PEREZ, Ramon Florencio Jr. I.

MA Ethno – 2017T1248

Managing your time effectively

Arjan Berkeljon, PhD
Kaitlin Carrozza, PsyD

1. Is "Begin with the end in mind” a good advice for artists?

 According to Berkeljon and Carrozza, setting goals are important to manage
one’s time effectively. They say that we should, “begin with the end in mind.”
Intuitively, this may sound very reasonable and sound. It’s easier to plan a
systematic method on doing a task if you think about the end and plan how to
reach it, but when you ponder about it, it turns out that it is not that good of an
advice, especially for those who make art – not just visual art but all kinds of art.
Yes, there are times that it is good to make art when you already have a vision of
what you want to make but this encloses your work in a box. It confines your
ideas to what already exists. Sometimes, when you are on the process of artistic
creation, you need to forget or ungrasp what you pre-conceptualized, of what
your work would look like or sound like, to create something better. This reminds
me of what Giovanni Giorgio Moroder said in the recording of Daft Punk’s track
Giorgio Moroder from their album Random Access Memories (2013). According
to Moroder, to make music “you want to free your mind about the concept of
harmony and of music being correct. You can do whatever you want. So nobody
told me what to do, and there was no preconception of what to do.” He explains
that that is how he was able to pioneer electronic dance music – that you should
not have any conception of what you want to do. That is how you create or
innovate something new.

2. Is Randy Pausch’s time management matrix effective?

 At first glance, it looks that Pausch’s matrix is a good way on managing your
tasks. It shows you which things are urgent and important, which are
unimportant, and which are not urgent. It helps you prioritize things that you
have to do, but there is an element that is missing in the matrix – the difficulty of
the task. There are times that there is an unimportant and not urgent task for
you but it keeps bothering you. Even though it is not your priority to do, but if it
keeps bothering you, maybe it’s time to think if that task can be done easily. If it
is, then even if it’s not your top priority, then you have to do that because if it
bothers you that much, it is possible that while you are doing the important and
urgent tasks, the thought of that bothersome task will distract you, thus
rendering you unable to finish the important tasks properly. Another element
that is missing in Pausch’s matrix is how bothersome the thought of a task is.
This element can also be explained by my previous example. Pausch’s matrix
only looks effective at first glance but it has its problems.
 3. Is it possible for a procrastinator to give themselves their own specific deadlines?
 It’s a good advice to tell a procrastinator to give themselves specific deadlines for
their tasks. Perhaps a personal deadline that is earlier than the actual deadline of
a task. The real problem is that if a person is really a procrastinator, even if that
person gives himself a personal deadline, he doesn’t feel like doing anything, he
when he reaches that personal deadline, he will always adjust it to a later date or
time until the personal deadline he is adjusting reaches the actual deadline. I
have experienced giving my students a task 5 months before the deadline. They
started doing it just a week before the deadline. Thus, even knowing the task so
early doesn’t help procrastinators to do their task ahead of time.

From Music and A Child’s Total Development in Early Childhood

Amie Lawyer

1. Is it necessary for a child to develop musicality within their sensitive periods to become
musicians?
 If a child develops skills better during their sensitive periods, then why do people
develop more on their prime? I believe it’s not really the skill development that
is affected during the sensitive periods but a child’s interest in what he or she
wants to learn or develop. A child with limited rationality will not be able to
distinguish such techniques to learn. What would probably happen is when they
see the technique, they will recognize it, they will appreciate it, and try to imitate
it by face value. Developing knowledge or skills is not the priority in a child’s
sensitive period. What should be focused more is their recognition of music and
other musical elements.

2. Are there any results, findings, proofs, or evidences that show that the methods given in
the article are effective?
 While I was reading the article, the thought that comes into my mind is, “Where
are the supporting evidences?” The concepts and theories are great but what is
in the paper proves that a child develops more during their sensitive years which
are two and a half to six years old? How would I believe the information stated in
the paper if there is nothing there that gives me reason to believe it?

3. How effective is Montessori’s muscular-sensorial approach?

 Dr. Montesorri’s approach is very self-educational for children. If the sensitive
period is true for children (though it’s not supported by proofs in the paper),
then it would seem that Montesorri’s approach is perfect for children’s learning.
The use of bells to distinguish pitch and tones are develops the children’s
capability to recognize the difference of each tones and semitones. The
development here is minimal. Only the recognition of tones, and not intricate
techniques, are developed.