2. Ugh, could it beee any more humid here today? Jeebus. I'm pretty sure we're one percent humidity away from literally walking through water. Warm, pollen-filled water. Good thing I ducked into deliciously air-conditioned Target at the end of the day and found myself a beautiful dark red gigantic (just how I like 'em) purse on sale for a zillion percent off (wait, that can't be right...). Score!
3. This one's for Sarah L.: OMG! Locke is totally Gandalf the White!! You are SO right.
4. Oh, and speaking of teaching: I had my last official day of college teaching for the semester (Final Exams next week). I celebrated - in true "cool, hip teacher" fashion - by bringing donuts and juice to class. Needless to say, it was very well received by the penniless hungry college crowd. (Small aside: At the beginning of class, I was running late and still had to run to the car to get the donuts and napkins so I told the class that I would be back in five minutes. To which one of the students asked, "Is it because you have to get coffee?" HA. How well they come to know me after just a few months. End aside)
Note to self: Bring donuts to class the day before you do course evaluations, not the day after. D'oh. Another one to add to the list of Things To Do Differently Next Time.
And then we spent the rest of the class playing the first ever annual Baaaattle of the Braaaiiiins! The game, in which a pre-Final Exam review session is masked under the guise of a merciless survival of the fittest challenge, involves me asking the class questions involving anything and everything we have ever discussed/read/listened to in class that semester with the goal being the last person remaining in the game. The rules are that whoever raises his/her hand to answer my question first gets to answer (duh). If they answer incorrectly, they are eliminated from the game. However, if they answer correctly, they get to choose somebody to eliminate. Sample questions included:
1. List all of the musical time periods in chronological order.
2. Who was the "Red Priest"?
3. Spell "Renaissance"
4. What are the 3 components of sonata-allegro form, in order?
5. What is the nickname for Beethoven's Symphony no. 3?
6. List the years for the Baroque period.
7. Name the time period and composer for the Wind Serenade "Gran Partita"?
8. What is the standard instrumentation for a woodwind quintet?
9. Listening Round: I'd play an excerpt from a piece of music, and they would name the time period and composer/genre/title.
10. Name two instruments that were introduced during the Classical Period.
11. Define, or explain the difference between monophony, polyphony and homophony.
12. Name the 3 main composers of the First Viennese School.
13. Define Janissary music.
and so forth.
Let me tell you, it got quite ruthless (i.e. awesome) with the eliminations. Nothing erases the bonds of friendship faster than a free gift card. It was so much fun. Another note to self: Do a few more Battle of the Brains days next year (I hope!) for fun. Hooray for edumacational fun! Anyway, I had only enough in my funds to have prizes for 2 rounds of Battle of the Brains (a $15 Star*ucks gift card and a $15 iTunes giftcard), but the class was having so much fun playing the game, that they wanted to keep going even after the prizes were given out ("We can play for that pen on your desk!" Ha!) In the end, we had time to do a third round and the prize was 5 extra credit points on their Final Exam.
Anyway, it was good times. I like teaching college. I hope I get to do some more of it. The end.
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