Mark - Thanks

Hi Kerin,

No worries and thank you also. Absolutely agree, I thought the Blog worked well and our different points of view only added to my understanding and the Blog itself.

Regards,
Mark

Kerin Thank you Mark

Hi Mark
Thank you for working with me this semester. I believe it has been a successful, supportive and cooperative partnership and I feel we contributed equally to the blog, even though I was a bit wordy, you were succinct and to the point and the helpful information available in both sets of posts seem to be fairly evenly balanced.
Regards
Kerin Smith

Kerin - Interesting and useful resources

I have decided to list some interesting resources to help formulate on-the-run teaching ideas. In relief teaching you plan in the car on the way to school or on the weekend when you are tidying up the mess from rummaging through teaching resources at 7 am in the mornings. I have collected lots of bits and pieces for various grades, set up for grabbing at short notice. Mark, you will be extremely lucky to get a full time job after you graduate. The hardest thing I have had to accept this year is that most teachers do sometimes years of relief before they get their first permanent position. Its about getting known to schools, accepting what they ask of you and doing the hard yards, testing your skills and experimenting with what does and doesn't work and gathering resources that make your job a bit easier. You hardly have time to catch your breath  in Primary schools as it is a full day and any spare time is taken up by ground duty and photocopying work sheets for students. I've made some mistakes but learning from them and having lots of opportunities to retest ideas. I've had some challenging days ending in a headache and loss of confidence but I've also had lots of light bulb moments and some precious moments that bring happy tears to your eyes. Every class is different and your improvisational skills must come into play constantly. You also have to be prepared to purchase items for students to use if you want to try a special creative project.

A fun book for writing and literacy but full of ideas that involve drama and art. It can be photocopied as no copyright issues and has wonderful illustrations.
Syme, C. (1986). Fantastic Ideas for Frenzied Teachers. Brookvale: Holmes McDougall Australia

Education Department of Tasmania ( 1988). The Visual Arts in Primary Schools. Education Department Tasmania Australia.

I often find myself flicking through this book to reinforce ideas about teaching in the Arts. Its well laid out and easy to find information in a specific area and exclelent for keeping of hand for quick referencing in all area of the arts.
Roy, D., Baker,W. & Hamilton, B. (2012). Teaching the Arts: Early Childhood and Primary Education. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

This book has lots of art projects and includes adaptions for the primary area or younger students. Alhough I haven't used many projects for visual art, looking through often helps me think of something different I would like to try.
Hume, H. (2008). The Art Teachers Survival Guide. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.

This book is a good guide for more structured drama teaching.
Neelands, J., Goode, T. (2000). Structuring Drama Work: A handbook of available forms in theatre and drama. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

This series of books of art lesson plans, found at Birchells in Bathurst Street, Hobart, are excellent for creative projects over all ages. They range from A to G in primary for all age groups and cover discuss, create, reflect and assess.
Sterrett, D.(2007). Primary Art, Books A to G. Coventry, UK: Prim-Ed Publishing.

Kerin- Week 6-Media

Hi Mark
In response to your previous post, I have found art to be a very important subject for primary students in relief teaching. It is a very powerful medium in a challenging class and also for the inclusive students, including those who don't have much English or in wheelchairs or with mental health issues. I had a very difficult grade 5/6 class this week which included a group of 5 boys intent on constant revenge, bullying and disruptive behaviour. The senior staff give invaluable assistance and support at this school but you still have to get through the day and work hard to give the students meaningful experiences.  It's important to me to be the best I can be but sometimes it seems nothing works.  I thought I had a bad day but the principal told me it was a good day as she had heard the students talking about their Crazy Hair Day artworks in the playground during lunch and she said that doesn't normally happen and was a good sign. So from me I say "if the day is not going well, turn to art".

Media
Most primary classrooms I have been in this year during relief teaching, have a bank of about 5 computers set up at the side of the room and some classrooms have had a computer lab close by where the class may split and work in both rooms.  Girls generally seem to work well on projects, although that said, I have regularly had grade 5 girls who just want to look up images of One Direction or Justin Beeber, but boys are often just wanting to play repetative games of building up and smashing down or jumping obstacles or some inappropriate games that show the shedding of blood by knocking off body parts when an obstacle is hit. These all come under the guise of  so called "Maths Games". Media products add a whole new dimension into classroom management for the teacher. There are positive and negatives for its use. Every class seems to have one boy who won't engage in other work and just wants to be on the computer all the time and will invent the most amazing excuses as to why he wants to be on the computer. In art teaching, I find a number of students are unable to form their own creative ideas and want to scroll though images on the computer for so called inspiration. They generally don't accomplish much during the lesson.
Once I have established some rules for responsible use of computers in the classroom, I generally have students use them in lessons as much as possible and take names on a list and set use at about 20 minutes each group. Students respond well to this structure and fairness. There is always some students who are not interested in using the computers and get on with their individual artworks. I privately appreciate this attitude.
In art projects I often combine the art project with science ie in a regular 5/6 class we discussed animal hair fibres, looked at prepared slides in a microscope, chosen students searched google images for microscopic images of hairs and they used them to refer to in creating circular artworks of microscopic images of animal hairs.
Grades 3 to 6 have opportunities to produce powerpoint presentations on events happening at school or for special days like Anzac Day and the weekly assembly offers them an opportunity to show their products. They seem to take special responsible ownership of these appropriate creative projects.  The democratic principle works well. They need help to get underway but respond well when left to  complete the task over time and only require occasional checking to make sure they are on the right track or make suggestions for improvement. I also find the updated facilities like picture tools in Microsoft Word are excellent for engaging students in computer generated artworks. I believe success in use of media creatively in primary school is down to the teacher's experience and how they work with their students in this area. An interesting point that I have observed is where student may sometimes be embarrassed to show their artwork, they are always proud of anything they produce using the computer.
I am looking forward when I finally get my own permanent class to engaging student in more creative and responsible use of computers to enhance creative projects like short films and photo manipulation and of course they are very excited to be able to create cartoon characters. Scaffolding toward this can start with a simple computer game where the students build moving stick figures.

Good resources to read or look at for media use in primary education:

Greenwood, D. (2003). Action! In the Classroom: A Guide to Student Produced Digital Video in K-12 Education. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Shelley, G., Cashman, T. Gunter, G. (2004). Teachers Discovering Computers - Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Massachusetts: Course Technology.

Gunn, K. (2008). Teach Animation. Retrieved from http://www.teaching.org

Mark - Week 6: Media Art

Hi Kerin, 

I think the Blog been a really valuable exercise in getting a different perspective to all the domains of Art. Whilst I had a few teething problems to begin with in getting my head around Art, I think it's a bit more smooth sailing now. I've got some great ideas from yourself, lectures and the readings of not only how to implement Art lessons in each domain, but more importantly how it can be used within other curriculums to add to students creativity and understanding of both. Your comment "Primary art is about transforming students perception of their world into a creative construction", is so true. To extend on this I hope within my classroom the arts domains can be used in a fashion that creative construction can build greater knowledge in multiple areas.     

Whilst Media art is the final area of the arts we’re addressing, I think it will be the most engaging within the classroom as the implementation of it can be so wide ranging. The ability is has to reach across a variety of curriculum’s is an advantage to this domain of art (Van de Geer, 2013). The digital world is a large part in our current day life and will more than likely be a more integral part of life for our students lives in the future. Therefore unlike previous art domains where I’ve felt had advantages in helping students with understanding, creativity and being well rounded. Media arts are something I feel will be a more fundamental way of delivering information and showing creativity within a classroom and for the future (Sinclair, Jeanneret, & O’Toole, 2012).

Specifically in having a go at the animation myself, I realised just how creative you can be, it’s fun and expressive whilst also having the ability to tell stories or relay information. I’m not sure how amazing it was though; don’t think any Oscars will be coming my way but that's ok the experience was good!

Knowledge in this area is a stating point to building skills in digital programs that will be primarily used within many students lives going forward. Skill sets such as understanding the use of programs and communication in this medium are important. However more significantly is the ability to be critically aware, interpret and analyse media through their own media arts experience and develop autonomous thinking in this domain (ACARA, 2012).

Another advantage for students in this domain is the ability to use computer-aided designs to help compile what they want to portray. Often you hear of students not wanting to engage in the other art domains due to “ it looking silly” or “being embarrassed to show it”. In this case technology is part of their popular culture, is engaging and used in everyday life, therefore as teachers we should use this area of confidence in the classroom. The key is to extend students to aspects of media arts that they previously haven’t experienced so they can develop, and provide more options of expression for students (Sinclair, Jeanneret, & O’Toole, 2012). Whether students are to going to be producers, directors or have nothing to do with film, the skills that are developed in media arts is something that will more than likely be required in the future in this digital age.

Tool kit

I found this really great website with media art resources and lesson plans, whether it could be used specifically or for gaining ideas from to implement within a classroom, either way it’s worth having in the tool kit.

http://myhero.com/go/films/mediaarts.asp?cat=production

References

Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N., & O’Toole, J. (2012). Education in the arts: Teaching and learning in the contemporary curriculum. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

ACARA. (2012). Australian Curriculum: The Arts Foundation to Year 10. Retrieved from  http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/DRAFT_Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_Foundation_to_Year_10_July_2012.pdf 

Van de Geer, G. (2013, August 15). Introduction to Media Arts, Media, Multimedia, Mass Media, Media Literacy. Lecture presented for Education, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas.

Kerin - Week 5 - Dance

When I first found out dance was included in this unit, I was nervous as I don't believe I have any skills for teaching dancing.  My only exposure to dance was in my 20's when I did ballet rehersals and Jazzercise for exercise. However as a musician I enjoy bush dancing. We are encouraged to learn and participate in the dances in order to understand the requirements for playing for the dances.
However after watching the video's, I realise that at primary stage it is about engaging in expressive movement and learning to interpret emotions and feeling and expressively interpreting of subject matter.  From accumulated knowledge I now feel confident to be able to guide early dancers to experience creative movement and have fun.
At my regular school one day the kids invited me to see their rehersal during the lunch break. It was grade 3/4 and run by a grade 5 boy. I was astounded at the sophistication of their made up movements and several of the children did not even have televisions. I was amazed at their resourcefulness and confidence.  None of them had dance training and it was really almost an imitation of an adult contemporary dance performance. Lots of wiggling of hips, sliding and rolling of the ground and plenty of expressive hand affects. They were wonderful and it was all their ow work. These young and enthusiastic people arranged to perform at the assembly on stage. I think they were amazingly brave and confident and for the boy who organised it and was the star, this experience could have changed his life as he was often unhappy from his diabetes and feeling picked on by his peers. He is now considering dance and acting as a potential future career and area at high school where he may be accepted and excel.
There are some great resources available in dance from organisations like Tasdance and by support of dance residencies. On Saturday 17th August, I was lucky enough to go to a performance of Submarine: Shining Light into the Depths, choreographed and directed by Dean Walsh and assisted by Katherine Gurr, a dancer for Western Australia.  It included community members from aged 7 to 70 in expressive, creative movement about scuba diving and undersea experiences.  My nephew was performing. None of the participants were trained in Dance. The aim was to " demystify thechoreographic process, promote the benefits of communication this physical art for is capable of,whilst generating interst in all matters marine".  The performers although inexperienced help shape the performance through workshopping over a 3 week period.  It was a visually attractive and the performers were so inspired by the professionals who worked with them.
I believe primary students would benefit greatly from residencies by professional musicians, actors,artists and dancers.

Reference
www.tasdance.com.au

Kerin-Week 4 - Visual Art

 

The photo above is a regular grade 3/4 class that I take. This was a photo of their Magic Easter goggles and cards for their families. I have already outlined my art experience in the introduction posts. My most skilled medium is drawing. This is the skill that is very important to students and is the skill called upon in many subject areas.

I have found primary students are more verbal about how much they love art and respond differently in that they are more in a hurry to engage in art projects.  They have endless energy to rush from one project to the next without committing to planning, aesthetics and fine tuning. I think this is why I especially enjoy teaching art to grade 6 to 8. They still have the joyful enthusiasm about engaging in an art subject but will attempt to make it a more finished item.
It has been refreshing to see collaborative artworks and installations by primary students in the Trash to Art Exhibition in the Long Gallery last year and this supports my belief in exposing them at a young age to confidently present creative works to the public from a young age.
I have seen lots of evidence of meaningful engagement in art at the many primary schools where I have had relief teaching since the beginning of the school year this year. At an assembly at one school, the grade one's paraded their Mondrian look alike painting. I was very impressed. Nearly every classroom has displays of artwork on a range of subject matter from Picasso to skeletons to witches.  I have noted that it is often down to the teacher and his or her efforts. Art projects are often tied in with other subject matter and I attempt to do this as well even within my limited teaching time and not having the opportunity to follow through a project over a couple of weeks,
Primary art is about transforming students perceptions of their world into a creative construction. They make statements about themselves, other cultures and subject matter that interest them. It is exposure to reflection, impressions and formulating ideas. I think art naturally stems from early mark making, it tells a story through symbols and imagery.  However as they get older, I have seen students more overcome with lack of confidence and development of self doubt. Like other arts areas, building skills gradually and scaffolding students through stages of the creative process and familiarising them with a wide variety of expression will help them develop the ability to manipulate tools and techniques, develop observation and judgement skills. They use drawing especially in nearly all subject matter from maths to history. In regard to primary students constant worry that they can't draw realistically, they respond well when you tell them you are looking for individual style and interpretation and that "if you go and see any art exhibition today, you will see hardly any realism". I usually don't hear it after these comments. Their head go down and they get working. I always make sure to go back and pint out some outstanding features of their work.
My list of resources that I refer to for lesson plans are:
Education Department of Tasmania ( 1988). The Visual Arts in Primary Schools. Education Department Tasmania Australia.
Hume, H. (2008). The Art Teachers Survival Guide. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.
Sterrett, D.(2007). Primary Art, Books A to G. Coventry, UK: Prim-Ed Publishing.

Reference
Department of Education, Tasmania. 1988. The Visual Arts in Primary Schools.

Kerin - responses

Hi Mark
I just want to say how much I appreciate our supportive and co-operative communication on email in regard to the Blog project. There seems to be a balance between when either of us is held up then the other can post.

RE: Music Week  - I was not inspired by the clapping exercises for primary students but at the end of the music week, I had the good fortune to be called in for relief and the grade 5 class had music. It turned out to be one of those special light bulb teaching lessons when the information we receive all falls into place and you understand "WHY". The music teacher based the whole lesson around the clapping rhythms. I joined in of course to try and understand how it all worked. The students, in groups, had written Rap songs that fitted with the particular clapping rhythm and coincided with Literacy Week's focus on poetry. The teacher had them in a circle and tested them with many different clapping rhythms, it was abit exciting keeping up and I was smiling often. The students had to comile 2 verses as well for their Rap songs and then each group performed in front of the others and their was a follow up discussion and vote of which were the most successful. I will definitely be practicing clapping rhythms now in order to become more proficient. This lesson was a real eye opener on the importance of scaffolding students through the basics, no matter how simple in order for the students to build their own unique understanding. It demonstrates the power of Constructivist Teaching techniques within the Arts.
Sometimes the teaching videos we see can be frustrating as they are mainly about workshops with very young students, say grades 1 to 2. As I am mainly involved in grades 3 to 6, I am constantly on the lookout for inspiration of how I may engage them. They do however hit home the importance of early exposure in opportunities to engage in creativity in all its forms. It gives them the knowledge and power to move to the next stages.
Re my music experience. I struggle with nerves in performing and this oftens cripples abilities for solo performances. Collaborative playing and group work in music is the most empowering for confidence and joy as it becomes very like a language between the performers, and can be very intoxicating for the players and they drive eacxh other to be better and better. It is amazing to see it happening with the students in the childrens orchestra.  I am so aware of this fear than can develop as you hit your teens and how much I have missed out on because of it, that my own experiences inform how I teach music. I am very encouraging and enthusiastic,  tend to prefer young students to get exposure to performing in public early so that it may become second nature to them and they will not struggle with fear of performing as they get older and they will be proud to show all what they can do. Most schools have performances at assemblies now which is a terrific opportunity for students to be exposed to audience and gives the teacher and class a set date to work towards performance and appreciation of their efforts.

Mark - Week 5: Dance

Applications of lessons in dance are similar to the cricket or football trainings which I’ve run in the past. I’d never thought of the connection between the two, which is a bit silly given the fact that the movement would be as, if not more intense in dance. They are so similar in their activity, however the main difference is the open-ended expression rather than a concrete end or result (Sinclair, Jeanneret, & O’Toole, 2012).

The idea’s evoked in dance are transferable in the academic domains which is a teaching tool that could be utilised before something like creative writing. Movement has a place for student’s to develop kinaesthetic exploration, social and motor skills. The ability to control of your own space and understanding of others personal space allows students to develop awareness (Wright, Schiller & Meiners 2003).

Much of communication is non-verbal, in fact 80%, therefore developing physical movement allows for greater communication (Raymond, 2008). Exploring the different dimensions of movement that dance offers, builds communication on all levels as well as strength, imagination and creativity (Wright, Schiller & Meiners 2003).

In both the younger and older groups it was interesting to see the introduction of a topic, very little was used in the advanced age group however it was a platform in smaller children to give ideas. It seems like it would be a great thing to use as a quick activity for cross curriculum links and addressing a topic. (E.g. science on space and maybe go through things in space, then a warm up with dancing/performing as an item you’d find in space to get the creativity flowing)

I’ve recently seen a guy called the Byron Bay dancing man (Tommy Frankin), whilst not trained in dance his movement seems to be infectious. As with some other forms of modern dance that I find really cool, i’d love to incorporate the YouTube links in the tool kit into a class. Showing it’s not about being an amazingly technical dancer one way or the other but about expressing yourself, entertaining and creating. This would hopefully show students that dance comes in varieties of ways and to not be afraid to go for it. I see the expression through dance as a great building block for ideas not only for yourself but also for others, whilst giving students confidence in a variety of areas. 

Tool Kit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5s7y83ZhW4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvm_LubFhr0

References

Raymond, I. (2008). Murraylands Rock and Water Program: Program overview and qualitative evaluation, May-July 2008. Unpublished program evaluation. Connected Self.

Wright, S., Schiller, W., & Meiners,  J. (2003). Children, meaning-making and the arts, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest.

Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N., & O’Toole, J. (2012). Education in the arts: Teaching and learning in the contemporary curriculum. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

Mark - Week 4: Visual Arts

WOW Kerin, seems like we've had vastly different musical Journey's! ha.
Think you may have trumped me, however it's been interesting to read from your entries and reflecting on mine, how people have their different thoughts towards music. The emotion music seems to be able to bring is strong regardless who you are or what type of music has influenced you. 
I've got to say, you mentioning on the Scottish songs is bringing back some great memories of living in Scotland 8 years ago, great people, scenery and the music (traditional or current). I always wonder... if music has the ability to bring emotions and thoughts back, I wonder if it has the ability harness thoughts in remembering information for students in a classroom?! May be something I try when I'm teaching a class.  

Tour Stop 1
I'm pretty certain I said most of those "I can't do that" statements over my schooling and I wonder if it was due to feeling the need to do a drawing that needed to look like a picture. I found it really interesting what was mentioned in the lecture, that it's ok for the self-portrait to not look like you but it's about representing you. It was something that i'd pass on to students in my class, as this can give them a licence to grow through their art by expressions of creativity, character and experiences rather than do a piece that is what they think someone wants to see (Skophammer, 2009). I'd even do a picture of my own in self-portrait and show other pictures which have dramatic differences to show how people's creativity and expressions differ. 

Here some examples including my own... 

Tour Stop 2
In learning in the arts, students will be help to develop their knowledge of colours through experiencing what occurs when they mix two separate colours. e.g Red/Yellow = Orange 

In learning through the arts, student can use there ability to respond and critically look at what they have done regarding mixing of colours. This way they can manipulate colours in the future to come to the desired result from what they had done previously.

Both of Learning 'in' and 'through' can utilise each other along the learning process to aide and further their knowledge through greater experiences and learning in the future. 

(ACARA, 2012)

Tour Stop 3 
Some great resources within this area which i'll definitely be using in my classroom.
After looking at these and reading what Catherine Speck says regarding children developing personally and expressing themselves to their individual needs (1989). I'm starting to mesh my teaching philosophy with art. Some artistic flair will not only add to the content but also give students the ability to follow their own interests and allow for more engaging lessons.        

Tool Kit
http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/DRAFT_Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_Foundation_to_Year_10_July_2012.pdf

(ACARA, 2012)
References

ACARA. (2012). Australian Curriculum: The Arts Foundation to Year 10. Retrieved from  http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/DRAFT_Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_Foundation_to_Year_10_July_2012.pdf 

Skophammer, K. (2009). Riding the Wave: A Self-Portrait Study, Arts and Activities. 145, 5, 38.

Speck, C. (1989). A Depth Art Curriculum for the Primary School. Australian Art Education. 22, 1, 72-85

Kerin - Week 3 Music

The Tasmanian Heritage Fiddle Ensemble

Early Music Education
The benefits of music education from a young age and its impact on development of spatial reasoning, fine motor skills and cognitive processes has now been proven scientifically. I must recommend a documentary called "How Music Works". It was a series on television a couple of years ago and is now available to be seen on the web. Working in musical groups also develops trust, respect and enhances skills related to compromise and negotiation.
Other inspiring documentaries that I would also recommend for understanding of the power of music to change lives are:
The Music Instinct: Science and Song and Power of Music Changes Lives by RTE Education. This documentary was inspired by a 30 year project in Karakas, Venezuela, called "El Sustaima",  where children from the slums were given free music lessons in a youth orchestra. Some went onto be world class professional musicians.
Children have the uncanny ability to absorb rhythms and tunes that take adults a lot of practice to conquer. Young children around 8 to 13 who play an instrument, can hear a tune, feel it in their mind and body and be able to play from memory in a matter of moments. Their finger to brain memory is faster acting and more enhanced.
I have been witness twice to a travelling music program in Tasmanian primary schools but don't have any contact details. I believe in house music programs in primary schools in Tasmania are quickly becoming an important area in schools as the benefits for helping disengaged students are becoming obvious. I have noted in my relief teaching that the schools in the lower socioeconomic areas often have active music programs and school bands that the students are so proud to belong to, no matter how outrageous they may be in the classroom or playground.
I look forward to being part of a music program as an extra curricular activity when I get a permanent teaching position and am also gathering children's songs and hoping to find the courage to one day soon, take my guitar into a class that I know will be challenging and difficult and give singing a test to see how the disengaged students may respond. I would be pleased to be a stringed instrument tutor in a school.

MY MUSICAL  JOURNEY

Primary School                       

Sang in the school choirs and took part in musicals and begged to be able to go to concerts that came to town.

Teens           

Got a guitar and set of lessons for my 12^th birthday. Taught myself to read music and finger pick, later ukulele, whistle and mouth organ. Loved the music of Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Peter Paul and Mary, Joni Mitchell. I wanted to choose art and music as my electives in grade 8 to 10 but they were on at the same time so chose art. Wanted to learn the piano so badly but not allowed. So with the help of a friend in the music room at school lunchtimes and after school I learnt the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. It took me a year. My Dad used to drive me to the folk club at Narrabeen from age 15. He understood as he used to play the guitar and mouth organ.

Young adult

Went to New Zealand, became very accomplished on the guitar and started teaching it to children and played with friends at parties and took part in festivals. I loved America, the Eagles, Don Maclean who I once hitchhiked 500 miles to see in concert in Christchurch and arrived half an hour before hand. Finally had some piano lessons and did grade exams, loved the music from Jonathon Livingstone Seagull which I played in concerts. Taught myself the flute and in a band where I played the flute rift in Knights in White Satin, my boyfriend played the bass guitar. It became my traveling instrument as I traveled the world as it fitted in a backpack easily. I adored Folk Club in the old University buildings in Christchurch on winter nights. There was a lot of Scottish songs and the audience rugged up in scarves and hats would sing along and create the most magic harmonies I have ever heard. Played with others during world travels and taught children to play early piano and guitar in  jobs as a nanny.

Early 30’s

A few boring years in Sydney, just played for myself but went to see Conway Brothers regularly at pubs as used to love their Captain Matchbox and the Whoopee band in the 70’s.

Tasmania

Came to Tasmania in 1990 and went to Cygnet Folk Club but it was noisy and drunken and you couldn’t hear the music. Practiced up and shyly came along to folk music nights at the Ferntree Tavern and had my turn singing and playing guitar, was part of a mandolin group and then played fiddle and accordion in Hillbilly Zen group and HOT String Band at lots of fairs, festivals,dances, parties, etc. Have joined in Irish sessions and in a bluegrass band for 3 years and had a regular spot in a café on Sundays and played traditional Tassie tunes with band called Slapdash, now called Buttongrass Serenade at parties, dances & conferences with professional musicians.  It’s a bit special getting paid for doing something you love so much. For 13 years have been adult support player with the Tasmanian Heritage Fiddle Ensemble with gifted children from age 8 upwards. We play regular gigs and support for overseas and interstate groups.
I worked in an orphanage in Cambodia in Dec/Jan 2010/11, found 2 old guitars there, fixed them up and taught 3 boys to play the guitar. This has the potential to be a life changing experience for these poor and damaged children.

                                               

THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN MY LIFE

After 46 years of playing music, the role of music is a natural and integral part of my everyday life, ranging from subconscious humming while working which annoys some people, to playing in a band at a bush dance and getting paid. Sometimes I am in a situation where I have to run from one performance to the next in another group. My skills have suffered with studying over the last few years as I rarely have time to practice at home. To counteract this loss, I have become a faster sight reader. I use songs in my head to keep rhythm during physical activity. As a child, my biggest frustration was that my parents would not pay for piano lessons. I thought the kids who hated their forced piano lessons were crazy.

I play many instruments now in this later stage of my life. They have built up over the years as needed, some have gone by the way as I didn’t need them in my life anymore, some are constant as they are used to make money or play with friends or in groups or just to myself at home. My mainstays are guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo. I have a lifelong love of old timey songs and fiddle tunes from the Appalacian Mountains. I appreciate many kinds of music. 
Much of my artwork includes music imagery.
   

I have a good CD collection, I don’t play recorded music very often except when I am working on art in my studio. If I buy a CD, its all about learning a song or tune off it. I have a new violin with a traditional set up for classical music and a cleaner sound and an old one with the flattened bridge and pick up for playing the hillbilly music and gigs. My goal this year is to improve on the violin and gain an understanding of the dynamics of playing in an orchestra so I can take part in or assist in a music program in a school when I get a permanent teaching job.

Tuesday night I rehearse classical with the Derwent Strings at the Elizabeth College Undercroft, which is the training arm of the Derwent Symphony Orchestra. Next Tuesday 6th August, our guest conductor will be Marko Letonya, the artistic director and chief conductor of the TSO.

I helped with children’s learning ensemble called Valley Strings on Saturday mornings at Franklin for a few years for ages 6 to 12. For 13 years on Wednesday nights after work I play with the Tasmanian Heritage Fiddle Ensemble, which is a group made up of gifted children aged 8 upwards. I am an adult support player of mainly the mandolin but concentrating on improving on the fiddle this year. We have been invited to the National Folk Festival in Canberra twice, play at most of the festivals in Tasmania and this year were support for the Celtic Fusion band Sprag Session from Cape Breton in Canada in the 10 Days on the Island Festival. We recently took part in a fund raising concert to raise money to buy instruments for Dunally School. At the end of August we play the monthly bushdance in the Wesley Hall in Hobart. The group has been about Traditional Tasmanian Music from 1840 to 1940, including tunes played by convicts and the aboriginal bands from Cape Barren Island.  Much of the music now has been written by the children and musical directors. They have many You-tube videos and have featured in documentaries about Tasmania. It has been an absolute privilege to be associated with these fabulous children for so many years,who excel in everything they do. There is virtually no behaviour management with these joyful hard working and committed children, other than to stop them playing in order to listen to new information and it amounts to the simple action of putting the violin bow on the top of your head and waiting no more than a few seconds. If only a primary classroom were that easy. My job, on occasions, has been to take charge of those who have an autism spectrum disorder and are exceptionally gifted musically but struggle with the social aspects of engaging with the other children.

   

References
YouTube - The Tasmanian Heritage Fiddle Ensemble
Wiggins, J. (2009). Teaching for Musical Understanding. Michigan: Oakland University, Centre for Applied Research in Musical Understanding.