TED Notes Ken Robinson

Education is a huge topic to talk about

Creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it the same

Kids aren't afraid of being wrong
"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you're not prepared to be original." 

"We are educating people out of their creative capacities." 

"Everyone is born an artist."

"If we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it."

Arts are on the bottom of the educational system

The purpose of public education is to create university professors 

Intelligence is diverse, dynamic, distinct 

Creativity is also interactive

First Paper Review

1. Overall I'm very happy with how my paper turned out. I'm sure their could have been a little more editing done to it, but I'm satisfied with it. I did a lot of editing, taking bits and pieces out that weren't necessary, and placing events in order. 

2. Reading my peers' papers, I learned that my paper really wasn't in order and it was actually quite scrambled. For my final draft I placed all my events in the right order and made it less confusing. 

3. At this point I think I need a little more guidance since I wasn't completely sure on how my paper was gonna start or turn out to be. Although we did have a lot of examples, I was still slightly confused on where to begin.

4. I wrote about how music changed my life and how it helped me become a better person. It's a very personal and self-changing experience for me. 

5. I wanted the reader to understand how my experience changed me. I also wanted them to look at the big picture to see how it developed my character and made me into a stronger person. The lesson was to not be afraid to work hard for what you wan because in the end your hard work will pay off. 

How Music Changed My Life

Sheyanne Hughes

Professor Sonia Begert

English 101

26 January 2014

How Music Changed My Life

Music is something that is hard to explain through words. It's something that is explained through instruments; piano, guitar, trumpet, drums, vocals, etc. All are such powerful ways to express one’s self through something other than talking. The way I express myself through music is singing. Singing is something that has always been a part of my life. Ever since I was a small child I would always be singing, even if it wasn't very good, I loved it. As I grew older, I decided to finally take my singing to the next step, choir. 

I joined choir in 6th grade and have continued on with it ever since. Choir is something that people, usually in high school, join for an easy 'A' which, it can be, but when I joined the high school choir, my whole perspective of choir changed. There were auditioned choirs and non-auditioned choirs. Starting out as a freshman, of course I would have to work my way up so I started in a non-auditioned choir. When it came to the auditioned choirs, they were like super heroes to the freshman. They were upper-class men, they knew how to sing, and you could just tell they were happy to be there. It was everyone's, well the try-hard students, dream to be in the auditioned choirs. My dream was to be in Northern Lights, and did I have a ways to go. Northern Lights was an all woman's group. They sang classical songs as well as Jazz. Then there's Jazz Choir which is a mix of men and woman, then there's Chamber Choir. Chamber Choir only sings classical, is a mix of men and woman, and is the top choir. If you were to make it into Northern Lights or Jazz Choir, you would automatically be put into Chamber. With the desire in my heart to be in an auditioned choir, I decided to practice until I made it. 

As a freshman, I knew I wasn't advanced enough to be in any of those choirs, yet I decided that if I wanted to be in an auditioned choir, I had to work hard. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for a vocal coach since I had too much on my plate, but I practiced myself. I would practice at home, increasing my vocal range and training my ear. My hard work paid off when I had finally gotten into Chamber Choir and Northern Lights my junior year. I was so honored to have made it into the top choirs. Northern Lights especially was a small group of girls, ranging from about 15-20 students. Many audition for these choirs, but only a few are selected to be in them. 

One of the most important lessons music taught me was to always go for something I wanted because if I didn't, I would regret it. This being said, in choir we have solos we audition for. Although in my previous years, such as my freshman through junior year, solos were always nerve wrecking to me. Even as a senior they still scared me. Yet, I was determined my senior year to try out for every solo. I wanted to push myself and to not be afraid to put myself out there, especially when it was a solo that I really wanted.  Of course, getting every solo isn't fair, but I did get my fair shares of solos throughout high school. I even auditioned to sing at every fundraiser we had and sang at all of them my junior and senior year. Sometimes, the nerves really get to you, especially when you're listening to the person before you. It really gets to you when all these thoughts fill your head thinking you're going to mess up, or your voice is going to crack, or even that you'll trip going up the stairs getting on the stage. Of course, none of these things ever happened, but nerves are something that always got to me. 

This being said, there was one contest in particular that made my nerves go off the radar my senior year, Solo and Ensemble. It's a contest where choirs from around the district register to sing either a solo, or a group, and compete to go to state and sing. If you make it to state, you compete again to possibly win best in the state. I entered the contest as a mezzo soprano, with a solo. Seeing as this was my senior year, I really wanted to win something, even though I knew I probably wouldn't. Most people who win, or become an alternate, are under the instruction of a vocal coach, seeing as I didn't have one, I knew I'd have to do the majority of the work myself. I picked my own music, and practiced months in advance before the contest. The song I chose was "Silent Noon" by Raulph Vaughan Williams. It is such a beautiful piece, that I knew it was perfect, and of course, my teacher fully supported me and found the sheet music for me. After receiving the sheet music, I would practice for hours a day trying to perfect my tone, sound, and vowels. Of course, every now and then I'd get some help from my choir teacher, but she was so busy helping other students that I basically did all the practicing myself. Thank goodness for my choir teacher who puts on a concert for those participating in the concert. She does this about a week before the contest so that we competing can get most of our nerves out. Even singing in front of my peers I was still nervous, yet my teacher pushed me to do it, believing in me. 

And maybe you're asking, "Well if you're so nervous then why even do it?" The answer to that question is because I love it. I love singing and that amazing feeling you get when you're done, the adrenaline, is all worth it. You just get this feeling of accomplishment. Nothing can ever compare to that feeling. When it was my turn to go up and sing my song, I got so nervous, that when I was introducing the song I sang, I said "Silent Nude" instead of "Silent Noon." It was pretty embarrassing, but the audience all laughed with me, it actually even helped to calm my nerves. 

Yet on the day of the contest, I was still very nervous. When it came time to sing for the judge, I was insanely nervous. I got in front of her, my heart beating out of my chest. All I would tell myself was to breath, smile, and make eye contact with the judge. The piano intro started playing, I started shaking, but as I opened my mouth to sing, I felt something strange inside of me. A complete calmness washed over me. I felt the song through my bones and did my best to sing that song to the best of my ability, just how I practiced. When I finished the song and the piano finished playing, I felt such an amazing feeling of accomplishment and happiness. I had worked so hard for that moment, and to know I was completely happy with my performance made that moment such an incredible one that I'll never forget. It took a while for the results to come up but when they did, I wanted to scream. I had gotten first alternate for mezzo soprano. I hadn't expected to win anything, since I wasn't taking voice lessons, but I at least wanted to try for it. Without music, I would of never fully understood how it felt to be rewarded tremendously for all the hours of hard work you put into something you want to achieve. 

Although I may get anxiety when it comes to singing alone, it is something fun to me. That feeling of anxiety before I sing in front of people is just an obstacle that's in my way. In fact, I felt so good about singing in front of people, that when I sang a solo at my graduation, I wasn't scared at all, I was actually really excited! Everyone gets nerves, but it takes a lot of perseverance to move past them. 

Being a part of music, especially at a young age, is an unforgettable experience. Music is something that will remain in my life forever and is something I will never give up. It taught me to work hard and to never be afraid to go after what I want.

SUPER ROUGH DRAFT

How Music Changed My Life

What is music? Well, music is something that is hard to explain through words. Music, to me, is something so personal that I can only express my passion for it through music itself. Music has been a part of my life ever since I was a little girl. I was always singing, even if it wasn't that good, and I learned to play the acoustic guitar. Without music, I believe my life would be totally different. It has changed my life completely for the better.

Music can teach you how to be motivated. My instrument of choice is my vocals, which sparks the motivation inside me to want to increase my vocal range. When I was in 6th grade, I decided to join choir. It was the best decision of my life. Ever since then, I've always been enrolled in some type of choir. During middle school, and especially high school, choir was one of the only classes I truly loved. It was one of the reasons I actually got up in the morning. Knowing I'd be surrounded by something I loved, being able to sing, and to extend my knowledge of music itself motivated me. During high school, I made it into an auditioned choir called Chamber Choir. This class was about an hour before school started. Even though some mornings were hard and would have been easier to just hit the snooze and go back to sleep, I pushed through. My love of choir and singing was much stronger than my love for sleep. 

Music taught me that it pays off when you work at something hard enough. During choir in high school, we had auditioned choirs. We had a Chamber Choir, a Jazz Choir, and the all-woman group, Northern Lights. As a freshman, I knew I wasn't advanced enough to be in any of those choirs, yet I decided that if I wanted to be in an auditioned choir, I had to work hard. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for a vocal coach since I had too much on my plate, but I practiced myself. I would practice at home, increasing my vocal range and training my ear. My hard work paid off when I had finally gotten into Chamber Choir and Northern Lights my junior year. I was so honored to have made it into the top choirs. Northern Lights especially was a small group of girls, ranging from about 15-20 students. Many audition for these choirs, but only a few are selected to be in them. 

Another time I can remember when my hard work paid off was the singing contest in Bremerton, Solo and Ensemble. It's a contest where choirs from around the district register to sing either a solo, or a group, and compete to go to state and sing. If you make it to state, you compete again to possibly win best in the state. I entered the contest as a mezzo soprano, with a solo. Seeing as this was my senior year, I really wanted to win something, even though I knew I probably wouldn't. Most people who win, or become an alternate, are under the instruction of a vocal coach, seeing as I didn't have one, I knew I'd have to do the majority of the work myself. I picked my own music, and practiced months in advance before the contest. I would practice for hours a day trying to perfect my tone, sound, and vowels. Of course, every now and then I'd get some help from my choir teacher, but she was so busy helping other students that I basically did all the practicing myself. When it came time to sing for the judge, I was insanely nervous. I got in front of her, my heart beating out of my chest. All I would tell myself was to breath, smile, and make eye contact with the judge. The piano intro started playing, I started shaking, but as I opened my mouth to sing, I felt something strange inside of me. A complete calmness washed over me. I felt the song through my bones and did my best to sing that song to the best of my ability, just how I practiced. The song was such a beautiful peace, "Silent Noon" by Ralph Vaughan Williams. When I finished the song and the piano finished playing, I felt such an amazing feeling of accomplishment and happiness. I had worked so hard for that moment, and to know I was completely happy with my performance made that moment such an incredible one that I'll never forget. Now the hard part, the waiting game. It took a while for the results to come up but when they did, I wanted to scream. I had gotten first alternate for mezzo soprano. I hadn't expected to win anything, since I wasn't taking voice lessons, but I at least wanted to try for it. Without music, I would of never fully understood how it felt to be rewarded tremendously for all the hours of hard work you put into something you want to achieve. 

One for the most important lessons music taught me was to always go for something I wanted because if I didn't, I would regret it. This being said, in choir we have solos we audition. Although in my previous years, such as my freshman through junior year, solos were always nerve wrecking to me. Even as a senior they still scared me. Yet, I was determined my senior year to try out for every solo. I wanted to push myself and to not be afraid to put myself out there, especially when it was a solo that I really wanted.  Of course, getting every solo isn't fair, but I did get my fair shares of solos throughout high school. I even auditioned to sing at every fundraiser we had and sang at all of them my junior and senior year. Sometimes, the nerves really get to you, especially when you're listening to the person before you. It really gets to you when all these thoughts fill your head thinking you're gonna mess up, or your voice is gonna crack, or even that you'll trip going up the stairs getting on the stage. Of course, none of these things ever happened, but nerves are something that always got to me. That's another reason I pushed myself to sing more in front of people. And maybe you're asking, "Well if you're so nervous then why even do it?" The answer to that question is because I love it. I love singing and that amazing feeling you get when you're done, the adrenaline, is all worth it. You just get this feeling of accomplishment. Nothing can ever compare to that feeling. One time, I got so nervous, that when I was introducing the song I sang, I said "Silent Nude" instead of "Silent Noon." It was pretty embarrassing, but the audience all laughed with me, it actually even helped to calm my nerves. Singing is something fun to me, and that feeling of anxiety before I sing in front of people is just an obstacle that's in my way. In fact, I felt so good about singing in front of people, that when I sang a solo at my graduation, I wasn't scared at all, I was actually really excited! Everyone gets nerves, but it takes a lot of perseverance to move past them. 

Being a part of music, especially at a young age, is an unforgettable experience. Yet, there is someone who I couldn't have done any of this without. She is someone who has always pushed me to achieve greater things and who has stood by me no matter what. She was someone who is so passionate about music and what she does, that she passed on that same passion down to me. My choir teacher, Sylvia Cauter. Anyone who has had the absolute honor and pleasure of knowing her will know that she is a one of a kind person, so unique in every way. She's quirky, smart, passionate, and so caring for everyone. Without her nothing that I wrote about would have been possible. She kept me motivated beyond belief and helped me get to where I wanted to be. When someone so special comes into your life and guides you on an educational learning experience, they're someone who you'll never forget. Music is something that will remain in my life forever and is something I will never give up. My life has never been the same since choir, but in the best way possible.   

My Favorite Educational Narrative

My Favorite Educational Narrative

If I had to choose my favorite educational narrative, I would have to choose "How I Learned to Love Traveling Solo" by Cate Huston. The reason this is my favorite educational narrative is because of how informative and fun it is. I love hearing about her personal experiences and why she loves traveling by herself. She even gives pros and cons of traveling solo. One excerpt from the blog I liked was, "When you’re traveling on your own, hardly anyone cares what you look like, and you’re probably never going to see the people you meet again anyway. So comfortable, easily packable clothes should be a priority." Usually people are always freaking out about their appearance, but Huston insists to dress for comfort, especially if you're traveling alone. Something else that stuck out to me, that I really like, is when she said, "When I travel, I’m after an adventure, not to fall in love."

I also really like how she emphasizes that you should really take it all in. Even the littlest things can be breath taking. One of these moments include when she said, "When I visited Hong Kong, I had this moment sitting on a bench in a park with an amazing barbecue pork bun. I felt very peaceful, and just acknowledged it as the kind of moment that I get while traveling solo, but not when travelling with others. I felt relaxed and free to just do whatever the hell appealed to me at that moment." I for one am a big fan of the little moments that just make you happy to be where you are in that exact moment. The littlest things can really make your day. 

This educational narrative is definitely one I will be looking back on whenever I want to travel. Which is another reason why I love this blog so much! I love to travel! Huston is just someone I feel like I could connect with on a personal level. She's someone who doesn't need other people to enjoy herself, which is something I really admire in other people. This blog has been very insightful and very informative. I could go on and on on why I like this blog so much, but I don't wanna make this entry too long! 

In conclusion, I loved her educational narrative, and it was definitely my favorite out of all the ones I read!  

Differences Between Ed. Nar's. in Books and Blogs

Books vs. Blogs

When it comes to writing an educational narrative in a book than on a blog, the difference can be quite large. The style of blogs, I feel, is more personal, and more about free writing. You don't have to worry too much about punctuation and you can write more expressively. With blogs, you can also customize your page adding different backgrounds, different text styles, colors, and even adding pictures to enhance your blog post 

With books, I feel like writing has to be more technical and you have to write to please the reader. With blogging, you're writing to almost please yourself and let out how you're feeling, or share things about your personal life. Blogging, you don't have to worry about what some publisher thinks of your work because you are the publisher. The tone of blogging, I feel, is a lot more relaxed then it is when writing a book. 

When it comes to depth, I feel like sometimes books can be a bit more informative than blogging. Of course, this is dependent on the type of blog/ type of book. Some bloggers can be very informative and go into so much depth about their topic while books can also do the same. Again, this is dependent on the writer. 

If it were up to me, I feel like reading/writing blogs is a lot more laid back and you can really get to know the writer on a more personal level by the way they write. When with books, the writing can be more technical and take a while to really get to know the writer. But none of this is set in stone. Like I said before, it's just all dependent on the writer. 

Start of My Educational Narrative Using a Purpose: Inform (Rough Draft)

Music

Music is something that is hard to explain through words. It's something that is explained through instruments; piano, guitar, trumpet, drums, vocals, etc. All are such powerful ways to express ones self through something other than talking. The way I express myself through music is singing. Singing is something that has always been a part of my life. Ever since I was a small child I would always be singing, even if it wasn't very good, I loved it. As I grew older, I decided to finally take my singing to the next step, choir. I joined choir in 6th grade and have continued on with it ever since. Choir is something that people, usually in high school, join for an easy 'A.' Which, it can be, but when I joined the high school choir, my whole perspective of choir changed. There were auditioned choirs and non auditioned choirs. Starting out as a freshman, of course I would have to work my way up so I started in a non auditioned choir. When it came to the auditioned choirs, they were like super heroes to the freshman. They were upper-class men, they knew how to sing, and you could just tell they were happy to be there. Without choir and music, I don't know how my life would have turned out. It's something that has changed my life in a way I can't even explain, but I know it's changed it for the better.