Wishing

Ahhh...relief! It's done and if I say so myself, it turned out pretty good! I was very pleased with the way my final product turned out. I think it is pleasing to the eye which, as a very graphical person is important to me. I think the links are fairly easy to use and hopefully everyone will be able to listen to the songs. The only downside of the links is that I was not able to access the full song for the two I found on iTunes. So I linked to the Amazon site where at least users can hear a brief 30 seconds of the song. I felt that it was important to include comments from critics. Although I am a huge music fan, I am not by any means a music critic. As I said in an earlier post, I know what I like when I hear it. However, I don't always know enough about music to understand WHY I like a certain song or don't like another. I tried my best to explain why I liked the songs I picked and my favorite aspects of them. If I had presented this project in person, these are the comments I simply would have spoken aloud while playing the songs to my classmates.

I have to admit that I found working through the 8 W's very helpful. As someone who has done research for what feels like a loooong time, I was skeptical of how much a model would help me. But I was pleasantly surprised how helpful it was for me to write out an outline, to reflect back on what problem I was trying to solve and to evaluate my resources. I thought my research went fairly smoothly...I had a clear understanding of when a resource was going to work and when it wasn't. This was a new type of research for me because most of my sources were websites. I'm more accustomed to using databases, books and magazine articles. Somehow I was afraid my sources would be less credible, but I feel they were the best types of resources for my very current topic.

Most importantly for me was that at the end of the project, I was truly left with some valuable information that I will further pursue after today! I will continue to use some of the resources I found. I will go out a buy a couple of new CD's and enjoy the new artists' music I found. I will continue to follow these artists and hope that they continue to produce music that I enjoy.

One of my favorite aspects of this project is that we were not told what our final product had to be. I loved that concept! I was able to create a final product that worked best for my information. If I had been told to turn in a 25o word essay on my subject, I would not have enjoyed the process as much and quite frankly would not have learned as much. I think this is an important part of learning I will try to carry over into my teaching. On the negative side, I think I waited too long in the process to decided exactly what my final product would be. I had to go back to the webbing phase several times to research more information. Next time, I will try to define my final product sooner.

Below are the standards this project would fulfill:

AASL ILS:

Standard 1 - The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively: Throughout this project located the resources I needed and was able to find information to answer my questions. I found the information in a succint and timely manner.

Standard 2 - The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently: I was able to critically look at all of my sources and decided which ones were applicable to my subject matter.

Standard 3 - The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively: I was able to use my information very creatively. Many of my resources were independent sites with a great amount of creative flair. I felt that I used the resources to the best of their ability and reflected the information in an accurate manner.

Standard 4 - The student who is an independent learner is information literate and pursues information related to personal interests: This entire project was based on my personal interest in music.

Standard 5 - The student who is an independent learner is information literate and appreciates literature and other creative forms of expression: Obviously, to conduct a research project about music, one must appreciate creative forms of expression.

Standard 6 - The student who is an independent learner is information literate and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation: I felt that I did strive for excellence on this project. I was/am very proud of my final product and happy with the entire research process.


Music Standards that could be applied to this project:

4.9.2 Discuss likes and dislikes using familiar terms
4.9.3 Evaluate musical works and performances using a class-written rubric or another evaluation tool
5.6.2 Discuss similarities and differences between music of various styles and cultures.
5.6.4 Identify the sounds of percussion instruments and adult soprano and alto voices.
5.9.2 Use appropriate terms to explain your preferences for musical works and styles.

I think there are many ways this project could be approached by students of all ages. Music appreciation is a concept that can be applied and taught to all grades. Younger children could focus on identifying the sounds of different instruments and discussing why they like certain ones better than others. Seniors in high school can provide examples of music they like and discuss why they enjoy listening to it. There are many avenues this type of project could explore in an educational environment. I think kids of all ages would enjoy listening to music, critiquing it and learning about new possibilities.