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THE MISCELLANEOUS LION

Welcome to The Miscellaneous Lion-Its time to have some fun and maybe scratch our heads while learning some different things such as:

Is America Being Dumbed Down?

Look at these samplings of questions taken from an 1895 8th grade final exam-from Salinas Kansas -you be the judge of how well you might do!

1) Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.

2) Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modification.

3) Define verse, stanza and paragraph.

4) What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of do,lie,lay and run.

5) Define case, illustrate each case.

6) What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.

7-10) Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

This is just a portion of the test areas submitted for YOUR consideration and appreciation of our 19th century teachers and students. There is more to this exam and I will continue further with the next installment of The Miscellaneous Lion.


QUOTES - to make you think!

"Education is whats left over after you have forgotten-everything else" Mark Twain

"Living without liberty-is not living" Anonymous

"Give me liberty-or give me death" Patrick Henry"

"I shall return"General George McArthur upon leaving the Phillipines-never to return again.

"Thank you for making this day necessary-Yogi Berra-to the Fans at Yankee Stadium celebrating Yogi Berra Day-"It aint over-till its over"-Yogi Berra

"Wal-Mart? is that where you buy wall stuff?-Jessica Simpson

"If yer talkin-ya aint learnin" Anonymous-(well said I might add)

"The Truth Is What It Is" TBL(and if you find out what that is-let me know!)


Moving onto the subject of musicians - Are Musical Brains Wired For Sound?

From an article on MSNBC News 11/14/02 (excerpts) Neuroscientits using brain scanning machines to peer inside the minds of professional German violinists found they could hear the music simply by thinking about it. Amateurs did not have the skill to do this or were unable to match the testing.

Further testing of the brains of eight violinists with German orchestras and eight amateurs showed professionals significant activity in the part of their brains that controls hearing said Dr. Gabriela Scheler of the University of Tubingen. When professionals move their fingers, they also hear the music in their heads.

Minds Liberated! Dr. Scheler (former Neuremburg Philharmonic Symphony Violinist) said the finding suggests that professional musicians have "liberated" their minds from worrying about hitting the right notes. As a result-they are able to listen, judge and control their play.

In a recent experiment the violinists were asked to imagine playing the concerto without moving their hands. Brain scans showed the professionals were hearing the music in their heads.

Dr. Robert Zatore said its the first time anyone had studied music and its relationship to motor control and imagery. Dr. Zatore has spent two decades studying the brains response to music.

As I wrap up this first part of The Miscellaneous Lion-a comment to our educators, school teachers, administrators, politicians, and corporations that support music and the arts.

This article and commentary is important-why? Suzuki violin teachers claim their students are better students-smarter at math-go on to college-and have productive lives. In the tests of the German violinists they hear inside their heads and produce brain wave activity. I am a musician of 39 years with a specialty in Tamburitzan & ethnomusic folk stringed instruments with an ability to hear music in my head. Ive had the ability to hear music in my head going to back to childhood at 7-8 years of age. I call it "musical mental telepathy". My understanding is that we only use 10% of our total brain capacity while 90% of our potential remains unused. In other words or in rephrasing the question-are we only working at 10% of our capacity-or less-to learn?

These tests prove activity is occurring in the brain and were in the infancy of these tests. The biggest room in my life-is the "room for improvement" and it starts with me-no one else. As for you-the teacher-you are the educational conduit to success for todays students. Music works! Suzuki programs are important-critical and need to be initiated more than ever within todays school programs. "Music From The Heart" taught us no matter where our children go to school and no matter their economic status (DO YOU HEAR ME!) Students can be taught. They can succeed-their education matters and YOUR vision of a students success is critical and needed!

If your school doesnt have a SUZUKI program-BE THE ONE-who gets one started. It is more than money. Education is what the hope and future of our country is about. YOU are all sowers planting seeds of the future in your classrooms of today. This valuable study is important to you and your students. Teachers-Keep up the good work-we need you-we need our music teachers more than ever.(including Tamburitza instructors and music instructors of all kinds!)

I want to know if you started a music program-Suzuki or any kind and I will share your story here!

"TBL"

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