Think Out Loud 2

Wow, I can't believe that month 11 is coming to an end on my 44th birthday.  A year and a half ago at this time I hadn't even seriously considered a master's program, but due to continuing contracts at my school, even though I have 16 years of teaching experience and 6 extra years of service to the district I am lower on the totem pole than teachers with 3 years of experience and their masters.  I wanted to get a masters that will really mean something in my teaching and help me to reach more learners in a meaningful way.  One area I was definitely the weakest in was technology, so when I received an email from Full Sail I decided to pursue it.  I was contacted within an hour and I decided this was the program for me.  I have met many wonderful people whom have helped me through this program and whom I am sure I will continue to keep contact with.  The professors have been very helpful and have taught me so much.  My ARP is something I will continue to pursue even after month 12 is completed.  It has been very successful in helping me reach the goal I was trying to attain.

Think Out Loud 1

The top two choices of where I would like to submit my article are The Journal of Science Teacher Education and Science Scope by National Science Teachers Association.  I have selected these two venues because they are geared directly to the grade and subjects with which my AR deals.  

The Journal of Science Teacher Education is offered online so that makes it very convenient for people to access and it is cost free.  This journal publishes research and theories dealing with the preparation of science teachers.  It also is geared to educating science teachers.  Evidence of the effectiveness of specific teaching strategies is offered.  This journal is the official journal of the Association for Science Teacher Education.  It is geared to upper and middle grades.  

Science Scope is probably the journal I am more interested in based on the fact that it appears to deal more with the areas my research covers.  This journal is the National Science Teachers Association's peer-reviewed journal.  It is geared towards middle grade science teachers.  Each issue has lesson ideas and editorials.  

Calland_Susan_PubLeadProject.docx

My ARP deals with using the Study Island computer program in order to raise 8th grade students' Ohio Achievement Assessment scores on the science portion.  The two cycles involved qualitative and quantitative data all proving that the computer program was a success in reaching my intended goal.
Click below to link to components of my project.
Google Presentation
Think Out Loud 1
Think Out Loud 2

MAC Blog Post 3 week 4 - Response to Ann Cannizzaro

Ann Cannizzaro wrote:

This week’s reading from The Art of Possibility, by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander puts the reader on an inward journey.  The reader is gently pushed to consider the truth, of how events, actions, and relationships out in “the world”, are perceived and connected to one’s self.  We are meant to reconsider our own perspective and look further inward at how our thoughts color our own attitudes and actions.

Taking on the “being the board” stance will definitely take some practice and getting used to.  It means taking a greater responsibility over a wider area of influence.  Rather than looking out for #1, and towing the line, it emphasizes the need to go one step further to exact some change, an action or event, some greater participation.  It means making a commitment which one can often shrink away from doing.  Time and energy are factors that can limit one’s ability or inclination to participate in change.

The words of Barbara Waugh, of Hewlett Packard Laboratories, “start slow…and work small”, speak volumes to me.  My approach to change is just that…..think on a grand scale, and take baby steps toward the goal.  Sweeping change is too overwhelming and frightening for people.  I’d much rather build successive steps that maintain the foundation, while rising bit by bit, upwards to the possibilities that change can bring.

As I read these final chapters, I remembered the quote by Marianne Williamson before it appeared in the text.  It was reassuring to see that my mind is already in the realm of possibility.  The line that speaks most strongly to me is this: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…”.  Somehow, I feel that I have held myself back, for fear of not being good enough to realize my potential.  This book has pushed me to work my way through those feelings of insecurity and continue, steadfast, on the journey. 

My response:

I agree that it definitely is better to take baby steps and build to the goal; however, I am not very good at that.  In reading your response to the chapters, I do think that it would be better in the long run if I took baby steps, too.  Also, I think you are right that holding ourselves back for whatever reason can keep us from reaching our greatest potential.  Getting outside our comfort zone, which is what we ask the kids to do everyday, can benefit not only us, but our students also. I am one that doesn’t mind making a fool of myself in front of my students, but I am much less comfortable in front of my peers.  I too have learned a lot from this book. 

MAC Blog Post 2 week 4 - Response to Marty Denson

Marty Denson wrote:

The practice of enrollment, in many regards, sounds similar to what I have been doing for the past several months but didn’t actually realize that I was doing it. Perhaps many of us have been demonstrating this practice unknowingly. I have always believed that when you discover what truly interests individuals, you not only add that ‘spark’ within them, but within yourself as well.

Many of my students seem to enjoy music immensely, however, I have noticed that when it was time to incorporate music technology as a learning tool, they seemed to think that everything was going to be extremely technical. They initially viewed it as all technology jargon and intense engineering protocol, leaving no room for fun and enjoyment. It wasn’t until I spoke with them and probed to find out what their musical tastes were and suggested to them that they could learn, experiment, and discover with the musical styles of their choice. Many were surprised that I did not suggest that it had to be classical music, which they had been accustomed to hearing in all of their other courses. What I was most interested in accomplishing was allowing each of them to reach their full potential in performance techniques and how to use music technology to help achieve that goal. This approach, rather simple in my opinion, lit a fire in all of them. They became eager to get started and began to invoke a sense of creativity even I didn’t expect.

Once it was understood that they could use any style of music to engage in the learning process, they started working even harder and longer to perfect their original works, which was beneficial to the overall goals. I was completely overwhelmed with the shift in attitude by simply appealing to their interests. It was if those ‘steps to the practice’ of enrollment were evident in what was a natural process at that particular time. When you are passionate about what you do, I believe you can find ways to give individuals that spark that allows them to become much more engaged in whatever they are participating in.

My Response to Marty:

I totally agree with you Marty in that if you are able to discover the interests of an individual it can spark both the individual and you.  It definitely sounds as though you bring the best out in your students and you do it very naturally.  Allowing them to use the technology, which was the objective, on any type of music made them not only more comfortable, but also more interested since it centered around something they could relate to.  Engagement is the key to getting students to learn as much as possible.  You really have them engaged so they are learning much more. 

 Image courtesy of copyright free Microsoft images.

MAC Blog Post 1 week 4 - The Art of Possibility chapters 9-12

Don’t hold back & participate wholly!

The chapter that definitely meant the most to me was chapter 9.  I have noticed many times that the students in my 7^th & 8^th grade classes who are totally uninterested in school and completely uninspired, will give me full effort when I am my nuttiest!  They may look at me and roll their eyes, but every time I am passionate about what I do and really into it, they are definitely paying more attention than when I am just giving notes or lecturing.  It is so awesome to see that student that really doesn’t give a hoot about being in my class, study for a quiz or look at me and say, “Hey I get it!”  The crazier I am, the more I can generate a spark from them.  To get my students to remember waxing and waning moon phases, I do my Karate Kid, Mr. Miagi, stance with my karate move.  I may look like a goof, but they remember the moon phases!  I was at an awards assembly at the high school and a former student caught my eye when the speaker talked about “wax on, wax off”.  Across the gym she mouthed to me, “was on, wane off” with a big smile on her face.  She was in my class three years ago.  Those are the time that I know that if I don’t hold back, they understand and remember so much more.   They are also more willing to take a risk since I do.  

MAC Blog Post 4 week 3 - Presentation

My presentation is coming along pretty well I think.  I am anxious to get some suggestions from my critical friends in my group.  They definitely are helpful with their suggestions.  I am trying to figure out what data and information is the most important to focus on in order to make the biggest impression.  Also, I have now started using Creative Commons due to suggestions by other classmates.  It sure is easy to find copyright-free images of anything needed.  Also, with my many screen shots of Study Island that portion of my power point is going well.  I have enjoyed being able to do the post 4 entries about my presentation each time as it has really helped me to think it through and figure out what direction I am going to go. The image to the right is a screen shot of one student's data from Study Island.  There is a lot of usable data just in this one image.

5 days later:  Things with my project are now changing a bit since I just saw an email that said our presentation has to be to a larger audience at a conference.  I personally will also be doing it for our other two district middle school teachers and my administrators since that is what would make the largest impact for my teaching at this time, but I will also be aiming it towards a conference audience.

2 days later:  Another change to the project is I may be doing an article instead of a PPT due to the fact that I am not able to find many conferences at this time in my area.  Maybe I'll end up doing both so I can still present to my district since that would definitely make the largest impact for me.

MAC Blog Post 3 week 3 - Response to Meghan Bassett

Meghan wrote:  In the first chapter Leading From Any Chair, I couldn’t help think about my mother. She works in a school as the secretary to the principal. The principal received an email last week that a report needed to be ran. He never told my mother or the person that was supposed to run the report, but my mom found out from another school. When she brought it up that he may have missed an email, he said he never received it. A few hours later, after going back to him again, he forwarded the email and said he had just gotten it (which we all know, emails are time stamped). Instead of admitting his own mistake, he, like the conductors, tried to let it slide and hoped no one noticed.
The mere act of kindness and acknowledging that other people help you do a job is severely under-used. If you give ANY kind of praise to people who are helping you, or even say thank you to them, it brings up esteem and also encourages people to continue to work hard for you. I guess we could all work on this in different ways. I personally could work on always encouraging my students in ways that they are doing well. I can be sarcastic, which doesn’t work well with all of my students.
The next Chapter, the Rule number 6, took a more person attack on a way I’ve been feeling for a week now. I was very betrayed by someone I thought I could trust. A friend of mine told another friend of mine something very personal, and very atomic. I knew that the word had spread, and I wasn’t sure of where it had started. I found out and instead of confronting the issue, I recoiled and hid from everyone. Here, I need to follow Rule number 6, and stop taking myself so seriously. People talk, and say things that aren’t theirs to say, and sometimes there are things that get said that we don’t want said. It’s a part of human nature, and if I really didn’t want anyone to know, I wouldn’t have said it in the first place. I’m still hurt, but I’m letting it go in my own time.
The Way Things Are…I’ve always tried to see the cloud with a silver lining, and look on the bright side of things. A much easier said than done thing to accomplish. I’m one of those people, once I start feeling negative, everything that’s negative seems to find me. I’m sure that has everything to do with the way I am looking at things, rather than the world being out to get me. If we can laugh and play with the bad things that happen to us, a much more light hearted attitude would be had by everyone around us!
I would love to give way to passion more. Sometimes we are so stuck in living life day to day we forget to give in to the natural flow of life an energy. I try to recognize the energy around me, but I’ll be honest…the only real times I feel a surge of energy run through me are when I’m by the ocean watching the waves, or listening to music and painting. Then I can truly let passion run through me and I feel at one with everything around me.

Mr response:  I am very sorry for your mom, as I know it makes for a difficult situation.  Our principal tends to do the same thing whereas I don’t seem to have a problem with admitting when I am wrong.  Maybe it’s because I’ve had so much practice with it! 

Making it through the hard times definitely makes us stronger.  Also, we tend to learn whom we can trust and whom we can’t.  That can surely be a valuable lesson and I am always amazed at whom I thought I could trust and whom I can actually trust.  It is what it is! 

MAC Blog Post 2 week 3 - Response to Kristi Swartz

Kristi wrote: The 4 chapters we focused on this week again had me thinking in a new way. Leaders are always said to be the strong, loud, commanding type, yet, in this reality, the leader is the one that makes others strive to have a vision of what is possible. As I read this week, I could not help but think of my son’s 4^th grade teacher. He truly is the best teacher I, or any of my own children, have ever had. I began to reflect on the readings and this particular teacher’s qualities. What quality does he possess? How does he lead? This is what I found. His quality is inspiration. He leads quietly. He leads by making each student feel worthy of great possibility, of vision.

When my son had this particular teacher, we attended a short play the students created in the classroom. We have all attended classroom plays, yet this one was different. Student made invitation letters went home, student created props lined the walls of the classroom. Student actors and actresses played the parts of the student written scripts. There were even student created commercials between the acts. All students were involved and the leader sat silent and just took it all in. A student made the introduction and all the leader said in the end was a simple thank you for coming to see you students amazing production.

At the time, I did notice how different the feel of the classroom was that day. Students were empowered to learn and grow, and proud to show the product they had created. The reason that teacher is such an amazing teacher is because he gets what Zander spoke of in his video this week and through The Art of Possibility. He gets that it is a teacher’s job to inspire possibility and watch students live into that vision. May it be so for all of us as educators.

My response:

That is absolutely wonderful that your son and all of his classmates were able to have that experience and I'm sure they will miss that teacher next year.  What a great quality to possess for that teacher to be able to let others take control and be a leader in that manner.  It reminds me of when my daughter was 1 1/2 and had surgery and quite a few stitches in the throat area.  She was totally scared to have the doctor take them out, but didn't mind if I fussed with them.  He realized that and asked if I wanted to do it by his instructions from across the room.  Absolutely  - so from across the room he told me what to cut, etc... and it ended up perfectly.  My mom couldn't believe that a such a high-ranked surgeon would be willing to do that, but I guess that is what makes if so good.  

It is neat that in reading The Art of Possibility you thought about that teacher and how much of a silent, but wonderful leader he is.  Sometimes it is much better to take a chair in the back!  

MAC Blog Post 1 week 3: Art of Possibility chapters 5-8

In reading the four chapters, one main concept I am taking away is that fact that it is always more important to ask what makes a group lively and engaged instead of asking how good am I.  The students will definitely learn more if they are engaged and the focus is on them, not on the instructor.  My students seem to react when I admit to not knowing something that they ask or admit that I made a mistake.  Students also react very positively if one of their ideas is accepted and used.

Rule number 6:  Don’t take your self so seriously!  I have found in my classroom that my students respond in a positive manner when I am in a better, lighter mood than when I am too serious.  The same amount of learning still gets accomplished, but laughter makes them relax and more willing to take a risk.  I agree that if students can give up their pride, they stand a lot better chance of learning than if they let their pride get in the way.  My students may laugh at me when I do crazy things, but they love it all the same. 

Giving Way to Passion:  The teacher I have taught across the hall from for 14 years is retiring and she is a perfect example of having passion for what she does.  In this last year of her 39 year career, she still goes at it full force.  She is very passionate for reading and language arts and can still get kids excited about reading even if they aren’t good readers.  She has a gift for not holding back. 

I guess it is what it is!  

MAC Blog Post 4 week 2 - Presentation

I keep thinking about my final presentation and I know the intention is that we present outside of our district and they may be possible for me eventually, but I think I really need to present in my district first.  I have started my Power Point and I think I will add some audio to it, but most of my data will be presented as quantitative data.  I am really nervous that our new principal, assistant principal, superintendent and assistant superintendent are going to do away with our Study Island intervention.  My schedule for next year already does not give me time to do this intervention.  It is my true hope that my data is enough to prove success with this program.  However, I guess I also need to keep an open mind because maybe they have done research and found another program which might have even greater success.  This presentation may prove very crucial in keeping the program I researched going.  The quote comes to mind, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

MAC Blog Post 3 week 2 - Response to Thanh Kirby

I wrote:  The only TED talks I am familiar with are the ones we have been required to watch by classes this year and I agree this is definitely a very engaging one.  I too found that this was not a book I could skim through or read quickly and still get the idea of what the point was.  I had to read very slowly and take notes along the way, but the message sure is a good one and well worth the time.  You have a good point that eliminating the fear of grades allows students to explore and therefore bring out their creativity.  I do not teach band, but I feel that no matter what the subject area (or even the age) people learn from their mistakes. 

Thanh wrote: Benjamin Zander’s TED talk on classical music is one of my favorite TED videos.  I can’t remember when I first saw this, but I have seen it on numerous occasions and have enjoyed it each time.  As I started reading the book, Art of Possibility, I thought I would get a jump on the reading before reading the introductory assignment page in FSO.  My plan of action was to discover what the purpose of the book was and how it was connected to the class as quickly and efficiently as possible.  I had blinders on trying to figure what concrete lesson the book was trying to teach.  In my haste I missed who the author was and why we were reading this book.  So in that frame of mind I had difficulty understanding the purpose and connection of the book to the class.  It wasn’t until I took the time to read the assignment completely in FSO and then finally discovered that Zander was the same person who co-authored the book, it made total sense.  Chapter One Learned: It’s all invented.

As I continued reading through the book I found Chapter 3 to be especially applicable to my everyday life and teaching.  The stories that the Zanders tell do a great job at illustrating the point of Giving an A, as well as to give concrete examples of how to apply these practices in real life. Personally, as someone who tends to be a little bit of a perfectionist, this chapter provided the perfect anecdote to free me from the chains of creative block that has often stalled me from making further progress on a variety of projects.  So what I take away from this chapter is that by giving yourself an A you are in a sense taking away the fear of failure.  Eliminating this fear allows you to explore the boundaries of creativity and expand the realm of possibility.  Often times you just need this extra push of confidence to overcome small mountains. 

In band you can’t really ignore things when they don’t go well.   The kids know when they completely bomb because often times they know how a certain piece should be played.  So sugarcoating a bad performance is not effective at improving performance. What is important, however is to get the kids to realize what mistakes were made and how to fix them.  It is through this concept that the ideas of Chapter 3 take flight.  Allowing students the safety net of not being afraid to fail will allow them to try harder pieces, explore the range of their musical abilities and teach them persistence despite adversity. (In a performance, despite how bad things might be going the idea of continuing through but being able to adapt and adjust on the fly is crucial)  Giving the students the freedom to do this is important.

MAC Blog Post 2 week 2 - Response to Sandra Colby

Sandra Colby's Reading - The Art of Possibility
When I first looked at the book, I thought, oh, no, it's one of those positive thinking books.  Being unemployed, and other such tragedies in the past two years, I just rolled my eyes.

Chapter three, here was where I found something that I could relate to.  I have been a musician in high school and college, playing 2nd and 3rd clarinet no less, so I have been in the place of the second fiddle.  It also brought back memories of one of my favorite concerts.  We didn't do Mahler, but the 1812 Overture and the Stars and Stripes Forever.  It started out with wrong notes, lots of practice and by the time of the concert, music.  We no longer just played notes and followed dynamics-we performed music!

I also thought about the letter that Ben Zander asked his students to write.  i would write mine looking toward graduation from Full Sail:  It might go a little like this:

Dear Dr. Ludgate:

I received my grade A because I worked hard and tried many new things.  Your Course Directors inspired me to make movies, play games and learn about Web 2.0  I will probably never quite learning, there are so many things out there that I could learn about.

 I may never teach in a classroom, but I may be able to inspire those who do teach.  My contribution is to change the world in my little corner and it is because of Full Sail, that I have been able to take chances and learn new things.

I wrote:  What an interesting idea to write a letter to Dr. Ludgate.  I, too, thought that part of the book brought up some great points with the "why I got an A".  As I read through the letters it made me think back to my school days and also to what my own students would think or write if it was them.  Your idea of being able to inspire others who teach would be wonderful as that is always definitely necessary.  Being an inspiration to teachers is one thing we can never get enough of.  Our district has tried to get inspirational speakers at our beginning of the year meetings, but many times they do not measure up to my expectations.

MAC Blog Post 1 week 2: Art of Possibility chapters 1-4

"One Buttocks Player" and "I Give You An A"

First of all, Benjamin Zander is a wonderful speaker and extremely easy to listen to.  I was a bit confused in the beginning of the video with what exactly a “One Buttock Player” was, but then I caught his point.  You need to look at the whole, not at the individual parts.

Being a science teacher, I am constantly telling my kids to think outside the box. 

One quote from the book that stuck with me was, “…even science relies on our capacity to adapt to new facts by radically shifting the theoretical constructions we previously accepted as truth.”  Although I do completely agree that a world without measurement would be really nice and relaxing, I do not feel it is actually realistic.  The author states, “You are more likely to be successful, overall, if you participate joyfully with projects and goals and do not think your life depends on achieving the mark because then you will be better able to connect to people all around you.”  One point Zander makes is that if grades were not given, people would be more willing to take a risk.  However, I feel that also needs to be understood by the instructor.  My sophomore daughter decided to challenge herself on her Spanish assignment.  She refused to take the easy way by using given phrases and really worked hard on her assignment, but made some mistakes with it and was docked points for doing so.  If she had stuck with the easier phrases, she would have achieved all of the points for her grade.  That instructor was teaching her to just do it the easy way and don’t challenge yourself because then you will get a better grade.  In my classroom, when I ask a student a question that they do not know the answer or to think they don’t know, I tell them to just give it a try, the worst thing that can happen is they are wrong and if they haven’t been wrong yet today they should try being in my life!  This usually relaxes them and they give it a try.  They frequently surprise themselves with being right or having a new way to look at something. 

As I continued to read through chapter 3 I realized that the authors were not strictly referring to a grade, but to a teacher’s encouragement of his/her students and the manner in which the classroom is run and allowing students to be contributors. 

I just hope that I can rescue one starfish!


Photo by Susan Calland

MAC Blog Post 4 week 1: Presentation

When I first read about the presentation I knew exactly what group of people to whom I would present.  We are getting a new principal next year and just got a new superintendent and assistant superintendent so our district and building are going through a lot of changes.  My AR Project deals with the Study Island computer program and testing to see if the use of it increases students' knowledge in science and therefore increases their scores on the Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA).  Our school just started using Study Island this year and our current principal was going to make the decision as to continue the program or not based on my findings.  However, due to our multiple administration changes they are discussing dropping the Study Island program all together.  I am going to use my presentation to try to persuade them to allow the program to continue.  It would require multiple changes in the way the daily schedule is set up for next year, but I am hoping that my presentation, qualitative data and quantitative data are enough to do the convincing.  Also, we have two other middle schools in our district and neither of them currently use the Study Island program.  I will be presenting to them to try to convince them to speak with their principals to try to get the program started in all three buildings.  The picture above is a screen shot of an IEP student's Study Island success (P = proficient, Ac = accelerated)!

MAC Blog Post 3 week 1 - Response to Lori Martin

Response to Lori Martin:  Your blog post really caught my eye because we do not have a media specialist in our school and therefore I am very lost on copyright issues many times.  I'm sure there are many people in my building whom struggle with this topic just as I do.  It would be wonderful to have someone available to give teacher trainings.  I talk with my students about copyright laws for their science fair projects, but I'm sure I am missing a lot.  When our students do reading projects where pictures are required, I have seen them copy and paste pictures without giving credit.  They just do not think about it as it is so easy to do.  You are right about the very gray area and I really wish our school had someone to help us in that area.  I have researched it but it is still a bit confusing to me.  (Above photo is an original photo by Susan Calland)

Lori wrote:  As a media specialist, I had to become a type of guru on copyright laws.  With information at the tip of our fingers, copyright information needs to be more prominently discussed then ever before.  Almost on a daily basis I discuss copyright laws with my high school students as they live in a world of copy and paste. Too many times I have stopped a student from copying and pasting without giving credit where credit is due.  It has been a big issue in the high school when students create a project and add their favorite songs to them.  Ever year for pre-planning I review copyright basics with my teachers to review and answer many of their own questions concerning if they are ok to use pieces of books, movies, music and such.   To keep the school on the right side of the video copyright issues that plagued schools, I purchase a movie license ever year so we can use videos at the school over the close circuit system.  One main concern that I hear from teachers is if a video, movie or show could be recorded and shown in the classroom without infringing on copyright laws.  This is a gray area as educators can record an educational show from certain channels as long as it is done at the school and destroyed after a short period of time.  There are many gray areas when it comes to education and our district has a full team of people that work to keep us up to date and answer any questions or concerns we come across when it comes to copyrights.

MAC Blog Post 2 week 1 - Response to Kristi Swartz

My Response to Kristi Swartz -   

Kristi,  Love the picture of your dog; he is adorable!  This is a photo I took of an iguana (although he is no where close to being as cute as your dog) so I guess it is now copyrighted, too!  I am in the same boat with you in that I too do not have a lot of knowledge about copyright laws for music and film.  It was definitely very interesting to hear both sides of the argument.  I am not familiar with Creative Commons and look forward to checking it out.  I hope I will be able to use it a lot as your description of it sounds very inviting.  Also, I had not thought of pictures that I take as being copyrighted by me.  With so many social networking sites, where everyone seems to use pictures posted on others' sites, that could be a big issue.  I agree with you in that the copyright laws need to be changed in order to meet the needs in our high-media society.  

Kristi Swartz Original Post - Copyright Dilemma…

Being someone who had a very limited knowledge of the copyright issues for music and film in our new social society, it was interesting to examine copyright issues this week, and learn so much about the issues with copyright for this century.

 In the documentary Good Copy, Bad Copy, the essence and complexity of copyright law and copyright infringement is explored through personal experiences.

From my learning this week, I do see the trouble for artist creation of music and film if it were to be left open to change without revenue for the creators of the songs, videos, etc. Artists put their talent, heart, and soul into creations and want to have the rights to those items. That makes a lot of sense to me. What about an image of my dog? Yes, even that has a copyright for me. Interesting.

I also enjoy the ability to use materials on Creative Commons to express my own ideas in the classroom using images, video, and audio designed by other creative individuals. I can imagine the change if teachers and students had access and the right to use original works, and could take parts and pieces of those works, put them together to share a part of history and retell a story, or express content in a new way. It could be very powerful for students. In the film Good Copy, Bad Copy this was illustrated through sampling and techno brega being created from original works.

It seems absurd that it is millions of dollars to buy out copyrights of songs from artists in order to simply use parts of the songs, or beats of the music in new creative ways. In my opinion, this aspect of copyright needs to change as we have a shift in culture to protect the artist from piracy.

If artists could share original content through a site like Creative Commons and give rights to others to use the works in new and creative ways while they still got credit and possibly profit, it could be more effective for today’s culture.

I see the use of sharing sites like Creative Commons becoming more and more popular in our 21^st century culture of Internet song sharing and digital creation sharing electronically. I do, however, also see the trouble for artists ability to keep the music, video, or work as it was intended. Quite an interesting time as this change comes. As for my dog, I plan to post him on Creative Commons!  

MAC Blog Post 1 week 1: Copyright Issues

 I really learned a lot from the Good Copy/Bad Copy video. Prior to watching this video, it was not completely clear to me what was legal as far as taking parts of recorded music and splicing lots of different pieces together.  There definitely seems to be a lot of copyrighting and piracy occurring.  The 6 billion dollar loss which the film industry faces due to piracy each year was completely shocking to me along with the 7 billion dollars being lost in the music industry.  I definitely agree that there might need to be a change in the law in order to refrain from having individual’s creativity stifled.  Making music, especially older music, more accessible to kids, would allow them to be able to use something that is not being used at all at this time.  Although I currently do not use much music during my teaching, I am definitely more aware of where I get my materials to use in my classroom.  It also made me think about the many copyright issues that exist for use of everyday materials.  It is definitely safer to use my own images and creations.  I have to admit, it makes my head spin.  (Original photo by Susan Calland)