Goober Music Teachers
March 7, 2012What are they saying?
Goober Music Teachers is the name that Waynflete School Choral Director Jarika Olberg and York High School Choral Director Rob Westerberg gave their blog that they started in November 2011. Each of them write posts and sometimes one starts the post and the other responds to what was included. It is a great way to build knowledge, think more deeply about teaching practices, and collaborate on ideas. And what a great way for ongoing professional development!
Recently Rob wrote a post called the dirty word which is all about assessment and the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative. The post starts with this…
Assessment. In the Arts. In Music. Could there be anything worse? I mean, come on… squelching creativity? Interfering with students’ sheer love of the art? How about the time it takes from class time to actually DO assessments? And how in the world do you assess aesthetics?After all, if the group sounds great, isn’t that what really counts? When the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative decided to run a statewide Arts Assessment Conference in the Fall of 2011, some of the discussion centered around what in the world to call it because, it was pointed out, “if we call it an ‘assessment’ conference, no one will want to come!” No doubt about it: assessment is a dirty word.
Or is it?
If you’d like to read more of Rob’s post on this topic you can find it at http://goobermusicteachers.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/the-dirty-word/
If you’d like to read other posts that Rob and Jarika have written you can go to their Goober Music Teachers blog at http://goobermusicteachers.wordpress.com/
Rob,
Thanks for your post. For many of us who are “arts educators”, your blog post recounted our own personal journeys with assessment. Some of us started out thinking that “assessment” was a dirty word and have had a learning curve along the way. It has been my experience, having worked statewide with arts teachers, that people are all over the map with their own understanding and implementation of standards and assessments. That’s why the graduate courses (offered through the New England Institute for Teacher Education) are designed to be inquiry-based, allowing teachers to progress from wherever they are in their own learning and practice. And, as you know, that’s why there are many components to the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative: so that we can reach as many educators as we can, where they are.
We also know that the arts challenge us all, as educators, to balance our teaching with high expectations while nurturing a love and passion for them; by encouraging creativity and ownership while simultaneously raising the bar for kids to meet standards in their knowledge and skills. Visual art, music, theater and dance teachers “get” the meaning of the old proverb – let’s not lose sight of the forest for the trees.
Finally, we are aware that there are many arts educators out there who are teaching with best practices in standards-based teaching and learning and are doing their very best to juggle limited resources, time, and schedules to do so, because they know how beneficial it is to students. We applaud and encourage those teachers, and we’ve recognized many of them through our Teacher Leaders, through stories through Argy’s blog, and in a myriad of other ways. This is an exciting time for arts education. It’s time to celebrate, collaborate and continue to educate… and grow… and learn….
Catherine
Rob’s post, combined with recent exchanges with elementary ARTS teachers, has brought me back in time (early 1970’s) to when I started the ARTS program in Jay, Maine. I saw 700 students a week, and never really even thought beyond “S” for satisfactory and “U” for … well, I think you know.
Why assessments? I truly believe that assessments can and should drive both instruction and curriculum through their direct connection to students and the structure of the learning environment.
I’ve seen ARTS education grow enormously in the State of Maine since, with new ARTS programs in schools that had never had them and the inclusion of an ARTS credit as a graduation requirement for all High Schools. Some great work has been done, schools all over our state recognize and celebrate the ARTS in numerous ways, and there are many schools that are well funded and supported in the ARTS.
Classroom teachers in Maine had input into the P.E.I.’s (formerly MLR’s) and have used them as guideposts for their teaching for more than a decade now, but there there is also a new resource for teaching that has blossomed in recent years and enabled connections never before possible – technology. The World Wide Web went beyond text and became visual shortly after it’s birth, but it has been decades in reaching the point to where it can affect education, all education, profoundly. We are on a brink, and unless we embrace and utilize this game changing resource, educators will struggle for years with issues that can and should be resolved much sooner than later.
I’ve heard frequently lately the phrase “we need to work smarter, not just harder”, and I can’t help but think that many practical solutions at a “grassroots” teacher level are just around the corner, we simply need to communicate and work together to achieve them!
Well said Catherine and charlieart. We have all faced that question – how to assess responsibly, realistically, and effectively. Rob said it so well – so many think assessment is a dirty word and that is so unfortunate because assessment does tie it all together. If the arts are to be taken seriously, arts teachers need to talk the talk and walk the walk. Yes, we offer something unique and special and necessary but not everyone knows it. We shouldn’t keep it a secret. We do need to continue to work to be on a par with other content areas in discussions with administration and in advocating for our programs in the school and community. Rob’s blog stated it all so well.
TRUST
We can’t have honest assessments without it.
There is RUST in TRUST…………..
It needs to be worked out……there can be lots of screeching and sometimes busted parts need to be replaced before the oil penetrates. My tune-up was finding a way to participate in the Arts Assessment Initiative. As a student in the Bangor graduate class with Catherine Ring, I am active in implementing the language and culture of valid assessments while being a part of something statewide that welcomes colleagues from Eliot to Lille; and Eastport to Gilead. This tune-up is improving my teaching and student growth while leading way to investigations that reveal questions……..questions similar to the ones that Rob poses.
Hmmmmmm…..US in TRUST?
Some of you are aware of legislation to be discussed this week concerning the Maine State teacher evaluation process. I am trusting our legislators to value that fair, honest teacher assessments must be performed by highly trained, professional administrators that are fluent and collegial in evaluating teaching and learning in Maine……….. and that teachers have the right to “due process”.
I am also trusting teachers to value that fair, honest student assessments are performed by highly trained, professional administrators (teachers) that are fluent and collegial in evaluating teaching and learning in Maine……and that STUDENTS have the right to “due process”………the right to question – the right to be a part of the process.
Honest assessments for all by highly trained professionals – Maine deserves the best.
I TRUST Charlie, Kal, Jennie, Jeff, Shalimar, Rob, Catherine, Argy and others involved in the Initiative.
I TRUST my mentors.
I TRUST US……..and will continue to pose questions…….and learn…….and struggle……and turn to my mentors.
Thank you Charlie for taking the time and articulating your perspective from the beginning of your teaching career right on up to and including the 21st century. As you are well aware since you’ve taken on a leadership role in the assessment initiative, there is a responsibility for everyone in this work. We are recognizing best practices and working towards providing the resources for easy access by all arts educators through the use of technology. Please check out the Maine Department of Education Arts Assessment page to learn what is available for opportunities at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/vpa/assessment.html
Thank you Kal for joining the conversation. Your wisdom, experience, and leadership is a great example of how we need to share, collaborate, and have meaningful conversations. Your work with Art in the Heart and in the Bangor School district are fine examples of that commitment to teaching and learning!
I know you’ve embraced a notion that is somewhat “new” to the educational conversation Suzanne and that is ongoing, continuous learning. As technology and the changing world impact the classroom, as the teacher moves from being the diseminator of knowledge to the ‘guide on the side’ we need to be mindful that we most likely will never get to the ‘ideal’ but as you say “continue to post questions…. and learn!” Onward we go, leaning and trusting each other to insure that the students are at the heart of our actions as educators. Thanks for your comment Suzanne!