Music Literatures of the Steelpan - Course Materials

 Date for Entry: (Thursday 11th October 2018)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Thursday 10th March 2022)

[WRITTEN AS REPORT]

Dear Diary,

    In this entry, I list my works for the Music Literatures of the steelpan course materials. They are to assist the students in completing their assignments and to assist in making the course more student-friendly. Below is an account of all the work that was done by myself (as part of the DAPHA Project) for the course.

Link(s):

1. 'Scratch Created' Textbook - (Version 4).

ASSIGNMENT FORMS (ALL VERSIONS).

* Thursday 11th October 2018 *

    The 1st versions of both forms were done to do my assignments. I really wanted to do over the kind that Dr. Remy sent by email. The book report form is usually used for assignments 2 and 3. The newspaper clipping form is used at the archives and for the microfilm assignment. (Thursday 11th October 2018)

    For the 2nd version, I decided to add watermarks. Dr. Remy and I were excited to use them and see how they turned out. Unfortunately, after a semester of putting it into the trial, there was some difficulty set with the watermark being too bold on the paper. (2019)

    In the 3rd Version, all the watermarks were taken out. The header was amended in both forms. The book report form was changed on pages two and three. I designed page three to be duplicated for how many pages the student needed. The newspaper report form was an adoption of the "A Season of Steelpan" form version. 

    I'm not sure how useful this was for Dr. Remy and her new batch of students for that particular academic year. Unfortunately for me, Microsoft Word observed several technical challenges and destroyed my work for the "A Season of Steelpan" series book. I was still proud of this version for the students. It seemed more professional and 'official' in a way. (2020)

Link(s):

1. Book Report Form - (Version 1-2). ** [For Request by Email.]
2. Book Report Form - (Version 3).
3. Newspaper Report Form - (Version 1-2). ** [For Request by Email.]
4. Newspaper Report Form - (Version 3).

NEWSPAPER CLIPPING POWERPOINTS.

* Tuesday 18th December 2018 *

    During the vacation period (year 2, semester 1) of the Music Degree, as I was cutting through some newspapers for more steelpan Articles, I thought that there should also be proper techniques to share with the students and show them that when they cut paper how it came to be destroyed easy in future in the library either by age or by audience usage. I did separate PowerPoints to emphasize certain types of article clippings.

Link(s):

1. Short-Sized Articles.
2. Full-Page Articles.
3. Two Separate Page Articles.
4. Double-Sided Sheet Articles.
5. Irregular-Shaped Articles.

LIST OF STEELBANDS.

* Saturday 29th December 2018.*

    In the course, there were eight pages containing a list of names of steelbands. I was able to take that list and condense it into three pages. I thought of the Steelpan Arranging 1 course I did with Dr. Remy's degree and thought that it would have been more helpful to the students with just three pages.

Link(s):

1. List of South Steelbands. ** [See Textbook for list.]

MLA Handouts.

* Monday 18th February 2019 *

    I was in the Festival Library at DCFA and then I received a message. It was a message from Dr. Remy saying that she had to speak with me. When I knew she was in school, I shut back down the laptop and went upstairs to Cheeseman Building to visit her. I did not know what it was.

    When I got there, she told me that the students in the class (Music Literature of the Steelpan) were having trouble doing the MLA. They had just updated MLA citation to version eight. She took out a page with writing and boxes and showed me what she had planned. Just by looking at the paper, I realized that Dr. Remy was asking me to help her make a handout to teach the students how to do the MLA. This is what she continued to tell me and she said that the students were getting a lot of trouble trying to do the citation.

    I took the page she gave me and did the work overnight. The next day, I went back to visit her in the office to submit the work. I showed Dr. Remy the handout she wanted me to make. In addition, there was a second one I had made for her where I did a sample of the assignment’s form filled out with the newspaper article done.

Link(s):

1. Newspaper Form Worksheet - (Dr. Remy's Template).
2. Newspaper Form Worksheet - (My Product).

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Critical Readings in Caribbean Arts and Culture 1 - (MUSC 2010)

 Date for Entry: (Saturday 7th October 2018)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Thursday 10th March 2022)

Dear Diary,

    This course began on the first week of the semester. It was a three-hour class starting from one in the afternoon. I was very nervous about the first class because the course code (THEA 2010) suggested that it was a theatre-styled course. Usually, those courses are not the usual kinda musician will endure/experience. The first class was very interactive where we had games to play and then they placed us into groups by horoscope. There were three of us in my group. 

    Looking at the course outline after those activities, we learned that there was an easy way to get ten marks to our final grade if we discuss and participate in weekly conversations in class about the readings we would have to read and prepare each week. In addition, we could also receive an easy fifty marks for our final grade if we do journal entries for the ten weekly readings. 

    So, I knew that I had to talk to get some free points and do my ten journal entries to pass the course. There was also a position paper we had to write to make up the rest of the hundred percent. That position paper would definitely be a scary and hard challenge to accomplish. Around the weeks, each group had to wait to see if Dr. Pearce would call on them. She said that if she called on a group and they are not ready, they could get zero. 

Link(s):

1. Course Outline.

JOURNAL ENTRY FORM.

* Friday 21st October 2018 *

The third week had gone by and I was confused with the notes I had done to do my three journal entries. I decided to create a document on Microsoft Word that would cater to the four questions that were asked of us to answer in the journal. I thought that a legal-sized page would be long enough in case I had a lot to write for one reading and I was right later down into the semester. 

Link(s):

1. Journal Entry Form.

POSITION PAPER.

* Unknown/Forgotten *

The position paper came and passed. I had a little bit to rush down to the end. At this point, I had cut out all attendance to the Law and Governance course because it was starting to move like a set-up. Every time you go to class the students had To gather outside and we would have to be moved around all the time for a better venue other than Dagga. So, I was at home that morning finishing up the rest of the paper. I knew my mark was going to be VERY low. 

    I remember the evening getting back the paper I saw the mark was a small pass. I felt good. When I saw that the comment said the writing was not clear, maybe they should make the reading materials clear too. Sometimes we are all left to read the passages either individually or as a group and be left confused about everything someone is talking about in their writing.

Link(s):

1. Position Paper.

COURSE TEXTBOOK.

* Unknown Date/Forgotten *

    This was the compilation textbook made for the course. It is to be considered 'scratch created' because it was the first one made for the class. The first version was the copy I used throughout the course. A digital copy was provided to the lecturer Dr. Pearce in case it was suitable for use. For the purpose of the journal entry and archiving, the document was reviewed and amended.

Link(s):

1. Critical Readings 1 - Textbook - (Version 2).

Daryl Zion M. Ali