Diane Albanese’s Musings

10-23-09

Jazz Festival Music

Want to impress students and keep it real? Bring on the music!

Music is a language that we can all speak and a voice that is both historic and timeless. Students in my class absolutely love to listen to music while they are writing and working.  Everyone has a favorite genre and style, but students need and rightly deserve to listen to music and to learn about the musical roots of rock, funk, jazz and swing. The history of music is intertwined with the history of our country and it tells a tale of deep sorrow, ecstatic joy and uncompromising hope.

Mainly though, our lives are richer because of music.

The Rehoboth Beach Autumn Jazz Festival brings great musicians to our area and allows our spirits to soar. This was the 20^th anniversary of the Jazz festival and the bands and performers did not disappoint the crowds of music lovers who showed up to hear them play.  Even though the days were soggy, inside the convention center the jazz was smokin’.

My two favorites were Dave Koz and Brian Culbertson.

It’s no surprise that research revealed that the backgrounds of these two musicians were deeply involved in music from an early age and that music education played a significant part in developing their gifts.

David Koz’s Wikipedia biography states, “From early age, he and his sister took piano lessons.”My mom basically forced my sister and me to play piano from when we were toddlers. I hated piano; I was never any good at it. But I have to thank her now for making me do it, because I write most of my songs on the piano.” Around age nine, he began taking drum lessons, but notes that he was not very good at drums, “I am the world’s worst drummer. I could not keep time to save my life.” At age 13, his brother, Jeff, had a band that Dave wanted to be in, but his brother told him over and over that there was no way he could be in it. Dave eventually wore him down, and his brother told him that the only way he could be in the band was if he could play the saxophone, because their band did not have a saxophonist. That was all he needed to hear. Two years later, he was in the band and working gigs with the band and by himself.”

“Dave attended William Taft High School in Woodland Hills California, performing on saxophone as a member of the school jazz band. He later graduated from UCLA with a degree in mass communication in 1986, and only weeks after his graduation, decided to make a go of becoming a professional musician. Within weeks of that decision, he was recruited as a member of Bobby Caldwell’s tour.” (taken from Wikipedia)

Brian Culbertson grew up with a dad who was a music educator. Brian’s website reveals that he was “inspired by his father, music educator Jim Culbertson. Brian Culbertson was a fast and fierce study of music, gravitating to all styles of dynamic music as long as it was expertly played by artists ranging from Chicago, David Sanborn and Sting to The Brecker Brothers and Maynard Ferguson. Since his 1994 debut Long Night Out, Brian has been credited with bringing a youthful yet no less masterful energy to popular instrumental music with hit albums and singles.”

Both musicians were passionate, skilled and truly masterful. No doubt that learning music from an early age can be the seeds that grow into something spectacular.

10-16-09

“Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing.”  ~Thomas Huxley

With lofty goals in mind, the state of Delaware’s superintendents launched an initiative: to change the nature of public education.  That was this year. Never mind that there seems to be a cycle of reform that rears its hopeful head every ten years or so: the same ideas in a shiny new package. This year the supers were going after those illusive high test scores. Their goal was to increase the scores and therefore they decided to adopt a program that helped reached students by changing the way teachers teach: Learning Focused Strategies.

The people who make decisions on how to spend money in Delaware on education are looking at a single test given in March as the end result of full years worth of instruction. The DOE website explains that as a result of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, “all states are required to conduct a federally approved annual assessment of all students in grades 3-8 and one high school grade.”

In Delaware, the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) is used to assess student knowledge in reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies if the state can come up with enough money to run the program.  Student results of each year’s DSTP assessment is then used as the primary means to determine school accountability ratings.

Other student learning indicators fall a short second to the DSTP results and are never really considered when looking at student achievement. The ratings given to schools chill the superintendent/administrators to the bone.  Not feeling as if there is a moment to waste in the quest for the esteemed rating of Superior (superior to whom?), the superintendents found a program that would work for them: Learning Focused Strategies and began to implement it this year. Apparently, Indian River School District has been working with this for many years and has seen some positive results.

So even though this is a very lean year for education in the state of Delaware and the teachers’ have been cut by five days of in-service time, some districts are implementing Max Thompson’s Learning Focused Strategies this year.  Never mind the fact that this program has so many similarities to other programs that have already been presented to teachers (and apparently abandoned) and are a part of good pedagogy.

Remember Madeline Hunter, CRISS, outcome based education? Reminisce with me. These programs had some good ideas!   Guided practice, anticipatory set, scaffolding!   Most teachers have a veritable file full of graphic organizers ready to be rushed into service at a moment’s notice!

The fact remains that most often these state mandated, top down, mandatory programs appear to change the culture initially but in the end they do little to make learning more effective on a sustained and profound basis for children. The programs are a stopgap solution to a serious question that seems to elude us – how can we increase authentic learning in our children as measured by a variety of instruments over a long period of time?

10-9-09

Parents across the region are taking to the fields to coach and watch as their children play favorite fall sports. When the weather is golden as it has been in the past few weeks, the local fields are full of soccer, baseball, hockey, lacrosse and football. Whether highly organized into leagues or just randomly thrown together, children and adults like to play. Recreation is one of the basics to living a healthy life so when parents encourage and support their children; they increase their chances to develop lifelong fitness skills.

It’s really quite simple. To be a better reader, one must read. To be a better runner, one must run.  To do something better, you must spend time and effort in that arena.

Last Sunday I watched my son play soccer at a field near Baltimore. This was a loosely organized game of adults, mostly graduate students who played because they loved the game and it made them feel great to get out and kick the ball.  That is the essence of keeping fit: to do something you love that involves using energy, burning calories and having fun. The part that keeps them coming back is the fun.

All week they are involved in work and going to classes so they must be able to spend long hours sitting and studying but on Sundays they stretch, they run, they work on foot skills and they play as a team, cooperating to get that goal.  As adults, the play is sometimes rough, and they tease each other for missing a shot or whiffing a kick, but for the most part, they are united against the opposition team and create a bond, a camaraderie that has infinite benefits beyond the field.

This game had an international flair. The graduate students from the University of Maryland hailed from all over the planet and included men and women. They were playing a team of Russian graduate students from a neighboring school. Comments were flying in all languages, perhaps a mix of encouragement, sarcasm and teasing. Who knows what was said, the important part is that they were all on a soccer field being part of the game.

When children learn skills in physical education classes, the hope is that they will carry them for life and that the skills will pay off in terms of health benefits. Not everyone will embrace competitive volleyball, but they may enjoy playing in the sand on the beach for fun. Children may not like doing exercises, but they may like splashing around in a swimming pool, or swimming in the bay. It’s just so much fun!

Recreation for life is the goal that is motivated by enjoyment. PE teachers and coaches alike, start something small that grows into a lifelong skill.  Students are motivated to get out and get going no matter what the event.  So when my son was four, he kicked his first soccer ball and now twenty one years later, he still enjoys the game.

Staying active, staying vital helps to enhance all of life. Parents who support their children at a young age need to feel good about starting something that is wonderfully fundamental.

9-25-09

When given a choice, teachers usually do what is best for children. If we see value in a program or new initiative, we agree to sign on and learn new methods that may be more effective for our children. There is no issue at all. We are all about improving our practice to reach children.

This year things are a bit different. Our in-service days have been cut out of the calendar due to the state’s financial crisis. Our pay has been cut and the time that we have at school to attend staff development has been severely compromised.  The day to day pressures of lesson plans, classroom management, grades and communication are still with us. Some of us teacher types (my high school colleagues) even face the added challenge of moving into a new building, getting acclimated, and dealing with lack of resources. (What – students don’t have chairs to sit in? No lockers assigned and it’s the second week of school?) The day to day pressures can be daunting!

We are keenly aware and committed to doing a good job day in and day out. At this point, the best we can do is to keep working hard to keep up with the multitude of programs that have already been established.  In education, it seems that each time there is an issue or a problem, someone throws a program at it (and probably makes a nice chunk of change doing it).

These improvement programs are aimed at changing teacher behavior. The programs rarely begin with teacher input and teacher concern: we live in a top down bureaucracy where the people who are closest to the problem are the last ones consulted on what to do.  Teachers’ voices are not heard in the planning stages of staff development. Teachers are simply given orders to learn the new THING and then we are held accountable. So we are commanded: teach this way and we will be in to watch and see that you do it!

What programs you ask? We have incentive programs for positive behavior and student career programs for helping them choose a career. We have fundraisers and assemblies to honor students who show improvement and achievement. We have fire drills, team meetings, staff meetings, new technology initiatives and after school tutoring to help raise our students’ DSTP scores. We have a new teacher evaluation system in which we are asked to set up individual goals for our school year. What will we do to improve our teaching and our test scores?

We set up parent conferences and special action plans for needy students. The array of initiatives that we sustain in one week is just staggering and as if that is not enough in this age of do more, with less time, less efficiently, and for less pay, the Cape District had added one more program to our list. This year we are to be instructed on and implement the Learning Focus program.

Hold the bus! One minute please! Didn’t we just implement the Understanding by Design program – I was just getting the hang of that – Big Questions and Enduring Understandings? What about the CRISS program – great graphic organizers and power notes?   I know we did because I have those manuals on my shelf. Some of the those strategies seemed good and I am just getting the hang of it, but now I have to rewrite my lesson plans in yet another format, reconfigure my teaching units and rethink my practice again? Please stop!

Change is good: too much change too quickly actually impedes progress. This year should be used to refine what we have and revisit what teachers believe we really need to move forward. 

9-18-09

Parents in Prison

Waiting for a pumpkin latte at my favorite coffee shop I overheard a group of teenage girls talking. Truly I do not purposefully eavesdrop on these conversations, but my teacher/journalistic radar was tweaked especially since this gave me insight into my students’ lives.

Three girls were talking.

“My father’s in prison but he’s supposed to get out soon. He was out on parole but got caught with a DUI and now he’s back in.  He’s really cool though.  He told me there is nothing that I could do that is worse than what he has done so he lets me do anything I want.  He’s really cool though.”

Wondering how many of my students face the same issue. How many children live with a single parent or no parent because of incarceration?  How does this affect their lives and their self esteem?  I cannot imagine coming to school every day and worrying about my mom or dad while trying to study and get good grades.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs updated a report written by Lauren E. Glaze and Laura M. Maruschak, in January of 2009 about parents in prison and their minor children. The statistics are staggering.

• Parents of minor children held in the nation’s prisons increased by 79% between 1991 and midyear 2007.

• The number of children under age 18 with a mother in prison more than doubled since 1991

In all likelihood, teachers see the children of incarcerated parents every day yet they often times are unaware and limited in knowhow. What can be done to help a child who is experiencing this loss?

• The majority of prisoners reported having a minor child, a quarter of which were age 4 or younger.

• More than a third of minor children will reach age 18 while their parent is incarcerated.

Very young children are growing up in single parent homes, sometimes with relatives and grandparents who already have limited financial resources.

• Drug and public-order offenders in state and federal prisons were more likely than violent offenders to have children.
• More than 4 in 10 mothers in state prison who had minor children were living in single-parent households in the month before arrest.
• About half of parents in state prison provided the primary financial support for their minor children.

Students experience trauma when sending a father or mother to prison and the uncertainty of not knowing when they will return.  Add to this the fact that the parent was most likely the breadwinner in the family and that drugs and addiction may likely be involved: children carry an unbearable burden.

• Fathers most commonly reported the child’s mother as current caregiver of their children, while mothers most commonly reported the child’s grandparents.

• More than three-quarters of state prison inmates who were parents of minor children reported that they had some contact with their children since admission.

• Mothers in state prison more likely than fathers to report homelessness, past physical or sexual abuse, and medical and mental health problems.

Children with parents in prison are likely to visit or write. There is a good chance that the parent/family has been homeless, or suffering from trauma.  It’s not difficult to imagine that these children come to school every day with a huge issue that no one ever talks about.  They may share bits and pieces with friends, but their emotional and psychological health is constantly challenged. Awareness and compassion will help teachers work with their students and get through these difficult times. 

9-11-09

We’ve been told that we were going from Cape to Great.  That little motto has been the tagline for many documents and the conclusion of countless discussions in the district for many years now. Now that has changed.

Cape is great.

This bell was rung loud and clear from the Superintendent on the first district-wide meeting for the opening of this new school year.  Cape is great.

Spoken from the brand new auditorium of the brand new Cape Henlopen High School, with the workers scurrying about to finish up trim and details, this was indeed a day to ring bells and blow whistles.

Even as the old building was being torn down and our loyalties harkened to past days and memories, the new school shone like a shiny new penny. Light floods in from every angle to wide open atriums, curvy three story high windows and bright hallways. There was a feeling of lightness amid the scent of fresh cardboard boxes and packing plastic being unwrapped.

Careful thought was put into every aspect of the new school. There is access to the library from outside so that the community can easily come and go. The foyer is a rotunda that has a rose compass pattern inlaid in tile and a high circular dome that allows for a feeling of spaciousness.  The cafeteria provides a gathering place for both the gym and the auditorium.  The colors are Cape colors, Columbia blue and gold which carry through the building reflect the lightness in lockers, walls and surfaces.

My favorite space is the large courtyard that allows interior rooms a view of nicely landscaped flower beds and places for students to gather. The pavers swirl around in large circles and give the impression of the shape of waves paying homage to the nearby bays and ocean.

Janis Hanwell did a fine job managing this project.  She had much input from the Board of Education, the staff and the community. The difficult part was to create a building that would meet everyone’s needs. It certainly looks like that mission will be accomplished as soon as the gym is finished.

The auditorium is spacious, comfortable and can hold many more people than the last one.  There are two areas in the back that allow for the creation of two classrooms that can be sectioned off with moveable walls.  There is a real orchestra pit, a huge stage complete with professional lighting and equipment, and excellent handicap accessibility.  Surely this space will be used for generations to come.

The classrooms seemed roomy and efficient. There are windows that allow for natural light, white boards, and projectors that are mounted to the ceiling.  The technology team was working quickly to get all the computers up and running.  Teachers seemed appreciative for the fresh new space and the new beginning. The entire staff seemed pleased, appreciative and in awe on our first day in the new high school.   It was as if a long dream was finally realized and we had helped to make it happen.

I kept thinking how much our students deserved this beautiful new structure.  For so many years the students and staff lived with and adapted to so many limitations from the old building. The new high school building is an opportunity to continue to improve, to get it right and to put Cape on the map as the flagship of a top district in our state and our region.

9-4-09

Just last night at a restaurant in Rehoboth, I overheard a father say to his son that he expected him to be on the A honor roll this school year. The son took this news reluctantly and tried to protest that he wasn’t going to be able to live up to that high a standard since he is now entering a tough grade level with much more difficult work and teachers who were nothing short of task masters.  Dad wasn’t buying any of it. He reminded the son that he had already been successful in years past and that a new challenge was just the thing that he needed to keep growing and getting smarter.

Then Dad said something that was so quintessential parent: he said, “I believe in you and I am here to help.”  At that moment I knew that the boy had every chance for success.  In that short conversation, the father had created a foundation for a life of learning and success for that child.

Dad’s words and his past and future support gave the child what he needed to be successful and to grow as a capable, confident learner and human being.  I wanted to clone him and give out in miniature to the parents who come to my open house in September. I can see it now: all parents who sign the clipboard get to take home a miniature parent doll that has all the right words and can help turn you into a super parent.  Kids need this.  Dads and moms need help to walk this walk and talk this talk.

What elements were present in this man’s conversation with his son?

• high expectations
• successful past experiences
• support

When dad told his son that he expected the A honor roll he immediately set the bar high leaving the son no wiggle room. There was protest on the part of the son, but that was just his own anxiety about starting a new school year and being inadequate for the task. Who doesn’t experience first time jitters? Most adults have the same experience.

Expressing these feelings to his dad, the son was able to deal with them, to get them into the open and to work through them.  The father heard his protest but reminded him that he had evidence that the son had a history of success in school.  By reminding the boy of his past successes, the father gave him credible evidence that the high expectations were met in the past and certainly could be met in the future.  He knew that this was possible and he set the stage for his son’s achievement and success.

Then the father offered his sincere belief in very simple terms. I believe in you.  Such powerful words that can propel a child to scale lofty heights and reach difficult goals. Can there be any thing more profound that a father or mother can say to a son or daughter? I believe in you with the subtext I love you, you are valuable, you are capable and you can do it.  Amazing.

He sealed the deal by telling him that he was there to support him, a parental safety valve that would allow the child room to try, to make mistakes, and to get the advice he needs to grow from them.

So as you send your children off to the next grade give them a meal that will nurture their mind.  Start with an appetizer that includes high expectations, then a main course of past success stories, and end with a dessert full of love and support: a feast for a new school year!

8-28-09

Conversations with my friends take a depressing tone at this time of year. Late August and our kids are headed back to college.  Sandy told me last night that she was not looking forward to a quiet house. With teens and young adults, the house always seems to be filled with activity, excitement, music, messes, dirty laundry, remnants of food everywhere and organized chaos.  Sandy liked having her daughter, Katie around, getting to see her friends and being a part of her life if only for a little while.

Summer is so temporary!  Relationships change.  Moms and children are together forever and then it seems as if they turn into college freshman and are gone in a blink.  There is this huge hole in your life where there used to be constant purpose and stalwart commitment.  You wake up and realize that they really are gone and you won’t see them for a couple of months. Ouch!

Things will never be the same. No matter what your broken heart wants or needs, moms realize eventually that their leaving represents a major milestone in life and no matter how much we hate the idea, our children will change.

The poets and authors have been writing for centuries about how nothing really stays the same only it takes late August to drive that message home, especially to tender, loving  hearts.  Life takes on a surreal quality like the children’s book about The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown.

Remember?  The little bunny runs away and the mother patiently says that she will find him and they will be together. The bunny changes form and becomes a fish, a crocus, a rock but the mother continues to say “‘If you run away, I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.”

While the book is meant to reassure a young reader that mom will always be there, it goes deeper and summarizes the relationship between mother and child, often a relationship that moms think will never change. There is a false permanence that underlies this view. Relationships change and kids grow up.   What happens when the little bunny goes off to college?  Usually the bunny is fine but the mother rabbit is lost and hurting.

I know that for me it took a couple of weeks to get over it and I have been through this with three children over the course of many years. Actually I confessed to a friend last night that I never really do get over it the act of leaving. Parting from your children is just not a perfected act.  For me it’s messy and complicated.

Even though I have worked hard to refocus on my new life, my friends and my career, a huge part of me harkens back and I become the mama rabbit all over again. I feel the dedication, the devotion, the pride and the pain that parenthood brings. So what’s wrong with that?

When I visit my son and it comes time to leave, my heart does a little painful dance. I remind myself that his independence is a sign that I have done my job well and as for leaving, well, he is only a highway’s ride away.

There is such a danger in settling for test scores. Test scores are only one way to measure academic progress and yet they are the only way that gets any attention at all especially in August when everyone is interested in rating the schools.

Here’s how it works. The state of Delaware releases the scores for each school in late July.  The news media picks these up and then reports the findings. Scores from our students’ DSTP achievement are splashed all over the front page and some broad generalization is molded into a headline either thumbs up or thumbs down to a district, a school, a system.  “CAPE SCORES TOP IN THE STATE! CAPE SCHOOLS UNDER REVIEW! CAPE SCHOOLS DEFY GRAVITY! (Well, you’ll never see that last headline but it sounds fun, doesn’t it?) The news is either good or bad depending on which way it is spun and frankly this is disturbing on so many levels.

Not fair! There is so much more to education than a score based on one day of testing. There are so many other indicators of academic success and learning. The fact that these scores are artificially gleaned from standardized tests that are commercially manufactured and set to national and state standards is just ducky until you realize that the tests represents a student’s performance on one given day in March. One day of testing per subject for a whole year’s worth of learning. A snapshot, but not the whole picture.

There is a strong undercurrent of competition. One district compared to others, regionally and statewide. Why? So that real estate value can rise in districts with top scores? So that parents can make informed decisions as to where to send their children? So that the state department can allocate funding to rescue districts that continually struggle?

Schools are compared to others.  Explanations are delivered. Administrators are quoted.  Plans are made to do better, to do more, to increase and improve.

Enough! When schools are pitted against one another, this creates tension and finger pointing.  Everyone loses!  Why not establish an environment of collaboration and collegiality? This year Mariner Middle school was up Math: Beacon Middle was up in Reading.  After hearing these tired old headlines year after year, they really lose their effectiveness and their ability to create sustained growth.

Each year different children are tested in each grade level. Each year they compare the grade level scores. There are ups and downs.

Being a teacher, I look at the score of all those students who did not pass the tests. 30%, 20%.  Unbelievable! This is my motivation to do better, to become more effective, to improve and to reach more students.

Teachers know when progress is being made. We know it daily.  How? The look on students’ faces, the questions they ask or don’t ask, the quality of their written work, quizzes, tests and exams. Big programs don’t increase test scores: teachers and students do yet so often the teachers are not even consulted on what has worked and what hasn’t.

What if there were headlines from teachers? “MY STUDENTS REALLY ROCKED ESSAY WRITING!” and “GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE OUT OF THIS WORLD!” We are cheerleaders by nature so our assessments would reflect our optimism and belief in our students.  This is the little picture and the one that most closely reflects the reality of learning.