Sunday, July 31, 2011

Maria Schneider & Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra in Vocational education




Maria Schneider & Orquestra Jazz Matosinhos

Maria Shneider and Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra at Casa da Música last 21 July.


It was not the first time I listened Maria Schneider performing in Portugal. But it is always a pleasure listening such a great musician.


This time, she was not with her orchestra but conducting the Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra.




Maria Schneider & OJM

The OJM is the only jazz orchestra in Portugal. Playing since 1999, the OJM is a well known jazz orchestra playing with the best musicians. 

The OJM has already performed in Brussels, Milan and in New York at Carnegie Hall for the "JVC Jazz Festival".

The OJM performed as well with Dee Dee Bridgewater and now conducted by Maria Schneider presented some master pieces  of this great jazz composer, nominated for nine Grammy's and winner of two Grammy's.





Maria Schneider's music cross the borders between genres and conquered critics and different audiences.

The concert was very good! Of course ! She is a wonderful composer and the Orquestra of Jazz de Matosinhos is one of the best jazz orchestras.


Education:


There's so little provision for helping teachers to bring music into the classroom. But when you teach at a Vocational Jazz School, it is so different. We are talking about Vocational Education. You have the chance to participate in music-making.

You can always to go with students to jazz concerts, jazz clubs or inviting some jazz musician for a workshop at the school.

Maria Schneider is a awesome jazz composer and director (there are few women as music directors) and his work and orchestra are amazing.

Let your students discover Maria Schneider by themselves. And ask them to choose the music pieces that they want to discuss and play in your lessons.

There are some interesting resources that you can use in your lessons on Maria Shneider's website.

Of course the Orquestra de Jazz de Matosinhos OMJ is also an important jazz big band. The OMJ plays in Portugal and other countries (France, Brussels, Milan, New York) OMJ talented young musicians are directed by Pedro Guedes and Carlos Azevedo


Vocational education : Jazz schools

G-Souto

31.07.2011
Copyright © 2011G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

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Maria Schneider & Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra in Vocational education by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

PISA: Using graphic facilitation





Are students well prepared for future challenges? Can they analyse, reason and communicate effectively? Do they have the capacity to continue learning throughout life?

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) answers these questions and more, through its surveys of 15-year-old in the principal industrialised countries.

Every three years, it assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society.

But, what is PISA? If you're not quite sure what PISA is or does, and you've got about 12 minutes to spare, watch the video in graphics below:






It's a breathtaking concept. For the OECD, it's a very real way of finding out how well-prepared today's students are to participate in society.

Did this video helped you to understand why the OECD's number-crunchers trigger such intense debate about the state of education around the world every time they release the results of the latest PISA survey?

"The best teachers are often found in schools attended by advantage students who generally do well on their subjects anyway."

G-Souto

25.07.2011
Copyright © 2011G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Credits video: EDUcontact

Licença Creative Commons
PISA: Using graphic facilitation bG-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

References: OECD
https://www.oecd.org/

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Schools : Amy Winehouse, a lonely girl in a huge but brief success career




credits : Amy Winehouse 

Amy Winehouse, the British pop soul singer is dead on the 23 July 2011. How said! It was almost inevitable.

The new didn't surprised the music world, Amy Winehouse, singer and songwriter could not win the battle against alcohol and drugs that increasingly overshadowed her talent.
 
"With her distinctive hairdo, lashings of eye make-up and garish tattoos, Winehouse rocketed to fame that she could not control."
 
I wrote Amy Winehouse is back in January, 15 2011:





Amy Winehouse
[1983-2011]
credits: unknown
via Google Images

"Amy Winehouse is back! This wonderful singer and composer of soul, jazz and R&B is finally back after almost 5 years of crossing hell! Her tour in Brazil has been successful. Amy is finally back! 

She has an incredible talent! She has such a gorgeous voice! She is complex, unique, superb! Hope she's finally back!"







She didn't! Amy Winehouse is dead of accidental alcohol poising at age 27! She will live in her songs! Two albums 'Frank' (2003) and 'Back to Black' (2006), five Grammy Awards in 2008.





Black to black, 2006
Amy Winehouse


Education:

Alcohol and drugs are a sad reality in our days. Sometimes they are among some of our students at school. 

Amy's life could be an important alert to discuss the theme in one or two lessons. Include this theme into your school curriculum. 

Begin with an open discussion. Let your students to speak free. If they don't know Amy because she's dead some years ago. 12 years yesterday, July 23. 





Amy Winehouse
créditos: via Rolling Stone






young Amy Winehouse
credits: Amy Foundation


Choose some songs by the singer and songwriter, and play it in the classroom. Invite your students to understand the lyrics by helping them to study the lyrics to understand better Amy's life.






Amy 
Amy Winehouse documentary
 Asif Kapadia, 2015

There is the documentary Amy, Oscar winner 2016 based on true facts and documents. Her life was not easy. As Michael Jackson, she began to sing at a very young age. A father who explored her talent and a passive mother who didn't protect her.





Amy 
Amy Winehouse documentary
 Asif Kapadia, 2015

When the Amy Winehouse documentary came out in 2016 on theaters. At the end of the film, Amy's fans were with tears in their eyes. We could not left our chairs immediately. Her voice and images were so present in our memory. 

Director Asif Kapadia took on the story of her life for the documentary Amy, and told in her own words along with previously unseen archive footage and interviews to tell the London performer's tragic story in her own words.





Amy 
Amy Winehouse documentary
 Asif Kapadia, 2015

Prepare a road note to your students before displaying the documentary or watching on the internet or on streaming.

You can watch on HBOA powerful and moving documentary on the short but electrifying life of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse





Amy 
Amy Winehouse documentary
 Asif Kapadia, 2015


"An extraordinary, powerful work" 

IndieWire 

From director Asif Kapadia, featuring archival footage of the singer herself, plus interviews with Lauren Gilbert, Mitchell Winehouse, Janis Winehouse, Raye Cosbert, Tyler James, Pete Doherty, Tony Bennett, and more.

At the end, try to evaluate with a simple dialogue if they could understand how sad is to die so young this way. And tell them the danger of drugs and alcohol with some true examples on young people.

*Note: Pay attention to the age of your students and level you are teaching. 

Ya, I know, it's difficult to survive to some students. Often they have a disturbed family, sometimes a father like Amy's father or a weak mother.

I taught at some schools where the most part of the students had difficult lives caused by their parents vices.








Important message: 

Try to open students eyes and show them how important it is to make the good choices for a better life and future.

Talking with their parents, students will show their parents how important it's attentive support.

I'm sure they will appreciate this life lesson!

A talented songwriter, an amazing voice, but to young to begin a singer career without a good family support.

On the way, she destroyed herself and could not resist to such brutality. The tabloids, the success, the sad love affair and the loneliness.

To me, she will be always 'unique' on her voice and talent! She was an unhappy and lonely young girl. Perhaps to vulnerable and fragile to face such a success.


"Life's short. Anything could happen, and it usually does"

Amy Winehouse


G-Souto

24.07.2011

update 24 July 2023
Copyright © 2023G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com® 

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Schools : Amy Wiinehouse, a lonely girl in a huge but brief success career bG-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Surf for All: a social inclusion project







"O sonho comanda a vida."


António Gedeão*

In the "International Day of Surfing", 18 June 2011 was a different day for people with disabilities.


During the weekend, "Surf for All" joined 50 participants with disabilites - physical, intellectual and visual - on Costa da Caparica beach, near Lisbon, Portigal, to have a vibrant experience in their lives.

Portuguese professional surfers could join the group and help the participants into the practice of this interesting sport for summer.

The organization "Surf for All" was impressed by the number of participants, and very happy about their excitement and the promise that participants would like to repeat this experience. 

Frederico Morais, João Guedes e Ruben Gonzalez, the Portuguese profissional surfers were there for two days, helping the participants with different disabilities to catch the right wave.

This meeting "Surf for All" was sponsered by Duckdive - Bodyboard & Surf School & Camp, Salvador's Association, Estado Líquido-Org and Portuguese Sports Federation for people with disabilities and the aim was promoting a real social inclusion, equal opportunities access leasure, sports and cultural in an environment that ensured accessibility and security.

"Surf for All" was also sponsered by Billabong, the  and others.




Salvador is a young man who suffered a violent moto accident. He was 16 years old and he felt asleep conducting his moto. Here his personal testimony.

He is a case of success of recovering, helped by his family and friends and his great courage and will.

He enourages other young people to recover and fight for better conditions and social inclusion.



Prémio Ser Capaz is annual award that promotes creativity and technologies in order to facilitate the social inclusion of people with disabilities. It 's only available for Portugal.

"Consciente da importância da investigação para a qualidade do seu projecto e para o desenvolvimento global do país, a Associação Salvador pretende estimular o desenvolvimento de projectos que possam facilitar a vida das pessoas portadoras de deficiência motora, através da atribuição do Prémio Ser Capaz - Investigação e Tecnologia"

Leia aqui o Regulamento




Education:


One of the most important school curriculum is Sports. Please read my post "Special Olympics 2011  for Children with Disabilities here

Children with disabilities have wonderful performance in sport. They are enthousiastic because they feel more integrated in the society.

It would be great for a school project developing it with a surfing school for summer holiday.  

A project that would promote the social inclusion in a open space and encourage children and teenagers with disabilities to a healthy outdoor life joining other young people.

And the fact of professional surfers  being  near them on such a good project would help kids and teens to feel less lonely during summer time.

Sports teachers, propose a similar project in your school, if the school is not far from the beach!

Educators have a crucial role helping the integration of children with disabilities.


G-Souto


21.07.2011
Copyright © 2011G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®


Credits: video SIC


* António Gedeão (Portuguese poet and teacher)

Licença Creative Commons
Surf for All: a social inclusion project bG-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.



References:


Ocean.look
http://oceanlook.sapo.pt