I like to encourage my students to participate in extra-curricular events whenever they have time. I especially like to encourage to get involved with fine arts events on campus, and I occasionally give an extra credit point or two to students who participate in these vents.I'd like to particularly encourage you to attend the faculty recital on Thursday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. in JFAC. I'd also like to encourage you attend the senior recital Sunday at 3:00 in Krikac auditorium. For extra credit, just click on the "comment" button below and let me know what you liked best at the recital. If you post as an anonymous blogger, be sure to include your name at the end of the post.
You can also get credit for attending the Kenneth Meier's Constitution Day presentation. He'll be speaking at 7:00 p.m. in JFAC 134 on Tuesday, September 17. He'll be talking about the politics of education reform, an important subject and certainly relevant to some of what we'll eventually talk about in class.
Neither the speech nor the recitals not work with your schedule? Don't worry. I will give you extra credit for attending any of student organization meeting or event this week or next. Just indicate here which event you attended and say why you think participating in an event like this is part of a well-rounded college education.
I thought what Kenneth Meier had to say about the schools in Finland and South Korea was particularly interesting. Finland starts sending kids to school at the age of 7, hardly ever tests them, and has short school hours. South Korea sends kids to school at the age of 3, has tons of standardized tests, and has long school hours. Despite their different teaching styles; their scores on standardized tests are both very high. Kenneth Meier attributes this to the high quality of teachers in both countries.
ReplyDeleteI found this evenings lecture very interesting. I think what he said about the quality of schools lies within the teachers is so true. Good school districts have teachers interacting with students inside and outside the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI thought the lecture tonight was very interesting. I did already know some of the information he talked about such as the education system in Finland. I had read about their education system before and even used it in my perfect society project for my sociology class last year. Clearly Finland is doing something right if they keep scoring higher than basically everyone on the Program for International Student Assessment. (recently they scored 1st in science and 2nd in math and reading). I feel like we really should start taking pointers from them if we want more kids to do well in school!
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot at the lecture tonight. His ideas and what Texas has been incorporating are great. He is absolutely right with good teachers being key. If I wouldn't have had teachers that I liked in high school, I never would have considered education as a major. Bad teachers don't turn up good students and the future would be dim.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed most of the lecture tonight. Attending a lecture like this really gives people like me an idea of what it is like to live in a bigger state with bigger schools. Our school was really successful probably because we knew all of our teachers on a more personal basis like Kenneth Meier stated. I also think that some of his points can be mute when it comes to small school like the school I grew up in. I know that it is not always good to say so, but a lot of the people in my community are racist so having a Latino teacher or a black teacher might not always be the best idea but I do think that diversification is always a good thing in a school setting. I also think that sometimes it's not always the high school themselves taht we should look at but how those teachers were taught to teach. When I was in high school I hated history. Never wanted to step foot in that class because my teacher was so boring and I think he didn't like history all that well either and that gave me a bad experience and didn't encourage me to try on my tests. But walking into college you can see the excitement on the teachers faces they WANT to be there and it is really nice to see that. There isn't a class I have that I can't tell the teacher is enthusiastic. Even in math. So I think that Kenneth's methods might work for some school and students but not all of them but the lecture was incredibly insightful.
ReplyDeleteDannika Vande Brake
I learned a great deal about education reform. It was great listeneing to what has been done in Texas to improve the education system. One of the greatest things I think they are doing is starting in grade school they are starting to prepare them for college. The most interesting thing I thought was that he could tell if it was a good or bad school within five minutes of walking into the school.
ReplyDeleteMichael Schliewe
I thought the Faculty Recital was very interesting tonight. I think my favorite part was being able to see/hear other faculty play/sing music that I'm not used to seeing everyday or see at all. There is definitely A LOT of talent here at Northern. Go Wolves!!
ReplyDeleteThe faculty recital was awesome! It was so great to hear and see the talent our teachers have. Mrs. Perkins and Dr. Manhart's duet was fun to watch. They seemed to have a lot of fun as well which made it even better. It was awesome to see all the talent our school has!
ReplyDelete~Jacque Bratcher
I attended the faculty recital. It was phenomenal. From the opera piece, to the xylophone piece, to the jazz, and the clarinet solo I enjoyed every bit of it. I would have to say my favorite part was Mrs. Perkins and Dr. Manhart's duet. They were playing music and being silly at the same time. What more can you ask out of a performance. I can't wait to go again in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteKaitlynn Loos
I attended the faculty recital last night. I really enjoyed the variety of music that was performed last night. My favorite part was Dr.Manahart's song that he played on the trumpet, I feel he brought alot of energy to the piece.
ReplyDeleteThe faculty recital was so awesome! All of the teachers are insanely talented and I'm so glad I'm am being taught underneath them! My favorite song was Always and Forever by Pat Metheny played on the guitar and flugelhorn. I could listen to that song all day, every day for the rest of my life. It was a gorgeous piece.
ReplyDeleteInsanely talented is right. My son Michael was lucky enough to have Paul Dutt as his middle school band director and Dennis McDermott as his director for two years in high school. Mike also got to play a lot with Ron Parker. I am *so* thankful he got these opportunities: no better training possible for a young jazz musician.
DeleteInsanely talented is right. My son Michael was lucky enough to have Paul Dutt as his middle school band director and Dennis McDermott as his director for two years in high school. Mike also got to play a lot with Ron Parker. I am *so* thankful he got these opportunities: no better training possible for a young jazz musician.
DeleteToday I went to the Senior Recital, I though is was very good, and even though I had a hard time understanding the first few songs, I really did like the energy they both had. My favorite song was Shelling Peas by Larissa, I'm not sure if I understood it right but I got out of it was that there is tons of different kinds of people but we all live together , and what they use when saying a pea pod . I thought it was really good how she could hit all the high notes. The nachos and cheese were also very good after. It was a great show.
ReplyDeleteToday I attended Larissa and Cody's senior recital. My favorite song was Shelling Peas. I'm sure there was some meaning behind it, but I couldn't help but smile when she kept saying "green people". I also enjoyed the Qdoba chips and queso at the reception. Free food is always a plus!
ReplyDeleteI saw the musical "Bat Boy". I loved the actors. Every single one of them was phenomenal. The storyline, in itself, is kind of weird. Nevertheless, if someone didn't go and see it, they truly missed out on a great production.
ReplyDeleteKaitlynn Loos
I went to see Bat Boy Musical the opening night. I didn't know what to expect, because I really didn't know much about the history behind it. Although it was a little difficult to hear the actors because of the band, I think it was a pretty good show. It was funny, serious, and sometimes even sad; all combined at the same time. I guess any play that makes you mix emotions have to be good! It was a good thing to end the day with.
ReplyDeleteMiguel Maal
Calvin Cramer: Attending the faculty recital is essential required for every music student that doesn't wish to get grilled in their private lessons as well as a fantastic opportunity to listen to and see some truly incredible musicianship! This, sometimes twice a year, experience is always great. My favorite is of course listening to Dr. Manhart rip those high notes like slicing butter with a hot knife. They are just killer and I look forward to the day that I will be able to play like that.
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