As of April 24th, the spring semester of graduate school is over. This semester was one of fulfilling some of my elective requirements. One of classes in particular was quite difficult. It was General Music in the Secondary Schools. This class was set up with no instruction provided- only a list of ten assignments and a few discussion board questions. Communication with this professor was quite difficult. This person consistently ignored (for lack of a better word) my emails asking questions pertaining to the coming assignments (most of the time I received responses a week or more later). I experienced more help from the other students in the class than I did from the professor. I especially want to thank the Buttrams for their generous help in my many times of need.
My other class was a Music Technology class. Until I enrolled in this class, I fancied myself a pretty savvy technology person. I soon found out that I was lacking in experience and skills compared to the others in the class. I almost dropped the class because I could not see through the cloud of confusion that this subject was causing. My professor, Cynthia Wagoner, was so kind and patient with me, always encouraging me and helping me to see through the "cognitive dissonance". She and I kept in touch weekly to ensure that I was doing the right things. She made me realize that when it comes to a subject as daunting technology (so many things and always changing), I needed to take baby steps. I learned to find one thing, research it, become comfortable with it, and then move on to the next thing. That's what a good teacher does and I will always be grateful to her for that.
My other class was a Music Technology class. Until I enrolled in this class, I fancied myself a pretty savvy technology person. I soon found out that I was lacking in experience and skills compared to the others in the class. I almost dropped the class because I could not see through the cloud of confusion that this subject was causing. My professor, Cynthia Wagoner, was so kind and patient with me, always encouraging me and helping me to see through the "cognitive dissonance". She and I kept in touch weekly to ensure that I was doing the right things. She made me realize that when it comes to a subject as daunting technology (so many things and always changing), I needed to take baby steps. I learned to find one thing, research it, become comfortable with it, and then move on to the next thing. That's what a good teacher does and I will always be grateful to her for that.