Classroom Teacher

Which budget do we cut?

Assistant Directing, Classroom Teacher, Communication, High Schools, Marching Band, Music Department, News and Happenings, Personal experience, Teaching /

I promised multiple stories. Here is Story #2. The first story is HERE.

Budget pigI was a music teacher in the system from 2005-2020 (retired). This happened during that time…not sure the year.

$ $ $ $ $

Word came to the instrumental dept that one of our two contracted summer sessions would be cut from the budget and band parents could take over funding to keep both sessions functioning.

I was tasked with making our case before the board. The “conversation” went something like this…..

Me: Our FIRST summer session starts before the end of the Spring semester when we start integrating incoming students and preparing for the local June parade. Do you want the band to represent the school in the HD parade?

Board: Of course, the band MUST march in the parade.

Me: Our SECOND summer session starts a few weeks before the Fall semester and is when the band learns music, marching fundamentals, and the performance show for football games and band competitions. Do you want the band at the football games?

Board: Absolutely, the band MUST be at the football games.

Result: Funding continued for both summer sessions.

Note: We did not ask for gift cards.

Which budget do we cut? Read More »

Students are not Starfish

1 Comment / Classroom Teacher, High Schools, Public Schools, Repost, Respect, Teaching, Uncategorized /

Starfish on the beachby John Gardner (via LinkedIn)

The starfish story (not my original) is about someone trying to make a difference and I think of it periodically when I find myself trying to balance that healthy, professional detachment from the lives of individual students with the reality and significance of those lives and my desire to make a difference by being more than “just” a classroom teacher.

Working with students is not a life or death proposition, of course, but some seem to get washed up on the beach. Here’s the story and 10 ways to make a difference. Those 10 ways represent my core beliefs in teaching and working with teens.

The man was out for a walk on the beach when he noticed a boy frantically picking things up and throwing them into the ocean. Curious, he approached the boy to discover that he was picking up starfish that had washed up on to the beach — and was throwing them back into the water.
“Son, what are you doing?” the man asked.
“The tide is going out and these starfish got left behind. I’m throwing them back into the water to save them.”
“But son, there are hundreds of miles of beach. You can’t possibly make a difference.”
As the boy picked up another starfish, he threw it into the water and then turned and said to the man,

“I made a difference to THAT one.”

———————————

Teen years can be trying times.  Parents may be fighting, separating, dating and remarrying, which means the teen now has to not only deal with a break up of a foundation in his/her life, but often now has to live in multiple households. Some have to adjust to step-siblings, job losses, financial struggles and more. Then, there are the complexities of school with seemingly unending pressures to perform, trying to get through the dating games, often without an anchor or example to follow. Influenced by increasingly negative social standards, or lack of standards….. teens can get caught in the rise and falling tides. Most learn how to negotiate life’s trying currents, but can turn the wrong way, make a miscalculation or poor decision — and find themselves high and dry on the beach…..and they need help. Not every student needs, wants or will accept a teacher’s help. Sometimes the teacher’s effort is both unappreciated and unsuccessful.

But try we must…because we CAN make a difference “to THAT one”.

Ten ways to make a difference:

  1. Be real. You can’t fake it with teens, they will see right through you. If you can’t be real, you should not be there. Please leave education.
  2. Be available. How easy is it for a teen to say to YOU, “Can I talk to you?”? What if it is not during class or immediately after school? In how many different ways are you available and do students know and understand that? Do they know if it is ok to email, call, text or instant message you? When a teen says they need to talk, somebody needs be available. Be that person. Consider your use of texting and social media.
  3. Be there. Yes, you’re “on duty” at school. What about when a student is in the hospital, at the funeral home, pitching in the softball/baseball game, getting baptized, being awarded Eagle Scout status, or when their garage-type band is playing at the coffee shop? Take your spouse or your kids and just be where you can when you can. They will notice.
  4. Trust them. If you want trust, you need to give some. I have a periodic discussion about trust, abusing it, losing it and the difficulty in earning it a second time. Read: “I WANT To Trust You“. Teens make mistakes and the trust area is one of those places where they can mess up. But help them learn. Take a reasonable chance. Yes, you’ll get burned some….but you will also empower leaders to rise up.
  5. Respect them. There is a good chance they will recognize and return it.
  6. Advocate for them. Of course you have students who are financially challenged and could benefit from music lessons, a better instrument, participation in a select ensemble or some other training. You won’t always succeed, but try to find funding to help. Call the employer to help him get that job. Write a letter to help her get that scholarship. Help them with college applications their parents can’t (or won’t).
  7. Listen, really listen. Teens typically think that people don’t listen. They think adults are quick to lecture, criticize and correct, but are slow to listen. You don’t always have to have the answer. Sometimes there isn’t an obvious answer. Sometimes listening is the answer, because in allowing them to share, you enable them to find their own answer. Unless they are sharing something illegal, dangerous, hear them out. Don’t argue. Don’t interrupt. Don’t pre-judge. And when you can, share your wisdom, experience, expertise and advice.
  8. Expect and Encourage Excellence. Students will complain when the load is heavy and the challenge is significant, but they know, even when they won’t admit, that achieving excellence requires work. They want to achieve and succeed. Being there for them doesn’t mean lowering your standards. Make them stretch. They’ll appreciate you eventually, even if not today.
  9. Don’t assume. A question I ask often is, “You okay?” Simple question….and sometimes they shrug it off, but there have been many times for me that this gives them the opening to ask for help.
  10. Don’t give up. It can be difficult, disappointing and even deflating when teens mess up. Don’t give up on them. That’s what the rest of society wants to do sometimes…. They will be disappointed that they disappointed you, but your unconditional support (not approving what they do) is vitally important to them.

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Relative Pitch is not Perfect

Leave a Comment / Classroom Teacher, College Prep, Music Department, Personal experience, Public Schools, Teaching /

Perfect pitch means you can hear a tone or multiple tones and identify them. There was a girl in undergrad music theory class at UK who had perfect pitch. She described it as painful if a vocal ensemble was to lose pitch, i.e. go flat/sharp. 

Another person I worked with professionally was a local band director wife. We could use her as a tuner, because she not only knew the pitch, but whether you were ever so slightly off. We would bring her in periodically to critique and the students always enjoyed trying to “trip her up”. But perfect means perfect and they never could. 

In one rehearsal, without a score in front of her, she made a comment like, “The Bb7 chord at letter E is both wrong and out of tune. The altos have the ‘D’ (your ‘B’) and one of you is playing a Bb and another of you is playing the right note, but quite sharply.” We checked. She was perfect.

I do not have perfect pitch, but good “relative” pitch. It serves me well in two general ways. First, as a clarinetist, I can usually “hear” the pitch before I play it and so can come in on the right note/partial and on pitch. Especially when listening to a clarinet, I can usually tell you the note, but more because I know the different timbres of notes. An open ‘G’ sounds different than a ‘Bb’, for example.

It also serves me well in rehearsals as I have keen “hearing eyes”. I can tell if what I’m hearing is what I’m looking at in the music score. I established that when I would say, “Someone is missing [specific note]. If you don’t fix it, I will find you”, they knew I could, so sometimes, when I stop the music, look down at the score (to figure out what I heard and where it might be coming from) and focus my attention toward a section of the group I might find someone with his/her hand already raised to confess, “It was me”. 

During a grad class, I had to stay after class one day because I was doing something the professor said I shouldn’t have been able to do and he wanted to find out how I was “cheating”. 

His researched position was that you could only retain and re-sound about 8-11 random tones. To make his point, he emphasized why phone numbers are broken down; 260-786-6554 vs 2607866554 or that credit card numbers are “batched” in 4’s because we can’t remember 16. 

Then for practical proof, he started playing series of tones. We were to sing them back and drop out when we missed. Not unlike a spelling bee, by the time he got to 12-13 tones, there were only two of us left. The other person dropped out and the professor, in a frustrated tone, asked me how I was “cheating”. 

Working 1-1 after class, he noticed (I didn’t even know I was doing it) I was fingering my pencil. His conclusion, and I had none better to offer, was that I was “hearing tones in clarinet” and then “playing them back”. 

What I did was not unique. I know of others who have trained their ears to hear specific pitches, such as an ‘open G’ on trumpet or a vocal “do” on ‘c’. 

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11 Things Small Business and Fire Departments Should Have In Common

Leave a Comment / Classroom Teacher, High Schools, Music Department, Public Schools, Sales and Marketing, Small Business, Storytelling, Teaching, Teaching Music /

My dad was a 32-yr career firefighter, retiring as an Assistant Chief for a moderately sized, full-time department that had about 10 stations throughout the city. I recall a childhood time when my siblings and I were vising him at the firehouse. When the alarm sounded, he abruptly pointed to the wall, and said

“Stand right there ’til someone comes for you.”

Immediately, 10 doors (5 front, 5 rear) open, the intercom is announcing location and status, and people are hustling from every direction Twenty seconds later, the building is open, empty and quiet. One of the dispatchers invited us into his area while our mother scrambled to come pick us up.

As a small business owner, I believe some of my Dad’s Fire Department practices could help Small Business when it comes to putting out fires. Here are 11 things Small Business and Fire Departments should have in common.

Fire Departments

  • The Facility is well cared for. There are assignments (often seniority based) for sweeping/moping, washing/waxing, cooking, dishes, janitorial, supply maintenance, inventory and more. Rookies get the grunt jobs, but everybody has assignments and responsibilities with accountability.
  • Saving time is paramount.Vehicles are always facing the door for quick departure. Driver doors are left opened. Boots and pants are kept close to the truck (or the bed) and set for the firefighter to step into the boots and pull up the pants. Coats and helmets are on the truck to be added en route. When the bell rings, things happen and seconds count.
  • Equipment is organized and ready. Hoses have been carefully cleaned, inspected and rolled, and tools have been cleaned and stored so everyone knows where they are. Tire pressures, water levels and fuel have all been checked and readied. Efficient access is essential.
  • Skill sets are in place for lots of contingencies (types of fires, whether people are at risk, etc). Sometimes things don’t go the way they’re supposed to.
  • Practice, practice, practice. They practice driving through the streets (need to know every street, location of every fire hydrant), practice moving through smoke and fire, climb ladders, spray water, use the tools, lots of speed tests, inspections and homework. Ready to perform.
  • Group and Individual Goals plus Assignments are clearly defined, understood and bought into. There is no discussion about who gets to shoot the water cannon or hook up the hoses. They already know who is primary and secondary in hose control or who is going up the ladder first. Avoid unnecessary drama.
  • Coordination, Collaboration and Communication are essential. Control the traffic lights, mobilize police, roll the ambulance if needed or in doubt, notify the hospital and street departments, hold the trains, and get the business owner on the line. My dad always said, “We’ll be there in under 90 seconds”.
  • The Chain of Command is absolute. On a fire fun, the police are in support mode. Everyone has expertise and input, but primary is to trust and obey, for there’s no other way.
  • The only pic I have of my dad at a fire and he is there in street clothes. As the Asst off-duty Chief, he’s there getting his hands dirty.

    Firefighters know who they work for and will sacrifice to serve. When someone calls 911, firefighters will do what firefighters did on 9/11.

  • No firefighter is ever left behind.Period.
  • When the gig is over, get ready for the next one. The trip back to the firehouse can be exhausting, but some things can’t wait until tomorrow.

————————————————–

Small Business

  • The Facility is well cared for. What does your work area look like at the end of a day? Are there water bottles, messy desks, stacks of mail and reports? Unless you have a fantastic janitorial staff, make assignments. Delegate. What is your expectation for facility cleanliness and functionality?
  • Saving time is paramount. When it is time to start, is everything ready? Is there an agenda, task list or to-do list for the day?
  • Equipment is organized and ready. Desks are clean, waste baskets empty, floors swept, restrooms supplied, light bulbs in, etc? When that important phone call comes in, you don’t want to have to spend time getting ready to handle it.
  • Skill sets are in place for contingencies. Have you cross trained employees so that you can still function if the secretary, receptionist or warehouse manager are out sick or otherwise unavailable? Can you still answer phones, respond to emails, texts, faxes or social media messages, know where to find records when needed to answer a customer call or complaint, load or unload the truck and know where to place or retrieve product?
  • Practice, practice, practice. Schools have monthly fire drills even though there hasn’t been a school fire-related death in over 60 years. They also practice tornado drills and, increasingly, active shooter drills. Hopefully they never encounter any of those, but if they do — they have a better chance survival because they practiced. Having a list of procedures or contingencies is good, but nothing is better than practice. Practice your cross-trained assignments.
  • Are Group and Individual Goals plus Assignments clearly defined, understood and bought into? When a fire fighter makes a mistake on scene, someone can die. Business is not usually life and death, but do your order fulfillment personnel understand what happens when they make mistakes?

One of the most effective practices I put into place was to bring in a salesperson to talk to our order fulfillment crew and explain to them what happens to his customer, his income and even their jobs when orders go out with too many errors.

  • Coordination, Collaboration and Communication are essential. You have administration, management, office and warehouse staff….do all the appropriate people know what you are doing? Do you?
  • The Chain of Command is absolute. Everybody needs to be on the same team, but there can only be one coach. Encourage and welcome input, but make sure the team understands that once a decision happens, debate ends and action begins.
  • Employees know who they work for and will sacrifice to serve. If they won’t go above and beyond for you, then you have a different problem. Strive to instill pride and earn loyalty.
  • No customer is ever left behind. Period.
  • When the gig is over, get ready for the next one.

Meticulously planning and preparing for, and then efficiently and effectively fighting “fires” is something both fire fighters and small business owners should be good at. Business should be ready, but not always “putting out fires”.

The purpose of THIS post is to encourage you to be READY and SET so that when the alarm rings, you are prepared to GO!

Thanks for reading,
JohnGardner@VirtualMusicOffice.com

I wrote a tribute to my Dad, the firefighter, and included description and picture from the worst fire he ever fought…. the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire of 1977 that took the lives of 165 people, including my high school clarinet teacher. I also talk about his Fire Chief experience with accusations and responses to sexism and racism. Read more…. 

 

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5 Considerations to Making a leap of Faith

Leave a Comment / Classroom Teacher, High Schools, Marching Band, Music Department, Music Performance, Repost, Respect, Teaching, Teaching Music /

Leap of faithby John Gardner

This graphic illustrates a scenario we all face, individually, in business, in school as well as in music ensembles. Most of us, at least once, have been to the edge, looked down, looked across and pondered the possibilities. It is easy to say you want to get better, but how do you make that leap to the other side?

Realize that not everyone WANTS to get to the other side.

Many are satisfied with the way things are, represented by this marching band member attitude:

I am okay where I am. I am not last chair, I can play my part reasonably well, I can pass the playing test. I see those people on the other side…..so much pressure, so much work, and for what? Band is a good social group. It is a good place to find a date, to make friends, to feel connected. I enjoy the bus rides, the longer the better. The band parent provided food at competitions is good and I like the freedom during the down time to hang with my friends and watch some other bands.

You are, after all, standing on solid ground. It is safe where you are. You KNOW where you are and are in your comfort zone. You look over the edge and see danger. You could fall, you could fail. You could get hurt.

WANT it….with everything that is within you.

You hear the musician who plays the more difficult solo or watch the marching band put on a crowd cheering performance. You see the elation at the award ceremony and YOU WANT THAT.

In “The Return of the Jedi”, as Luke Skywalker finally stands before his ultimate enemy, the Emperor says to the young Jedi who is viewing and considering his weapon,

You want this, don’t you?

Know that small, safe, baby steps won’t make it.

If you stand on the edge, look down and take a step, you will fall. The gap is wider than that and will require a running start LEAP.

Practice and Prepare to Perform!

Olympians don’t just show up at the games. Basketball players spend hours behind the scenes practicing boring free throws and doing exhausting repetitive fundamentals up and down the floor. The ice skater doesn’t decide at the start of the performance that a quad would be a good idea.

There is no short cut to success. You must be willing to pay the price.

The ice skater going for the quad is literally a “leap of faith”. There is never a guarantee of success, but repetitive practice, falling down, getting hurt, figuring out what went wrong and working harder to get better…..are necessary ingredients to establish confidence and competence to make the jump. A phrase I have used in rehearsals,

Like the ice skater who misses the quad, missing notes (steps, sets) in performance can hurt.

A good cartoon by Tone Deaf Comics illustrates part of this idea.

One more time

Commit to go….and then GO!

No more standing at the edge. No more looking down. No more considering the consequences of failure. Back up, focus on the other side, set your mind and then RUN hard at the edge. When the Israelites were crossing the river Jordan, the waters did not part until the priests feet touched the water, the point at which they demonstrated both faith and commitment (Joshua 3:14).

Once you commit to go, you have to “go all out”. Know where you’re going, practice and prepare, commit and go.

 

 

leap-of-faith-2

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Puppy Dogs and Clarinets

Leave a Comment / Classroom Teacher, College Prep, High Schools, Music Department, Personal experience, Public Schools, Sales and Marketing, Small Business, Teaching, Teaching Music /

By John Gardner

white labrador retriever puppy dogThere is a sales technique called the “Puppy Dog” close. It gets is name from the puppy dog at the pet shop scenario:

A mother and young child go into a pet store to buy a dog. They find one, but mamma says it is too expensive.

The wise sales clerk invites the mother and child to take the puppy home for the night….with the offer to bring it back the next day if they don’t think it is worth the price.

They will NOT likely bring the puppy back.

I fell for that sales close with a car once. My wife wasn’t with me when I stopped on the lot (intentional, so I had a way out of a pressure sales situation). The smart salesperson invited me to drive the car home to show her. SOLD!

Classic music Sax tenor saxophone and clarinet in blackI used the “Puppy Dog” approach with a clarinet student (I will call her Sally). The first time I heard her play was in a middle school concert. I didn’t know Sally, but I noticed her. It was 2-3 yrs later when I convinced her parents to let her study privately with me. She had incredible musicianship but was hindered by a mediocre instrument.

When I would ask about a step up instrument, she always responded about how busy her parents were. Knowing her father’s occupation, I knew PRICE was NOT the issue.

The music dealer let me borrow a top of the line clarinet for a day, with return privilege that I was not expecting to utilize.

I took the clarinet to Sally’s band rehearsal at the high school, instructing her to play it in the rehearsal and then to take it home that night to practice with at home and either return the clarinet or payment the next day. She handed me the check for payment in full.

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Teen girls were my weakness

Leave a Comment / Classroom Teacher, Personal experience, Storytelling /

Ok. Ok. It is NOT what you’re thinking. C’mon, you know me better than that.

My problem was that I was having trouble hearing conversations, especially at school, which can be problematic. This intensified after a severe ear infection that never completely healed. My ears felt stopped up similar to what can happen when descending from a high altitude in a plane. There was a graduation ceremony, mid-infection, where I could not hear anyone. The other band director realized something was going on. Fortunately, school was out.

When a student, more often a girl, would come to me in a rehearsal, we would have to move into the office so I could hear without all the band noise.

One student explained it to another this way…..

He might ask you to repeat things a lot, and he doesn’t always get it right…..but you can be in another room and miss a note and he is on you immediately.

Voices were a problem. Wrong notes were not.

I was fitted for and received a moderately high-level pair of hearing aids.

They were supposed to be able to pull the voices out of the background noise, but that didn’t really work in a rehearsal setting. The band volume would often be painful. In church, I could hear the pastor better, but the congregational singing became too loud — so I stopped wearing them.

Fast forward two years past retirement, it was a large, noisy hotel meeting room with hundreds of people at tables of ten having conversations, which was the catalyst for unpacking the hearing aids and giving them another shot. There were several college friends at my table and I really wasn’t hearing any of them.

I got them out and tried to put them in….but something has died and the out-of-warranty repair cost would be several hundred dollars.

But there is good news.

Now that I am retired, part of my insurance covers an audiology exam AND a healthy allowance toward new hearing aids.

Stay tuned for updates.

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“Getting out of the rut” no longer works with teens

Leave a Comment / Assistant Directing, Classroom Teacher, High Schools, Teaching Music /

By John Gardner

RutsI came into a program that was stable, consistent, well-rounded — but with few exceptional accomplishments in marching band competition. I told them,

“If you keep doing the things you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting the results you’ve been getting.”

I tried to use the analogy of “getting out of the rut”. It did NOT register. I now know why.

…

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“Getting out of the rut” no longer works with teens Read More »

Thou shalt not type, text, touch or transport thy students.

1 Comment / Classroom Teacher, Communication, Parenting, Respect, Social Media, Teaching, Teaching Music /

By John Gardner

NOTE: I wrote this when I was still teaching. I retired last year. I have tried to change many of the tense from present to past — if I missed any, that is why.

Teacher Student LoveI get the reasons. We must protect our students…..and our teachers…. and our schools.  Almost weekly we hear a national news report of a student running off with a teacher or some variation of sexual misconduct. Sometimes, a school’s proactive response is to overreact with a series of policies summed up with:

Thou shalt not type, text, touch or transport thy students. 

  • Don’t give students your cell number. Too late.

What is the difference between whether they call my cell, office or home phone?

  • Don’t text with students. Busted.

What is the difference between text, twitter and email?

I didn’t initiate texts unless for a critical reason, but I would respond.

  • Avoid 1-1 encounters without witnesses. The word that comes to mind is reasonableness. As a music teacher, I periodically conducted individual playing or coaching sessions in a semi-sound-proofed practice room, away from observers – on purpose. On the other hand, when possible, I taught 1-1 lessons in the music office or large ensemble room where there will likely be people coming and going. I no longer teach in my home, using the high school or university for studio space.

Should I coach in the hallway?

  • Avoid physical contact. Yes, but sometimes there is something positively powerful about an appropriate touch; a handshake, high-five, hand on the shoulder or, yes, even a congratulatory or consoling student-initiated hug.

Is ALL touching over the line?

Typing. Generally Social Media Networking. When I mentioned in an evaluation meeting that I had over half the band on my Facebook “friend” list, I was cautioned to “be careful” but not told to disconnect. My personal policy on Facebook was that I would not issue friend requests to students, but would accept their invitations. Following that caution, however, I also created a band Facebook “page” that does not require “friending”.  I used both to make announcements, applaud achievers, encourage individuals or the band collective, and yes, sometimes, to have a conversation. Most of those conversations are schedule-related, but occasionally include counseling or consoling.

If it is okay to encourage, counsel or console a student in person, why is the media used challenged?

Texting. Is the problem the communication or the device? I periodically said to students, “You may contact me but do not abuse that.” ….and they didn’t. Nearly 100% of texts from students were about class, schedules, an idea or suggestion about the show (this year or next) or even a complaint that someone thinks I should hear. Unless I was asking a band question, I seldom initiated a text communication, but I did respond to most texts received. For many students, texting has replaced email as the preferred communication technique.

Is that wrong? Again, what (exactly) is the problem?

Touching. Yes. Yes. Especially a younger teacher must be extremely careful in this area. Perhaps I took advantage of the facts that I am old, fat, bald and ugly – and more a grandfatherly-type figure to exchange handshakes and high fives. Sometimes, in a loud crowded classroom when a student is trying to tell me something and I’m struggling to hear – I would put a hand on a shoulder; as in ‘come closer and speak louder’. I’ve also used the touch of a hand on the shoulder as a form of encouragement or congratulations. I have a perfect picture example (snapped by the girl’s grandfather as she received her senior recognition….and I have my hand on her shoulder) with the band behind me and the audience in front of me.

Hugs….more rare and generally more carefully considered. Some examples, though. I periodically might exchange a hug at a graduate open house party where, usually, the student has graduated. I have received hugs after a successful solo contest performance or other such excitable moment.

I have offered hugs…. The girl stood inside the office (I sat at my desk across the room) and she was breaking down as she described and cried about her father’s verbal abuse and how badly it was hurting her. I did get out of my chair, walk over to her and offered an accepted hug.  Another time was following a marching rehearsal. I noticed a cluster of color guard girls and my first thought was that someone was hurt. When I investigated, there was a circle of encouragers trying to help the freshman who was sobbing uncontrollably and saying she couldn’t do it. I put my hand on her shoulder, she latched on to me with a significant squeeze and right there, in the middle of a dozen girls, there was a teacher-student hug happening.

Sometimes there is something about an appropriate touch that is difficult to put into words yet is worth thousands of them.

Careful, yes. Reasonable, of course. But elementary students aren’t the only ones who have love to share and who (sometimes) need a touch in return.

Am I wrong?

Transporting. When I was a young teacher, back in a previous century, I taught in a rural area and had one student who had parental permission to be in band as long as the parents didn’t have to do anything – including providing transportation to/from rehearsal. His clothes often had the stench of the family-owned chicken house, which is why this boy had few close friends (literally). I transported him often — and others when circumstances warranted.

In my later position, I transported students to the local university’s band rehearsals and concerts, to solo contest, to honor band rehearsals and more. I drove students when they forgot something for a band trip, have injured an ankle in a field rehearsal and couldn’t make the moderate walk back to the high school, locked a key in their car and needed to go home to get the backup, at midnight after returning from a contest when the parents forgot to pick them up and were not answering their phones, or when expected to walk home but it was raining. Policy says teachers cannot do that without written parental permission, administrator approval and another adult in the car. Guilty.

So what do I do with that midnight student?

Responding to a different post (see below) on the same topic, a student responded (on Facebook),

Sooo basically teachers are just teachers now and not people? What about all those stories people tell of an inspirational teacher they had who helped them through their difficult time and made it possible for them to be where they are now? Is that gone too?

How would you respond?

————-

VMO Business Card

 

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Narrative from a teacher evaluation

Assistant Directing, Classroom Teacher, Personal experience, Teaching, Teaching Music, Technology in the Classroom /

evaluationI was looking for something else and stumbled across this…. the narrative portion of a teacher eval on me about a year after they tried to pink-slip me. It was likely a scheduled observation and one of those times you find out what students think of you — because they can make it go really well or horribly wrong. Not sure why they insert the name so often. I find that distracting. Apparently, this was early as we were learning the piece, “Africa: Ceremony, Song, and Ritual”. I should point out that the artifacts passed around and the email read came from David’s summer studies in Ghana.

VIII. NARRATIVE (March 2007)

As I entered Mr. Gardner’s class, I immediately noticed the projector displaying announcements. Specifically, the following were scrolling: Leadership Truths, Characteristics of Quality, Birthdays, and the agenda for each day of the week. In addition, Mr. Gardner used the speakers in the band room to play audio of the African piece that has been the focus of instruction. When the bell rang, Mr. Gardner turned on the lights; students immediately became quiet. Mr. Gardner began to lead students in a warm-up activity. He used the projector during this time. Mr. Gardner’s band room is orderly and conducive to learning. During the last warm-up exercise, Mr. Gardner requested that a senior conduct. Next, Mr. Gardner assigned the following exercise: students were to submit five suggestions that could improve the African piece. He allowed students to make suggestions regarding his performance, as well. Next, Mr. Gardner shared some African artifacts with students. They passed the artifacts around the room while Mr. Gardner read aloud an email message from a study-abroad student in Africa. Students were very attentive during this time. Next, the band started performing the piece; this piece is relatively new to the students. Mr. Gardner balanced praise with constructive criticism. Mr. Gardner transitioned into a rhythm exercise. He allowed students to choose the object they were to use to demonstrate rhythm. Students enjoyed the exercise. Mr. Gardner uses modeling to support his direct instruction. It should be noted that when there are students talking during Mr. Gardner’s direct instruction, other students remind those who are talking to be quiet. Mr. Gardner led students again through the piece. At the end of the period, students were quiet and attentive during announcements. Mr. Gardner praised students as they left, and he reminded them to submit the “suggestion sheet.”
Other good points will be listed below.
1. Mr. Gardner’s class is engaging. Students enjoy the learning environment and are
clearly motivated by the instruction and varied strategies.
2. Mr. Gardner has a passion for teaching that translates into excitement for the students.
Suggestions I would make will be listed below.
1. None at this time.

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