teacher fail!

so you recall we were headed back to school - and I have done posts on two of my classes.. the third one, the one I was taking with Phil, I had not posted on... because the first class was so bad that I wanted to give it a second try before coming to any conclusion-  Here is the class description-

HOW MINORITIES CREATED THE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN POP MUSIC

From the earliest composers of “The Great American Songbook” to the origins of jazz and blues, minorities have played a strong cultural role in American music. Jewish songwriters, music publishers, entertainers, and executives have been involved in nearly all phases of this industry, and African Americans’ contribution to pop music—from early jazz, doo wop, blues, and soul music—is legendary. Finally, the fusion of country with rhythm and blues ultimately created the foundation for rock & roll. We will explore this fascinating reality, discovering the ethnicities of the movers and shakers in an industry that grew at a phenomenal pace, helping form the fabric of our society. This course (planned as a two-part series) will cover 1900-1950. Class participation will be encouraged as we listen to familiar songs and watch lively videos.

sounds great right? and the subject matter still is of interest but here is my report on the first two classes-

the first class the instructor came in and among the first statements he made was "I'm not going to talk a lot about myself" and then proceeded to talk about himself for roughly forty minutes and just when you thought he had moved on to some actual hard information he would some how slip in some story about his grandfather or his time in Nashville after he was "famous" as a white guy singing a back sounding song and how his obscure song - recorded in the Beatles BBC sessions has made so many royalties that his partner in writing didn't get because he was so much smarter in the renewal of the royalty blah blah blah...

so Phil and I thought maybe he got it out of his system and we would actually get to a real class with real information on the topic in the second week- sadly that was not the case- again with the "me me me me" and my grandfather and blah blah (I wonder if he knows Old Blevins personally? LOL)

and to top it off- he arrived one minute before class time (which is limited) and then couldn't' get his computer connection to run the video that he intended to show us- so a hour into class having gotten no further information I told Phil that I didn't intend to return to the class again- and an hour and ten minutes into the class when he had finally called for AV help to get the video playing Phil suggested we call it quits (another student had already departed) and we did...

having been a presenter for decades either to juries directly or to groups of 20-250 in meetings and at lectures I may be a bit more critical than the average student but seriously- the guy couldn't bother to do a power point of some basic information, he used one of those gadgets that just projects a piece of paper up on the board- and while he had one or two papers with interesting facts on them, we only skimmed the facts and he didn't bother to make handouts for the class... so no listening and no videos and two of eight sessions done---- what a bunch of hooey from this egocentric jerk!

my first clue that this might not be the number one instructor in the school was the fact that in my other two classes every single seat was full- and in this one it was only about half full... despite a really great topic- obviously some students knew to stay away- and now we have learned to as well.

so  here are my notes from the second class - we did leave ten minutes early so this is the sum total of the information given in an hour and ten minutes-  LOL- I think they speak for themselves!

but my arts class is going fabulously and the history class was not given this last week due to MLK day- but so far lots of interesting info- as noted on the posts for these classes -

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2015/01/first-day-of-class.html

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-amazing-facts.html

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2015/01/adult-education.html

so see- some of the instructors actually have real information to impart- not just stories about themselves and how important they are- stay tuned for more maritime history and arts and culture information!

back to school

We are headed back to school... for the winter term which starts in January.  We were lucky to find many courses of interest. There were so many good topics we had to narrow it down, so I am taking three and Phil is joining in one of the three.  They are held at a nearby university (University of South Florida-Sarasota Manatee campus USF-SM, hereinafter USF- LOL) it's less than 20 minutes away from us. I have two morning classes and the one we are attending together is an afternoon (LOL- everyone who knows Phil knows that it would HAVE to be an afternoon class.)

Here is what we are taking-

INSIDER’S VIEW OF THE ARTS IN SARASOTA

Sarasota is truly the capital of the arts scene of the “Culture Coast” of Florida. In this course, we’ll explore Sarasota’s rich artistic heritage through class discussion and field trips.  We’ll learn about the birth of the Ringling Museum and John Ringling’s vision for Sarasota; visit the Ringling College of Art and Design and enjoy the creative energy of its students; discover the Towles Court artists’ colony; take a backstage tour of the Sarasota Ballet; visit the Palm Avenue galleries and talk to the owners; and tour backstage at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and view their extensive art collection. Some of our explorations may involve entrance fees not covered by the course fee, and our meeting time may be adjusted for our visits to the Van Wezel, the Sarasota Ballet, and the Palm Avenue galleries.

FLORIDA MARITIME HISTORY

The palette of Florida’s history is written on its waters, its rivers and coastlines, its inlets and shallows, and its mighty currents. The men and women who sailed across this canvas and left their footprints in the sands of time are the subject of this course. There are tales that turn on shipwrecked cabin boys, sleeping sentries, and a maddened gardener; tales with the imprint of emperors and kings, generals and admirals, heroism and cowardice. The course spans 14,000 years, from the introduction of humans to the peninsula, to the port from which America launches toward the next frontier. Along the way, we’ll talk of canoe makers, U-boat captains, Teddy Roosevelt, and a near-crazy Cuban who thwarted the burning of Tampa in the Civil War. This is a rich, complex adventure as humans adapted to the nautical, geographic, and meteorological realities of this unique peninsula called Florida.

and the class together-

HOW MINORITIES CREATED THE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN POP MUSIC

From the earliest composers of “The Great American Songbook” to the origins of jazz and blues, minorities have played a strong cultural role in American music. Jewish songwriters, music publishers, entertainers, and executives have been involved in nearly all phases of this industry, and African Americans’ contribution to pop music—from early jazz, doo wop, blues, and soul music—is legendary. Finally, the fusion of country with rhythm and blues ultimately created the foundation for rock & roll. We will explore this fascinating reality, discovering the ethnicities of the movers and shakers in an industry that grew at a phenomenal pace, helping form the fabric of our society. This course (planned as a two-part series) will cover 1900-1950. Class participation will be encouraged as we listen to familiar songs and watch lively videos. 

So in January - I'll be wearing plaid kilts, knee socks, and penny loafers- LOL- obviously I am only kidding- since I haven't dressed like that since eighth grade...