Very interesting Email Interview
Myself and the gentleman who gave me the responses below couldn’t find a time to meet so he emailed the answers back. Interesting stuff. He’s a VERY interesting professor. I didn’t feel it was good to use his name in the blog for confidentiality.
How old are you? 50ish
M or F?mostly M
How would you characterize you education level? Doctorate with Masters degrees from various people and disciplines every couple years
Do you own an iPhone / iPod Touch? If not, what mobile devices do you use? nope
Do you play any instruments (physical, virtual, computer-based)? laptop/toys/ey
What age group do you primarily teach? college
How did you learn to teach? on the job and 2 kickin pedagogy classes in grad school
Tell me about how you teach. I teach out of love for other people….helping them to become the people they already are. Unleashing their creative spirit.
Do you use the same teaching method for each student? well…you modify it based on the student.
Do you teach groups of students differently than an individual? to be certain! I’m more autobiographical person-to-person.
Do you encourage students to collaborate on projects or collaborate in the learning process? Why or why not? ALWAYS. LIFE is collaboration. Parenting, politics…community involvement. Sharing the planet.
How do you start from scratch?? Not sure what you mean. I start each day from scratch, and not. I try to do both.
How do you give feedback? always try to find something positive. And look for the magic kernel..the thing that is uniquely THEM.
What gets students excited? Meaning.
Tell me about your worst students. THey want me to rubberstamp their genius. So I DO. That always confuses them, then I can teach them. I never argue. I let them make a fool out of me. Willingly. Then it’s over…and I can teach.
What are the common struggles you encounter with students’ understanding of the material? Experience, few people read, and all my students (almost) are rich white kids.
Do you use incentive based teaching models?
example 1: do you reward students who do well, and/or punish students who do poorly? of course!
example 2: do you think it’s more important to encourage struggling students or encourage accelerated students? I see no difference. Either way you’re teaching kids….each person has what they have.
In the event of a student really struggling with a lesson, what do you do to help them understand? spend time and time and more time.
Do you ever try teaching someone a lesson about one subject by presenting a different subject that is either closely related or starkly contrasting? ABSOLUTELY . I LIVE in the realm of metaphor. There’s always a way in!
Collaborators
What is your experience with collaborative projects? Some suck, some are amazing….they always include compromise.
Do you sit and write music with others? ”Sit”? how would that go? one guy does treble clef, another bass? I mean…I record with other people…improvise, shape structures, musically. I certainly work with librettists and write operas. I certainly work with dancers and video artists. These things take lots of time and usually beer or trust-building….whatever.
Do you write music and then present it to the rest of the group? yes.
Do you improvise in the group? of course.
Learners / Collaborators
What was the last thing you learned to do? How did you learn? What motivated you to learn it?The last thing I learned to do was to use a hot water bottle. I learned by watching someone else do it. I was cold at night. I’m dead serious….I hope I didn’t misinterpret the question.
What things do you create? What do you do with them?o boy. Looks like I blew the above. Maybe not. I create possibilites. Structures that are open. I throw dice to try to make decisions. I create fires and get warm. I play games to amuse myself. I write music, make CD’s, paint, sculpt.
How much music do you have? When do you listen? “much music”? what do you mean? cd’s about 1,000, records about 1,000. I listen almost ALL the time.
Do you play any instruments? piano/toys/electronics/trombone
If so, how did you learn to play that instrument? self-study and private study
Tell me about your experience with playing music. I have felt ONEness. I have felt proud. I have felt shame. I have felt worry.
What frustrates you about playing or learning music? I can’t do it enough….esp. with those I want to do it with……they live far away.
Tell me about what you do with your friends.? Play games. Drink. Tell stories. Listen. Make noise. Laugh.
