wk 4 comment on Steve Mohler's Blog

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Wk 4 - DB 2 Dream Job? - Maybe later

What stands between me and my dream job? Economic issues, location, and commitments are barriers.. I live in a small rural town and have been here for a number of years. I prefer the big city life much more but circumstances keep me here. I feel that I am a very creative person and have lots of visionary insight that can be used in many areas of the arts. But, due to my location those gifts are not used to their fullest and when they are used they are taken for granted by small minded, small town mentality. Twenty years ago I probably would have felt more inclined to say that I deserve a dream job. But as I near my retirement from education I suffice to finish out my time here. Perhaps after retirement, in my next life I can find a better outlet for my gifts.

1 comments:

Kelly McKinley said...

Steve, from what you've told me about what you've done in your small town, I would guess that many students and parents do NOT take you for granted. I know that it is so easy to get down when you hear one snide comment. I know that happens to me a lot. However, what you need to hold onto is the difference that you've made in the lives of your many students. After hearing about all you've done in your district, I don't think that your talents are being wasted at all.

May 25, 2010 7:39 PM

wk 4 comment on Alison Baxendale's Blog

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Week 2- Post 5- AR website

The beginning of this week was a flurry of activity trying to finish my Action Research website. I feel as though I have a good base. I am sure that I am going to need to improve some areas of the website, but I am looking forward to improving the content. I know I will also have to improve my literature review. I am continuing the research. As soon as I receive the edits, I will continue with the next version.

As I see the program drawing to a close, I am a little overwhelmed with all that has to be done in the next two months. I know that some of this apprehension is due to the fact that this is the busiest time of the school year. My students are working very hard, but also needing a lot of help as the end of the school year approaches. I know that I need to step back, reorganize, and then I will be able to handle everything.

I have been looking into the publishing/ leadership project. I am going to have to do some more research as my first plan will not work due to the timing involved with this class. I can still try to present at the original conference, however it will not be for almost a year. In the next few days, I am going to talk to some of my colleagues to see if they are aware of opportunities that are available. I am also going to do additional research on my own. I am hoping to find a viable direction soon.

2 comments:

Bennert61 said...

I too feel the rush of not only the end of this program, but also the end of the school year. Trying to get everything done, and be everything to everyone has been crazy...

And silly me is adding in looking for a new job and moving back up to NH next month.

It is like the beginning of the program all over again, learning how to structure time so that things get done and done well, without slacking in the quality. I am now glad we had to discuss that in the beginning, because it is really helpful to reflect on that lesson now!

You are planning to present?!? That is awesome, I would love to hear your presentation.

May 23, 2010 5:22 AM

Kelly McKinley said...

I think that you will do well as a presenter. You have a nice, clear speaking voice and great stage presence. I don't see why you can't present at your original conference as well as somewhere else.

The end of the school year is always really crazy and it seems like we were all insane to begin a Masters program when we did. The good news is that we'll be done with everything near the start of the summer.

May 25, 2010 5:09 PM

Wk 4 Publishing/Leadership Project part 4 of 3: Proposing to TI:ME

The deadline for submission for the TI:ME convention is May 31st. Although I have not gotten confirmation that this will be an appropriate conference at which to present, I am going to submit a proposal anyway due to this deadline. If it is rejected by the Full Sail professors, I will find another venue. I'm not entirely sure that what I've created is the presentation that I will ultimately give. I would like to get my audience on some computers and have them navigate their way through my site. Perhaps I will ask them to complete a scavenger hunt like I did with my fourth graders. I have always been more of a "hands on" type of learner/teacher/presenter. I might even give my audience a list of possible Web 2.0 sites that they could take away with them to use to build their own website.

Wk 4 Publishing/Leadership Project part 4 of 3: Proposing to TI:ME

The deadline for submission for the TI:ME convention is May 31st. Although I have not gotten confirmation that this will be an appropriate conference at which to present, I am going to submit a proposal anyway due to this deadline. If it is rejected by the Full Sail professors, I will find another venue. I'm not entirely sure that what I've created is the presentation that I will ultimately give. I would like to get my audience on some computers and have them navigate their way through my site. Perhaps I will ask them to complete a scavenger hunt like I did with my fourth graders. I have always been more of a "hands on" type of learner/teacher/presenter. I might even give my audience a list of possible Web 2.0 sites that they could take away with them to use to build their own website.

Wk 4 Being the Board

I have to admit that I'm not entirely certain that I understand what "being the board" means. In September of 2008 I was rear ended by a drunk driver. Ironically, I was the designated driver for a bachelorette party. I did cast blame. It made me very angry that this woman got behind the wheel when she was intoxicated. I had made sure that I was sober, why couldn't she? The impact of her car caused me to have back problems. I had to go through physical therapy and was in constant pain for nearly a year. It still bothers me.

Sometimes, I agree, it does not do any good to cast blame. It is upsetting to me when I chastise a student for an inappropriate behavior and instead of taking responsibility, they try to cast blame onto another student. "Well, Suzie was doing it, too!" I'm not sure what they are trying to do in this situation. Do they think that by telling on Suzie, I will forget that they did something wrong? Is this supposed to excuse their behavior? Or, is it that they feel that by getting someone else into trouble, they won't feel so alone in their crime?

wk 4 Getting a new principal!!!!

Sadly, due to the failure of the levy and the impending state takeover, we have been losing some very good people to other districts. Two of our principals found jobs elsewhere. We just got the news this week that our principal will be moving to the Jr. High and we will be getting a new principal next year. After much speculation, we finally found out who our new principal will be and we are all very excited. I had worked with her for several years when I taught at the elementary school and she was a great teacher. They then promoted her to the position of assistant principal and then, after two years in that position, she was promoted to principal of one of the other elementary buildings. She is a fabulous principal.

Wk 3 Comment on Alicia Kalb's post

Alicia Kalb said...

Kelly,
I really admire how you can take a horrible situation and turn it into a positive one. To have such high expectations of what you would be getting and then to have it all of sudden yanked away, would be bad enough. But then to have things crippled further would be devastating to anyone. But you are right giving up or complaining how unfortunate the situation would have not accomplished anything. You thought of your students and made the situation work to your advantage. Not many people would have been able to think positively in this situation. Honestly, I do not know how I would have handled it. This turned out to be a lesson for you and one that you could share with your students. As teachers we constantly tell our students to make lemonade out of lemons, but do we ever show them. This is a great example of your lemonade. Sure it’s not the ideal music classroom, but I’m sure there are people who have it a lot worse. At least you are still teaching music and there is music in your school. Too often in life we get so weighted down with the things that we can’t control that we do not work on all the things we can control. Life isn’t fair, that’s what everyone says, but why complain about it when we all know it’s true. As you said “Make it work!”

Is that the stage in the picture? Are you still on the stage or did they find you a new home? At least it looks like you have a fairly large space available to you.

May 20, 2010 11:12 AM

Kelly McKinley said...

Alicia,

I am still on the stage. There was a moment, though brief, where I was told that I would have the music room back next year. I've since been told that I will be back on the stage. Who knows what will happen? Things are changing daily in my district.

The main problem that I have right now with the room is that, although there is a partition, the stage opens up to the cafeteria. Two of my classes are forced to listen to the cafeteria noise as we have class. The stage is also the home for the band instrument cages. Kids come in during the last ten minutes of my class to get their instruments. Most of them are pretty good about coming in quietly, though.

To quote "The Art of Possibility" that is just "the way things are."

Wk 3 Chapter 7: The Way Things Are

I was told that I would be able to have a classroom when I moved to the Intermediate School. It was a new building and they had built a beautiful new music room with ledger lines on the white board, a built in sound system, and shelving large enough to hold musical instruments. As the summer went along and class sizes grew, the music room was moved to a different classroom. Finally, the week before school started, I got a call from my new principal stating that I would have music on the stage. No one was allowed into the new building until four days before school started due to the new construction. I walked into the building with low expectations but when I saw my “room”, even those were not met. There were building materials everywhere. They had, evidently, been using the stage as a “catch all” for books and other lost items. I had no shelving for any of my instruments or books. It was a mess. I spent most of that first day walking around the stage like a zombie. I couldn’t figure out how to create a music room out of the rubble. I was pretty useless that day.

I came in the next day and the mess was still there but I knew that I had to somehow get it set up. My principal had found me a mobile white board. I unpacked the box that housed the white board markers and wrote on the board—“Make it work!” After a few hours, I began to see a glimmer of a music room forming. It could have been so easy to get stuck in the unfairness of the situation. However, that wouldn’t have changed anything and I would not have been ready for the start of school. Was I happy with the situation? No, but I didn’t let myself become crippled by it, either.

Wk 3 Why are my students insane?

It is a phenomenon that happens every year at about this time. The students have gone insane. They seem to "check out" as summer vacation approaches. I'm always exhausted when I come home from school. I wish that we could keep the end of the school year a secret. The kids would go about their business with the idea that they had an extra week of school left. Then, one day, we'd just say, "Surprise! This is the last day of school!" Maybe we'd be able to get more out of the kids if we were able to do this? Then, again, we'd have to tell the parents and some of them wouldn't be able to keep the secret. It would only last one year. We wouldn't be able to pull the same prank the following year because the kids would be on to us.

Wk 3 Comment on Therese Josephson's Blog

Okay. I think I’ve been making this more stressful than it needs to be. (Anyone who knows me won’t be too surprised to hear that.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time going back and forth in the last week. Should I write a paper or should I create a presentation? I even started creating both!

The truth is, there is an opportunity to present that likely would not be too hard to set up. I have attended the Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance (CMP) workshop a number of times, and I am fairly certain that the head of the CMP committee would allow me to give a presentation on how I used technology to improve communication between my classroom and home--either this summer or next.

But I’m also pretty certain that this is not the right choice for me. I am a better writer than speaker. I know this. It’s why I’ve been struggling all along. Should I take the opportunity that’s right there, or should I do what feels right for me? It might take a little more legwork, but writing is the better choice for me. (This is not to say that I wouldn’t be willing to also present at CMP at some point. But I don’t think I should gear my Publishing/Leadership project around something I’m not comfortable with.)

So--where to publish? I’m looking into a few possibilities. No final decisions yet, but here are my thoughts.

Teaching Music Magazine: If the “AR Folks” find this publication suitable, I think right now it is my first choice. Simply because I feel that an articale in Teaching Music is likely to actually be read. It is not as academic a journal as some, but it is practical, accessible, and I know that music teachers actually turn to it as a resource. I certainly have! This is important to me. I have done some work that I think people should know about. I don’t want it to be buried in an academic journal that your average way-too-busy music teacher won’t have time to read. (HERE is the link to the Guidelines for Contributors to this magazine.)

Wisconsin School Music Magazine: I looked into this publication for the same reason that I thought of Teaching Music. It’s a similar kind of magazine, but for Wisconsin music educators specifically. I don’t think it will work out, because the maximum word count for an article is 900. I would have to cut a lot of information out of my project to make this work. Maybe I could publish something different here another time?

Music Educators Journal: I think this could be an alternative to Teaching Music. It’s not my first choice, because I fear that the academic nature of the journal means that the more casual audience may miss it. I would rather write about using a web page to teachers who might not consider it otherwise (I was one of those not too long ago) than to people who are already researching it. (HERE is the link to the Manuscript Submission Guidelines)

American Music Teacher: I actually don’t know much about this publication, except that it was one of my literature review sources came from here. I think it would be worth exploring more if my other choices don’t pan out. (HERE are the guidelines for submission)

Okay. Back to writing!!

1 Comment

Kelly McKinley

I've been struggling with the same question, Therese. You are an excellent writer but I also think that you are an excellent public speaker. However, you have to do what you feel most comfortable doing. Either choice can be scary and stressful, though.

I think the Teaching Music Magazine could be a great place to submit. You are right about MEJ (Music Educators Journal) being a bit too academic in nature. However, you might consider it anyway.

Good luck!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 10:05 PM

Wk 3 Publishing/Leadership Project part 3 of 3: Stressing Out

I am really nervous about my choice to present. It seemed like the right choice considering I love to hear myself talk and really don't feel as though I am a good writer. That said, if I wrote a paper, I would be done once the paper was written. That is certainly compelling. I may end up doing both. I will continue with the presentation since I'm already in that mindset.

I do feel as though I wasn't given enough time to produce a quality presentation. If only we had been given this project last month with the due date in this month. That way I could have had more time to work on the project.

Here is a link to what I've got done so far:
Publishing/Leadership Presentation

Wk 2 A Cow Will Fall on Your Head

We all take ourselves too seriously at times. Sometimes when I'm frustrated with my class, I have to take a step back and lighten up. If I don't, my head is liable to pop off from the stress. At that moment I can turn the situation into a joke and lighten the mood. Often I will just walk up to a student and roar. The act must be funny to watch because the students start to laugh and I'm able to calm down.

When we were visiting my in-laws in Louisville several years ago, my then five-year-old was upset about some injustice. She was complaining while watching herself in the mirror that was on the wall. The site was quite ridiculous. Although I knew she was quite upset, I started to laugh. Since she was five and angry, she did not find my laughter amusing. I guess you need to be older to be able to take yourself less seriously.

wk 2 The Success/Failure Game

When reading chapter 4 in The Art of Possiblity I was drawn to the part about the success/failure game. I have found myself playing that game many times. Am I a good mom? Am I a good teacher? Am I a good wife? Am I a good singer? I don't want to be good I want to be the best.

It is not enough for me to think that I am good. I need validation from someone else. I find a secret glee when my students tell me that I am the best music teacher that they've ever had. Before this year, it didn't mean much--I was the only music teacher that they've every had. This year is a bit different. I am now teaching all the fourth and fifth graders in the district. That means that 3/4 of my students had a different music teacher.

I was intrigued by the idea of the I am a contribution game. This makes a whole lot more sense to me and would make life a whole lot more fun. With the success/failure game, I would never be satisfied. I would feel better about myself with the I am a contribution game.

Wk 2 Comment on Therese Josephson's post

Week 2 Publishing/Leadership project Part 1 of 3: Present or Publish?

I’m going to be honest. It would have been nice to know about this requirement before Month 11. I am very pleased with my AR Project. It has done great things for my classroom, which is more important to me than any grade or recognition. All along, though, I’ve been wondering what the expectation was for a culminating presentation. It’s a little overwhelming right now to think about presenting somewhere or being published.

My initial thought was that I’d prefer to publish an article. I am much more comfortable writing than I am speaking to groups of strangers. Where would I publish? I’m not sure. I’d like to write something that will be read by music educators. I know that my project is applicable to all content areas--anyone could use a class web page to improve communication between home and school--but I’d like to help music teachers specifically see what kinds of resources they can post to help their students and parents.

But now that I’m thinking about a music teacher audience, I’m thinking that maybe I could present. There is a Wisconsin Music Teacher’s Association (WMEA) Convention every October. This could certainly be a possibility. Another idea that I thought of, one that I’m really kind of interested in pursuing, is trying to see if I could present a session at the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) workshop that is held in Wisconsin every summer. I have attended the workshop several times in the past few years, and I know that the participants would be a very enthusiastic and receptive audience. I would like to explore whether or not this could be an option.

So, I really haven’t decided much. I’m generally more comfortable writing, but there are some presentation options that I think I could be excited about. I will keep looking into these options so I can settle on writing or presenting very soon and actually start working on my project.

I think these last two months are going to be one heck of a wild ride.Wednesday, May 12, 2010

1 Comment

Kelly McKinley

I agree with you, Therese. These next two months are really going to be tough. It will be interesting to see how we fit it all in!

I'm having the same difficulty deciding what to do with this project. I agree, presenting or writing for music teachers would be a good idea for you. I don't see a lot of music teachers taking advantage of this form of parent/teacher/student communication in the way that other teachers do. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is because they feel that because of the performance piece to their subject, they are already communicating with parents? I'm not sure.

Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 04:56 AM

Wk 2 Publishing/Leadership project part 2 of 3: Presenting

When looking for a possible idea for publication, I came across this conference. I had gone to the TI:ME website to see if they had a publication. This was posted on the front page of the website.

I am a little nervous about the possibility of speaking in front of my fellow music teachers. I still think of myself as being relatively young. People that present at conferences are leaders in their field and have been teaching for years. How could I possibly present? Then I remember how old I really am and not the age that I tell everyone (29). It floors me just how many years have passed. I've been teaching for fifteen years now. Perhaps I do have something to teach other teachers? This would be a really great conference.

Wk 2 Comment on Eric Anderson's post

Week 1: Reading-Conducting and Performing

Sunday, May 9, 2010

As a conductor, I was absolutely captivated by Ben Zander’s story about his interaction with Tanya the violinist during the rehearsal and subsequent performance of Mahler 9. For me, one of the most fundamental elements of conducting is the combining and focusing of the musical energy of each musician in the ensemble into a single entity that is the music, that is far greater than the sum of each individual musician’s contribution.

When Zander described how Tanya’s engagement in the performance of the piece “caused a disproportionate breakthrough” in the performance by allowing him to be fully present in the performance, I completely identified with this feeling -- both the feeling of being completely in a performance and the feeling of being distracted by inattentive or disengaged musicians. I strive to be the type of conductor who gives the same intensity (or more!) that I want to receive from my musicians, and reading Zander’s deeply personal description of this really motivates me to be even more fully engaged with my bands as we prepare for out final concert of the year on June 2.

On a related tangent, the Zander video from TED is the video that I show to my AP Music Theory class during our first meeting together. It’s such a great example of how taking the time to analyze and understand some of the theory behind the simplicity of the Chopin Prelude gives the listener a deeper emotional connection with the piece. Watching this video (especially the shining eyes part) always inspires me to be a better musician and a better teacher.

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1 Comment

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Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 06:31 PM

Kelly McKinley

Interesting how you can engage your students by the interest that you show in a particular piece of music or lesson. I have noticed that when I'm "on", my students are better behaved, are more engaged, and perform better than if I'm tired or sick on any given day. This has been proven time and time again--nothing new on my part! The only problem is being able to be "on" all the time. It is very tiring and I find that I don't have anything left at the end of the day.

Wk 1 Grades as Measurement

I have to disagree that the main purpose of grades is to measure students against one another as is suggested in the book, "The Art of Possibility" by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. Although there can be a certain modicum of rivalry between students based on their grades, teachers do not give grades based on comparison to other students. If this were the case, we would not need rubrics and there would be only one "A" given to a class. Grades would serve as a student hierarchy. The best student would get an "A" and the rest would line up behind.

I do think that grades, at least at the elementary level, are fairly useless. Let face it, no college looks back as far as first grade or even fourth grade to see the grades they earned in school. It would serve students a lot more if we only gave out comments about what they did well and what they needed to improve. This would give the student and parent a lot more information and could ultimately prove to make a difference in that child's life. A letter gives no information except "bad" or "good".

Wk1 Failed Levy

Tuesday, May 4th, my district had two levies on the ballot. One was an earned income tax and the other was a 6.75 millage. This was the sixth time our district went to the voters to get funding for the schools. Without it, our school district faces state takeover. Neither levy passed. The state will take over in July. There will be another levy on the ballot in August and every election thereafter until one passes.

Unfortunately, I have a very divided school district. There are three very different areas that were grouped to make one district. Butlerville is a very rural area. Most students do not have access to the internet and many don't have a computer. Most of the families make their living from their farm. Morrow is working class. Many of the adults do not possess a higher educational degree. Finally, there is Maineville. Most of the growth that had happened in the past ten years has taken place here. Most of the adults are college educated. By my description of these three areas, you can probably guess how voting went.

It is a shame that school districts are forced to beg for money to run a school. Frankly, I am not sure what the state is going to do when they take over. There have been people from the state that have spoken with our district. They are stumped as to how this could happen to our district. We have been working at the minimum allowed by the state. Our district has been rated an "Excellent" district. Our treasurer has earned awards for running the district so frugally. I am just not sure why this has happened. I would blame the economy but I know that isn't the sole reason. Our district has a history of failing levies. There has been talk of dissolving the district and having a neighboring district take responsibility for educating the children. In a way, I hope this happens. Every neighboring district has higher taxes--by almost double.

Wk 1 Publishing/Leadership project part 1 of 3: Action Research

I have really enjoyed my ARP this year. It has helped keep me positive in a year that could easily have gone the opposite direction. I am a bit overwrought at all I must do to get my Action Research Project ready for submission. After looking at everything, though, I'm not as badly off as I thought I was at first.

Thinking ahead to publication... When I first heard the rumor that we would either have to publish or present, I (like most people) freaked out. I'm glad that we are just preparing it for that possibility. However, I did find the idea of presenting at a conference intriguing. I kind of like to talk and I really love my project. I looked at the TI:ME website and found that they were looking for presenters for the Ohio Music Educators Association conference for next year. The date for submission is at the end of May. I may be crazy--probably crazy--but I think that I'd like to present.

Wk 1 Comment Post #2

Beckie Lamborn says:

May 5, 2010 at 12:16 am

Our school is well-equipped with computer labs and computer technology teachers who are very willing to help teachers in the lower, middle, and upper school. We have students kindergarten through 12th grade. This year our kindergarten and prefirst classes installed Smartboards, and the teachers have found interactive ways to bring content to the children. My art classroom is scheduled to be relocated and with that move the plan is to install a Smartboard and four deep sinks. As an art teacher of little ones, my priority would be to get the sinks, but seeing how the teachers have used the Smartboards to set up systems of communications and organization with the children, I’m sure the Smartboards will be equally helpful. At this point the use of videos and creation of videos to prepare for an art project has brought added interest and motivation to my art class.

Kelly McKinley says:

May 7, 2010 at 2:03 pm

Although I agree that four new sinks is a blessing for an elementary art teacher, you will find that having a Smartboard will come in handy. I don’t know how many classes you teach per grade level, but I am always asking my students if we talked about certain things in class. For some reason, I will get further with some classes than I do with others. A Smartboard can help you with that. You can save documents that you were using with one class, keep it in a folder and bring it out then next time you see that class. Then the next time a kids says, “We didn’t talk about that”, you can bring up their folder and find out for yourself!

Wk 1 Comment Post #1

Therese Josephson says:

May 3, 2010 at 10:08 pm

Several months ago, I was planning on recording my students during class. Our department had a portable CD recorder, and as I was setting it up that day, it stopped working! The students were planning on creating the recording that day, and I didn’t really want to change gears, so I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket and recorded them using the Voice Recorder. Then we plugged the phone into a boombox with an iPod jack to listen. (Now, I record into Garageband, and get better recordings than the CD recorder every produced.)

Another time, I was planning on having my students use Noteflight (a web 2.0 tool) for a composition project. As I walked them through the process of setting up an account, we realized that the confirmation e-mail was being sent to their Spam folders, which they did not have access to in their school e-mail accounts. So I quickly created a class account that they could all access and they worked that way.

Kelly McKinley says:

May 7, 2010 at 1:48 pm

@ Therese

I had the same experience. I was trying to use the digital recorder to record my students performing in class but the battery died. I then went over to my computer, turned it to face my class, and recorded them with Garageband. I was able to make a few fixes within the program and the recording was so much better! I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before.