Another great email Interview
Investigation by David Fienup
Introductory Questions
How old are you? 43
M or F? M
How would you characterize you education level? Graduate Student
Do you own an iPhone / iPod Touch? Yes
If so, have you purchased any Apps from the App Store? Yes
Have you used any Music playing apps on the iPhone / iPod? Yes
Do you play any instruments (physical, virtual, computer-based)? Yes, Yes, Yes
Teachers
What age group do you primarily teach? Teenagers
How did you learn to teach? Some schooling and from my parents who were both educator, but the best teacher is the fact that I am dyslexic. I have spent my whole life teaching myself how to do things that come easy to most people. This makes it easy to come up with 101 innovative ways to explain things to others.
Tell me about how you teach. This is a larger question than I can fully answer here, but generally I try to think about each step that brought me to learning something and try to take someone back down that path while taking steps to this side or that of the path where needed.
Do you use the same teaching method for each student? Most definitely not given what I know about being dyslexic.
Do you teach groups of students differently than an individual? I try not to teach to a group. Even though I teach groups I teach to each person individually. This is very hard, but the dyslexic thing has shown me how easy it is for one individual to slip through a crack.
Do you encourage students to collaborate on projects or collaborate in the learning process? Why or why not? Yes. We all have a great deal to learn from one another. Teacher and student. Many times the student is teacher given a chance.
How do you start from scratch? I don’t understand what you are asking here.
How do you give feedback? Gently, but honestly.
What gets students excited? Playing to their interests and teaching from there.
Tell me about your worst students. There are no worst students. The fault lies in me not finding the way to connect.
What are the common struggles you encounter with students’ understanding of the material? Once again, the fault lies in the teacher not being able to come up with different ways of explaining. If I can not get in the front door, I go around back. If that doesn’t work, I try a window. If that doesn’t work, I dig a tunnel. If that doesn’t work, I go Santa Claus on them and go down the chimney.
Do you use incentive based teaching models? example 1: do you reward students who do well, and/or punish students who do poorly? example 2: do you think it’s more important to encourage struggling students or encourage accelerated students?
I encourage everyone. Everyone has something to contribute and has something that they excel in. I work with peoples strengths and have students work with one another. We are all human and none of us do everything well. We all have something to learn from one another and should receive support and encouragement for our efforts.
In the event of a student really struggling with a lesson, what do you do to help them understand? If I can not get in the front door…
Do you ever try teaching someone a lesson about one subject by presenting a different subject that is either closely related or starkly contrasting? When I was a substitute teacher in a all special ed school in NYC I often used music to teach math.
Collaborators
What is your experience with collaborative projects? People need to be on the same page.
Do you sit and write music with others? When I can find that person who is on the page with me.
Do you write music and then present it to the rest of the group? When I have done it, it never works the same way.
Do you improvise in the group? Yes
Learners / Collaborators
What was the last thing you learned to do? How did you learn?
What motivated you to learn it? I am always learning. I went back to school after being away for 16 years because I wanted to learn. It is usually a hunger to know something or to be able to use it in my art work.
What things do you create? What do you do with them? I am a creative creature. Almost everything I do is a creation of some sort. Cooking is a creative outlet for me…I eat my creations.
How much music do you have? When do you listen? I have over 10,000 LPs, and I do not know how many 12”s, 45s, or CDs…
Do you play any instruments? Violin, Piano, Turntables, Electronics
If so, how did you learn to play that instrument? Violin and Piano I took lessons for 14 years, Turntables I learned by watching and listening, and Electronics has been a bit of both.
Tell me about your experience with playing music. Too vague
What frustrates you about playing or learning music? The dyslexic thing again. With traditional instruments (like violin and piano) there is really only one way of teaching and not everyone learns in the same way. With non-traditional instruments (like turntables and electronic) there is either no teacher or alternate ways of getting there. That is probably why I am not very good on violin or piano.
Tell me about what you do with your friends. Too vague
Other than making calls, what are some of the things you do with your phone? My phone is my second brain and I do anything and everything that I can with it. Like they say “There’s an App out there for that.”
