Another Arts Teacher’s Story: Susan Jones

This is the 32nd in a series of blog posts telling arts teacher’s stories. The first 19 were told last year by the phase I Maine Arts Assessment Initiative teacher leaders. The series continues with the stories from the phase II teacher leaders. These posts contain a set of questions to provide the opportunity for you to read educators stories and to learn from others.

Susan M. Jones has been teaching for 19 years in MSAD/RSU 40 at Medomak Valley High School. Her present teaching responsibilities include 25 students in chorus, 17 students in theatre, and 65 students in history. Before teaching at MVHS she was in neighboring MSAD 50 for 2 years.
She started teaching music, K-12; general, vocal, instrumental for about 8 years,  and then expanded to Social Studies around 1999. Susan’s purpose was her desire to teach Music History, and learned that she could only do that with a certificate in Social Studies. So she got temporary certification and proudly showed her principal who informed her that someone else would be teaching Music History, but could she “please teach one class of World History?” The pay-off would be that she would only teach in one building all day. Fourteen years later she still hasn’t taught Music History. In 2004 she taught history full time. After four years, Susan was put back into part-Fine Arts and part-Social Studies, and then in 2011, Intro to Theatre class was added to her teaching load.

The main responsibilities of Susan’s classes are to prepare students for college (history classes); to prepare and perform choral pieces and to bring each student’s vocal ability to a higher plane (chorus); and to teach the basics of acting and improvisational theatre to her theatre students.

What do you like best about being an arts educator?

1. The first is that I often get to see my students for more than one class; I get to see the end product of the growth they have achieved. I feel sorry for classroom teachers that only have the students for a year or for only a semester because they do not get to build the relationship that arts teachers have.
2. We allow kids to have fun, to be creative in a controlled environment, but to have that fun, they have to be engaged. In Theatre class, they can be silly when we play the games, and when we are reading scripts, they have to be totally engaged so they don’t miss their lines when they come up.  The teamwork displayed in Theatre (and Music and Dance!) is something rarely discussed but is much more vital than that experienced on a playing field.  We don’t have subs on the bench just waiting to take over for someone who is injured or needs a rest!

Three keys to a successful visual and performing arts education:

1. Enthusiastic, energetic, knowledgeable teachers
2. Enthusiastic administrative support from administrators
3. Parental & community support

How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?

I have found assessment to be helpful in my Theatre classroom by developing a rubric that students can see and use themselves. I used the rubric I created this past spring to assess a short monologue by the students. First, I filmed the students, then played back their pieces for the class to see (they had performed in front of the class, so it wasn’t anything new), and each student had to grade themselves. I also graded them, and found that most were much tougher on themselves than I was! The rubric gave us a good jumping-off point to discuss what made a good monologue and what they could do to make it even better. It was gratifying to hear the students use the vocabulary and language of theatre to explain their thoughts.

What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the arts assessment initiative?

One of the benefits of becoming involved in the arts assessment is the network of people I’ve met who are so willing to help answer questions and give suggestions and advice. I really feel that I could talk to any one of this group and they would honestly and kindly give of their time to help me…and I would do my best to do the same!

What are you most proud of in your career?

The thing I am most proud of in my career are the students who have returned to say they’ve done or tried something they never would have if it hadn’t been for what they learned in (fill in the blank:  Chorus, Theatre, History, etc.). I have had students who have become music teachers and majored in history; so far I haven’t had any students who have gone on to continue with Theatre because I haven’t taught it long enough – most are still in high school!  I do have two students this semester who are seniors, and one is majoring in Theatre and the other is minoring in it – I can’t wait to talk with them as they go through college! One student I had who took Chorus a number of years ago, well, singing wasn’t her strong suit, but she didn’t mind being in with the whole mix of people and her lack of pitch-matching wasn’t noticeable.  She returned to visit after her sophomore year in college and proclaimed that she had taken part in a community sing-a-long of the Messiah, and that she would never have had the nerve to even try it if we hadn’t sung two pieces from the Messiah when she was in high school. She was so excited, and I was excited for her!

What gets in the way of being a better teacher or doing a better job as a teacher?

Scheduling is probably the biggest thing that gets in the way of me doing my job. In a small district, it’s hard to get the number of people who want to be in your classes to actually have room to be there. Then guidance counselors and administrators who throw up their hands and say, “Sorry, I can’t do anything about it.”  I think they need some creativity in their lives!

What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?

I was able to get my Master’s Degree through a lot of hard work and determination! I figured if I was going to have to take courses anyway to keep my certification, I might as well have a purpose, so I applied for the program, took all the tests and was admitted. I figured I’d let my school district pay my tuition. Then before I’d even taken one class, I lost my job. Well, I paid for that one class, and through a community scholarship, I kept taking one class at a time.  When I started, my oldest child was 5, the next was 3, and the youngest was 1. For three years, I was unable to get a job, so we were living off my husband’s salary with no health insurance and three kids. And I was taking college classes which often met every day for two weeks at a time in Orono, which meant I had to drive back and forth every  day, plus have a babysitter from 7 am – 6 pm, which we couldn’t afford. I went to the local high school and asked if there were any young ladies who needed tutoring in Algebra and I was able to secure free babysitting by offering free tutoring – a win/win situation! People often think getting a master’s is something that can be done in a couple years while you are working, and it can be done…but that’s not the way I did it!

Look into your crystal ball: what advice would you give to teachers?

I would advise teachers to advocate for themselves, have the absolute best intentions for their students in mind, and be open to learning how to be the best teacher you can be. Lifelong learning is the absolute key to teaching!

If you were given a $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?

I would use the $500,000 to pay off some bills, and put away the rest for those “rainy days” that will come – my parents are getting older, as we all are, and we may need to help them.  Oh, and travel – I would love to travel more! I want to play djembes in Africa, go to the Shakespeare Festival in Edinburgh, learn Russian dancing in Moscow…it’s endless!

Imagine you are 94 years old. You’re looking back. Do you have any regrets?

Yes, I have regrets. I really don’t know that anyone shouldn’t have them. Mostly the regrets revolve around accidentally hurting people. I wouldn’t have said certain things in an off-hand manner, or I would have listened more closely before jumping in. Those may sound like “little things”, not on the level of “I wish had had more courage to take that position”, but those are the things that bother me after years and years, not the major life-moments.

Thank you Susan for sharing your story!

Accountability

It was so great to visit with so many Maine music educators at the MMEA conference at University of Maine in Gorham. The deep conversations around teaching and learning often enter into the conversation and I love having the opportunity to learn from other educators thinking. Rob Westerberg and I have had many many conversations on this topic over the several years that I’ve known him. This blog post was an outcome of one of the conversations and it would be great to hear what you have to say on the topic. Please don’t hesitate to contact Rob at rwesterberg@yorkschools.org who teaches music at York High School or me at Argy Nestor at argy.nestor@maine.gov or post a comment at the end of this blog post.

Rob with colleague York High School music educator Dan Sovetsky. (Those of you who know Dan thought he was shorter than Rob. Well, surprise!

The educational landscape in the United States as a whole, and Maine in particular, has gone through significant transformation since the publication of the landmark document, A Nation At Risk in 1983. The report took everyone by storm, documenting steep declines in SAT scores in the years between 1963 and 1980. More alarming, this period (following the Soviet launching of Sputnik) was the one in which we were supposed to making progress! A Nation At Risk reported out that we were not only failing to do so, we were in fact receding.

And wow have times changed since then. You know it and so do I. No Child Left Behind was only one of the more recent shots across our bow.

But here’s my real concern. All the incremental yet seismic changes that have occurred in the 30 years since A Nation At Risk was published have been founded on one basic, simple fundamental premise: the belief that all students can learn and excel, and the subsequent understanding that we must be held accountable for their doing so… and I wonder sometimes if we as arts educators as a whole have bought into this.

Do we believe “all” students can learn and excel, or do we believe just the talented ones can to any useful degree? Do we believe “all” students should be enrolled in visual art courses, or just those who are interested in them? Do we believe music must be for all students or just for some… and is your answer to this question altered by the age group you’re referring to? Do we believe the foundational components of our programs should be geared toward the higher achieving students or the lower ones?

Here’s another question: what percentage of the student body at your local High School is enrolled in a course in your specific subject area right now? If you’re a Math teacher, the answer is 100%. Social Studies? English? The same. But music teachers get all excited if the answer for them is even close to 20%. How is this being held accountable for educating “all” students? And is this number even close to 100% for your school district’s 7th graders? 5th graders? 1st graders? Do you even KNOW?

Maybe the answer lies in the fact that we do not have a graduation requirement in place for each individual arts subject area and we hide behind that as if to say, “it’s not my fault if I don’t get to reach every kid”. Well, it’s okay for us to feign mock disgust at this, but what efforts have we made – individually and collectively – to establish one since 1983? Have we done ANYTHING about this over the last 30 years? Do you/we not have one because you/we attempted to establish one and failed, or because you/we never attempted to implement one and succeeded? And is this vacuum the cause of a reverse domino effect at the middle school and elementary school levels, both in limited course offerings and in limited face time?

We decry that the arts are important, but sometimes it seems that all we hear in response is lip service. I can’t say I’m surprised when this happens. I’ve rarely ever met someone who didn’t believe the arts weren’t “important”. But what they actually mean by that could be virtually anything. Consequently, that word is not part of my vocabulary anymore. Instead, I only use the word that kept getting referred to when we revised the Maine Learning Results 7 years ago: “essential”. And by essential, I refer to the same premise as the other subject areas: “essential… for every student”.

When evaluating schools, it would be convenient to test only those who excel in specific subject areas. (apparently there are entire countries that agree with me on this, because in practice that is exactly what they do… I’ll save that rant for another day). Yet this is exactly what we have been guilty of in the visual and performing arts. We don’t have to be bothered with the entire student population, just those who choose to be with us. And out of those we do work with, we beg out of the testing/assessment piece by saying, “well, gee, we’re different”. One of the most condescending statements ever made to me was by my Principal in my first job after I got the School Board to agree to a graduation requirement specifically for music: “Are you sure you want to do this… after all, now you’ll have to deal with ALL the students!”. But I think he was right. DO we want to teach all the students, even through High School? Or are we content to hide behind a belief that not all kids can learn… or only the talented/interested deserve the best education… or that, “gee, we’re different”… or, “well, you know, it’s a nice idea but there’s nothing I can do about it”?

Another Arts Teacher’s Story: Bonnie Atkinson

This is the 30th in a series of blog posts telling arts teacher’s stories. The first 19 were told last year by the phase I Maine Arts Assessment Initiative teacher leaders. The series continues with the stories from the phase II teacher leaders. These posts contain a set of questions to provide the opportunity for you to read educators stories and to learn from others.

Bonnie Atkinson has been teaching Grades 3-12 Instrumental Music in the Machias School System for 6 years.  She began teaching K-12 Music in 1998 at Lubec Consolidated School, then moved to the Machias School System in 2000 as the K-12 Choral Music Director and Elementary General Music Specialist. She had a brief stint as an adjunct teacher at the University of Maine Machias for piano and woodwind students, then left teaching from 2003 – 2007 to start a family. Currently in Machias, she works with 300 students a week in a variety of general music classes, lessons and group rehearsals.

What do you like best about being an music educator?

I enjoyed all of the training that I received at the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY and the University of Maine in Orono. The process of learning all of the instrumental and vocal pedagogy and participating in such high-quality performing ensembles enriched my life through my late teens and early twenties.

I love being a music teacher for the deep connections that my students make with other students and with me. I love the ownership that my students have of their ensembles and the enrichment that the music program brings to the little coastal town we live in.

What do you believe are three keys to ANY successful visual and performing arts education?

1. Documenting success (on bulletin boards, in newspapers, any where you can!)
2. A teacher that loves with their job.
3. An atmosphere of safety, excitement, exploration and creativity.

How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?

Assessment gets my finger on the pulse of what each and every student can do and where they need to go next. In my Instrumental Music program, having students responsible for their own weekly assignment recordings on Noteshare has turned the tables on who is doing the data collection portion of assessment and has them practicing and improving far greater than any other technique I have found.

What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the arts assessment initiative?

The commitment to the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative has been a wonderful experience.  Because of the workshop I was to present, I found that I could not give up because something was different or hard to do in my classroom or because I was busy with lots of other things. I stretched my wings on using recording technology in my classroom that I learned about during the Summer Session of MAAI. My students and I are reaping the benefits of it.

Professionally, I received 3 credits from Endicott College for my participation in MAAI and writing a reflection paper on that experience.

Personally, the camaraderie and collaborative spirit among the Teacher Leaders is refreshing, enlightening and a group of like-minded colleagues willing to support others.

What are you most proud of in your career?

I am very proud that I followed my heart to teach in Washington County. I have lived in the Machias area for 19 years and I, like most teachers reading this have had many students connect to school through music that really, really needed it. They have come to master their instrument and it makes them shine. My prideful moments come in small bits: a student that finally is able to find that perfect balance of playing in a quartet with confidence, a student opening that “school” trumpet that looks a little beat up to me but looks like gold to them, a rehearsal near to concert time when I can just go sit in the bleachers and listen to my Grades 5/6 Band play through a song without me. So far, I am most proud that I feel like every year “is the best one yet!”

What gets in the way of being a better teacher or doing a better job as a teacher?

I love challenge and I especially love change. I think this helps me to “keep my eye on the prize.” Time, finances, scheduling – all of that are obstacles that all teachers are facing, but I honestly cannot name one thing that is getting in my way right now of being a better teacher. I am still hungry to learn and attend workshops, read professional journals, take courses, check out Music Teacher blogs and advice forums and continue to grow. I have 2 incredibly supportive Principals in the Elementary and High Schools I teach in, as well as amazingly helpful and supportive colleagues in both schools.

What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?

The growth of my performing groups takes a lot of individual contacts with kids and parents, especially those beginning instrumentalists. This takes a large amount of extra energy for phone calling and emailing, but is well worth it. I think that most parents feel comfortable bringing concerns (and praise!) my way because the pathway has already been established.  Making a habit of touching base with 1 or 2 a day (which takes just minutes) over the years I have been teaching has made a huge impact on my program.

Look into your crystal ball: what advice would you give to teachers?

Keep a nice  journal on your desk or in your school bag. Write a few  things in it each day that you are grateful for that happened or something funny that a student said. You will notice the little nice things each day more than you ever had before. When a fourth grade trombone student said to me that he enjoyed the Solo & Ensemble night because his mom let him eat 2 pumpkin frosted whoopie cushions at intermission, I nearly came undone. I could not wait to run to my leather-bound journal during lunch to write it down!

If you were given $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?

My first thought would be to go out and buy a Lamborghini because I have always wanted one since I was 3 years old. However, because this is an Arts Education blog, my obvious second choice would be to do my very best to begin to provide a second music room for our school.  Both I and the Choral Director share one Music Room, she on a cart for Elementary General Music while I have Band rehearsals and large-group lessons and I searching for an empty room for small instrument lessons while she has Chorus rehearsals. I have this perfect vision of a general music classroom full of Orff instruments and a wall-mounted LCD projector and surround-sound speakers and space to move, move, move!  The impact this would have on our already strong music program would be astounding!

Imagine you are 94 years old. You’re looking back. Do you have any regrets?

Making music with kids?  Billions of smiles and zillions of breaths being taken by past students and poured into their instruments for one wonderful common cause: making a joyful noise!  Not a single regret.

 Thank you Bonnie for telling your story!

 

Calling All Arts Teacher Leaders

Professional Development Opportunity

Are you interested in leading phase III of the Maine Arts Education Assessment Initiative as a teacher leader?

Regional VPA Assessment Leader Search

Join us for a GREAT opportunity! The Maine Department of Education invites YOU to be part of Phase III of the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative. We are looking for teachers interested in leading and in taking a close look at assessment in the arts. If you are selected, we will provide professional development and ask that you take what you’ve learned and share it with other educators in your region and beyond.

If interested, please send a completed application to Argy Nestor at argy.nestor@maine.gov no later than Monday, May 13, 2013. Download an application by clicking here: http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/vpa/news.html

August 2011 – Phase 1

OVERALL MAAI PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Create an environment in Maine where assessment in arts education is an integral part of the work all arts educators do to improve student achievement in the arts.

The initiative has been building capacity by training arts educators on the “what” and “how” of arts assessment so they can provide the leadership in Maine through professional development opportunities. The details of the initiative are at http://maineartsassessment.pbworks.com/w/page/28365527/Maine-Arts-Assessment.

OVERALL OBJECTIVES

Devise a statewide plan for assessment in arts education, which includes professional development opportunities, regionally and statewide, to expand on the knowledge and skills of teachers to improve teaching and learning.

• Develop and implement standards-based assessment statewide for Visual and Performing Arts (VPA)
• Continuation of building a team representing all regions of Maine
• Maine conference to roll out/educate arts teachers on use and development of local assessments and the National Core Arts Standards
• Ongoing professional development opportunities

October 2011-Statewide conference

TIMELINE

• Phase I
  • Summer 2011: Eighteen teacher leaders attended summer institute on assessment, leadership, and technology
• 2011-12 School Year
  • October: Teacher leaders presented workshops at statewide arts education conference, USM
  • Arts education assessment webinars for Maine educators facilitated by Rob Westerberg and Catherine Ring – archived
  • Teacher leaders facilitated workshops in regions across Maine
  • February: Reflected on phase I of work and planned phase II
  • Another Arts Teacher’s Story series (19) on Maine Arts Ed blog
  • Arts assessment graduate courses offered by New England Institute for Teacher Education
  

  October 2012-Northport

• Phase II
  • Summer 2012: Summer institute with 35 teacher leaders on assessment, leadership, technology, and creativity
• 2012-13 School Year
  • October: Teacher leaders presented workshops for each other
  • Teacher leaders facilitated workshops in regions across Maine
  • Teacher leaders facilitated 4 workshops at mega-regional workshops at UMF, USM, Easton Schools, Ellsworth High School
  • February: Reflected on phase II of work and planned phase III
  • April: 25 arts educators participated in professional development on Understanding and Implementing Quality Arts Assessment
  • Another Arts Teacher’s Story series on Maine Arts Ed blog
  • Video stories of 4 teacher leaders that demonstrate a standards based arts education classroom
  • Depository work launched providing resources for arts educators
  • Arts assessment graduate courses offered by New England Institute for Teacher Education
  

  February 2012-Bangor

• Phase III
• •  June 25, 26, 27: Summer institute
  • August 13: Teacher Leaders present workshops for each other
  • October 24: Teacher leaders present workshops at statewide arts education conference Arts Education: Leading the Way, Collins Center for the Arts, UMaine
  • Regional and Mega-regional workshops throughout Maine
  • Another Arts Teacher’s Story series on Maine Arts Ed blog
  • Video stories of standards based arts education classroom
  • Continuing Depository work aligning with National Core Arts Standards
  • Arts assessment graduate courses offered by New England Institute for Teacher Education
  

  April 2013-Augusta

Phase I Teacher Leaders who have done a fabulous job starting Maine off with the assessment initiative:

• DANCE EDUCATOR -  MaryEllen Schaper
• MUSIC EDUCATORS
  • ALLYSA ANDERSON – Camden Rockport Middle School, grades 5-8
  • WILLIAM BUZZA – Leavitt Area High School, grades 9-12
  • JEN NASH – Etna-Dixmont, grades PK-8
  • MATTHEW DOIRON, Sanford High School, Sanford, grades 9-12
  • DEB LARGE, Hall-Dale High School, grades 6-12
  • JAKE STURTEVANT, Bonny Eagle High School, grades 9-12
  • ALICE SULLIVAN, Woodland/Princeton, grades K-12
  • SHARI TARLETON, Brunswick Junior High School, grades 6-8

  VISUAL ARTS EDUCATORS

  • SHANNON CAMPBELL, Vinalhaven School, grades K-12
  • LAURA DEVIN, Woolwich Central School, grades K-8
  • JENNIE DRISCOLL, Brunswick High School, grades 9-12
  • AUDREY GRUMBLING, Mildred L. Day School, grades K-8
  • CHARLIE JOHNSON, Mount Desert Island High School, grades 9-12
  • LISA MARIN, Jonesport-Beals High School, grades 9-12
  • LEAH OLSON, Hampden Academy, grades 9-12
  • JEFFREY ORTH, Richmond Middle/High School, grades 6-12
  • SHALIMAR POULIN, Gardiner High School, grades 9-12

  THEATRE EDUCATOR

  • REBECCA WRIGHT, Ellsworth High School, grades 9-12

Phase II Teacher Leaders who continued the fabulous work along with most of the teacher leaders from the first phase who continued:

DANCE EDUCATOR

• CARMEL COLLINS, Lake Region High School

MUSIC EDUCATORS

• ANDREA WOLLSTADT – Biddeford Intermediate School, grades 4 and 5, John F. Kennedy School, grade K
• ANDRIA CHASE – Corinth Schools, grades 4-12
• ASHLEY SMITH – Brunswick High School, grades 9-12
• BONNIE ATKINSON – Machias School District, grades K-5
• DREW ALBERT – Maranacook School District, grades 5-12
• JANE KIRTON – Sanford High School, grades 9-12
• JARIKA OLBERG – Waynflete School, grades 4-12
• MARI-JO HEDMAN – Ft. Fairfield Schools, grades K-12
• SARAH WILLIAMS – Glenburn School, grades 2-8

VISUAL ART EDUCATORS

• BARB WEED – Gray-New Gloucester Middle School, grades 6-8
• DANETTE KERRIGAN – Sacoppee Valley Middle School, grades 6-8
• GLORIA HEWETT – Mount View Middle School, grades 6-8
• LEONE DONOVAN – Messalonskee High School, grades 9-12
• PAM OUELLETTE – Lisbon High School, grades 9-12
• SAMANTHA DAVIS – Sumner Memorial High School, grades 9-12
• SUSAN BEAULIER – Ashland Schools, grades K-12
• SUZANNE SOUTHWORTH – Camden Hills Regional High School, grades 9-12

MAAI Planning Phase 3

Give me your thoughts

Lisa Marin and Chris Milliken presenting “data” from Chris’ graduate research that he collaborated with Lisa on finding.

The Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) has been underway for almost two years. During that time hundreds of Maine arts educators have responded to the invitation to join the journey and participate professional development opportunities throughout Maine. These opportunities have been numerous and provided through various modes and locations.

Opportunities include(d):

• Webinars were available during phase 1 and are still available through archives located at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/vpa/assessment.html#webinars. The archives have meeting plans so you can use them at teacher meetings or individually.
• The state conference on arts assessment was held at USM during October 2011 where over 200 teachers attended.
• Regional workshops were provided by arts teacher leaders during phase 1 and 2 all over the state.
• Mega-regional workshops were held during phase 2 at UMF, USM, Easton Schools, and Ellsworth High School with 240 registered for the 4 events.

Underway:

• Videos are being created in 4 classrooms that will provide a picture of a standards based arts classroom/school. They will be made available at their completion in June.
• The Depository work is ongoing and located at http://mainelearning.net/resources/. Next week arts educators will be coming together to look at “quality in arts education” to help continue with this work. The Depository will be filled with samples of arts education lessons, units, assessment tools, and other resources.

Teacher Leaders Andria Chase and Sarah Williams take a closer look at workshop info with Leadership team member Jeff Beaudry

The teacher leaders, your colleagues – 38 of them, have stepped up and taken on responsibilities of expanding their thinking and providing leadership by creating the workshops. They have contributed in so many positive ways and provided feedback to help determine the steps of the MAAI.

The MAAI is truly a grassroots effort with arts educators leading the way. As we come to the close of phase 2 it is time to look ahead and determine the components of phase 3. If you attended a workshop or another gathering we have your specific feedback from the event that has helped inform the work. At this time if you have ideas or feedback that you’d like to share on what you’d like to see included in Maine Arts Assessment Initiative PLEASE email me at argy.nestor@maine.gov and share your thoughts and ideas. The leadership team is meeting on Thursday, April 18 so please don’t delay with your comments!

Another Teacher’s Story: Gloria Hewett

This is the 25th in a series of blog posts telling arts teacher’s stories. The first 19 were told last year by the phase I Maine Arts Assessment Initiative teacher leaders. The  series continues with the stories from the phase II teacher leaders. These posts contain a set of questions to provide the opportunity for you to read educators stories and to learn from others.

Gloria Hewett has been teaching art for 24 years. For the past 13 years she has taught middle school art at Mount View Middle School in Thorndike. Gloria works with about 380 students during the school year in five, seven week rotations. She has 4 classes a day and sees her students every day for 7 weeks. She has a beautiful, new art room. In Gloria’s words: “It’s the best room I’ve ever had and I’m very happy here.
When I look back at my teaching career I realize how far I’ve journeyed as a person and a teacher. I started out my teaching career in Richford, Vermont, one mile from the Canadian border in a small, poor high school. I had an L shaped room with one tiny window in the back that I could barely fit through if there was an emergency. My room was under the gym and adjacent to the shop on one side and the band room on the other and with no sound proofing. I had daily headaches from no ventilation and the noise. My principal never came to my room to see how I was doing, not even once. I taught there for two years and determined that I needed to go back to school to get my masters degree and for the next two years I studied at the University of Arizona in Tucson.”

What do you like best about being an art educator?

Perhaps the thing I like best about teaching art is being surrounded every day by the energy of students learning about art, in whatever form that takes.  I like thinking that I’m bringing to my rural students an awareness of the possibilities of art within their lives.  I believe that a good teacher is paramount to a successful art education.  I also believe that students have success when they feel honored and respected as individuals.  Administrative support is also primary to the success of an art program and I have that in my district and within my building.

How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?

I have been assessing student work for my entire teaching career although it has changed drastically from my first year as a teacher to the way I assess student work now. My students are involved in creating criteria for their work and they also help to assess their own work. Because students are involved it helps them to understand their learning and their progress more fully. I find it makes my part in the assessment process more comfortable because students are a part of it, it’s no longer me alone who determines their progress and their success.

What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the arts assessment initiative?

By being a part of the Arts Assessment Initiative I have looked more closely at what I do as an art teacher, both how I teach and how I assess. Assessment is not just about assessing but about how to make teaching better for students. I see assessment from the viewpoint of a student much differently now and that has helped me to be a more informed teacher. I’ve also learned much from working with my arts peers and gained a lot of confidence and support as part of the initiative. We, as arts teachers, work in such a bubble sometimes that we forget the bigger picture and working with other arts teachers over this last year has given me new perspective and new energy to continue to grow as a teacher.  It has also given me the impetus to continue to stay current within my field and to try to spread that growth within my own district.

What are you most proud of in your career?

I’m proud of the fact that I am still an energetic and involved teacher, that I create excitement about art for many of my students and that I still love my job and working with students. I believe that in the end it all comes down to the positive impact that we have on students and I believe I still have that. I do find that sometimes scheduling creates problems for me to do my best work.  As teachers we end up working around the needs of the institution and the time frames that drive that institution. We work around lunch and the high school and elementary schedule because we are in one building. We have many factors that need to be taken into account and sometimes it feels as though the schedule is more important than the needs of students.  And time, time is always an issue, probably for all teachers everywhere. Time to meet with colleagues, time to plan, time to reflect, time to help students stay on track, and time to relax.

What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?

I feel that one of the reasons I have such good administrative and community support is because people do recognize my hard work and my true caring for my students and my program. I think people see that I put in a lot of time and effort to make my program successful. If I were to look ahead into the future I would advise young teachers to stay current in their field and to work toward things that benefit all students and not just the gifted few. I would suggest teachers create a good relationship with their administrators and community by having art shows and showing the public what happens in their programs.

If you were given a $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?

If I had lots of money to spend I would create permanent display areas for both two dimensional and three dimensional art within the lobbies of all the schools within my district. I would add an art room to each of the elementary schools in my district so the art teachers didn’t have to teach from a cart. I would add another art teacher to our high school so our students had more choices during the day to take art. I would make it possible for every student in middle school to visit an art museum at least once. I would put chorus and band back into our elementary music programs. I would also add a theater program and a dance program.

If you were given a $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?

I can imagine myself at 94 being just as full of energy and excitement as I am now. I can see myself still making art and even being involved with young people in some capacity. I can see my love of art being a part of my life even at 94, it’s the one thread that has remained constant since I was a little girl and I don’t see that changing. Regret my life and what I’ve done? Never. I will always strive to be the best that I can be, that will never change.

Thank you for sharing your story Gloria!

MAAI Update!

Last 2 weeks!

Windmills at Mars Hills in the distance

It has been a wild and crazy last two weeks for the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI). We’ve had two very full and successful Mega-Regional Workshops. You can read about the workshops that were presented at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/vpa/assessment.html#megaregional. One was held at the Easton Schools on March 22nd with music teacher Pam Kinsey hosting the event. A great big thanks to teacher leaders Sue Beaulier, Mari-Jo Hedman, Alice Sullivan and Samantha Orchard for providing workshops. Along with them we had an integrated workshop with Ann Marie Hutton (MLTI) and Pam and two MLTI workshops with Lindsey Farnham and Ann Marie, Tim Hart and Jim Wells. Thank you to all involved and the 28 visual and performing arts teachers from Aroostook and Washington Counties who participated.

Pam’s students perform for the Mega-regional participants!

Alice’s session

Samantha answers a participants question

On March 29th we had a second Mega-regional workshop at Ellsworth High School with theatre and teacher leader Rebecca Wright hosting the event. Thank you to the MAAI teacher leaders who presented: Andria Chase, Sarah Williams, Jane Snider, Charlie Johnson (who brought colleague Dan Stillman and two students), Suzanne Southworth, Lisa Marin, Chris Milliken, Shannon Westphall, and Bonnie Atkinson. We had two MLTI integrated sessions with Lindsey Farnham and Charlie, Rebecca and Ann Marie. PM MLTI sessions with Lindsey, Ann Marie, Tim and Jim. Our most attended Mega-regional workshop with 80 participants!! YAY for everyone!

Amanda and Jon planning in Rebecca and Ann Marie’s session

Charlie Johnson and students listen to Dan Stillman present

Lisa and Chris present the research findings

Ellsworth High School Show Choir performs at the opening session for participants

Suzanne displays and discusses work from her session with Charlie’s students

In total we’ve had just over 200 participants attend the 4 Mega-regional workshops. If you have feedback about the workshops please email me since we are in the middle of planning Phase 3 of the MAAI. Your comments and ideas are important to us.

Janie in action at Hancock Grammar School

Your feedback lead us to including videotaping 4 arts classrooms in phase 2. The taping is underway and part of why the MAAI has been busy…

On March 27th Debi Lynn Baker and I spent the day in RSU 24 interviewing and videotaping teacher leader elementary art teacher Jane Snider working with a grade 7 class. Janie was awesome along with her students, colleagues and administrators!

On March 28th Debi and I traveled to Charlie Johnson’s school Mount Desert Island High School for the third videotaping. Charlie’s visual art colleagues and students were fabulous articulating the value of the standards based environment at MDIHS.

Dan Stillman poses for class, MDIHS

Debi Lynn will be editing the hours of tapes along with the first one at York High School and Rob Westerberg’s standards based music classroom. We have one more music classroom to tape in May and all four will be complete in June.

LD 1422

Update

This Administrative Letter from the Commissioner of Education might help clarify LD 1422 for you – Proficiency-Based Diploma
ADMIN LETTER RE: LD 1422
 
Implementing LD 1422:  Proficiency-Based Diplomas
 
POLICY CODE: AE

The change to a learner-centered, proficiency-based system of education is one of the most significant changes in education in the last 100 years.  It holds great promise for helping all students graduate career- and college-ready for the 21st century.  The Maine Department of Education has built its strategic plan, Education Evolving, around this principle and we are restructuring our service delivery model to improve our ability to assist districts in accomplishing this shift.

While we at Maine DOE are re-tooling to help local districts, many of you have been working to implement these changes and provide leadership and direction for the rest of the state.  As a result of local implementation efforts, the Department has fielded questions recently regarding the implementation of learner-centered, proficiency-based education and the proficiency-based graduation requirement of LD 1422.  The purpose of this letter is to answer these questions, which include the following:

Are students required to achieve proficiency in all standards in all content areas?

Will the Department require local districts to adopt specific curricula or instructional approaches as part of the Common Core and the proficiency-based diploma requirement?

How does the proficiency-based graduation requirement apply to students with Individual Education Plans under IDEA?

Has the required implementation date for proficiency-based graduation changed?

All standards in all content areas

Maine law, Title 20-A, section 4722-A requires a student graduating after January 1, 2017* to “demonstrate proficiency in meeting state standards in all content areas of the system of learning results established under section 6209.”  The Department of Education interprets this language to mean that students must demonstrate proficiency in all standards in all content areas as set forth in Department Rule Chapter 131 and 132.  For the most part, the manner in which these standards are taught and the method by which proficiency is assessed is a local decision, as described below.

State or local curricula and instructional practices

School districts are required to offer students instruction and educational experiences that provide them the opportunity to achieve and demonstrate proficiency in all content areas of the Maine Learning Results standards.  (see Title 20-A, sections 4711 and 4721).  The role of the Maine Department of Education is to provide resources and technical assistance to support districts in creating curricula and instructional practices to meet the needs of their students.  Decisions regarding curricula and instructional practices are local decisions. The Department will disseminate materials and training on practices that, in the experience and expertise of our staff, constitute “best practices,” though they are not binding on districts.

With regard to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics, for example, the strength of these standards is their unique, integrated structure, and we believe that it is important for districts to implement them in a way that is consistent with their integrated design, and the Department stands ready to provide assistance and support to districts as they undertake this work..

Proficiency-based graduation requirement, students with IEPs

The law regarding proficiency-based graduation provides that a diploma may be awarded to “a child with a disability, as defined in section 7001” if that child achieves proficiency in the same standards as required of other children, “…as specified by the goals and objectives of the child’s individualized education plan…”

The Department interprets this language to mean that an IEP may modify the means by which a student with a disability demonstrates proficiency in the standards, but the IEP does not modify the standards themselves.  The standards and established proficiency levels will be held constant for all students in the awarding of a diploma.

*Implementation date

The law requiring proficiency-based diplomas included a provision requiring the state to provide implementation grants to local school districts, or else to delay the implementation date for such diplomas.  Section 4722-A, subsection 4 requires the implementation grant to equal 1/10th of 1% of a school administrative unit’s total cost of education under Title 20-A, section 15688.

Because the state did not provide implementation grants in the 2012-13 school year, the deadline for implementing the proficiency-based diploma requirement is January 1, 2018.  This means that diplomas awarded on or after January 1, 2018 must be awarded on the basis of the requirements set forth in section 4722-A.

While the deadline is extended, please keep in mind that, in order for students to graduate with proficiency-based diplomas in 2018, they should be provided an opportunity to work in a proficiency-based education system as soon as practicable, so we encourage you not to delay laying the groundwork for proficiency-based diplomas.  Also keep in mind that the commissioner may authorize a school district to award proficiency-based diplomas sooner than the deadline.

For more information on the Department’s work to support teaching and learning in Maine’s schools, please visit our website atwww.maine.gov/doe .   Beginning July 1, 2013, the Department expects to launch a comprehensive online resource bank for schools transitioning to learner-centered, standards-based education.

Mega-regional workshop UMF

A success!

All the reports tell us that the first Maine Arts Assessment Initiative/MLTI Mega-regional workshop was a worthwhile professional development for all those involved. Twenty five educators participated in the MAAI workshop that was held at University of Maine in Farmington.

UMF students were still on winter break so the campus was fairly quiet during the all day event. Participants attended three sessions led by MAAI teacher leaders during the day and had a variety of choices at the free workshop.

• Drew Albert and Ashley Smith presented Getting Started: Incorporating Meaningful Assessment Within the Large Ensemble
• Leone Donovan presented Title: A Skeptic’s Exploration of Rubrics
• Susan Jones presented Theatre Games: Learning Through Doing
• Gloria Hewett presented Formative and Summative Assessment Two Big Words with Practical Applications in an Art Class
• Susan Beaulier presented There is no I in ART; Working Together to Promote Quality Art Education for all Learners
• Alice Sullivan and Jim Wells presented Using Digital Tools to Capture Music Assessments
• Ann Marie Hutton and Lindsey Farnham presented Making Art with MLTI
• Tim Hart presented Capture the Performance! Using MLTI tools to record, review and share music, dance and theatre assessment pieces

Great job MAAI teacher leaders and MLTI technology integrators. The next three Mega-regional workshops are scheduled and all educators are invited to attend but we ask that all participants be pre-registered by going to http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/vpa/assessment.html and click on the dates for the following sessions.’

• March 1, USM, Portland Campus
• March 22, Presque Isle High School
• March 29, Ellsworth High School

Participants and facilitators at the end of a productive day!

What a Day!

York High School

I had the opportunity to travel to York High School yesterday with Debi Lynne Baker for the purpose of “capturing a story”. Debi is a recently retired art teacher from Greenville who presently lives in Shirley.

Rob Westerberg was our host for the day but EVERYONE we met at York High School was gracious and welcoming. York High Schools mission includes: YHS community does whatever it takes to help students succeed. We certainly saw and heard evidence of that belief. I was most impressed with the students who articulated their learning in the fully emerged standards based music classroom. “It is not about the grade but what I am learning!”

Four short movies are being created with footage from four different school districts to tell the story of how they are “doing standards based/students centered learning”. This is in response to requests from arts teachers during phase 1 of the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI): “What does a standards based classroom look like?” The videos will provide you with ideas and how it is working in Maine arts classrooms.

Rob Westerberg and Dan Sovetsky

Rob Westerberg, as many of you know, has been part of the creation of the MAAI and a driving force in the work. In his music classroom he thinks deeply and thoughtfully about how to teach every student but most importantly it is the shift to how the student learns and views their learning. It was evident yesterday in the interviews that the shifts he has made in his teaching approach is really working!

Debi Lynne will continue taping and editing over the next few months and the videos will be available before this school year is completed. Yes, Debi has the difficult part however, with great footage like yesterday, the difficult question will be: what are the best of the greatest parts to include? (A good problem to have).

We did have a chance to visit the visual arts classrooms with teachers Gary Phipps, Beth Nowers, and my former student David Shenett.

Thank you to Rob, York High School principal Bob Stevens, music teacher Dan Sovetsky, and students Cole, Sarah, Levi, Lilly and the Chorus classes who participated.

David Shenett, Beth Nowers, Gary Phipps