From: Phil Shapiro (pshapiro@HIS.COM)
Date: 05/22/03
hi everyone -
when i was growing up, when i was about 8 or 9 i would often run
over to one of my older siblings and announce, "look what I can do!"
these stunts usually involved balancing four books on my head at one
time, or standing on one foot while holding a glass of water in an
outstretched arm. my older brother ian would look mildly impressed
and respond, "yes, but can you do that for 45 seconds? come back and
show me when you can do that for 45 seconds."
invariably i couldn't do it for 45 seconds -- until i had
practiced the stunt for several hours.
a few days later i would triumphantly return and proclaim, "i
can now do it for 45 seconds. watch me."
these childhood episodes came to mind last night when i was
recording a snippet of guitar fingerpicking. the first attempt at
this sound recording wasn't that good. so i tried again. the second
attempt was just a bit better. so i tried a 3rd and 4th time. better,
but still not good enough. and then the 5th time i hit it squarely
on the mark.
when i looked at the duration of the audio, it was about 45
seconds -- the same duration challenge that my brother ian gave me
when i was growing up. thru practice and concentration i was able to
make it to the 45 second mark. for those who might be interested, the
audio i recorded can be seen and heard in a quicktime at
http://storymakers.net/bobbymcgee.mov note - this is just a snippet
of a song, so there are no copyright concerns putting it up on the
web. the technique i used for creating this quicktime (using
quicktime pro - $30 from apple) can be found in a quicktime near the
bottom of http://storymakers.net/thanks/)
i'm interested to hear what other ways people on this list
challenge youth to practice and perform. youth often surpass their
own expectations when they're challenged to reach a target or goal.
the yearning to self-improve while practicing is in-born. you don't
need to teach youth to yearn to self-improve. you do need to give
them ample self-improvement opportunities.
- phil shapiro
arlington, virginia
<p><p><p><p><p>
--
Phil Shapiro pshapiro@his.com
http://www.his.com/pshapiro/ (personal)
http://teachme.blogspot.com (weblog)
http://storymakers.net (multimedia explorations)
"Where there is storytelling there are relationships. Where there is
storytelling there are folks who crave to speak and learn." -
Brenda Laurel.
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