Retirement... hmmm.....

Hi everyone,

I retired on July 1, 2006. I made the choice for several reasons. Financially, It made good sense in my county to teach 30 plus 3 to get the best pension package. I also have built up a pretty good private pension fund and I'm working as much as I want to as a music publisher and folk singer. There were professional and health issues as well but, as always, it seems that the money plays the most important role.

Because my money issues seem to be working out very well, I was able to retire at the age of 55 with 33 years of teaching behind me. I'm young enough to start a new career, stay active, work out, run that half-marathon, teach on weekends and summers and still take advantage of the relaxed discipline of retirement.

One issue that I'm dealing with is an emotional one. I felt for 33 years that I was doing a job that was essential and that was really having a positive effect with the kids, the school, and the community. I felt IMPORTANT! I was dedicated, spent a lot of my own money to get training and in-service (see the previous thread about professional days) and always showed up every day with a smile and a song for every child that crossed the threshold of my classroom. All of you know this feeling as being THE reason to continue teaching as long as possible.

I miss it. I DON"T miss the administrative hassles, the testing programs, the strange schedule changes and calender fiascos that made the job very difficult at times. I DON"T miss the physical and mental stress that was constant and grew unbearable by the end of my career.

I DO miss the kids, and the feeling that what I'm doing is important. I know that what I'm doing now in performing and publishing is ... kind of ... important, but not nearly so as in-the-classroom teaching. It's this feeling of doing important things that is missing. I now sympathize with the sports star who can no longer physically, or mentally perform up to the standards that they require of themselves. To be able to walk away at that point instead of hanging on "beyond your time" is a noble act, yet difficult. I never wanted to hang on too long, and I always knew that the time to leave teaching would be when the "baggage" got too heavy. I'm pretty sure that I've made the right decision. Transitions can be difficult though and I'm still working my way through this one.

Having said all that, I LOVE BEING RETIRED! I love having been a teacher. I love the time to sit an write, compose, create, play golf, travel, volunteer for things and do everything that ever got postponed for the last 30 years. Retirement happens! Embrace it!

Orff "Certification": What is it? UPDATED BELOW

UPDATED BELOW

This thread was started on the MFC bulletin board today. It's a worthy question for discussion and gets to some political hot button issues that the AOSA membership needs to become aware of. What is "Orff Certification?" Joan Stansbury, chair of the AOSA professional development committee tries to answer:

"The bottom line is that AOSA does not grant certification for completion of Levels training. There is an approval process for courses that meet the criteria for curriculum, teacher qualifications, meeting minimum numbers and returning course evaluations. While all approved courses meet these criteria, there is still variation in content and delivery around the country, as well as variation in mastery among participants. Any kind of certificate of completion that participants receive at the end of Levels training is given by the institution sponsoring the course, not by AOSA. So while people do talk about being "Orff Certified", that label doesn't come from AOSA. It's probably more appropriate to say that someone has completed Level I, II or III."  Joan Stansbury - AOSA Professional Development chair.

My goodness but this reeks of politics.   We're all circling around the big elephant in the middle of the room.  It really is more cut and dried than this very good, politically correct answer would have you believe.  

The university that offers the course also gives credit, certification if you will.  If you pass the course you are "certified" as having passed the course BY THE UNIVERSITY.  You may correctly say that you are "certified" by the university as having passed the course according to the university curriculum and expectations.

The uniqueness of the AOSA Level course system is the partnership with universities and schools.  This is also the source of the confusion.  At the university level the course can be approved, or  "certified" by the AOSA according to prescribed guidelines mentioned above:

"There is an approval process for courses that meet the criteria for curriculum, teacher qualifications, meeting minimum numbers and returning course evaluations. "

If a university course is approved, the participants may say that they have passed the course both according to the university requirements AND the requirements laid out by AOSA. The student may accurately say that they have been "certified" by the university in an AOSA approved Levels course.  It's a simple step to then be able to say that the student has been "certified" by the AOSA for having passed the course.  It's a little silly for the AOSA to come back and say that they don't actually certify students because they don't hand out certificates!  It would be easy for the AOSA to simply give permission for the university to add the words, "AOSA approved" on each certificate.  This would satisfy those who desire this type of official recognition for resumes or applications.

What's the elephant in the room?  Joan has touched on it very delicately by saying:

"While all approved courses meet these criteria, there is still variation in content and delivery around the country, as well as variation in mastery among participants."

The issue that is causing a lot of headaches is the clash of the different streams of thought in the Orff world.  One stream emphasizes curriculum development, another emphasizes harmony and orchestration, yet another feels strongly that the original Schulwerk must be preserved stylistically.  Other small streams of thought are being developed and expanded as the Schulwerk grows and spreads throughout the world.  It is these differences in the streams of thought that divide us and is what Joan is referring to in the comment above.  AOSA must remain above the political fray and can't officially "certify" courses because the ideas of one stream conflict with the "content and delivery" another.  

The "variation in mastery" comment is very significant. Because of the necessity of staying above the political fray, the AOSA is forced into a very awkward position saying that someone who has PASSED a university level course that has been presented according to AOSA specifications, by an AOSA certified instructor may STILL not be qualified enough to be considered "Orff certified."   

Hopefully, our new "Education" director will begin to tackle these issues and begin to organize the whole program of professional growth for the AOSA.  Stay tuned.

UPDATED 8/23/2007

Perhaps a simple statement from the AOSA clarifying the "certification" process would finally be necessary. Perhaps this statement 

The American Orff-Schulwerk Association does not award certificates, credits or other indicators of completion of Teacher Training courses. These are the responsibility of the sponsoring institution.

on the Teacher Training Course Application could be amended to indicate that successful completion = certification.  In addition, a simple statement could be added to each university generated certificate for successful completion of any AOSA sanctioned level course.  It could be "AOSA approved levels course" or something similar.  The idea here would be for each participant to have accurate documentation for resumes, registrations, evaluations, recertification, and job applications.

  If a teacher passes a Level 1 AOSA sanctioned course, they may say so as long as they indicate the level.  Same thing with Level 2. When someone introduces themselves to me as an Orff Certified teacher, my next question is always, "Where did you take your level courses?"  That tells me what level they've completed.  

You can't fix everything for everyone, but simply saying "successful completion of this course = Level 1 Orff certification"  would clarify things for students and for the general music education community.  I don't think the way the Levels courses are offered should change and we need to be wary of standardizing things too much!  It's a field of wildflowers after all, but there is confusion out there and perhaps it's time for clarification.

VCU Orff Course: A Huge Success!

What a great two weeks!  The Orff course at VCU was completed on Friday, July 27.  Two weeks of high energy, concentrated learning coupled with a lot of fellowship made it a wonderful two weeks for me.  The enthusiasm and youth of the students was inspirational and made me feel, once again, that teaching this type of class is just about the most fun one could ever have in the teaching profession.  

Orff Schulwerk is wholistic, creative for the students AND the teachers, and inclusive of every learning style, culture, and type of music.  The intellectual diversity of the students, their unique and lively personalities, and their varied learning styles proved an exciting challenge as we moved, played, and sang our way through the course. 

Congratulations to all the students, each of who passed the course with flying colors.  Thanks to Paul Bakeman for his lively and interesting recorder classes and especially thanks to Dr. David Greennagle, course director.  Let’s all look forward together to more courses in the years to come.  

Much talk was heard this week about Level 2 being offered next summer, along with a Level 1.  Numbers will determine the course offerings.  We’ll need a good strong number for a viable Level 2 course.  The 19 students this year is just about ideal.  Many more and it’s hard to give individual attention and many less and the activities become less productive.  Singing, dancing and ensemble work all need strong numbers for the highest quality learning experiences.  

Once again congratulations to all the students!  These teachers were recharged, energized, and inspired to go back to their schools and their students and continue to give them the highest quality of music education.  The new things they learned can now be shared with children and will certainly help grow the love of music in each of them.  They gave two weeks of their summer, just to try and become better teachers.  No better goal in education exists!

Orff Schulwerk: Music and Movement

In just a few days, the Orff Basic course at Virginia Commonwealth University will begin. Many Orff courses accross the country and around the world are being held this summer as well.

Some of the most joyful, enthusiastic, energetic, and dedicated teachers and students on earth will gather for training and fellowship. These folks will embark on a professional journey that will amaze them, educate them, and train them for the rest of their careers. They will take memories of this course with them back to their homes and schools and will be teaching with a new energy and purpose. I can’t wait to begin!

My experience with Orff courses of all types goes back to 1977 when I took my first Levels course at what was then known as Memphis State University with Shirley McRae. Through the years, I’ve been in many courses, conferences and workshops both as a participant and a leader. My interest in Orff Schulwerk has never flagged. I’m as excited about the new course and the prospect of teaching as I have ever been. Preparing for the course is THE most interesting research one can ever do. Teaching the course is an absolute joy.

As we go through the class, subjects will come up that we don’t have time to get into and seminars will be held that raise issues needing further discussion. This blog will be devoted to those issues. Class members and readers are encouraged to log on and leave comments. Check back each day as new topics are introduced and issues are raised.

“Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, Involve me, I understand.” – Carl Orff

A School of Inquiry

Thanks to Guest Blogger, Martha from Tallahasee: Originally posted on yahoo.com

This is a roundabout commentary started in my mind with the question about "School of Inquiry", a proposed magnet school where one of our listers works.

An inquiry usually starts with a problem. Sometimes the problem is as simple as "I don't know how or why that happened and I want to know."

Example: I actually saw today a hawk leap off a power line and flap flap flap about 8 times and flew straight up (!) about 12' and then spread its wings and took off after its friend that streaked by at just that time. Problem: why did it fly straight up? Why have I never observed this before? Is it normal or rare?

I now have an inquiry that could very likely send me to a web search.

Over and over we hear that direct involvement with music makes more synapses fire and yada yada. So the instruction must make the kids do something purposeful. Like solve a problem.

This is different than "teach about music". 

In the "how to teach adults" workshop I went to, the instructor emphasized that if there's no buy-in by the adults who are often forced to be there, there's no point in having the workshop. So the crucial issue in adult education (think faculty workshops) is that it has to create buy-in.. How? By identifying and posing a problem that the adults want to solve and then showing them how or giving them tools to solve it. They have to have a takeaway that they can use later.

How different is that from our classes? Depends on whether you're a sage on the stage or a guide from the side. Do you talk music all day or do you set up your kids to solve musical and intellectual problems?

How can we get kids to buy-in to their education in our classes? 

Generate a problem they have to solve. 

In every lesson.

I'm thinking that small group and individual activities will work well if the teacher gives them a problem they have to solve. Create a new ending for this song.  Create new words with an aquatic theme for this old tune. Figure out how to stick this pattern. Find three different ways to move your head with the music. Sing "happy birthday to you" using only sml. Rearrange these words from loud to soft (ff, pp, f, mp, etc.).

I think that Artie's (Almeida) discovery of the effectiveness of well-designed manipulatives and activities is part of the answer. The kids are problem-solving of one kind or another all over the place.

I'm going to have a school of inquiry in my room next year. Give them a problem and let them solve it. In art that's called a design problem. Does music have such a term? It needs to have one!

Like the Orff folks say, if there's no student creativity (problem-solving), it's not an Orff lesson. And it's not active enough learning for buy-in.

Examine your lessons. See if there's a way to incorporate even the smallest problem-solving. Sometimes that's as simple as asking kids to make choices about something, some choices being nearly instant and some requiring more elaborate thinking.

So let's create buy-in, let's give the time to problem-solve to the kids, let's make them more powerful thinkers. Let's give music the chance to be an agent of positive change in the neurological structures of our students' brains.

Oh, yeah. And while you're doing that, you'll be creating more powerful musicians who remember the content and skills you present.

Inquire within yourself how you can create design problems for your kids.

Martha in Tallahassee

Growing the Schulwerk

Let's grow the Schulwerk! Let's share our enthusiasm and passion for Orff Schulwerk! Let's get the word out about how we teach our classes and how we seek to help children grow and learn. I think the AOSA does a great job with the public relations, advertising, and the recent hire of a new executive director continues the excellence we've come to expect in the administration of the AOSA. The main area of improvement regarding the growth of Orff Schulwerk lies within the area of professional growth.

This post is for the purpose of initiating discussion concerning the role of the AOSA in encouraging and enabling professional growth among music teachers interested in learning about the Orff approach. Let's make sure we have the procedures in place as an organization that HELP new teachers, university professors, graduate students, and university Orff course coordinators learn more about the Orff Schulwerk certification process. Readers are encouraged to comment on this blog as the discussion ensues.

I'll share my own experience to serve as a discussion starter. The course at James Madison University was cancelled in 2005 because of poor enrollment in 2004, and because of the difficulty in meeting recommended numbers in previous years. The problem, however, was that in 2005 we had plenty of numbers to hold the class. We had expected a probationary year before outright decertification would occur. The Professional Growth committee at that time felt that they could not in good faith certify the JMU course because of the historically low numbers. Because the course was decertified, the course coordinator would not hold the course and cancelled it. More than 20 music teachers from all over Virginia had to be told to try and find a class somewhere else. In talking to them, most simply stayed home, not wanting to travel out of state to find a certified class.

This and situations like this are happening all around the country. In 2006, a local teacher contacted me about a possible course at JMU. Because we hadn't held a course since 2004 and because of the bitter taste leftover from out cancellation in 2005 made recruiting difficult, the JMU course was cancelled again in 06. This teacher contacted Western Carolina University, a course that had been held for 23 consecutive years...cancelled. Then she contacted a course director in Wilmington, North Carolina.... also cancelled. She finally gave up after trying one of the larger more successful regional courses and finding out that it was full.

This is working very strongly AGAINST the spread of Orff Schulwerk in areas like the Shenandoah Valley and in smaller more rural settings around the country. Lots of folks in my area are turning to other courses, often with a bad feeling about what we do and who we are. The whole area of professional growth and development should be revised, reworked, and recreated to better reflect the goals, philosophy, and ideals of Orff Schulwerk. What can be done to better encourage teachers to find out about us? How can the AOSA better fill it's obligation to help teachers learn about this teaching process? How can the AOSA help course coordinators at universities around the country build their courses and help local teachers?
Thoughts anyone?

Singing To Learn

Singing to Learn

I had another magnificent teaching experience yesterday in Warrenton, Virginia. Debbie McGuire and I traveled from our homes in Bridgewater to lead 75 All-County Middle School Honors Choir singers in a day of singing. Ms. McGuire accompanied and I directed the students through a day of singing, laughing, speaking, moving, and learning.

After some mercifully short introductions, we began our first rehearsal with a discussion of correct choral posture. I had arranged a short ostinato piece for my classes many years ago using the dictionary definition of posture. "The position of the limbs or the carriage of the body as a whole." Using this to also begin working with choral diction and expression, we added the elements of good posture, "back straight, feet on the floor," and "head and shoulders in neutral." The elements became ostinatos and the definition was turned into a canon and we were experts on posture in a little less that 10 minutes!

Into the music we dived. I chose to start with Cheryl Lavender's great treble choir (SSA) arrangement of "Singabahambyo." I have to admit that a director's worst nightmare happened at this precise moment. I asked Ms. McGuire to start into the introduction, the kids were all sitting up nice and tall, as they had been taught, I counted down the four measure introduction, gave the signal to begin the song and..... silence...... Nothing happened! This is the moment that director's dread the most. Are they prepared? Do they have a different song ready? Do I have the right version? What's going on? All of these questions flashed through my mind in a nano second and all I could think of was the story of Stravinsky's birthday, when the New York Philharmonic sang "Happy Birthday" as the maestro gave the downbeat for the first piece on the program!

I don't know if that settled things or not but we tried again and the kids got in pretty well and away we went. The first run was pretty shaky, but we just went back and fixed things and made it through pretty well. I used one of my favorite tricks for learning the lush three part harmony. The middle part is usually the most problematic, so I just asked everyone to sing it! The kids all kind of blinked, swallowed hard, gave a little collective grin and jumped right in. Because of the repetitive nature of the tune, we were able to get on a roll by repeating the part several times. For this song, I was then able to ask the Part 1 singers to switch off to their part for a duet, followed by the Part 3 singers so that we soon had some rich, full sounding three part harmony. This piece was done after we reviewed the pronunciation of the Swahili language.
This whole session set the mood and style for the day, as we worked very hard with the students remaining focused, working hard, and enjoying every moment. Highlights of the rest of the day included some solo auditions for Stuart Calvert's arrangement of Allistair MacGillivray's beautiful song, "Song for the Mira," some great drumming added to "Three African Songs," by Cheryl Lavender, a Tevye-esque dance demo by the director for Allan Naplan's "Hine Ma Tov," and some fantastic dynamics, diction and harmony in John Leavitt's "Festival Sanctus."

My personal highlight of the day was rehearsal session with John Barr's new octavo, "If I can stop one heart from breaking." If you haven't seen or heard this piece, make sure you get to the concert by the Daughters of Song on April 15 at Parkview Mennonite Church or go to the publisher's website and give a listen. It has a great melody with swirling harmony and a punchy groove in the accompaniment. Teaching the students to sing in 6,7,8,9,and 10/8 was a trip. We worked for thirty minutes breaking down the grouping and learning how to place the words and accents. The kids accepted the challenge with only a little grumbling, worked very hard and happily, and the performance came off very well.

The concert came at the end of the day for a nice audience of mostly parents and friends. The kids sparkled and performed wonderfully, with confidence and grace. Parents were encouraged to keep their kids in music classes and were told that "music class is THE most important class your child can take!" Congratulations to Fauquier County Schools for a very successful All County Honors Choir.

Teaching again..

Teaching again. What a great feeling to once again lead a class of general music students through a series of activities, discussions, and tasks. These kinds of opportunities are very special now since I've retired from full-time teaching. To be relieved of the class management responsibility, the burden of paperwork and bureaucratic claptrap that was such a big part of my career was especially enjoyable. Pure teaching! Walk in to the class and go straight to the lesson and straight into each child's brain. What a joy! This is what I am and what I was born to do!

Last fall, I was invited to teach a series of drumming classes for Eastern Mennonite University as they began to prepare for a spring drama production. In order to have drums enough for all the participants I borrowed a set of Tubanos® from Stewart Middle School in Augusta County. In return for the favor, I volunteered to teach sixth grade music for a couple of days. We worked at focus, beat training, hand/eye coordination, reading, and composition. Students were cheerful, happy to be learning, in fact, in all likelihood not even totally aware that they were learning so much!

For two days I trained the students to work as a cohesive drum community. We established group focus with a simple imitation exercise, "Do what I do, when I do it." I played various beats and drum strokes at various tempos and dynamics as the students imitated my every move. After some shaky moments as students began to get the idea, a nice unison was achieved. There was no need to correct or highlight mistakes as it slowly became evident to the students that the real payoff in sound and rhythm was a result of almost perfect focus by the class.

As we worked together, we tried out many drum strokes and techniques eventually working into patterns of rhythm. We started with the names of the drums, speaking the words then playing the rhythm. We moved on to Heartbeat, a drum song from Bill Matthew's great book on drumming Conga Joy, eventually learning how to start and stop all together using drum signals. We finally learned some techniques for solo improvisation which grew into student drum circle compositions.

At the end of the session, I observed the students leaving class energized, alert, and feeling good about themselves and what they'd learned. Their regular teacher, who had sat in and participated in all the classes, told me that she'd had a great time too, and had learned a lot about how to lead this kind of activity. She was please to have a new, valuable technique and a complete sample lesson plan to add to her repertoire.

Censorship in Higher Education

from:
Censoring Our Educators - 
A nationwide effort is underway in statehouse to foster intellectual diversity by censoring professors
—By Mary O'Regan, Utne.com

More news today from the Right Wing Freedom Fighters. Because of their fear of Liberals, a concerted effort to reform higher education and restore balance to the curriculum is underway. These folks would seek to prohibit professors from espousing a specifically partisan solution to any intellectual debate.

"The Arizona legislation, Senate Bill 1542, would forbid school district employees from advocating "one side of a social, political, or cultural issue that is a matter of partisan controversy." Those who take up such stances would face a fine of up to $500."

No taking sides or pronouncing biased answers, no promoting of ideological agendas. These are CONSERVATIVES! This whole attempt is highly partisan in that it is, as they freely admit, a response to the perceived liberal bias of college professors! They are promoting this as "intellectual diversity" and the "Academic Bill of Rights."

"It is not the function of a faculty member in a democracy to indoctrinate his/her students with ready-made conclusions on controversial subjects."

and...

In Montana, based on only "anecdotal evidence" civil rights style affirmative action legislation is being proposed that would require each university to hire an ombudsman to monitor enforcement with the whole program costing taxpayers over $350,000 per school. The legislation being proposed is asking to insure intellectual diversity by hiring equal numbers of conservative and liberal professors. Of course it's conservatives that are feeling persecuted, again because of the perceived liberal bias in higher education.

Hypocritical? What would these same conservatives say about racial quotas and profiling? They seem to be quite happy about profiling and imposing affirmative action principles on Liberals. How does the Intelligent Design/Evolution debate play out in this scenario given that the whole ID concept is in itself a highly partisan issue. If I wasn't laughing so hard, I'd be crying... It's simply nonsense to assume that an ideology can dictate its terms or "create reality." They will try.. they will fail.

Music at Risk

"Music is a language. It speaks. If my students could speak as well - I would be as content as you are! The best speaking students are those who speak from the heart. Those students do well because their learning is the result of loving."

-Leon Pearson, French teacher

"NCLB is rapidly pushing “frills” out of the curriculum. Has research now established that art, music, physical activity and so on have nothing to do with scientific and mathematical reasoning ability?"

-Marion Brady.

Among its many failings the most frightful effect of NCLB is its impact on the arts. As a music teacher of 33 years, I've always assumed that my job was at risk and entirely dependent on the benevolence of the School Board and Board of Supervisors. It was always my strategy to make my music program such an institution and so much a part of the core of the curriculum that my job would never be jeopardized. While I can never say that my job was in any real jeopardy, I never achieved my goal of become an essential part of the wider school program. As testing and faux rigor became more and more of an emphasis in my school, piece after piece of my music program was stripped away. Student performances became limited in size and scope, performing groups curtailed, and access to students became more and more difficult. I finally took my early retirement instead of retrenching yet again in the face of cuts to the program and even more restrictions on access to students.

And just this week, current events from Illinois..

"It's simple how No Child Left Behind affects my students: They will be without the visual arts, or music starting with the 2006-07 school year. Our district had to make budget cuts of $400,000. The only fine arts teacher left standing is the band instructor."

-Charlotte Combs, an Illinois Art Teacher

I fear that across the country, arts programs that were already stressed to the point of breaking in what has always been a "hard sell" environment will now simply disappear in the wake of high stakes testing. It's happening in bits and pieces, a slowly crumbling dyke holding back the flood of high minded education reform with testing as its centerpiece. Music will never die, but it might not be a part of education. Lowell Mason's legacy is in danger. Quality education is at stake. Reform is possible. Testing is only a small part of accountability. Music and the arts are essential in education

"for in the patterns of music and all the arts are the keys to learning."

-Plato

Write!

This just in from San Antonio, Texas where my sister-in-law, a reading teacher, is engaged in testing today:

"However, today all computers and phones are off. It's the BIG DAY and security is tight. I asked if we had to show a picture ID to get our tests and the counselor said, "don't laugh." I don't doubt that in the future that will be a real possibility."

This is scary but funny. Photo ID, security, lock-down, threats of losing jobs, all a part of high-stakes testing and NCLB accountability. Noble, thoroughly professional attempts to obey the law of the land, yet completely tragic in it's consequences to the education of those children.

This is a full-blown example of treating children as a product to be passed or discarded. The fruit industry comes to mind. Pick the best and brightest for for the grocery shelves, take the imperfect and make sauce, jelly, and juice, discard the rest. That it's human life we're discarding seems to be lost in the argument. That even the best and the brightest are getting burned out and losing their curiosity and yearning for learning doesn't seem to be a concern.

NCLB is up for renewal this year. Write your congressman and senator. Write a letter to the editor. High-stakes testing is a crime against children, parents and teachers. Write!

More about Thinking's Not Important

Guest Blogger Ardie Roddy from North Carolina wrote a response to my post from Wed. Feb. 17. "Thinking's not Important."

Tom Chapin's song reminded me of Harry Chapin's "Flowers are Red".  -- The music may be downloaded free HERE.
 
I heard this first in the 80's in a class I was taking to certify to teach gifted kids.  I started tearing up and professor told my to explain my reaction.  As a mother of two kids who were marching to different drummers in their school career, it really hit home.  (I had been asked to certify in gifted because "I understood what made these kids tick.")  I found a copy of the song and played it for my daughter who started to cry - "that's me, that's me."  What is happening to kids in education today is even more cruel than the climate Harry sang about in 1978. 
 
Kids are being totally turned off by 4th grade.  They're sick of school - so different from 50 years ago when we were so excited about school and doing some very interesting things.  I don't remember the reading and math tests.  I remember making my own book, stitching and all, about clouds - I researched, illustrated, planned, carefully printed by hand, and stitched up that book.  I remember reading aloud to first graders after lunch each day, great for a shy small girl who needed some confidence.  I remember accessioning books for the new school library, carefully listing all the information in a book, stamping a certain page, pasting on labels and pockets.  I learned work skills, communication skills, and so much - and I loved school.  What a different world today. 
 
When I taught gifted kids for a large chunk of my career I taught all kinds of exciting thinking skills and processes.  I taught kids to really read a book and think about what they read, to discuss books in a literature circle, and to dig far beneath the surface of the written word, to react personally, to use their THOUGHTS as a launching point.  Then I embraced music once again in the last years of my active teaching career - and taught it somewhat unlike my predecessors - using Orff processing, creativity, thinking about what we were doing.  My last three years I taught in a district that valued THINKING - used the Padeia philosophy and had kids doing seminars from K up.  They didn't teach to the test, they taught for thinking, and their scores were up there.  I hope that district doesn't lose that focus because it was an exciting place to be in the classroom as student and as teacher.  Kids wanted to be in school.  I cry at what is happening all around us and I think I would be forced to homeschool my kids in today's climate.  Flowers can be any color!!
 
Didn't mean to write an essay but that's what has evolved I guess.  Don't have any answers.....
 
Flowers are Red
by Harry Chapin

The little boy went first day of school

He got some crayons and started to draw

He put colors all over the paper

For colors was what he saw

And the teacher said.. What you doin' young man

I'm paintin' flowers he said

She said... It's not the time for art young man

And anyway flowers are green and red

There's a time for everything young man

And a way it should be done

You've got to show concern for everyone else

For you're not the only one


And she said...

Flowers are red young man

Green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than they way they always have been seen


But the little boy said...

There are so many colors in the rainbow

So many colors in the morning sun

So many colors in the flower and I see every one


Well the teacher said.. You're sassy

There's ways that things should be

And you'll paint flowers the way they are

So repeat after me.....


And she said...

Flowers are red young man

Green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow

So many colors in the morning sun

So many colors in the flower and I see every one


The teacher put him in a corner

She said.. It's for your own good..

And you won't come out 'til you get it right

And are responding like you should

Well finally he got lonely

Frightened thoughts filled his head

And he went up to the teacher

And this is what he said.. and he said


Flowers are red, green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than the way they always have been seen


Time went by like it always does

And they moved to another town

And the little boy went to another school

And this is what he found

The teacher there was smilin'

She said...Painting should be fun

And there are so many colors in a flower

So let's use every one


But that little boy painted flowers

In neat rows of green and red

And when the teacher asked him why

This is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than the way they always have been seen.


Ardie Roddy
Littleton, NC

Threats and Bribes

The AP reports today that an independent, bipartisan congressional commission is recommending that the NCLB

"should track the progress of teachers as well as students. The private commission said schools should be required to measure how well teachers are doing at raising student test scores.."

In addition, Jonathan Alter in Newsweek writes that,

"Teachers should be evaluated annually based on progress in test scores of their students."

Wow... All you have to do to be a successful teacher is raise test scores! This brings "Teach to the Test" to a whole new level! Threaten, cajole, bribe the teachers but most importantly, DUMB DOWN the teaching profession! Require teachers to put away their passion, suppress their curiosity, save their creativity for the golf course, quilting, or cooking! Now teachers must get serious about raising test scores! (We're not going to even pretend to call it "improve or reform education"). The reform movement is refined, distilled and easily turned into political policy. TEST SCORES! IT'S ALL ABOUT TEST SCORES! Would someone please ask why it's so important to use threats and bribes to motivate trained professional educators?

Update: Thanks Martha in Tallahassee for the heads up.

From Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado comes word of his survey of over 2000 Colorado educators concerning NCLB. One of the findings, in fact Number 1:

Colorado principals, administrators, and superintendents who responded to the survey do not believe the goal of the No Child Left Behind Act, that every student in the country will be proficient in the subjects math and science by 2013-2014, is achievable.

Surprise, surprise, the teachers in Colorado believe that EVERY CHILD IS IMPORTANT.

Colorado teachers believe student growth should be measured individually for each student, rather than the current measurement model which evaluates groups of students.

This is stunning in it's clarity and common sense. Finally, we have educators standing up to say, WE HAVE A SAY! I hope Senator Kennedy is listening and I strongly hope that his committee and the rest of Congress will finally LISTEN TO THE EDUCATORS!
Also in the survey comes this news:

“The recent few years have been less effective, less fun, and the instructional approach has taken the creativity, joy and fun from classroom teaching. This is making the local parents unhappy with our programming and we have lost a lot of support from the community.”

Yes, joy, fun and creativity ARE important to classroom teachers, teachers of music and art, but most importantly the community of parents and friends of education. The business model for education DOESN'T WORK! Frustration is rampant, often to the point of losing good teachers. They feel under-appreciated, under-trained, and under-funded.

“Many teachers are frustrated to the point of resigning. We do not feel we've been given enough information or training in what we are expected to do. We also do not feel appreciated for the strides we have made.”

“The joy of learning is being lost with so much testing…”

The facts: Test results are not an accurate method of evaluating students. High stakes testing drives teachers and students away from learning. Underfunding education is the most profound way to insure it's lack of success. Reform must be led and most influenced by those in the field, not those in politics.

Thinking's Not Important

The current NCLB law requires testing in grades 3 - 8 in reading and math. In a new study by Scholastic, Inc.

"40 percent of kids between the ages of 5 and 8 read every day. At fourth grade, though, that rate declined to 29 percent."

Peg Tyre and Karen Springen write in Newsweek that by the time kids get through the testing process in third grade they are showing a real decline in performance by fourth grade. One subtle effect of high stakes testing is the removal of social studies and science from the curriculum in the early elementary years replaced by reading instruction in an effort to "teach to the test." They've removed a wide range of reading materials including, "non-fiction and expository writing" and replaced it with specific, testable vocabulary. In other words, kids are being spoon fed (scoop fed?) more and more of the material that's on the test and less and less of anything that's hard to measure. No more learning to think. No time to create. No excuse for teaching. If it's not on the test, forget it!

"Thinking's important. It's good to know how.
And someday you'll learn to, but someday's not now.
Go on to sleep, now. You need your rest.
Don't think about thinking. It's not on the test."

-Not On The Test
by John Forster & Tom Chapin

Does anyone care about the kids?

"Stop Pandering on Education" cries a headline in Newsweek on an article by Jonathan Alter. Mr. Alter is a prize winning and highly respected journalist, highly respected in the world of political commentary. Sit up and listen! Mr. Alter wants Democrats to reclaim the debate on educational accountability.

"It's a sad commentary on Democrats that they've allowed 'educational accountability' to become a winning issue for the GOP."

Mr. Alter wants Democrats to reclaim the debate and indeed the entire issue by shouting down the teacher unions and firing all the incompetent teachers! Indeed Mr. Alter praises the No Child Left Behind policy saying,

"..the real fault of NCLB will become clear: it doesn't go far enough." Not only must we "identify failing schools we must go even further and identify failing teachers."

There you have it ladies and gentlemen. First it's the school's fault. Test scores aren't high enough and unless they improve, teachers will be fired, students will be allowed to transfer, federal funding will be removed, YOU'LL BE LISTED AS A FAILING SCHOOL IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER! Second, it's the student's fault. They don't study enough, they stay up too late, they don't test well, they speak the wrong language, they watch too much TV, they don't read often enough or well enough. And now we find out that it's also the TEACHER'S FAULT!

The real tragedy is that the GOP has managed to hijack the education issue turning weak kneed Democrats into unthinking radical reactionaries. They've managed to define the debate and turn it against the very folks most involved and most knowledgeable. Indeed the folks who care the most about education are now being scapegoated! Mr. Alter, IGNORING INTELLIGENCE is the way this administration makes policy! Remember, the same administration that led us to war by ignoring the intelligence community, the military, historians, and any advisors that didn't follow the Neo-Con dogma, gave us No Child Left Behind. We've got people to blame! We've got a real, measurable, accountability method now! Just raise test scores! (Besides there's a real nice company in Texas that will package a school curriculum and provide everything you need to raise those precious test scores and at a nice price too!)