BrentMusings

Pittsburgh AOSA 1980 / 2011

2011-11-06T21:20:00.003-05:00

In the process of making final preparations for the trip to Pittsburgh for this years AOSA conference I got to thinking about the last time the AOSA conference was in Pittsburgh in 1980. I remembered several of the sessions I attended and remembered many activities that have stayed with me in memory. Late night folk dancing with Phyllis Weikart, an hour of intense movement activities with Heidi Weidlich, the closing ceremony with Konnie Saliba, and the Saturday night concert where the 5 original members of the Virginia Highlands Chapter made the plans that resulted in the formation of that chapter 3 years later in Cleveland.

I've gone to my library and have found some pics of that wonderful event. Enjoy!


Jester Hairston leads a choral session in the main ballroom of the conference center.

Konnie Saliba, Karen Medley and Carol King perform.

David Holt

A memorable couple of sessions with a Young David Holt was a highlight of the conference. I still remember him teaching us to play, bones, bags and spoons!

Ellen Koziel, Brent Holl and the WVU Percussion Ensemble

The West Virginia Percussion Ensemble demonstrated their authentic baliphones. An amazing performance and session!


Heidi Weidlich leads us in an arduous movement session.

Heidi Weidlich started her session with a command to imitate her. "Do everything I do!" We ended up on the floor, rolling, sitting, doing leg and arm movement, laughing and exploring every possible combination of movement.

Making marimbas, making music - Roanoke.com

2011-03-10T14:40:00.000-05:00

Making marimbas, making music - Roanoke.com

This is the newspaper story of the marimba making project at Kipps Elementary just completed this past Tuesday. Enjoy!

Beatin' Path Photo Gallery - Kipps Bass Marimba

2011-03-01T20:28:00.000-05:00

Beatin' Path Photo Gallery - Kipps Bass Marimba

I'll be traveling soon to Kipps Elementary School in Blacksburg, Virginia to help the students build a new bass marimba! I've spent the past week gathering materials and tools, ordering the frames, and building and tuning the pipe resonator units in preparation for my trip to Blacksburg.

The frame was made by a local carpenter, Pierce Pitsenbarger. He made the frame with some very nice poplar lumber. After delivering it, he helped me mount the PVC resonator pipes.

Mr. Pitsenbarger also cut and milled 19 tone bars that will be mounted on the frame. The tone bars are mahogany. My job today was to mount the bars on the frame and prepare them for the tuning process. Each bar was measured, center cut, and drilled in preparation for mounting on the frame.

Drilling the nail hole. This is how each bar will be attached to the frame.

Each bar is marked. The center third of the bar will be carved out in the tuning process.


Each bar is center cut. The cut goes halfway through the thickness of each tone bar. This will serve as a guide for the tuning of the bar.

I'll add more pics and stories as the marimba work continues. For now, please click on the link at the beginning of this blog entry for a gallery of pics showing the steps in making Gipps Elementary School's new bass marimba.

Children, Singing and Playing

2010-11-08T16:54:00.000-05:00

A truly important part of the conference experience is the opportunity to attend performances of children's ensembles. Choirs, Orff ensembles, movement and dance ensembles, from every level of education have been part of conferences past. This year there were fewer concerts, but the groups were spectacular and because of some serious schedule shifting, audiences were very large.

The Grace Christian School Recorder ensemble played in the conference theater to a standing room only crowd with folks standing outside the door. The ensemble of middle and high school students performed for 30 minutes. Most notably, they were joined by their school superintendent on the final song.

The rest of the children's performances that I caught at least parts of were three marimba band/orff ensembles. Strangely enough there were no children's choirs this year. I ran into Shirley McRae in the lobby of the DoubleTree and she pointed it to my attention. Sadly, the cost of bringing an ensemble to the conference has diminished the number of groups that actually apply to attend and perform. Choirs are generally large and therefore expensive if they have to travel very far. One point might well be that in all but two of the groups, singers were part of the ensemble. This reflects a truer presentation of the Schulwerk perhaps, but leaves out a very special commodity and area of interest for the conference attendees. I hope we'll see some choirs in Pittsburgh next year!

Brent with Director, Anita Edwards

The highlight performance for me from the children was the fantastic program presented by the Fremont H. Teed Elementary 6th Grade Orff Percussion Ensemble from Kuna, Idaho, directed by Anita Edwards. They combined speech, orff instruments and singing in sparkling and fresh arrangements of Orff classics as well as newly composed tunes from composers currently publishing. (Disclaimer: They performed six pieces written by yours truly. I was delighted and thoroughly surprised!)

Their arrangements were student/teacher collaborations in the truest sense of Orff Schulwerk. The orchestrations were bubbly, and sparkled with the energy and enthusiasm of children led by a teacher in love with their music making, enjoying it thoroughly with spontaneous wonderment and joy. This truly showed the essence of Orff Schulwerk.

The Fremont H. Teed Orff Ensemble

Serendipity

2010-11-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

AOSA conferences are filled with a spirit of serendipity. Spontaneous meetings with friends, unexpected amazing moments, new discoveries in the cities where the conferences are held, and lots and lots of hugs.

A highlight of this conference was a purely-by-chance meeting with Tom, Rosie, and Bonnie. Tom plays Irish whistle and bohdran, and Rosie and Bonnie play fiddle. Tom and Rosie met at the Paul Winter session and began to share tunes.

I immediately found them and borrowed a guitar from Jeffry, a workshop participant. We moved outside into the hallway where Bonnie found us. We sat and played for a few minutes until we had to leave for our sessions. We all traded emails and phone numbers and promised to meet in the same hallway the next day for a longer session.

We eventually were able to have two more sessions of tunes during the rest of the conference. It was a fun display of spontaneous music making that was appreciated by the folk passing by. For us it was a lot of fun to have folks stop and listen. We had a couple of folks stop by and do some Irish dancing! Very cool.

We've named ourselves "Celtorf" and have promised each other to meet up in Pittsburgh next year. If any one wants to join us just leave a comment on the blog or email me directly at brentholl@mac.com.

Paul Winter at AOSA in Spokane

2010-11-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

For me it has turned into the Paul Winter Conference. One of the most important principles of Orff-Schulwerk is improvisation and Mr. Winter has made a career of it. My double session on Thursday was as beautiful a process as I've ever seen as he slowly built our confidence and technique helping us each find our own voices

"Honor the uniqueness of your own voice. There is no competition."

The session began with four participants, in chairs sitting in a square formation. This began the warm-up. (The warm-up actually lasted until the final activity more that 2 hours later!) The lights were dimmed and they were invited to play a long tone on the instruments available. We had a cello, a recorder, a clarinet and Paul on soprano saxophone. The four tones were played and a chord was created spontaneously. At that point and after every stage of the process Mr. Winter would stop, give us his observations and allow the participants to share theirs as well. Some examples from Mr. Winter:

"Your silence is a gift to the ensemble."

"Relax into the space."

"Don't get hung up on semantics, you are simply learning to 'noodle.'"

"Minimize the visual, focus on the aural. It's the listening that brings empowerment. It's the darkness that brings us into a presence."

The process was thoughtful, introspective, and meditative, touching each of us in our own creative spirit. The process continued with short tones, loud tones, and quiet tones. All of us were invited to participate in this process and we all shared our four person improvisations.

As the session neared the end of the warm-up, he invited us to participate in a group improvisation. The entire event lasted approximately 10 minutes and encompassed a wide range of human interaction. There were the loud voices, the soft voices, the impatient voices, the persistent voices, the patient voices and finally, the community voice.

Mr. Winter's final comment: "Each of you is right with how you want it to be."

Truer words were never spoken.

At Last, The Conference

2010-11-06T14:45:00.002-04:00

Children's Art Decorates the Hallways

The official part of the conference for us usually begins on Wednesday evening with the opening display of exhibits and a reception, followed by dinner with a group of friends that we meet up with at this session. This year's conference is a little different because the exhibits are not going to be open until Thursday evening. The AOSA scheduled two group sessions on Wednesday evening that were designed to get folks together and do some mixers and group activities. Jim Solomon led a Drum Jam and the Amidon's lead some group singing and dancing to close the evening.

We had our usual dinner with friends and attended the late session. This of course was after our tour of Grand Coulee so we suffered a bit of travel fatigue. I like the Wednesday group sessions idea and in my observations, they were very well attended.

Thursday included sessions all day which for me, starting with learning about the Promethean whiteboard system, moving on to interesting and creative ways to adapt modal pieces from the Orff volumes, and two sessions with the improvisation master, Paul Winter.

The whiteboard session was interesting because of the prevalence of these learning tools in classrooms around the country. Beatin' Path Publications has released several books including ready-made visuals specifically for whiteboards. According to feedback in the session this is a great idea and folks appreciate having ready made flip charts that they can feed directly into the white board software.

Paul Winter's sessions were worth the price of admission, definitely the highlight of the conference for me. The three hour session took us from the very beginnings of improvisation to a full-fledged group improvisation session at the end, with the final experience a vocal improv based on the drone and the major scale. Amazing!

Paul Winter and his Consort will be doing the Friday evening concert.

More Pictures of the Conference can by found at my Mobile Me Conference Gallery.

AOSA 2010 - Grand Coulee Dam

2010-11-04T02:16:00.003-04:00

Sage Brush Seeds. This plant was common
along the roads and across the prairie.

Today we rose a little later after a good night's sleep and drove 88 miles through the countryside to The Grand Coulee Dam. What an amazing, technological wonder. The dam was built in the 30's as a way to help farmers irrigate their land. It has been a major success as the Columbia River system now provides a huge percentage of the nation's farm products.

The Fog Covered River

The sights began shortly after we left Spokane. The roads were so straight, the dotted yellow line in the middle turned into a solid yellow ribbon. The fields of grain along the side of the road were yellow with last year's crop and, at the same time green with next year's. The purple mountains in the near distance faded into snow capped peaks in the far away distance. We passed a fog covered river, the thick cloud blanket completely obscured the water below. The sky was wide, clear, and vibrant blue the weather once again was our friend.

Grant Lake behind Coulee Dam

As we approached the Dam, we began to see glimpses of Lake Roosevelt. We finally drove up to the dam and went into the Visitor Center. I signed the guest book and left a comment, "This is a techological marvel and a worthy stimulus project."

The Spillway

Michael Looks Down on the Spillway

We were able to get a tour of the Dam. We visited the huge room with 6 humming generators of immense size. Our guide filled us in on the magnificent power of the water that turns them converting the water's energy into electricity. We finished our tour by driving along the top of the dam, stopping to view the spillway.

We finished our tour with a recommendation for lunch from Sean, our tour guide. We ate at a little Pizzeria in the town of Grand Coulee.

The Town of Grand Coulee and the Bridge

We're back in Spokane now, we've returned our rental car and we are ready for a great AOSA conference. The next installments of the blog will be news and pics of the conference as they happen.

You can find more pictures of the Grand Coulee excursion on my Spokane Gallery, Grand Coulee

AOSA 2010 - The Columbia Gorge

2010-11-03T02:05:00.003-04:00

Wind Farms

Combine the most beautiful scenery with some good company and an absolutely perfect day of weather and you have the makings of a very successful road trip. The Columbia River Gorge is one of the most scenic places on earth and our weather was the rarest of the best on the this second day of November, 2010. Sunny and warm with only a hint of a breeze. The windmills on the ridges around the edges of the gorge were barely moving.

Ritzville Main Street

The sun shone warm our faces as we drove the three hours from Spokane to the town of Pasco near the beginning of the gorge. We stopped first in a little town called Ritzville just an hour out of town. We found the historic downtown section and a nice little grocery store where we were able to buy some supplies for the day. It was the only place open on the whole street.

The town was established by nurseryman and florist, Philip Ritz. We found his statue on Frontier Square. After a nice walk around town, we headed down route 395 for Pasco, one of the Tri-Cities at the bend in the Columbia River.

First View of the Columbia River

Just outside of town on Route 12, we got our first glimpse of the Columbia River. We all thought it was quite majestic and beautiful as we stopped and snapped our first batch of pictures. I have been through the gorge once before and I told my travel companions, Michael Nichols, Judy Burnett, and Gretchen Jensen that it would only get better, more majestic and rugged, and more beautiful as we would make our way west.

Colors on the River

As we travelled farther west my prediction proved true. We traveled on Highway 14 on the Washington side of the gorge. This was the "high" side and the scenery was magnificent. Around each bend and over each hill the views simply took our breath away. The joke of the day was "Stop the car! There's another photo op!" The Columbia River itself is a deep blue, matching the cloudless sky. The mountains, rocks and ridges added contrasting colors, while the leaves on the grapevines, and islands of trees add some magnificent fall colors to the scenes.

After a quick lunch at Paterson's Diner, we were back on the road for The Dalles. This was our turning point.

Our destination for the day.

We started out at 8:00 this morning and arrived here at around 2:45. We crossed the river and drove home to a fine dinner at Shenanigan's Irish Pub. Another great day!

Tomorrow we'll head northwest to the Grand Coulee Dam and surrounding area. We'll see what we can find!

More pictures can be found on my Spokane Gallery - Columbia Gorge.

Michael, Gretchen and Judy.

Day 1 in Spokane

2010-11-01T21:13:00.000-04:00

Red Lion River Inn

Sleeping in is a rare privilege. After finally turning in at 3:57 AM body time, (12:57 PM PST) I felt like it was worth it to sleep till about 9:30. My body has adjusted to the time lag and hooray! We're ready to go see the town of Spokane.

After a good breakfast buffet at the Red Lion River Inn, we set out to walk to the Visitor Center to find some things to do. Michael and I have often used this strategy when we travel. The folks we find there are always helpful and pretty soon we have a full itinerary. Our helper this time, found us some maps and made some great suggestions.

We've decided to rent a car and head southwest tomorrow morning to the great Columbia River Gorge. We'll leave as early as we can get the car and return when we're tired of driving. On Wednesday we'll take the car northwest to the Grand Coulee Dam to see the sights and take a tour. Wednesday evening the conference will begin, so we'll be back in time to return the car and attend the opening group sessions.

After leaving the Visitor Center, Michael and I made for the Post Office to pick up a few flat rate boxes and postage. We'll ship any items we buy that we can't fit in our luggage for the trip home. We headed for Riverside Park just as it began to rain.

Riverside Park

I had forgotten my umbrella, so off we went on an umbrella hunt. We wanted to walk through the park and look at the sights. We found a sweet little game store called, Uncles Games. I walked in and asked if they had any umbrellas for sale. They had a costume umbrella that looked like a sword for 30 bucks so I passed. Then to my amazement the young clerk went to a corner of the store and brought me a battered and worn golf umbrella and said, "Here you go. Take mine." I was a little dumfounded but I took the umbrella and gave him a 10 dollar bill, and walked away with a smile. I'm pretty sure I'll return the umbrella before Sunday when I leave.

We walked to Riverside Park. The colors were beautiful and Michael and I enjoyed walking and taking pictures. The most famous sculpture in the park is the famous "Red Wagon."

We walked through the park and met up with friends, Gretchen Jensen and Judy Burnett at the very nice pub, Shenanigans. We had a nice lunch and planned our Tuesday and Wednesday itinerary. They agreed to join us on the trip and we're happy to split the cost of the rental car four ways. It will be a very nice way to see the lay of the land.

Off to Spokane

2010-11-01T03:48:00.000-04:00

Trips to conference are sometimes pretty interesting and sometimes uneventful. In 2005, the year of Katrina, the conference was in Birmingham, Alabama. I drove from Bridgewater to New Orleans to visit my daughter just two months after the storm. Driving across the old Route 11 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain past houses, autos, and buildings that had been swept off their foundations and covered with debris and driving through the city to the garden district was one of the most poignant and emotion-filled journeys of my life. After a visit of a day and a half, I collected my daugher Jessica and we attended the conference together.

The trip home from that conference was one of the most beautiful drives I can remember. In the South, the leaves had just reached full color and the mountains of Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia were incredible that year.

This year's trip was of the uneventful nature. Because we're here near the West Coast (on the sunny side of the state), the trip took about 15 hours from the time I left Bridgewater until I arrived at my hotel in Spokane. I drove to Dulles, stopped over in Denver and then on to Spokane. My good friend from the Virginia Highlands Chapter, Gretchen Jensen, had already arrived and texted me at Dulles before the plane left. I'm sure we'll meet up at the conference along with many old and new friends. Early birding, is what I've been doing for years and Gretchen has caught the bug too. We'll spend 3 days exploring the town before conference starts.

I'm rooming again with my travel mate and good friend, Michael Nichols. We'll sleep in tomorrow morning and then go out on the city and see what we can find. One interesting new twist to the trip this year.... I flew paperless. I used my iPhone as a boarding pass. United sent a bar coded boarding pass via email that I was able to scan in at the airport to get through security and to board the plane at the gate.

AOSA in Spokane

2010-10-29T20:23:00.001-04:00

This years conference is a huge one for Beatin' Path Publications. No leas than 6 of our composers are presenting sessions. I've had a very busy fall shipping stock and finishing books on deadline and everything is ready to go.

I'll be live blogging this year using my iPhone. I've never tried it before so it should prove interesting. I'll try and send along pictures to go with the posts. Here's one of Michael Nichols leading a session in Canberra, Australia.

Check in often for updates.

Brent Holl
Beatin' Path Publications, LLC

Canberra Orff Chapter - Brent and Michael Present

2010-08-22T06:55:00.000-04:00

On Saturday August 14, 2010, Michael Nichols and I presented a full day workshop for the Orff folks around Canberra, Australia. Some folks drove in from Sydney, most were from around the Canberra area. My topics were "Beginnings: How to Start Musical Activities" and "Jump, Jive, and Jazz: Jazz as Elemental Music." Michael presented: "Spirituals and Folk Songs" and a short presentation about beginning the recorder.

Susan Curbishley organized the meeting which was held a the beautiful new Radford College school in downtown Canberra. The facility was perfect and well equipped. Michael and I were able to use our Keynote visuals, which turned out to be a very popular technique. Our care with the visual learners in the workshop was very well appreciated. Here's a comment from an attendee,

"I loved the way that he catered for the visual learners too with the written music on the screen – that was like an epiphany for me as other presenters/experts insist we only cater for the aural learners (and I discovered yesterday that I am a visual learner because I really appreciated the music on the screen – it enabled (and empowered) me to enjoy the activities rather than stress because I take ages to learn things aurally)."

The first session was concerned with beginning activities, not so much as to present for beginners, but rather how to begin various aspects of the music curriculum. Sections were presented on beginning listening, beginning recorder, beginning a general music class with a name game, beginning singing and beginning choir activities. Michael presented the beginning recorder activities from his new book, "Let's Sing and Play a Dozen."

After lunch I did a short presentation on the idea that jazz and the blues can be a great vehicle for improvisation and that these two great American styles of music are elemental and can be used to teach important musical concepts. We started with some question/answer style improv using "scat" singing and body percussion and moved from there straight into the blues. We learned a tune first (Corayluz Blues), then added the bass and the chords. You can download a copy of the notes for presenting the blues to a general music class here.

Michael finished the day by presenting several of the songs in his book "Spirituals and Folk Songs." Another comment:

"And I thoroughly enjoyed Michael’s recorder work also, and would have loved to see more. He had an inclusive style about him as well, as the participant beside me had never done recorder before and was so pleased that she could play a song after that first session. I too picked up new ways of teaching the recorder to young kids.

Thank you so much – the workshop was brilliant!!"

Everyone enjoyed the songs as well as the day. Here's another comment from a participant:

"I was so impressed by the teaching style of Brent – the best of anyone I have experienced in ages (maybe ever). I loved the way that he taught at many different levels, and was totally aware of every person in the room. When he saw that people were struggling (like me!!) he went back a few steps so everyone could feel they had achieved success. Very few presenters do that – they continue on and ignore the strugglers, but it just proves how much of an exemplary teacher he is!

Michael and I are looking forward to our next trip to Canberra, perhaps to lead these wonderful folk in a Levels Course in the near future. Needless to say, we enjoyed our day and would welcome the opportunity to do this again!

Marimba Camp in Healesville, Victoria. Candlebark Farm

2010-08-12T07:31:00.002-04:00

Friday, August 6: My musical journey in Australia continues...

I was picked up at my hotel in Healesville around 8:30 and driven to Candlebark Farm for the 18th annual family Marimba Camp. Heather McGlaughlin and Jon Madin are the primary reasons I was invited. Jon was a presenter in Charlotte at the '08 AOSA conference and my assignment was to help him in his sessions, handing out materials and carrying marimbas from one session to the next. Heather is a good friend of Jon's and both have been involved with the marimba camp for many years.

Andy Rigby, Jon Madin, Phil Melgaard

Upon arrival, I found Jon, several campers, and the other two presenters for the weekend, Phil Melgaard and Andy Rigby. We spent an hour jamming on the marimbas trading tunes and telling stories. Cooking Light anyone?

Audrey and Phil in Jon's Session

Saturday, August 7:

A good nights sleep, an nutritious breakfast of muesli, coffee, and bread got us all ready for some rousing sessions with the presenters. My first session went very well as the folks learned to play Jewe from my book Wood Songs. They had lots of questions about technique and presentation. Some of the participants were teachers who attended for service credit. The rest of the folks were campers. We worked for an hour and a half.

Morning tea, some good conversation and we were off to session two. I traveled up the hill to a nice spot outside in the sun on a beautiful, sunny, brisk day. I taught the children campers a tune from Wood Songs as well, The Hey, Hey Jam. The kids and I worked for about an hour or so and had a nice, spirited arrangement when we finished.

Musical Exercise Bikes

After afternoon tea, Jon's Session was was a lively presentation featuring his new invention, the musical exercise bikes. He also had his Echocellos as well as a raft of Marimbas. When his session was finished several of us gathered to jam and share music and stories. Adult camper, Audrey and I found out that we had met in Chicago at the 1987 AOSA Conference. She was a presenter with the musical group, Shenanigans, with Jon and Gary King. I remembered her performance on the Quena, a South American flute and Gary's unforgettable tune on the didjeridu. She and I jammed on a few tunes and we ended up collaborating on a tune or two for dinner music that evening. Great fun!

The traditional Saturday evening sharing session featured campers, both children and adults sharing songs and talents. Several of the pieces that were played during sessions that day were presented while I offered up the Shen Fine song, Along the Valley Road from the CD, The Songs, with Audrey on Flute. Heather played a beautiful version of Greensleeves with Jon and I on Echo Chello in true renaissance style.

Sunday, August 8:

After another good night's sleep and a good camp breakfast, I was off to Phil's "life changing" session. He taught the adults to juggle hankys! Learning to "let go," to keep more things going that you thought possible, to do something seemingly difficult by simply relaxing and letting it happen.... all great life lessons. Phil then taught us a new tune that dovetailed nicely with Jon's session with the children, who came marching up the hill playing wacky instruments in a special version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. Fantastic!

I then led a session for the children, first teaching them to do the Hambone, then a version of See Dees from my book, Ensemble. Little did I know that several of the children were "Pro" body instrumentalists. It was great fun and I had the pleasure of teaching Phil a new trick!

Jon and I playing EchoChellos.

Travel mate and colleague, Michael Nichols and my lovely wife Karen joined us for lunch and the final session of the camp. I walked into the meeting hall to find two of the campers composing a fun sounding tune. We collaborated and pretty soon we had a very cool Rondo with a Refrain played on Marimbas in four parts with a B section on EchoChellos, a C section on Musical Exercise bikes, and a grand finale with all the instruments playing. For me, it was the highlight of the entire weekend. Well done Stace and Talitha!

Campers and Teachers

All of the clinicians shared a final piece as the camp came to a close. I was privileged to lead the final song, so I chose the beautiful canon with movement, Oh How Lovely is the Evening. What a wonderful event and as far as I know, it will go on year after year. Perhaps I will have the good fortune to attend again!

Enjoy this Video of the weekend's activities.

Wine tour and riding the pufferbilly

2010-08-11T18:05:00.000-04:00

Friday August 6:

We awakened at 4:45 AM after our first good night of sleep for our first tour of the trip. We're off to visit the Yarra Valley wineries and ride the Puffing Billy RR. Our hotel is in Healesville about a 30 minute drive from Lilydale, which is about an hour from Melbourne by train. The Metro train took us straight to our tour bus station. We joined our tour and were away at 8:15.

The train was very easy to negotiate and we found that passengers were very willing to talk and advise us about stops, where to get on and off, and how to get where we needed to be. I can't help but remember many trips on New York subways and some futile attempts to ask folks for directions. We are all impressed by the friendly inquiries and helpfullness of the folks here, even at 6:00 AM!

A Cockatoo

Our first stop was to have some tea at Grants Picnic Ground. It featured a very nice Aviary with many local and exotic birds. We got our first look at a Cockatoo and some other very colorful birds.

The Puffing Billy

The Puffing Billy railway was next and we enjoyed our 25 minute ride through the Sherbrooke Forest. We rode through the clouds and fog of the Dandenong mountains, enjoying the tree ferns and stately eucalyptus trees. The forest was rich, full and green. The season here is late winter/early spring.

Riding the Puffing Billy
the Traditional Way

Our first winery was the Fergusson vineyard where we ate lunch and had our first tasting. The Sharaz Jeremy was my favorite. Karen enjoyed a glass of Victoria Chardonnay.

Our second winery was the Rochford where did a full wine tasting of three different wines. A little fudge and some wine flavored ice-cream and we were off to Domaine Chandon and some sparking wine. We took a tour of the facility, learning about the types of wine and the wine making process. We learned about fermentation, riddling, crown caps, and corks, finishing our tour with a toast and a taste of Australia's finest sparkling wine.

At Domaine Chandon

A Trip to Melbourne

2010-08-03T18:25:00.001-04:00

Business and pleasure in Australia begins today. The business started in 1997 when I attended the Seattle Orff Conference and saw a session led by Jon Madin and Chris Maubach of Australia. Both of these fine teachers presented fantastic materials but my attention was riveted on Jon Madin and his incredible homemade marimbas. I went back to Augusta County in Virginia and began building my own versions of these fantastic instruments. I've written and blogged many times about making marimbas and marimba music at Stewart Middle School, so I won't add more details here.

Over the last 13 years, I've kept in touch with Jon as well as several other colleagues from down under who, whenever we would meet up at the AOSA conference would check on my availability for doing some teaching in Australia. I finally was able to say yes this year. I am invited to be a guest teacher at the annual weekend Marimba Camp at Candlebark Farm in Healesville, just northeast of Melbourne, and will be doing two more co-sessions with my friend, travel companion and colleague, Michael Nichols.

At the Marimba Camp, I'll have the chance to work with teachers, children, and adults who attend this family camp. I'm very anxious and excited about making some fantastic music with these folks. Later on, I'll be leading a session called "Building Melodies" or "Help Me Rondo" for the Melbourne Orff Chapter at Bimbadeen Heights Primary School in Mooroolbark, which is very near the site of the Marimba Camp. Then it's off to Canberra where Michael and I will be leading sessions for the Orff chapter there.

When the business is done, we'll head off to tour Sydney, Alice Springs, and Cairns before we return on August 30. Check back often for updates and photos.

Orff Course at VCU ends first week

2010-07-24T15:25:00.002-04:00

Betsy Kipperman

The Orff course at Virginia Commonwealth University has just completed its first week. Betsy Kipperman of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter and Annapolis, Maryland is teaching the Basic Orff portion, Mary Dorsey Evans is teaching movement and Paul Bakeman is teaching recorder. Both Mary and Paul are members of the new James River Virginia Chapter of the AOSA.

Paul Bakeman

I had the great privilege of attending day one of the course and taught a special topic on "Body Rhythm" for the folks. I couldn't help but be swept up by the enthusiasm and energy of the group. The staff looked energetic and excited too. This is the first course for both Betsy and Mary and their energy, talent, and expertise is perfect for this course. I'm looking forward to attending the last two days of class at the end of the week. I'll present a special topics session on Thursday afternoon and then hang out with the folks on Friday for the final sharing time.

Mary Dorsey Evans

A Photo Gallery is now online. You can check out pictures of day one. There is a new video of Day 1 at the James River Virginia Orff Chapter website.

The New Pence Middle School Marimba, UPDATED

2010-01-19T17:20:00.001-05:00

The Marimba-making process continued this week at Pence Middle School in Dayton, VA. The students worked four days last week and again on Monday, carving and tuning the bars. Here a student watches Mr. Holl check a tone bar.

The frame is done, the tube resonators are mounted and the tone bars almost all finished.

As the students finish the bars they add their own unique signature to each bar that they worked on. The signing ceremony ended the students work on the bars.

As the bars are finished, they are mounted on the frame and tried out. Here Mrs. Hostetter mounts a bar and plays it after checking what students had worked on the bar.

The bars were packed up and returned to Mr. Holl's workshop to be prepared for the final tuning and finishing. Each bar was sanded, fine tuned for the last time, and then painted with two coats of polyurethane. Here's a picture of the first coat just finished.

*UPDATE* January 24, 2010

The new marimba at Pence Middle School is now finished. We had a little trouble with one of the bars that had warped about a quarter of an inch during the curing process. I've never had that happen before, but it was easily solved by getting a new bar made and replacing it.

The bars were delivered, mounted, and the lettering applied. Mrs. Hostetter is very proud of her new instrument. I'm looking forward to hearing the kids play it!

A New Instrument almost ready!

2010-01-15T13:00:00.000-05:00

I just delivered the frame with the mounted tone resonators today to Pence Middle School. I was able to add the nails and screw eyes in class while the class rehearsed for a coming performance.

This baby is almost born! We'll have to finish tuning the last few bars, apply the finish and label the bars then we're done!

Making Marimbas at Pence Middle School

2010-01-13T19:18:00.000-05:00

This week is marimba making week at Wilbur Pence Middle School in Dayton, Virginia. The project is to build, with the help of Music Teacher, Janet Hostetter's Orff Ensemble students, a new Bass Marimba. She plans to add it to the collection of classroom Orff instruments she's been collecting over the last 3 years.

The process begins with a trip to the local home hardware store and the purchase of all the supplies needed for the project. PVC pipes for the resonator tubes, end caps, elbow joints, glue, nails, self-drilling screws were just a few of the supplies that needed to be gathered.

Then it's a trip to a local cabinet shop, in this case, Mill Cabinets in Bridgewater, for the wood and to order the frame.

The woodworkers at the shop made the frame, and milled the mahogany wood for the bars to the correct thickness and and width.

Each bar was then cut to the correct length, nail holes were drilled, and a center cut was made as a tuning guide.

After the bars were all cut and measured they were given to students for tuning. Each student was taught to use a mallet and chisel to remove wood from the center of each bar. Then they used an electronic tuner to check the pitch of each bar.

The frame, having been assembled at the cabinet shop, is now ready for resonator pipes. After the pipes are installed, screw eyes, rope and nails will be installed so that the tone bars can be mounted after they've been tuned.

The tuning process takes about four days working for approximately 90 minutes a day. The students are asked to tune the bars to within a half step of the correct pitch. Then it's up to the teacher to finish each bar by carefully removing small amounts of wood until the correct pitch is achieved.

Two classes totaling 27 students worked on the new Bass Marimba. Spirits are high as the anticipation of a new, dynamic, fun-to-play instrument takes shape.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

2009-10-20T10:11:00.004-04:00

I've just returned from delivering a couple of Bass Xylophones, a set of Wind Chimes, and a pair of Finger Cymbals to North River Elementary School. One of the cool jobs I've taken in retirement is to repair well-worn Orff instruments at local schools. I've adjusted Conga and Bongo Drums, rebuilt Temple Blocks, re-strung Wind Chimes, and added leather laces to Finger Cymbals. The most important part of this new job though, is repairing the Orff xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels.

My trip this morning was delightful. I walked into the music room just as the children were singing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" as a part of a new program to be presented at a concert very soon. I couldn't help but smile and do a little bit of the double shuffle as I carried the instruments into the room. When the song finished, the teacher smiled and asked the kids to say "Hi Mr. Holl!" I waved and said, "Hi" and proceeded with my work. I have to admit that one of the aspects of teaching that I miss the most is the interaction with the students and today's simple hello just made my day!

I'm doing basic repair work on all of North River's Orff instruments. Anyone who has spent time using these beautiful instruments over a period of time knows that wear and tear can rob them of their tone and resonance. Most repairs are fairly simple and only involve replacing pins and bushings. Sometimes a little glue applied judiciously to a joint or two fixes a rattle or buzz. Structural repairs on chips, large cracks, and scratches are more involved but well within the capability of a woodworking hobbyist.

I'll be finishing up the instruments for North River very soon. I still think the coolest part of the job is walking in with the "new" instruments, trying them out, listening to the restored sound and hearing the students and the teacher all say, "Thank you Mr. Holl!"

You're Welcome! :)

Banal or Beethoven, Is There Room in Heaven? The discussion Continues:

2009-10-03T11:11:00.003-04:00

-- In Music-for-Children@yahoogroups.com, "John Handley" wrote:

"EVERY song they brought, most of the class was bored with before it was finished, and there was clamour and uproar for the next one - which was equally derided."

"A Melbourne composer, Graham Leak has just noted in this morning's Age that young people today have 20,000 songs on their iPods, but only listen to about 5 seconds of each song before changing to another track. It was a very unsuccessful lesson for me though, because I was unable to get any kind of discussion going on why they found their own music so worthless. And sad to see as well"

Yes, John. I'm quite familiar with this scenario. I had the duty at my school of providing the music for the school dances. It was one of the most interesting and educational experiences of my professional career. You see, the school dances became the reward for all types of excellent student behavior. It was amazing to hear the kids talk about how they were going to "earn" the next "Fun Night."

In choosing the music for the dance, I was entrusted with finding pop music that the kids liked AND was acceptable in a public school setting with middle school kids. No blatant profanity (cut the list by 50%), no references to drinking, smoking, or drug use (there went another 30%), and I had to watch out for the love songs and the references to sex and violence... whew! Was there anything left? (I remember doing the Macarena for hours.... just kidding...Watermelon Crawl was a big hit.)

The magic part about all of this was that I ended up searching high and low, talking at length to many of the kids, discussing with them at length during lunch, before and after school, and occasionally during class just what music we could play at Fun Night. I called this the gathering of "requests." John, this may have been the discussion you were referring to that was so difficult to initiate in your classes. In my case, the students were highly motivated to make real choices about what they were going to hear.

Of course at the dances themselves, the scenario you mention was played out over and over. I insisted that the entire song be played and that every song had been "requested" by students. The kids of course were ready to play 5 seconds of each one until they got to the song that they had requested. They tested my patience many times.

My larger point concerning "Banal and Beethoven" is that teaching professionals have learned how to "filter" the music using all of the various criteria we learned during our training. Teaching children to filter their own music is one of the most valuable skills we can teach. In order to develop this filter teachers must be willing to meet the students where they are and acknowledge that, in the case of music, they come to us with much of their musical intelligence already highly developed. Each of them are (as is the general population of adults) experts in the music they like. Not just experts but passionate experts. If we don't meet them there, gain their respect and bring them along with us, success is difficult.

I failed with many students. They just plugged in their iPods and walked away. It IS sad. I never gave up on them though and sought them out to ask "Whatcha listening to?" whenever I saw them. They always cheerily told me what was playing along with the caviat, "Can't play this at Fun Night."

I smiled.

Banal or Beethoven, Is There Room in Heaven? A Response

2009-10-03T11:01:00.006-04:00

Over at Music for Children, the following response from guest blogger, John Handley, was posted to the original thread. The discussion continues:

"One man's banal is another man's Beethoven".

Thank you Brent for a once again deeply insightful analysis of one of the elements of music education.

This is a quote that deserves further examination. Indeed the question is: "what is banal and what is instructive?"

If one bases one's philosophy of teaching on that line of thought then thatallows for any old rubbish to be accepted as valid music in the classroom.This argument says that for example "Achy Breaky Heart" deserves the same recognition and value as for example, "Let It Be". You may as well take the teenager's easy way out: "whatever".

My view is that it is simply not good enough for teachers to be guided by such simplistic cliches as "banal versus Beethoven". We are trained, and it is our responsibility, to decide and define what is of value for our students and what is bad for our students.

As Brent points out:

Musically, we are the experts. Our filters are the ones being used to pass the best of our culture on to the next generation.

To do so requires a better founding philosophy than: "one man's banal is another man's Beethoven". This view accepts that poor expression, for example, in English writing skills is OK, that is all right not to know your multiplication tables, what the hell: we've got calculators for that; what does it matter if you don't know what causes the seasons?

Because if the above is your guiding philosophy, this information, these skills and knowledge might as well be just as banal as they are important and valuable to know. And what is the difference and who cares?

"It doesn't matter, the kids enjoy it, it's entertaining". We're not talking about music education here, were not talking about education of any sort. This is what banality in education leads to: the dumbing down of the curriculum, and the dumbing down of the students, not to mention the teachers.

I had the pleasure of sitting above a park one evening recently and hearing a little girl skipping home in the evening dusky light, singing "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen in a beautiful clear soprano voice. This was an uplifting and inspiring experience for me, and provided clear justification for teaching quality music as opposed to music of poor quality and poor value. If, on the other hand, I had heard that little girl singing Britney Spears' "If You Seek Amy" I think I would have found be experience not uplifting but seriously depressing and discouraging and disheartening - because the one is "Beethoven" and the other "banal". (And by the way, if you do not know what "If You Seek Amy" means, ask a 12-year-old).

I have also seen a group of Muslim girls in primary school singing with great gusto and great amusement Aqua's "I'm a Barbie Girl"... a song which from my position I would have defined as banal, which in fact turned out to have quite a deep meaning for them, and a definite social value! We should not forget to turn to the wisdom of "babes and sucklings" from time to time.

We walk where angels fear to tread.

However we do have guidelines to assist us in deciding this. Orff, Kodaly, Bettelheim, and many others have suggested ways of determining whether or not a text or piece of music is "good". Here's a suggestion from Doug Goodkin "Play, Sing and Dance, p157.", and he points out that "alone, each point may not be helpful, but in combination, give a good working guide".
(italics mine).

1. Children and adults equally enjoy it.

2. It bears repeated experiences.

3. It has withstood the test of time.

4. It invites something new.

5. It is created with good intention.

Doug goes on to elaborate these points in some detail, and it is worth a read.

In some cases the distinction is easy: for example compare the Walt Disney Winnie the Pooh with the original A.A. Milne. With blissful disregard for quality, the Disney Company destroyed all originality, and all meaning from the original brilliant stories and poems.... "The feeling was these timeless characters really needed a breath of fresh air that only the introduction of someone new could provide," Nancy Kanter of the Disney Channel .

It is the very timelessness of the characters which makes them work in the original. Disney has modified and qualified each of the original characters, thus removing their usefulness and integrity, to which children need to relate.

And it is our responsibility as teachers and, if you like, guardians of the faith, as well as educators -- those responsible for not only maintaining the culture but also developing the culture which is so important to us.

There's a major battle in Australia at the moment, and it's been going since about 1960, and you're facing the same problems in the States, about justifying the validity of teaching music in the National Curriculum. Comments such as "one man's banal is another man's Beethoven" hardly support the integrity and the importance of our subject. We need to be doing a lot better than that.

"What we [are] fighting for at the moment is the integrity of music as a subject in its own right and not a subject which needs other subjects to help it out. I am very protective of the idea, and we have to fight very hard for music as a subject. You know currently that there's this thing called creative arts, and performing arts. Often they're all seen as being the same, they all link and they're all related and they're one and the same. And that's not true. Music is not visual arts, visual arts is not drama, drama is not music." Richard Gill, in Keys to Music, May 2009:
<http://www.abc.net.au/classic/keys/>

Richard Gill again (n.d.) "My view is children should have access to all my view is children should have access to all music: rock pop, classical, jazz. They need a broad experience of music so that they can make decisions and make choices. A diet of uninterrupted hip-hop, is as interesting as a diet of uninterrupted Vivaldi concerti.

Biasing a music program to one type of music is not music education. There is such a wealth of extraordinary music in the world, going right back to pre-Christian if you like, to now. Why shouldn't children have access to all of that over their time at school?

By listening to lots of music, different type of music, different styles, they can make comparisons: see where there are similarities, see whether differences, and through the comparisons they start to develop an appreciation for music. To develop wisdom to make choices. ...

.. were I the teacher teaching it, I would say: the nature of the Beatles is that they sang harmony, they sang songs in parts with instrumental accompaniment. So I go straight to the Bach cantatas, and I'd look at, an example of text which is accompanied, sung by two or three voices, and then you look at all sorts of vocal music right through from the beginning of chant to madrigals. Because, what the Beatles are doing is part of the tradition. And so with the Mozart chamber work, we can then look at all sorts of other chamber music coming right up to now, the evolution ensembles. So I would see music like that which is set as a syllabus is a trigger to study all sorts of other music."

Although this is slightly off my main point, the implication is that with good music, it is possible to teach music. In the case of music that isbad, there is very little that can be taught.

There is no place for the banal in our classrooms, or for that matter in our culture. If we do not teach the difference, then how will our children know how to discriminate between excrement and food? What will they eat?

Zoltan Kodaly: "real art is one of the most powerful forces in the rise of mankind, and he who renders it accessible to as many people as possible, is a benefactor of humanity."

That would be our job. How lucky are we?

John Handley

Mosswood Music
mosswoodmusic.com

Banal or Beethoven, Is There Room in Heaven?

2009-10-01T11:03:00.004-04:00

Yes, Is there enough room in heaven for all of it? I loved the statement from a recent discussion on another board, that "one person's banal is another's Beethoven." We've seen in another thread that an innocent hand washing song is both banal and very useful as a teaching tool. We've heard the point made that using silly songs in school should not be construed as "serious" instruction. We've also heard that they are pragmatic and useful for certain, specific functions.

The quality of material one chooses for curriculum is largely determined by one's education. The materials gathered over the course of an academic career and in our particular case, Orff training courses, are the basis, the "materia substantialis" of a teachers curricular repertoire. To that core of materials are added the required materials for standards and objectives, all subject to local and state requirements.

Selecting material for use in the classroom is also subject to cultural and personal taste. Given the incredible diversity of music and culture throughout the world, there will inevitably be some filtering going on. The question then is "What's banal and what's instructive?"

J.S. Bach was thrown in jail because he thought the "old hymns" were banal. Pete Seeger cut the chords to Bob Dylan's guitar because he thought the distortion was a disgrace to folk music. Tomatoes thrown at Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." "Banal or Art" has been with us since time began. Musically, we are the experts. Our filters are the ones being used to pass the best of our culture on to the next generation. (No pressure...)

What are the criteria to determine the value of works of art, from the silly to the sublime? Is there room in heaven for all of it?

crossposted at Music for Children

First Days....

2009-08-25T11:41:00.002-04:00

I had a nice moment this morning on the front porch. Sitting in the porch swing with a mug of coffee in my hand, I watched the school buses load children for the first day of school. As I waved to the bus, I was flooded with memories of many "first days" from years gone by.

There was the first day for my kids, Jessica and Noel when Jessica was three and Noel was six. Noel was off to first grade with his new knapsack (before the days of book bags) and Jessica getting ready for pre-school, had her favorite toy, a peg board and hammer, proudly in hand as they posed for one of my favorite pictures of them on the front step. Jessica looks proudly at Noel and Noel leans his head towards Jessica, the excitement and anticipation bursting from both of them. The picture hangs on the wall above my desk.

My wife, Karen, just left for her first day of school. It's her 36th "first day" as a teacher. I'm putting the finishing touches on a "Beginning the Year" workshop I'll be presenting for the Roanoke City Schools and reflecting on how my job has changed. I'm enjoying that I'm still involved but now able to go to work in barefeet, t shirt and shorts, sit on the front porch and wave the kids goodbye, drink a couple of mugs of coffee, and write lesson plans for one day of class.

First days....

Today's Wildwood Run

2009-01-03T15:46:00.002-05:00

I just finished up a run on a beautiful sunny day in January. It's about 62 degrees with a brisk breeze. My Wildwood loop starts on E. College Street bears left around Wyant Park, down Bank Street to Wildwood, around the loop and back down Bank Street to River Road. From River Road it's back to College Street and Home. I make it to be about 3.1 miles. My time today was really slow, 34 + minutes.

My playlist today was Shen Fine Classics combined with Shen Fine's new CD-in-Progress, "The Songs." I'm listening and studying for the next session on Jan. 15. I'll be adding bass parts and "noodles." Otherwise it's finished! I'm really enjoying the recording process this time around. The tentative release date is March 1. Fingers are crossed.

I'm recovering and finishing up my listening. I'm going to take the lights off the two Christmas trees, then settle in and watch some NFL playoff games. I'm out.

Middle School Music: How do you get started?

2008-08-26T10:15:00.004-04:00

What does a middle school music program look like? I've often gotten that question in workshops and teacher training courses, so I've begun to add some of this information to this blog. I hope this can become a source of information and discussion about music in middle school. Please feel free to share your own ideas by adding comments to the blog. If you'd like to contribute and entry, please email it to me and I'll put you on as a guest blogger. Let's talk!

Let's just start with some equipment ideas for 6th grade exploratory music:

In 6th grade, you'll want to give them a variety of experiences. Your list of materials should reflect YOUR interests in music and your school system's curriculum. I emphasize the word YOUR because you have training and ideas that you want to pass along to the students and that is the most important thing! I will list some suggestions that I've found useful and we can talk specifics and in as much detail as you want about any of the them.

A class set of Hand Drums:

Hand drums are relatively cheap, and provide a wealth of activities that get them up and moving. One of the classic orff style means of making music, hand drumming can teach music literacy, beat training, ensemble work, reading skills (in language) and is great for getting the kids moving. Two outstanding resources are Chris Judah-Lauder's two books: Hand Drums on the Move and to drum. There are several other good books on drumming at West Music Company. They'll have a good selection of hand drums and a great discussion board on technique, maintenance, and repair.

A great listening station:

Start with a good Stereo Amp and speaker set. Spend as much money as you can on this. A high quality sound IS what you are teaching. Add a CD player for your collection of CD's that you've been using for years. :) This is basic. If you don't have a collection of CD's for listening you soon will! If you add Folk Dancing to your 6th grade activities, you'll want a nice sounding system to support it.

If your school system loves new technology, add a Mac Laptop and an AirPort Express to create an in-classroom wireless network. You'll be able to use iTunes on your computer to play music through your new stereo set. An even more portable option would be to use your iPhone, or iTouch with the new "Remote" software to control your listening activities from where ever you are in the classroom. You'll also be able to use your Laptop with your whiteboard or your overhead projector.

A good acoustic and/or electronic piano:

This staple of every music class has changed in style and function over the years, especially in the general music class. If you go with the electronic keyboard, you'll be able to access all the midi functions that will help you compose music both with the children and for them. Combined with your Mac Laptop and some good sequencing software, you'll have a wonderful tool for your own creativity as well as a tool for stirring the kid's interest in creating music. An acoustic piano is still the best choice for choirs. It's tone and timbre support singing in an acoustic environment much better than a keyboard and speaker... I found this to be very true after a year or so of mixed results with an electronic keyboard.... Surprisingly the kids finally just came out and told me that the keyboard was just "annoying." When I switched back to the acoustic piano, the kids were very happy! Strange but true

A varied and interesting set of unpitched percussion instruments:

Consider this option very carefully. There is nothing that interests and excites kids in the middle more than learning about instruments! One of my favorite 6th grade activities was to learn about all the small percussion that I could round up and collect. For your collection, get a nice representation of each group:

Woods: claves, temple blocks, piccolo blocks, etc.

Rattles: Shakere, maracas, cabasa, vibraslap, etc.

Metals: triangle, finger cymbals, gong, hanging cymbal, cowbell, gankoqui, etc.

Drums: in addition to your class set of hand drums, get some tubanos of various sizes, a conga or two, and a djembe.

You can adapt most of the activities found in the drum circle books that are out there for this grouping of instruments. One resource that looks very useful is Kalani's The Amazing Jamnasium. I've never used this book, but I have been in several Kalani sessions and he's a dynamic teacher and very good at explaining how to adapt his techniques to schools.

A basic set of Orff instruments:

You'll want to get a basic set with enough instrument stations for at LEAST half of your students to play at once. An ideal classroom would have a station for every student. With some creative use of the drums and small percussion listed above you may be able to accomplish this remarkably soon. An Orff instrumentarium can be expanded gradually over time until you get as many instruments as you need.

For middle school, I recommend chromatic instruments. They are more expensive of course, but middle schoolers are ready to leave the world of pentatonic and enter the mainstream, especially with regards to jazz and classical music. Chromatic instruments can introduce the kids to a whole new spectrum of musical sounds which will be a welcome new sound for them especially if they've come from a strong Orff background in elementary school.

I also recommend chromatic instruments on stands. The days of sitting on the floor to play are starting to get old for these kids. They'll do it for a while yet, but they'll more and more ask you for a chair to sit in anyway, so stands for the instruments becomes a better choice. There are stands and tables for most of the Orff instrument brands out there.

You can start with a basic set that looks something like this: a Bass Xylophone, 2 Alto Xylophones, 2 Soprano Xylophones, an Alto Metallophone, 2 soprano and 2 alto glockenspiels. Get some contra bass bars starting with the basic 3, C, F, G. Add a D and an A as soon as you can, then add the rest of the diatonic scale. Add the F# and B flat as soon as you can, then add other chromatics as becomes necessary. This basic set has 10 stations for players. You could use this for a class size of 20. Later you'll want to add another BX, a couple of AX's, a Soprano Metallophone, and a couple more SX. You'll be fine with 4 glocks for a long time.

I recommend any of the following: Peripole, Sonor, Studio 49. The Peripole chromatic instruments are tube resonated and each instrument has a built-in stand. I've used Peripole since 1988 and have found that they are perfect for this age group. Sonor and Studio 49 each make box resonated instruments that can sit on a separate table-stand. They also feature add-on chromatic sections.

A class set of Recorders:

I finally broke down and bought a class set of recorders for my middle school students. Kids had their own from elementary school, but many were lost or broken and sometimes they weren't the same brand which led to tuning problems. I found that an inexpensive set of Yamaha or Angel recorders available in the class solved all my problems. I had to invest in a storage system and a quick easy way to sanitize the instruments between uses. Using the recorder in your 6th grade class adds another tool for sight reading and adds a melody instrument to your ensemble. It also builds on skills learned in elementary school. You may have to start at the beginning, but you'll move through material much faster in 6th grade.

We'll talk about 7th and 8th grade classes in the next installment. Please ask questions and inquire about more details about any of the above topics.

A Challenge for Arts Teachers

2008-01-08T09:41:00.000-05:00

UPDATED BELOW ***

This letter was sent in to the MFC (Music for Children) (subscription required) online discussion board this morning. It breaks my heart to hear stories of teachers all around the country as they try to deal with this horrible legislated educational nightmare. My response is noted below the writer's letter. Read on...

Dear all,

I have run home at lunch to write this. I need information from people who are teaching in districts that have been affected by NCLB. How have you fit music into this?

My district has restrictions as to blocks of uninterrupted time that must be taught in math and language arts. The district, in its state documents, has said that this time won't be broken up by such things as music or pe. (I teach music to 4/5 at 6 schools and PE teachers teach pe to k-3). There are serious discussions going on about all this-(I am not invited) and I'm really getting the feeling that they might cut the prep program (we give teachers one 40 minute prep a week) and hire part time people to come in the afternoon and provide the prep. AHHHHHHHHHHH. I am a permanent full time person in my district-have been for 13 years.

If you can help in any way with documents, sites.... please email me asap! I am writing a letter tonight and would welcome any pertinent info.

Thanks,

Sue in Napa CA

Dear Sue. sigh.... This problem unfortunately is pretty much sweeping the country. I retired in 2006 in part because my program was so adversely affected by the implimentation of NCLB in my district. In my case the administration over-reacted and super-scheduled all the remedial classes restricting elective class choices causing my enrollement in choir to drop from 170 in 7th and 8th grade to 48.

I know this is not encouraging to hear, but we MUST learn from our experiences and here is what I can take from my experience.

1. Talk to your administration. Then.... talk to them again. You MUST educate them about the value of your program, especially with regards to the fact that arts training helps the WHOLE child, including the part that takes tests! Perhaps other listers could help provide specific examples and research projects that are now verifying what we've always known.

2. Build a working relationship with the rest of your administration, especially those with input into scheduling and especially those who get to advise students as to what programs they should be taking. In my school, it was the guidance department that controlled the testing, who got remediation, and who got "recommended" for certain classes. (including one or two of mine.) Sad to say, but as my relationship with administrators deteriorated, so did my class sizes.

3. Work outside of class with students. Volunteer for bus duty, or cafeteria duty so your face can be seen by as many students as possible. If they know who you are, they'll tell the schedulers that they'd like to take your class, or at least ask they why they aren't allowed to take it.

4. Get to know your Parent Leadership. Volunteer to do concerts or simply to meet and talk with them. A few parents on your side can be a powerful force in your favor.

5.6.7.8.9.10.... Keep working on this. Find out everything you can about how your school works, who pushes the buttons, and who makes the decisions. You are an important teacher in your school! Everyone is being affected by NCLB. It is going to be with us until the SLOW wheels of legislation finally turn to some important necessary changes.

The biggest reason I retired was alas, my age and health. If I were 25 again, I'd still be in the thick of this battle. The passion for teaching is still strong. Good Luck.

Lister challenge. Let's start adding files to the discussion board showing the research that's been going on in arts education that can help teachers like Sue teach parents and administrators about the value of a fine arts program. There is immense public knowledge out there, it's time to let it show!

UPDATE

Thanks to Kathy in Newtown for letting us know that the Music Educators National Conference website has great resources for arts advocacy.

A couple of links for starters:

http://www.menc.org/information/advocate/facts.html

and

http://www.menc.org/information/advocate/sat.html

Retirement... hmmm.....

2007-11-01T11:59:00.001-04:00

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

2007-08-22T13:46:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-07-29T16:57:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-04T12:55:00.000-04:00

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

2007-06-14T09:05:00.000-04:00

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

2007-04-29T20:16:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-31T22:59:00.000-04:00

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..

2007-03-18T12:05:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-11T14:51:00.000-04:00

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

2007-02-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

"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!

2007-02-20T09:19:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-18T17:31:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-17T13:51:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-14T11:22:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-02-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

"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!)

Artists and Managers

2006-12-03T11:31:00.000-05:00

I think all teachers must be artists and participate with students in lessons, music, games, songs, melodies and rhythms. As artists we create music with children and lead children in the process of creating art. This artistic process is by nature creative, improvisitory, free, and expressive. The most incredible sessions I've ever been in have been with artists who are able to communicate with us the essence of their artistic vision. These sessions have been active and completely student centered, using the artistic ideas of the students and the teacher to move through the session. Often as a result of the lesson a "sharing time" is desired by everyone. Some of these were polished some were simple demonstrations of the artistic process.

I also think teachers have to be managers. We've got to prepare the site, the lesson and the students for the artistic experience. There are instruments to prepare, dances to learn, sequences of concepts to work into the artistic experience. We've got to work with fellow teachers, administrators and parents to help them understand what we're trying to do. But also and most importantly, we must manage our teaching to maximize the learning process. We have a finite amount of time, a concept to develop, and a plan for it's success. As managers we are responsible for sequencing the music lessons, presenting concepts in a logical order. As managers, we always must "keep our eye on the prize," remembering the journey yet to come. We know where we want our students to be when we are finished not only with each day's lesson but at the end of the week, the semester or the school year. As managers, we are always aware of when students are ready or need to share what they've learned with an audience.

The best teachers are those who are successful managers and artists. We teach an art form, but we have to be managers to be successful. We are charged with helping to keep the art of music alive, vibrant and growing. We have the examples of many great artists to inspire us. Orff Schulwerk gives us a form of artistic expression that is child centered, wholistic, and inspirational to teachers. Orff Schulwerk training is all about artistic expression, creative process, but also about becoming good managers of music and movement with children.

Education Policy Blog: I think we have lost our way

2006-11-23T11:22:00.000-05:00

Here's the beginning of a great discussion about reforming our education system. I strongly enourage anyone who cares about education, who cares about the future, or who cares about children to participate in the upswell of support for real reform in public education. We all need to be more involved as the NCLB comes up for renewal.

Education Policy Blog: I think we have lost our way

Why Didn't You Teach Me That?

2006-11-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

A great article appeared in a recent Newsweek magazine concerning the lessons that the writer did not learn in college. The author graduated from a great and well-regarded university with a sparkling 3.9 grade point average, but was feeling victimized by some lessons about the real world that were never mentioned in her educational career. How do I manage my money? How do I get and keep a job? (In this case she had a job as a waitress at a bowling alley.) How do I fill in my tax return?

I believe that this is just the first wave in what will prove to be a flood of graduates who are stunned by what they need to know in the “real world.” This is the beginning of the “tested” generation. Academic success has been measured and narrowly defined for students using specific quantifiable benchmarks. If children progress through these at a passing rate, their academic progress is deemed successful! While this is currently an elementary, middle and secondary school phenomena the trend is threatening to enter the world of higher education too. The net result of all this testing is a body of students who have only been required to pass a minimum standard. What are they learning?

The author in the article is sending us an early wake up call. Here is the first indication I’ve found of the result of an educational policy that congratulates and considers successful those who manage to pass a minimum standard. Gone is academic rigor for the best and the brightest and gone is remedial education for those considered too low in academic progress to be able to pass the test. Gone are incentives for teachers to better themselves. (A recent study was done on NPR showing that teachers who are National Board Certified are not anymore successful at raising test scores than teachers fresh out of college!)

The author should feel victimized! Her education was the best it gets; yet she didn’t know how to find out what she needed to know to fill out her tax return. She didn’t know how to LEARN! She didn’t know how to manage her money, but with all the information available to anyone with a small nest egg or who is just starting out there is information everywhere! She couldn’t organize or synthesize the information that she needed to join the world. To those who have pushed the policy of No Child Left Behind, be careful what you’ve wished for. You are gonna wish you had taught them something!

AOSA Conference 2006

2006-11-19T12:52:00.000-05:00

Each year the American Orff Schulwerk Association presents the absolute best in-service conference for educators! The passion, the energy, and the creativity presented are un-matched at any other education association sponsored event. Children’s performances, educational sessions, exhibitors displaying products and resource material dedicated to elementary education, networking with the most passionate, enthusiastic, dedicated teachers on the planet are all to be seen and experienced at the AOSA conference.

Click HERE to see some picture highlights of this year's conference in Omaha Nebraska! Enjoy!

Making Marimbas

2006-11-19T11:27:00.000-05:00

The Project:

The assigned task was to make one 3 1/2 octave marimba and one bass marimba along with assorted miscellaneous homemade percussion instruments at Stewart Middle School with the help of four classes of students from grades 3 - 10. The Summer Arts enrichment program for the gifted and talented in Augusta County provided the funding for the project. These marimbas were designed by Jon Madin, author of the books: Marimba Music 1 and 2 and (Wacky Music Instruments). The students worked on the marimbas, tuning the bars, stringing and nailing the frame and working on J pipes, circle shakers, and bottle drums for 3 days and part of the 4th day. The rest of the 4th day was spent learning several of Jon Madin’s marimba pieces in preparation for the “Festival of Tropical Delights” on the final day of the program. The goal of the week’s activities was to let the students make the marimbas and then have the chance to learn to play them.

Some Pictures:

The Process:

An essential part of the project was to hire a professional carpenter to do the complicated task of measuring and cutting each tone bar to the required length, thickness and width. Our carpenter also adapted and built the frame as well as the tube resonators. I chose to make marimbas with tube resonators which turned out to be quite a bit more difficult that I had anticipated. Each tube had to be cut and tuned, a process that added more than a few hours on my part to project. In Madin’s book there are also plans for a simpler box resonated instrument that also plays very well and may well have been a better choice for this workshop.

The students were able to tune the bars with hammer and chisel and get them reasonably close to the correct tuning. In order to have a playable instrument, however, I found that most of the bars needed some fine tuning in order to make a nice sound. The students took to their task with great enthusiasm. I had them go off in groups of two with each pair working on one bar. As they worked they would go to the electronic tuner and check the tuning of the bar. I helped them determine how far they had to go and where to cut next and off they went to finish the bar. As they finished, I asked them to sign the bar with a “sharpie.” After signing off they went to the finished frame and found the correct place for it and mounted it. It was great fun to watch the marimbas slowly grow into complete instruments. Of course, the students played the new bars to see what they would sound like, which only added to their desire to finish the instruments and “get to the music.”

Younger students in third and fourth grades were not asked to use the hammers and chisels but were able to sand the bars and paste the temporary letter name labels on each one. These students had a wonderful time making J-pipes, circle shakers, and bottle drums. J-pipes are measured lengths of 4” corrugated drain pipe, bent in a J shape and tied so that when you hit the crook with a stick it makes a nice “boing” sound. We made J-pipes tuned to C and A to play with our ensembles. Circle shakers are also made of 2” corrugated drain pipe in shorter lengths joined in a circular shape and filled about half full with lentils. These were used for various tossing games and dances while the marimba ensemble played. Bottle drums are simply used 5 gallon blue plastic drinking water bottles donated by a local Water Supply Company. We bought a few new ones from them for $5 apiece. All of these instruments were decorated with colored electrical tape and streamers making quite a colorful display. Of course the young students were allowed to play the marimbas as well but they were most proud of the instruments they built.

The Cost:

All of these instruments were built with materials available at local hardware and auto parts stores. We used cherry wood for the marimba bars and white pine for the frames. The bass resonator tubes were made from thin walled 4” PVC pipe and the marimba tubes from thick walled 2 1/2” PVC. Using the thick walled pipe was a mistake as we found that the frame was not long enough to accommodate the thickness of the pipe. More long hours were spent trimming the pipes by hand to narrow them enough to fit under the bars. We will use thin walled pipe next time! For mallets we used 3/4 “ dowel with shock absorber bushings for mallet heads. I used American Drum bass bar mallets for the bass marimba although there are suggestions for homemade mallets in Madin’s book.

No Child Left Behind, a failing policy

2006-11-01T14:59:00.000-05:00

The political season is winding down. The loudest shouting is now going on with everyone making mountains out of molehills and squealing about normally insignificant events. Political debates are interesting theater, but rarely have anything to do with real issues, important public policy, or actual decision making. Most political campaigns are about character, social issues, and morality. Most of the talking points are expressly manufactured campaign commercials only reflecting and sometimes obscuring the substantial issue imbedded deeply in the governmental agenda. It's one liner after one liner, one "gotcha" after another, real and manufactured "scandals" and hot-headed zealots from all parties trying to out-shout each other in the name of political debate.

Real issues put the general population to sleep. One must dig into public policy with research and astute observation to even find out what is really going on in the halls of government. How does a government operate, what has the government done, what are the real measurable effects of government policies. If you read a wide variety of reports, transcripts, and research you will find actual real policy debate going on. It's well hidden from the daily news and far off the beaten track, but can be found with a little digging. Only by looking beneath the superficial news reports, blogs, and political commentary of the local newspaper you can actually observe and measure the real effects of policy decisions made by folks elected by "we the people."

In education, of course, we have the policy known as "No Child Left Behind." As a music teacher in the Augusta County Public School system for 33 years, I saw first hand, and experienced "up close and personally" the dramatic effect this political morality play had on education in my district, my school, and my classroom. In Virginia, the real effects of NCLB were pre-dated by our own policy of "Standards of Learning." The SOL initiative came along several years before the ill-timed and watered down federalized version that came to be known derisively in our school as "No Child's Left Behind."

At Stewart Middle School, we tried mightily to "align the curriculum" to meet the "SOL objectives." Every classroom teacher was given a nice wall to ceiling poster with Virginia's specified "subject appropriate objectives" to be taught in each classroom. Special emphasis, teacher training, workshops, slogans, and administrative pressure were used to ensure that each teacher "aligned" their curriculum in such a way that their specific objectives were taught. An enormous amount of material now had to be covered so that each objective could be checked off. Teachers were held accountable for the performance of their students and were reprimanded or applauded as progress was measured.
Every year Students were tested on the SOL's. The results of the testing were published and written up in the news media. Of course this is all background. In the next blog, I'll talk about some of the effects of this testing program as it affected Stewart Middle School.

Questioning the "Self Esteem Fad"

2006-10-19T13:45:00.000-04:00

Here are some questions culled from the ongoing debate in educational circles in response to the DNR's editorial on October 19 concerning "The Self-Esteem Fad." These issues are routinely ignored or de-emphasized by the governmental policy known as “No Child Left Behind.”

Question: Some researchers say that pre-natal and early childhood care, environmental contamination, parental attitudes, family income, language facility and many other factors affect student performance. In well-run NCLB (No Child Left Behind) schools, are these irrelevant?

Question: NCLB relies on market forces to shape schools up. Does this mean that learning is unnatural and won’t happen unless teachers and kids are threatened or bribed?

Question: 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?

Question: Education is supposed to teach kids to think for themselves, not just recall what they’ve been ordered to remember. Are the centerpieces of NCLB (corporately produced, machine-scored tests) able to judge the relative quality of complex thought processes? If so, why aren’t they already doing that?

No Child er... no fatcats... left behind

2006-10-02T08:32:00.000-04:00

And now we find that the way cool Reading First program that is the centerpiece of the administration's No Child Left Behind initiative, is an unproven pilot program that is a financial bonanza for the 5 lucky companies that are in the pocket of the ruling party. Once again we've been told that the preferred programs that are in the pocket of the Republican Party will replace any programs in place that are successful or are actually working. Check Michigan, New Mexico, etc, etc.... The game is simply that if you want Federal Funds you've got to accept the untested and unproven textbooks and curriculum that are favored by the government dogma and are lining the fat cat pockets. That this is happening to children is appalling! That even children are fair game for profit taking and partisanship is a particularly foul and grotesque display of incompetent governance. Is anyone reporting this besides the Washington Post! Come on people! Shout about it!

High Stakes Testing... the cause of it all...

2006-04-11T14:28:00.000-04:00

I'm down to the last six weeks of my thirty three year career. I'm having trouble letting go. What will the program look like and sound like. I'm concerned that kids and families won't ever know what they will miss. I've mourned the loss of the music program I built and nurtured for 17 years and before that for 12 years at my previous school. It's like the school system saying, "We love you, but what you did doesn't mean anything to us." The administration will say how much I've contributed to education and how important my work was, but these will be just words. The hard truth is shown in actions.

The community, the school administrations, and the school system administrators are now under the pressure of high stakes testing. The effects of this are subtle, strong, pervasive, and entirely negative to the advancement of children and learning. The effect of this testing program is the cause of my retirement. It's caused personal attacks on my professional abilities. It's caused children and their families to rearrange priorities at school to include test remediation and advanced placement courses instead of music classes. It's caused the staff at my school to focus entirely on test preparation, excluding curricular materials and experiences that are not tested. It's caused professional artists who are also educators to become irrelevant and out of step with the current educational climate. The arts are not tested. The arts are not part of the testing program. The arts educators are not included in the planning and teamwork shown by the rest of the staff in preparing for the testing program. If any choice is to be made concerning school-wide programs, curricular and extra-curricular schedules, or course offerings the decision will ALWAYS be made in favor of the testing program with the arts curriculum left to pick up the pieces.

It's the high stakes testing! It's political! It's absolutely the wrong way to educate the children! It's the children who are being harmed! It's the arts that are being damaged! It's good, experienced teachers who are being lost to irrelevance. We care about test scores not kids!