikes!



The day took an interesting turn when I got to Night Owls rehearsal in the evening.  One of the pieces I am conducting, Sandpaper Ballet (yes, you can click here to hear it), is written in cut time.  But, I have made the decision to conduct it in 4 because the group just can't keep the tempo when we try to feel it in 2.  I did get a few questions and concerns about it from the members of the ensemble, but I stuck to my gut and kept doing what I had decided was the right course of action.  Later on in the rehearsal, Dr. C. (my adviser and founder/ conductor of the Night Owls) was conducting one of her pieces - a piece also in cut time - and was asked by some members if she was going to do it in 4 or 2.  She replied that unlike some other people (looking directly at me and grinning), she would actually conduct in cut time.  She made another comment that being a new doctoral student, I must not have gotten to the cut time page in the text book yet.  She totally took a shot at me!  And to make matters worse, it caught me so completely off guard that I was rendered speechless and was unable to come up with a witty retort!  On the bright side though, it is good to know that our professor/ student relationship has progressed to this level.  She won't sneak one past me again.  I should also say that at the end of rehearsal, she made a point of telling me that even though she made the joke, she supports my decision to conduct the cut time piece in 4 and thinks that it is the right call in that situation.

I had another week of understanding statistics.  Bam!

Temple Prep Wind Ensemble is not going superbly well.  This past rehearsal was not a stellar one.  To start, it was raining, so 1/3 of the ensemble did not show up.  The sad truth of the matter is that the students in the group cannot read rhythms.  It is a problem that can be easily fixed... if I had the time... which I don't.  So, I find myself doing more rote teaching than I would prefer and it hurts my soul a little bit.  But, it reaffirms why I am doing my Ph.D. 

After Temple Prep, I took a trip out to the suburbs to go clothes shopping.  I determined that my winter professional wardrobe needed a little help.  It turns out I need help.  I stood in the middle of two different stores, surrounded by clothing options, unable to figure out what I should buy, what goes with what, and how to combine colors.  I ended up coming home with nothing.  I need someone to decide they want to step up and help me buy new clothes.  Someone with some fashion sense, please!  I did come home with some 2012 Samichlaus that I found at Total Wine, so it wasn't a complete waste.

As promised, this week I will regale you all with a summary of a research study.  Many of you have likely heard of the Mozart Effect.  Do you know where it came from?  It might surprise you.  In 1993, Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky published a small, unassuming study in a journal called Nature.  In the study, 3 conditions were explored: listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, listening to a relaxation tape, and silence.  36 college students participated in the study.  Participants heard 10 minutes of a condition and then had to complete a spatial reasoning test.  All participants underwent all three conditions.  Spatial IQ scores were recorded for each condition.  It was determined in the study that Spatial IQ scores increased from the Mozart condition, but not for the other two.  The catch is that the benefits resulting from listening to the Mozart lasted for only about 15 minutes after listening.  Subsequent studies have had mixed success replicating the results of the initial study.  Some researchers attribute the benefits to a state of arousal that is achieved from listening to music that one enjoys.  Does Mozart make you smarter?  It seems probably not.  And if it does, it only makes you spatially smarter for about 15 minutes.  And only if you like Mozart.  And specifically that Mozart sonata.

Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, K. N. (1993).  Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365, 611.

Ravens have sunk to last place in the division.  I don't want to talk about it. 

Well, I think that just about wraps it up for this week. 

Future Dr. Mitch, out!