Wrap Up

1. I think what intrigues me most about culture is that it is such a tight knit community. No matter where you are in the world, everyone takes pride in their culture. Everyone cares about their own culture and the values that have been instilled in them. It seems quite obvious that someone would value their own culture, but yet it is still amazing to see it through pictures, music, and videos. That is one thing that everyone in the world has in common, valuing their culture and beliefs.

2. I guess I kind of realized that as Americans, we aren't the coolest. I guess I think that we normally are the coolest and have the best things, cultures, and traditions. However, I do realize now that that isn't so. There are so many cool things about all cultures. They are all so unique and different, yet alike in so many ways also. We don't just stand apart from everyone, there are a lot of similarities and there are a lot of cultures that have "cooler" things than we do.

3. This class has inspired me to learn more about the world. Before entering this class, I did not know a whole lot about different cultures or different places. I was so nervous when I had to pick somewhere to do my presentation on. I all of a sudden realized that I do know of that many places and the few I do are the ones that we are covering in our textbook. This has inspired me to learn of different places around the world and to get interested in what is going on and what they believe. It made me realize that life does exist for me outside of South Carolina and that I can turn some of my focus to other places and things.

Cool Stuff

http://www.gullahtours.com/

This website is Gullah Tours in Charleston. It is really cool because you can take this tour in Charleston and experience first hand the Gullah Culture. Gullah is somethign that has always interested me and something I have always found fascinating. If you can't make it to Charleston, it is still cool to look at this website. They offer a Gullah dictionary so to speak and also some readings and things in Gullah. It's very informational. I definitely encourage everyone to learn more about this neat culture! There is so much to learn from it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ItRrO6P1W4

This is a clip from the Olympics in Beijing. I remember when I watched this thinking, how in the world do they do this??? To me, China has always had the motto of never expecting to fail and to always find a way to make something work. You can see that through the human power of putting this show together, standing on each other, dancing, playing the drums. I was highly impressed by this show and still find it fun to watch.

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/76/24776-004-EA7A40A8.jpg

This image reminds me of some that we saw in class. The gongs are present as well as the other instruments used. It is fasinating the intricate details on the instruments. I agree that listening to the music in class and then actually seeing it made me understand it more. It's like it broke down the layers.

cool stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPN3gLVDsOY

This video is not very significant to what we are talking about, but I just thought it was so cool that I needed to share with everyone. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS7A-YoxREE&feature=PlayList&p=10C1822BA08256C6&index=0

I liked this video clip because it is of a woman singing. It is very pretty. Everything in the video is about what we have discussed in class from the sounds to the instrument. I guess I'm kind of dorky, but it always amazes me to learn something in class and then to find it and see it in other places. I always get this " Wow it really does exist" thought which is really odd since I'm sure our professors wouldn't lie to us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOC4nd4hLNI

This is a video touring the Taj Mahal. I am so fascinated by it and really enjoyed the slides we go to see on it. I thought this was great to learn more information about it. I could also possibly use this video in my classroom.

http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/teachers/lessons/

Because the teacher is breaking out in me, I had to post these lesson plans. I'm always looking for good and interesting plans. I try to relate everything that interests me or that I learn into something I can teach my kids. This might actually be on a higher level than what I would actually be teaching, but it is still a great resouce.

Music and Gender

Music and Gender are something I saw, but didn't really put the two together. Now that I think and look back. I do realize that boys/men played certain instruments and the girls/women played others. There was not much of a cross over. It always seemed in church that the guys would play the drums. However, this was only on special events. My church is extremely traditional and very rarely do we get to whip out the drums and get "crazy". :) The women are the ones who always played the handbells. I am not sure that I have ever seen a man play the handbells. While I notice these differences, I am do not feel like it would be bad if a man decided to play the handbells. It certainly does not feel pressured. To me, it seems like our church is always looking for volunteers so I don't think anyone would be turned down to play any instrument. I do think we are so fortunate as Americans to not have to experience things like other cultures do that are controlling of what we want to do. We pretty much have the freedom to do whatever we want. The only think I can think of (I'm sure there is something else, I just can't think of it) that I can think of where a woman actually cannot do the same thing as a man is play golf at Augusta National. Other than that I think women and also for men can share talents, sports, and instruments.

Back on topic, I do remember growing up, that I took piano lessons. Everyone I knew that took piano lessons were girls. We seemed to pretty much dominate the lessons. However, there was this one family in town who were Mennonites. They were always so nice and welcoming. They were an extremely large family with a lot of boys and a few daughters. Looking back I realized that all of the boys took piano, but only one of the girls did. They were extremely talented. Growing up, I always saw them and interacted with them since we took from the same piano teacher, but I really do not know anything about their religion. I think this would be something cool for me to look into and maybe understand how they view and think of music in their culture.

cool stuff

http://africanmusic.org/

I know this is a pretty basic website, but I thought it was great for someone who did not know a lot about Africa, it's culture, or music. I think it is easy to navigate. As a future educator, I think this would be a great website for my students to use because the information is easy to find and understand. Also, the website has an online store! I think this is really cool and allows me to find materials that I could use in my classroom.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/tools/music/goals.html

As an Education major, our teachers are always telling us to find lesson plans wherever we can. Beg, borrow, and steal is the Elementary teacher's motto for lesson plans. With this, I found this really interesting lesson plan that I could do with my students. It is fun and entertaining as well as teaching about the African culture and their music. I am definitely filing this lesson plan!


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

This is a really cool video for our class to watch. It talks about the similarities with African Music and Latin America. This is neat to me because in class we talk about how so many cultures have similarities and this is a video pointing all of this out.

Music and Religion

I am a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Bamberg, SC. I consider Trinity to be a very traditional church. We sing hymns of praise that are extremely old and what most people think of when you think of church songs. Within our church, we do not clap or sway when we sing. We simply stand up, open the hymnal, and sing. I know some people think this is boring, but I like it. I do feel that sometimes the songs can be a bit boring, especially since we do not clap or sway, but when we sing a favorite, you can really feel the emotion. It seems to me like the church sings louder and when a sense of pride. Sometimes on special occasions we will have someone play an instrument like the flute or drums, but not very often.
From my description I guess it sounds like our church is boring, but it really isn't. When we sing, we are singing hymns of praise. We are singing the stories of the Bible or the thanks and appreciation we have. We are opening our hearts through song.
When I do think of music, I do mostly think of my religion. We sing songs that sound nice and have a good rhythm. There are few songs that I do not enjoy listening to. I really enjoy feeling the warmth of the congregation as we are praising God together. Everyone stays together and the sound is magical ( unless the organist gets carried away ). Hearing the music and experiencing it does follow me through my life. Often when I leave church I am happier and carry the tunes in my head for days.

Cool Stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug2TrGD7INY

This is a Native American music video. The song that is being played does not sound like a traditional Native American song. The language is of the Native Americans, but the rhythm and melody are more like the modern music that we hear today. The video is really neat because it shows everything that we discussed in class. It shows the intricate detail of costumes, men playing on a drum, and the sacred dances that are performed.

http://www.littleleaf.com/

This website talks about the Native American flutes that we looked at in class. It tells the story of the flute and how it is inspired and a part of the Native American culture. I found this website to be informational because not only does it tell the story of the flute, but you can listen to music clips, buy music or the flute, and also look at pictures. There is also a link of this website to follow on Facebook which has other great pictures and music.

http://artsmarts4kids.blogspot.com/2008/10/create-your-own-african-djembe-drum.html

This website is teaching students how to make a djembe drum. I thought this was really neat because the students could really get into what they are learning. This is an activity that gets students involved and makes them care about what they are learning. I was really interested in it since I am going to be an elementary teacher and this is a way I can incorporate what I am learning into lessons for my students.