Domo Arigato

I begin each class with a "Bellringer", ironically titled since we don't use bells at my school. Most of the time, I like to come up with my own bellringers. However, I often turn to a small book of music related journal questions that are perfect for just such an activity. Today, I used a bellringer that I've used before and had conversations similar to the ones I always have with this question: "Could a robot compose or perform music better than a human being? Why or why not?" What's particularly interesting is not necessarily their answers to the question, rather its their presupposed and readily offered knowledge of robots that cracks me up! "Robots" in the sense that we think of them (Rosie from the Jetsons) don't really exist, right? I mean, Honda created some kind of little walking thing that will one day help old people around their house, but we don't daily interact with "robots" from popular culture. This information doesn't phase a sixth grader. Don't even mess with them. They already know most everything there is to know about robots.

"If you program a robot to compose music, it could compose better than a human."

"It depends, if you like robot music you might like what a robot composes better than what a human composes."

"No. Robots might run out of batteries or have a short circuit."

"No, because robots voices only have one pitch."

"Yes, because robots are made of metal and are awesome."

These kids talk about robots as if they have a daily interaction with and deep understanding of them. I never knew I knew so little about robots!