Ideas, People, and Things-A life musing

These are the three things people can talk about and today I had a revelation. The reason I hate small talk (things) is because I never talk about things. Catch-up is always talking about people and while interesting and I care about my loved ones, this allows for finite conversation, only to hear what's new with someone, and then what? It's this third category-ideas-where I enjoy the most and realized it's because of this category that I can have a meaningful, impacting, or memorable conversation with people I barely know or whom I have just met. The people I really click with are in this last category. It's the reason I can be anywhere and make friends without a ten year history and the reason why I can catch up with friends in a jiffy. It's also the reason I can sometimes feel bored playing catch-up; it's not my area of topicking.

I've also realized how incredibly hard it is for me to do nothing. A day where I bake, go on a hike, get my hair cut, and see a friend, isn't enough for me. I enjoyed all these things, especially the nice weather!, but I feel like multiple hours were spent doing what a lot of people enjoy doing: nothing. How am I such a lifeaholic? I think that is the answer. Because I am addicted to living life I want things to happen all the time and in a field like Sistema it does. When it doesn't, I feel like there is a void and I SHOULD be doing something, perhaps the reason is as simple as that's what I'm used to doing, and perhaps there is merit in always wanting life in the fullest sense of the word.

I also forget how much I love food until I come home. I have a habit (probably a bad one) of sampling the smorgasbord of food at our house. I need to taste every flavor all at once and it almost always hits in the evening, after metabolism slows down. It's so bizarre but today when I went to try a processed chip/cracker, I actually opted for the apple! A dietary trend I've noticed in my lifetime is if I don't have something for awhile, after going through withdrawal, I don't like it anymore. This started with Dr. Pepper when I gave it up in 8th grade for Lent, then candy (AMerican), then salami and burgers in TZ, and now chips and creamy cheeses. My body actually prefers healthy foods (not to mention can't eat the other stuff)!

Lastly, I'm still struggling with the consumerism attitude towards Christmas in America. The only reason people originally gave gifts was because it was a birthday. Now it's turned into the purpose and I'm a grinch if I don't participate. Why isn't sacrificing productivity at work and valuing and spending time with loved ones and eating a good meal sufficient? I certainly don't need any more material items. If I were traveling, it'd be understood I don't give gifts, but living here, it's an expectation, one that is usually unspoken. I'll cook you a dinner or spend time doing something together, is that okay? Yes part of this is me being a budget, but not wholly. I think even if I weren't on a budget (ha, that'll be the day), I'd conserve the money and spend it on something worthwhile. Yes I am calling your present unworthy.

Whirlwind over, Phase III begins

I had yet another enlightening evening speaking to Jonathan Govias who I abbreviate as JG. We talked about a lot including the idea of facilitation vs. teaching, which he showed us a clip of him doing in Brazil and started out with a model of competence and eventually worked in each part of the orchestra, to the point where after 25-30 mins. he was only conducting cutoffs. It meant he could go back to Boston and they could play on their own. THIS is what we should be inspiring in our students. How do students learn? Observation, imitation, repetition. That's how a child learns. Someone also made a good point. Sistema never claimed to be kid-centric. We never established that as a tenet and if we thought it was implicit or assumed, well you know what they say about assumptions...Is this a tenet we all agree on? Because teaching majorly, continues to be teacher-centric.

After successful residency presentations (Yay Tony's public speaking class!), we've started having evaluation/assessment/research conversations and I heard a great tool: the utilization model, creating assessment from an organization's values, not their mission statement, and certainly not their programming. By doing so, an org creates intentional results instead of residual ones. Again something that makes so much sense, but isn't just there. Problem is, does ES have a consensus on national values?

 JG also said something very interesting about Sophie his 2 yr old daughter and literacy/education. It is essential to read because he wants her to be able to access any existing knowledge in any form and make new thoughts on them. That is what education should be, is it not? Especially in this day and age, we talk so much, we watch so much, we sometimes listen, but how often do we read? Not too much for the average person anyway. Every time I enter a plane (which seems to be at least monthly at this point!) and I sit down next to a child, they are not sleeping, they are not reading or drawing; rather they are playing Angry Birds on an ipad. When the flight attendant mandated all electronics must be shut off, the dad purchased a video for the kid on the tv, and when we reached 10,000 feet the iPad was resumed. Aside from not understanding the greatness of Angry Birds, we are incredibly hindering this new generation of children if they never read except when forced to in school, and the absence of activities like coloring or drawing stifle the child's creativity/imagination. Everything is becoming technology-driven and thought, which means innovation and creativity are being relegated to optional and our children will only view problems logically (a program to say the least). Without creativity, innovation, and new ideas, how are we not emotional robots merely using technology?

We've also learned a lot about group dynamic this week. I never studied psychology so while it isn't common sense, it's incredibly self-explanatory and easy to grasp and fascinating! If we treat any group discussion like an ensemble keeping the objective/end goal in mind, we can be a lot more productive.

An Urgent Calling to Anyone Who Cares About Education: Discrimination Is Anything But Dead

I learned this last year in Tanzania when I was reversely discriminized against, assuming since I was white, I had money, but that pales in comparison to what I heard yesterday, something that absolutely implored me and made me seething. Carver Elementary, the school where Soundscapes is located, just lost their accreditation and is now lowering their standardized test passing rates according to race. That’s right ladies and gentleman, the students are assessed on if they pass/fail by the color of their skin (ARE WE NOT IN 20!2?!?!?!!?!?)

If that doesn’t exacerbate the reasons why standardized tests should cease immediately! Standardized tests are a horrible way to assess children. Not only do they only cater to one learning style, only assess one type of learning, don’t account for students who don’t test well, nor are evaluated for the least important audience (someone that is not in the classroom), they also require schools to not care about the student’s learning and do anything including preposterous motions like the one above, to continue receiving federal funding. This is at a school where a high majority of the teachers and principal are African Americans themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have even one inkling of pride, HOW THE HELL can you belittle your race to a 32%?!?!?! You may as well How can you ay poor people and people who speak more than one language (which I assure you the people who passed this measure do not!) don’t have the same capacity as students born into more affluent and white families?! I don’t usually swear on this blog to keep a professional tone, but that is absolute BULL SHIT!

In order to make more children pass, they are lowering standardized test passing rates to match the student’s race/economic status. Asians must receive an 82% to pass, whites 68%, and African Americans, impoverished, special needs, and English as a second language students, 32%. 32%...Let me remind you that is half of an F and that is a 50% difference between Asians and the lowest category. Aside from the ostentatious discrimination and pejorative behavior being exhibited,  if the goal is to increase academic achievement, justify how lowering expectations will help. All that is doing is reinforcing the entrenched poverty and hierarchy of society, discouraging belief in self, and reversing the civil rights for which our country strived! It is not bettering anyone, in any capacity of the word, which call me a lunatic, I thought was the goal of education!!!!!!!!!!!

We’ve discussed motivation and engagement being the essential components to academic success. If you remove the reason for drive, motivation, AND excellence, especially from an early age of 3^rd grade when these tests begin, children will not strive to work hard, and issues like high school dropout will continue to increase, college will be unattainable, and drugs, teen pregnancies, alcohol, gangs, and crime will pervade.

An even worse part about this measure? Parents are unaware (GO FIGURE!) and this isn’t the only state to have such a measure. Florida, XXX, do too. How is this the first time I’ve heard of this? We need action FAST. While music is an incredibly beneficial tool to increase engagement and motivation along with many other life skills (discipline, self esteem, team work, hard work, etc etc), if we don’t have high expectations for children, there will be severe repercussions.

The Chula Vista School District has been transformed the past seven years from a struggling school to one of recognition and success. The superintendent John Nelson gave me a recipe for academic success:

1)   High expectations

2)   Transparency of data

3)   Professional development for teachers/principal

4)   Culture of accountability

5)   Goal of continuous improvement

6)   Collaboration between teachers/administration

A common theme resonates in the above: Improving the learners by working together, accepting where they are currently, and holding each other accountable to improve. Virginia isn’t meeting ANY of those. If those of us are truly concerned about Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) and are worried about China surpassing us (if it hasn’t already), how is lowering expectations going to achieve this? Comments welcome.

Residency Part V: Visit to the 2nd US Sistema-Inspired site

It is true unless someone can prove me wrong. Soundscapes has been going since fall 2009! (And I couldn't think of a creative title)

I just finished a 3.5 hr project of researching the other N Minneapolis afterschool programs and to my surprise, there were many more than I imagined, especially focusing on mentoring and youth development. It made me really excited for the potential of ACME having so many new partnerships and me being the one creating those..baby steps though. I glanced at the calendar upon return to Boston and it is chalk-full!

Soundscapes has been a lot of new experiences including teaching my first strings sectional, being the teacher who gets everyone quiet (!!!), woofing a child (praising incessantly), helping instruments I don't know how to play, relating cells in Excel, putting together media kits, and learning how to work a Brothers' copy machine (ha!). It has been really interesting to compare the behaviors and environment of a pre-dominantly African-American school rather than Latinos as it was in CA. They are unique in that they have hired a behavior specialist to help rein in the children due to the racial difference in discipline/attitude. Much tougher kids, but watching their 4.5 hour rehearsal yesterday and seeing the kids pushed to their absolute maximum, some breaking, but overcoming it, was amazing and incredibly rewarding. They're also unique in that much of their teaching staff is on the older end of the spectrum so it has been interesting to watch the different personalities/backgrounds, teaching styles, and Southern accents (note: comments are always funnier with a southern drawl. Ex: "My ol' Chihuahua woke me out of beyd at 1:20 in the morning.") if I may comment ;p.

I have noticed that "Lorrie Heagy" repertoire and techniques that have been incredibly universal are praising children who are doing good behavior in hopes of correcting those who aren't, acknowledging quiet hands, and making it relevant to them. Two that I think could be more prevalent are movement and the idea of levels/bowing or some type of achievement mechanism.

Soundscapes has been so transparent and honest with me and I've had a lot of wonderful discussions, and organically too. I'm not a constant scribe (for once!). I met with a Kiwanis member (If you are a Sistema leader, look up this in your local community, they're a volunteer organization all about helping children) who is conducting and creating the assessment for the Soundscapes kids. Really excited to have the final report of that! The only program I have seen that has even calculated standard deviation!

On a non-El Sistema note, I'm incredibly grateful I know how to drive stick because it's allowed me access to a car. Public transport here is worse than LA (granted it's not a metropolis..)! I went to Williamsburg on Election Day afternoon and loved it! I want to go back and spend the whole day listening to the old English, reading signs like poft office, and seeing all the colonial architecture and costumed colonial townspeople. I owned the American Girl Felicity growing up and always wished I could live during this era if I were to time travel (though the Victorian era is a toss-up). Aside from the cold, it was so beautiful with the leaves a bright red foliage, and the crisp, cool air (if only I had had warm cider). The Colonial Parkway, the drive to get there, was just as beautiful with meandering turns, lakes surrounded by the fall foliage, and just a very picturesque traverse. I briefly saw Jamestown, but didn't have the desire to stand outside for another 2.5 hrs so I'll have to see the original settlement next time (and bring my National Parks Passport as I was unaware this was one. Note: If there is ANY possibility, I need my passport, from now I am traveling with it. I had quite a lot of hassle with this, but found out yesterday that my passport after arriving at an incorrect address had been safely returned whew.

It was also an eventful week because of the election. The program coordinator here has been incredibly gracious in letting me invade on his social life so I got to hang with his friends and drink and be merry with grapes, brownies, crackers and cheese. We made it through Obama's acceptance speech at 2 am. And I am very proud of my home state and being the only one to reject the voter ID law and gay marriage amendment, but I promise not to go all political on you.

One last day of a fundraising, ED/founder, and board meeting followed by a Virginia Symphony concert of Beethoven 7 (the second one this week!) and hopefully one last night on the town. Now that it's finally beautiful weather outside (it reached almost 60˚) I'm about to return to snow, but I am excited to return! I miss my fellow fellows and being in my own space and the constant going-ons that is Boston. Though people have been nothing but incredibly hospitable and generous and I could not have asked for better hosts. Thank you to all!!!

Residency Part IV: CA to VA

My last week in CA was spent observing VYMA and ICAN in Santa Barbara, which included a meeting with Erik Holmgren about MAT program at a small Christian college. It got me so excited to realize what possibilities universities bring. It also raised an issue that I had seen earlier that day in a job description: the idea of doing El Sistema with a religious institution. The mission aligns, but the objective is different "to do it for the glory of God" vs "to manifest social change and build stronger communities." Of course a Christian university or church is just a space, but aren't we being exclusive or at least prejudice when we host things at a place that is incredibly codified and exclusive even if it is "open to all"? Food for thought. Again, I welcome comments.

Adam, the program director at ICAN, added to Dalouge's "redirecting allocation of resources", the fact of reprioritizing and the added benefit of having the same teacher with the kids consecutive years instead of the mere 9 month period a teacher receives during the school year.

 Santa Barbara was gorgeous as everyone says and I got some great teaching tool ideas as well as getting to see not just a singing class, but an actual choir! I spent my Halloween going for a jog, seeing the Mission, oogling at all the costumes, and then sipping wine, eating hors'd'ouvres on the rooftop of the fancy hotel in town watching the sunset-first and only in CA, pretty sad considering I was there two weeks!) ICAN kids and Thriller dancers perform. Pretty spectacular!

 I then had a long conversation about sustainability with Margaret Martin and using profit group lessons to help pay for the kids who couldn't afford it and at the same time be employing teachers and bringing together communities-reminded me a lot of Tanzania, but again another way I could put Z's Keys back in business...Seems an ingenious idea to me! This field never stops finding new ways to utilize ME as ME.

The flight to get here was literally the worst (and I've flown A LOT!) with four screaming babies, tired, hungry, thirsty Sara, a dead laptop (after working on the San Diego report that is now over 16 pages!), and my first migraine headache ever (that's what I imagine it was anyway as I don't know anything else that is that painful, that pressurized, and that centralized in one location-my left eyebrow bone) but a nice woman from VA gave me some homemade chocolate claiming it would help and upon arrival despite the significant drop in temperature, I was greeted with a warm Rey and seafood dinner to boot!

I'm now in Newport News, VA with Soundscapes.  I love their name and their tag is "Changing how the future sounds." Soundscapes is off the radar, despite the fact they're one of the oldest ES-inspired programs (I think 2nd after Orchkids since Oct 2009) and they launched in under 5 months! I watched every instrument family, choir, and orchestra today along with a delicious Indian lunch and meeting about their brochure, along with helping for a bibliography for a STEM->STEAM (Science Technology Engineering (ARTS) Math) grant for which they're applying from the National Science Foundation, and the open house I am planning taking place next Thurs. The woman I am staying with is a local music teacher and incredibly generous, but I'm thankful to be exploring the more "hip" part of town tomorrow, though I found out I am by the country's second largest park and it is autumn all over again so definitely checking that out! I'm teaching my first-ever strings class on Mon. where we will definitely be working on pizza hand and intonation. It will be a good experience for me, a chance to practice my Lorrie Heagy skills, and a chance for me to assure myself I know enough about strings to do so and get a musical outcome since I have the kids who already know how to play.

They have a unique curriculum here of project-based learning starting by making their own instruments (not just violins but a model from each instrument family! we're making box guitars next week), choir, bucket band where they learn how to read rhythms, recorders, and the paper orchestra. The second year they do children's choir with two/three parts, choose their instrument which they list their three favorites and the teachers choose which instrument best suits them, and begin note reading and playing instruments. The third year performs often, has choir, and orchestra. Lots going on and this is only day one! I will certainly be ready for Boston come next Saturday!