To start, take a second to watch (or listen while you read) this excerpt video clip of Mahler's Fifth symphony (click to get to the youtube video). Before I was a writer, before I came back to school to pursue my teaching certification, I was a trumpeter and from the first moment I heard this symphony, not only did the opening trumpet solo capture my attention, but as Pink says in his chapter on "Symphony", the overlapping and interconnecting of the various instrument parts created an entirely unique moment I'll never forget.
I'm drawn to symphonies like this Mahler one (and many of his others) because of the layers and layers he creates to tell a story... a story that I believe is different for every listener (and possibly different every time one hears it too). Mahler definitely saw the "big picture" as Pink states, when he composed his master works. I also feel that way every time I read or write poetry.
Okay, now take a moment to read the poem of the week to the right here by May Swenson. I vote for what Sidney Harman said and totally think poets should be "tomorrow's new business leaders." She literally paints a picture with her symphony of words... a metaphor maker for sure who turns the park upside down.
If you can't tell by now, I love this idea of symphony Pink describes and while I'm not in love totally with how he related it to the business world, I think it would be a lot of fun to utilize it in our classrooms and lessons.
8 comments:
I agree, while business world may not intrigue us as educators, we must still work at preparing our students to enter the workforce. It is our job as educators to make sure that we create capable and efficient workers.
Francesca -- on one hand I totally agree with you just for the single fact that we live in a capitalist society but on the other hand I really hate thinking that I'm going to be teaching my students good writing skills just so they're prepared for the workforce. I'd like to think I'm teaching them good writing skills for other reasons as well (personal enjoyment, creative expression, etc.) and I guess that this is one (of many) areas in our educational system that I dislike. I really disklike how we're always teaching for the future... what about the present!?
Today in my Reading class, I was teaching my students how to pick out passages from a novel that were "thought provoking." Upon first seeing this phrase, most of them didn't know what it meant. One of my students described it best when he said it means "mind boggling." I have to say that I feel completely boggled at your conversation.... It's very easy to explain what "teaching for the future" means, but what exactly is "teaching for the present?" Can we focus on doing that or does it always lead to learning because they'll need it later on in life?
I think that's my point is that we don't have to always make it about what they'll need later on in life. Maybe it's ok to learn about something that's really meaningful to their present-day life and just focus on how it affects them NOW... ultimately it will probably have an impact on them later on but we don't need to harp on that as educators all the time, right? I don't want to be the English teacher who always says, "You need to know the 5 paragraph essay because when you take your tests... or when you get into college your professors are going to expect it..." I'd be willing to wager that if I taught that basic essay format around a topic that was important to something happening in my students' lives today, they'd be able to grasp it a lot better and it would eventually stick with them for those college classes.
I felt as if your interpretation was dead on. I even took a minute to listen to mahler fifth symphony which took me back to middle school when playing the clarinet was my life. I never really thought about the comfort I felt when our school orchestra played so harmoniously together. Thank You.
Is anyone familiar with the research on listening to classical music while working? I am completely unfamiliar with it, except that I know my students and I love listening to it when we're working independently. This might be a huge stretch, but I wonder if it's possible that listening to musical symphonies can help us to reach "symphony" in other ways.
I said this on my blog also-- so strange-- when I use my boyfriend's computer it says that my post is from "Matt," but in case you were wondering who that stranger is, it's Erica from class!!!
Ivy - glad the symphony brought back some good memories =)
And Erica, I totally love the idea of playing classical music in the background when students are working. I myself have only in passing heard about the numerous studies on this idea but studies aside, I think it works!
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