Always wanted to teach analog at my kids High School!

Hajidub

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I dunno why, but I feel like my 2 kids have always had the benefit of listening to my wife's and I's music. I've had a "stereo room" since they've been born, so my son (20 yrs/old) and my daughter (15) have always had to listen to mom and dad's music (on tape or vinyl). My son recently asked for his first setup, though I was excited I was disappointed at the same time since it took him 20 yrs to appreciate ownership (I think his friends are finally getting into vinyl that's why). My daughter has always been a fan of tapes, I have many pics with her in her pj's constantly resetting the tape counter and listening to John Lee Hooker (her fav as a baby).

With that in mind, I've always wanted to approach her HS administration and offer to teach an hour long class, maybe during a communication, history or science class (I haven't determined the best approach), complete with PowerPoint and equipment demonstration on the values of analog listening. Not only do I think it would motivate a younger generation, I think it would fascinate the teens to learn that a diamond running through a gouged out groove actually makes music. I dunno, this has always been something I daydream about when I'm working on equipment, washing my car, or cleaning the house.
 
Won't know what they say if you don't ask them to let you try :thumbsup:

But also remember these are highschool kids, I wouldn't go lugging a $1,000 Marantz unit in there or anything. Unless you live in a well-to-do place where kids actually have some semblance of manners, I suppose.
 
Junior Highs / Middle Schools often have some sort of program in which this kind of presentation would fit. This is the grade level that they are encouraged to experiment a bit, to look into areas they aren't familiar with and in which they have some interest. By High School, they are often on a "track" that eliminates much of their choices to look at something different. Maybe early in High School you could shoehorn into a program, but Juniors and Seniors have little latitude.

Administrators would want to know what the "Learning Objective" would be for your presentation. Just "showing them something cool" ain't gonna cut it for most school leaders. Are there Career related topics you could include? Basic Electronics?

Not trying to throw cold water on the idea at all. Just pointing out a couple ways of looking at this.
 
If there is a science instructor interested and working on basic sound in some way, you may have a shot.

Explaining audio recording and playback in basic parts may be doable.

Explaining analog versus digital in simple terms may be of some use.

I found science interesting but didn’t always catch the connection to the real world, the texts in the 70s started to be abstract with little example. The texts of the 30s, 40s had explanations and examples that brought the application home.

I fear you may either come off as a goofy geeky old dude or some nut with big old junk that plays music. Kids today seem uninterested in much except the last tweet from their friends.
A lot has changed since I was in high school.

A lot!

I just realized you may be a huge hit at an assisted living home playing 60s and 70s rock and roll.
 
maybe donate a vintage amp, turntable, and headphones and a few records to the school library. with the current interest in vinyl records, some students may take an interest on there own if available.
many of us have gear sitting around that we'll never use.
 
Consider a lunchtime session that's optional for kids to attend. Your bar to qualify as relevant to any curriculum will be lowered and the kids that attend will really be interested vs having to sit through something they may not care about.

If you can get the first session blessed off, consider handing out a survey at the end to have the kids rate the session and share that with the administration. You'll get hopefully constructive input on what was interesting, what could be improved, etc. And if you get positive feedback and let the school know you're willing to repeat the session or do more sessions on other topics, it could become a semi-regular thing.

To the extent you can tie bits and pieces of theory they may be learning in their classes (basic physics, math, etc) to a real world application of that theory that fits within your topic would be a real plus. Many kids seem to think what they're learning has no real world relevance, and being able to relate the two may open their minds a bit.
 
I know this stretching away from your OP, but the book Speaker Building 201 was written as an adjuct to a high school club/elective by a HS math teacher-audiophile. If you aren't a DIYer, it's not a good fit.

More to the point, HS club leaders are always looking for events to bolster their club (and add important burnishing their College application). SciFi clubs, Math and Science clubs, etc.
 
I teach high school math and physics, and I also run a music appreciation club. We meet every couple weeks. I keep a pretty nice system in my classroom in which I try to rotate a piece of gear each time we meet. Right now, it’s a Kenwood 5070 turntable, Yamaha CA-810 that I just finished rebuilding, and a pair of ADS L780 II’s. It’s pretty rockin.

The kids love it, and there are so many good math and physics applications. Just last week in Precal I brought in my scope and we looked at some Sine waves and listened for how the changes in volume and frequency of the signal transforms them before we started learning to graph them. The physics of the turntable are also very complex, and when we start doing center of mass, torque, and rotational dynamics, it’ll get some more use.
 
If you don't have a teacher's license, you probably won't be able to during regular school times. However, many towns have adult/kid classes put on by a parks and recreation department, where no degree is required, and you can charge a fee (if you wish) for the class and material (if required).
 
WaynerN has the best idea. We have Community Education during the winter months. I bet there is a similar program in your area. You can learn anything from gardening to real estate. You could have an age limit to hit your target audience.

Heck, you could use AK "stickies" for your lesson plan. "Deoxit for Dummies" would be a good one or a lab on refoaming speakers..

Showing kids how to scrounge thrifts would help those short of fund how to get a nice system. Hey, another good lesson would be "The Heartache of BPC!"

You would get kids from all the schools that were interested and not kids that just had to be there.

Good luck!
 
I say go for it! The way I see it if you inspire even just one kid of the bunch it will be worth it... :thumbsup:
 
I like this idea all the way around and suggestions from the people here above and I don't know if bringing audiokarma into it all would help but I sure would make sure every student became aware of audiokarma forums and it could be a good resource for them all the way around if they bite on the bait you present with this Hobby.
 
The simplest analog audio device you could have the students make is the kind of telephone made with two paper cups with a string pulled tightly between the bottom surfaces of them. Are you old enough to know how to make those. Every kid knew how to make them in the late 1950s. I wonder if any kids have even seen or heard of them now. There is only a small step from that technology to that of an early wind-up Victrola, in which a lever attached to a needle, vibrating in the grooves of a record, moves a diaphram, which moves air producing sound, which is amplified by transmission through a horn. Any kid in the wind section of the school band could show another version of the amplification stage. Then you are off into analogue audio electronics, where at first a triode tube took over for that horn. Ears have a membrane for receiving sound waves, one could point out. When I was a kid the teacher said not to put our digits in our ears.
 
the hardest obstacle to overcome is all the federal and state act clearances to be allowed on the property beyond the office...
 
I've always wanted to approach her HS administration and offer to teach an hour long class, maybe during a communication, history or science class (I haven't determined the best approach), complete with PowerPoint and equipment demonstration on the values of analog listening. Not only do I think it would motivate a younger generation, I think it would fascinate the teens to learn that a diamond running through a gouged out groove actually makes music.
Is your goal to help students discover how analog audio technology works, via a respectful discussion with intellectual equals, where you might learn as much from them about their listening means and preferences as they do from you?

Or is your goal to convince young people that analog audio is better?

As someone who makes a living teaching essentially same demographic only a year or two later -- i.e., undergraduate university students -- and who sometimes receives requests from folks in the community to come give guest lectures, I occasionally see well-meaning but inappropriate intent.

If you have specialist knowledge you'd like to share in a genuine attempt to increase both students' knowledge and your own, that's fine. I hope you find a way to do it.

However, if your intent is to persuade students that you are right and they are wrong -- i.e., that their listening preferences are inferior and yours are superior -- and "convert" them to analog audio, then that's not an appropriate use of an educational setting.
 
However, if your intent is to persuade students that you are right and they are wrong -- i.e., that their listening preferences are inferior and yours are superior -- and "convert" them to analog audio, then that's not an appropriate use of an educational setting.

No, kids need to be told what is right and what is wrong. Bluetooth is evil. Soundbars should be banned. Ancient technology is best. Blah blah. :)

Seriously, leave schools to the qualified teachers, they're no place for middle aged, balding men pushing their analog agendas in a digital world. Face it, we are a bunch of relics from a different past. Be happy that we are different, but don't try to change the current generation.

Anyway, you couldn't do it here- anything with a power lead brought onto school grounds has to be new, approved, tested and tagged. You'd need a blue (whatever color it is) card, a high vis shirt and a full training program.

Bah.
 
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