tell me that you'll open your eyes!
yesterday i gave two of my classes time to make their projects in class. Some of the students who follow me on tumblr have noticed the music that i post and tell me that they too listen to the same artists. while they were clumped in groups i gave post-its (with bands and their songs) to some of the students who have been asking me for band recommendations. :) Told them to check out Tired Pony & some songs from Snow Patrol. :P
While they were preparing, I was actually replaying the Tired Pony video for "Dead American Writers" in my head and for some reason it made me think of the American Civil War. To be honest, it's always hard to think of activities which have a "valuing" impact on high school students because it always has to makes sense to them...and in a context that they'll be able to understand. I give my 21 years of age a small percentage of credit (because at least the gap is not that far along) but most if not all credit, to Tired Pony. Because of the continuous loops of the songs & Snow Patrol which ave experienced these past few days, I was able to think of a fairly decent project for them to do.
Since the last month will be a synthesis of all the topics we've discussed in Asian history, I'm going to let find a correlation between those and a song of their choice. I'll allow them to pick their own song and analyze the lyrics and / or the sound in such a way that they'll be able to see how it's related to history. They could write about a certain event that the song reminds them, it could also be a concept which the song reminds them of. For example,yesterday, my iPod shuffled me "Govinda" by Kula Shaker. Aside from being the only billboard song sung entirely in Sanskrit, the lyrics actually pertain to the different avatars of a Hindu god. If not mistaken, Brahma, the god of creation. An easy example but completely legit nonetheless.:) I'll use that and "Dead American Writers" as examples. However way they parallel their interpretations and lessons is fine by me though since it's mostly opinion-based musings and ramblings.:P
What people forget is that songs are (to borrow an idea from Brandon Boyd) are snapshots of a certain timeframes. They create marks in the greater scheme of things, which most almost always we fail to notice, despite our having a nature of being historical. Some songs may be far off from topics / ideas which we actually discuss in class, but that's why we have biographies and memoirs --- personal history.
To then follow the advice of Snow Patrol, "tell me that you'll open your eyes", off I go to the world juxtaposition.
Genuinely excited to see what my students come up with.:) as nerdy / brainy / as i could sound, i hope this widens their musical & historical horizons.:3
While they were preparing, I was actually replaying the Tired Pony video for "Dead American Writers" in my head and for some reason it made me think of the American Civil War. To be honest, it's always hard to think of activities which have a "valuing" impact on high school students because it always has to makes sense to them...and in a context that they'll be able to understand. I give my 21 years of age a small percentage of credit (because at least the gap is not that far along) but most if not all credit, to Tired Pony. Because of the continuous loops of the songs & Snow Patrol which ave experienced these past few days, I was able to think of a fairly decent project for them to do.
Since the last month will be a synthesis of all the topics we've discussed in Asian history, I'm going to let find a correlation between those and a song of their choice. I'll allow them to pick their own song and analyze the lyrics and / or the sound in such a way that they'll be able to see how it's related to history. They could write about a certain event that the song reminds them, it could also be a concept which the song reminds them of. For example,yesterday, my iPod shuffled me "Govinda" by Kula Shaker. Aside from being the only billboard song sung entirely in Sanskrit, the lyrics actually pertain to the different avatars of a Hindu god. If not mistaken, Brahma, the god of creation. An easy example but completely legit nonetheless.:) I'll use that and "Dead American Writers" as examples. However way they parallel their interpretations and lessons is fine by me though since it's mostly opinion-based musings and ramblings.:P
What people forget is that songs are (to borrow an idea from Brandon Boyd) are snapshots of a certain timeframes. They create marks in the greater scheme of things, which most almost always we fail to notice, despite our having a nature of being historical. Some songs may be far off from topics / ideas which we actually discuss in class, but that's why we have biographies and memoirs --- personal history.
To then follow the advice of Snow Patrol, "tell me that you'll open your eyes", off I go to the world juxtaposition.
Genuinely excited to see what my students come up with.:) as nerdy / brainy / as i could sound, i hope this widens their musical & historical horizons.:3