CAUTION! Children NOT at Play!

America's school yards, playgrounds and ball fields are becoming increasingly barren as decision makers look to increase their student performance by squeezing out recess in favor of more desk time. In short, more and more American schools are willing to sacrifice children's "play time" for "academic time."

In a desperate attempt to increase academic achievement, many schools are abandoning, or reducing, time spent outdoors in hopes that it will lead to increased standardized test scores. They do this despite the growing body of evidence suggesting restricting time at play is in fact restricting student learning.

In a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly, Jack Shonkoff, the director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, makes the case for more play, not less. He states, "It's not taking a break from learning when we talk about play," while rattling off a litany of cognitive, physical, mental, and social-emotional benefits. "Play is one of the most important ways in which children learn."

In the mid-2000s, the federal No Child Left Behind education law, which emphasized test scores, prompted some schools to scale back recess (along with art and music) to spend more time on math and reading. Some schools went so far as to eliminate recess for the lowest academic performers, who, some would argue, need the physical break the most.

Yes, there are multiple studies which speak to the importance of "play." And there is NO substitute for recess. But I can't help but wonder that as student mature and recess is no longer an option, if the same benefits don't hold true for musical play. While I am not aware of any academic studies, I know that similar to recess, music reaches parts of the mind untouched by desk learning. In addition, the "soft skills" associated with personal and social interaction found in music ensembles can not be easily replicated while sitting in rows of desks.

To my way of thinking, playing music is play time! Music education is more than learning a language or training ones embouchure. It's more than notes on a page for pressing the right spot on a fret board. Music is about PLAYING an instrument. You can not participate in music without PLAYing an instrument. Beyond the play, music teaches the WHOLE CHILD in a comprehensive way not found anywhere else.

• Music is where the physical meets the intellectual. 
• Music is where cerebral moments and emotional ones occur simultaneously. 
• Music is where academic and aesthetic go hand in hand. 
• Music is where every individual is challenged but done so in a group environment. 
• Music is where learning through play is playing while you learn.

Music isn't a substitute for other coursework, nor is it an impediment. Music can and should stand side by side with any other course when it comes to academic weight and rigor. Music can reach children in a way that other curricula can't and reach places in children that would otherwise remain untouched. In short... music matters.

Yes, in music we play... And according to the latest studies, so should everyone else.

Just my thoughts, now stop reading and go play!

My Exhaustion and the Fulghum Pharmacy

"You look tired Scott. I've never even seen you look like tired, much less THIS tired! Everything okay?"

Joel was the third person to say that to me in as many days. He was right. I was beat down dog tired and struggling to keep up.

I thought I was doing a better job of hiding it. I thought my game face was better than that. After all, I make my living putting on "the game face." I am good at the game face, heck, I am MISTER GAME FACE!

Well, at least I thought I was.

Listen, I lived a blessed life and I am grateful for every moment of it. And I understand that I am in a world of my own making and that I am free to change it at any time.

But knowing all of this doesn't make me feel any better. My problem wasn't what I knew, it was what I was feeling... Overworked, overwhelmed, and overlooked.

I am fully aware that as we approach the end of September that I am in good company. It's likely that many of you share these emotions. You know what you do is important, but you don't FEEL that way. Knowing is not always feeling.

When I am at the bottom, when I am beat down, when I need help, I have a drug of choice that I turn to... Robert Fulghum. Yes, the author of All I Really I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. I have all of his books, have read them multiple times, and have even had the pleasure of seeing him speak live.

The effect he has on me is as inexplicable as it is immediate. His writing speaks to me. He makes me think, and perhaps more importantly, makes me feel. He is my spiritual sherpa, surrogate grandfather, and kindred spirit.

In desperate need of a pick me up, I slumped up to my office in a sullen mood, grabbed one of his books and started to read. Almost instantly I felt better. Panacea or placebo? I don't care! I FELT better.

Wanting more of this drug (and who wouldn't?), I went to his website in hopes of finding a new book to read or a new morsel of goodness to chew upon and there it was... Right there on the front page. It was like he was waiting for me to arrive and had written me a personal note.

---

Why do I continue writing? To be useful.

Often, without realizing it, we fill important places in each other's lives. It's that way with the guy at the corner grocery, the mechanic at the local garage, the family doctor, teachers, coworkers, and neighbors. Good people who are always "there," who can be relied upon in small, ordinary ways. People who, by example, teach us, bless us, encourage us, support us, uplift us in the daily-ness of life.

I want to be one of those.

You may be one of those, yourself. There are those who depend on you, watch you, learn from you, are inspired by you, and count on you being in their world. You may never have proof of your importance to them, but you are more important than you may think. There are those who couldn't do without you. The rub is that you don't always know who. We seldom make this mutual influence clear to each other. But being aware of the possibility that you are useful in this world is the doorway into assuring that will come to be true.

My way is to keep writing and sharing that. What's yours?

-Robert Lee Fulghum

---

My way is to serve music education and the people who call it their profession.

I would like to believe that out there, in a classroom somewhere, there is someone, young or old, who depends on me, learns from me, is inspired by me, and counts on me. I may not always KNOW it, but I always FEEL it. I am useful because I have you!

Thank you, Robert, for reminding me of that.

I'm GREAT with numbers but BAD at math!

It's true. My lack of love for all things math related has been well chronicled here and in my workshops throughout the years. Why started as a rough patch in the 8th grade became a bad break up between me and geometry during my sophomore year of high school. We haven't spoken sense.
I'm not saying that I wasn't at fault in the breakup, but let's just say to my way of thinking, I was more Katie Holmes than Tom Cruise in this relationship. I would use the more topical Brad and Angelina reference, but I'm not sure who I would be in that case.
As I said, I am bad at math but great with numbers. I'm kind of a data geek. I am fascinated by numbers and how they shape (or don't) our decision making process, specifically in music education.
For instance:

• If I told you that 9% of students and 7% of teachers are absent on Mondays, would you change learning new drill to Wednesday?
• If I told you that student learning is optimal at 72 degrees, would you change the thermostat setting in your room?
• If I told you that 35.77% of music was written in just four keys, would it change the way you practice scales and arpeggios?
• If I told you that 58% of students who start an instrument quit prior to high school graduation, would you approach recruiting differently?
• If I told you that New York has the highest average median wage and lowest unemployment for a music educator, would you put your house up for sale?
• If I told you that color pallets (numbers) change the way students learn and process information, would you change the light bulbs when you rehearse certain pieces
• If I told you that 50% of you are going to leave the profession, would you change the hours you work?
• If I told you I get sleepy after lunch, can we just schedule all of my productive meetings for morning and my afternoon meetings at Starbucks?

You might find these factual tidbits interesting. It might pique your curiosity or validate something you have long suspected. You might even want to call me Cliff Clavin. But, will it inspire a call to action or invoke a significant change? More than likely, not.

l do believe a better understanding of how we learn is important. I believe that better data can lead to better outcomes. I believe that understanding scope and sequence matters and that teaching through better literature makes a difference in how and what students learn.

Yes, I believe in all of this because I believe in numbers, but I don't understand the "math."

Math [math-uh-mat-iks] noun. (used with a singular verb) the systematic treatment of magnitude, relationships between figures and forms, and relations between quantities expressed symbolically.

I want to understand the systemic questions of greater magnitude and the relationships between them. In reference to the above points, I want to understand:

• Why we still teach on a traditional Monday-Friday, 8-2:30 schedule.
• Why we have kids in outdated facilities that impede learning.
• Why our approach to pedagogy is based more in history than science.
• Why some students quit music and others don't.
• Why some places/cities/people in America value music education more than others.
• Why we still believe that teaching and learning occurs only in rooms with numbers.
• Why we have done so little to keep ourselves from self-destructing as a profession.
• Why I don't just quit and get an afternoon job as a barista.

Numbers provide data. Math provides context. Numbers provide information. Math provides perspective. Numbers tell the science. Math tells the story. Numbers are finite and concrete. Math is infinite and convoluted.

Numbers are information. Math is the treatment of magnitude, relationships between figures and quantities.

The NUMBERS I understand. It's the MATH that has me perplexed.

But then again, I am good with numbers, but bad at math.

Have a great week!

My Net Worth Versus My Self Worth

 
As someone who is self-employed and the sole income provider for our household, I am always watching and worrying over our finances. Like many of you, I have a mortgage, a couple of cars, a wife, and two kids that are the center of our universe. They are involved in just about everything you can imagine and are never left wondering where their next meal is coming from.
We have insurance for our house, cars, health, and even our lives. Man, that is the business I should have gone into... Insurance!

With whatever is left over, we try and save for our kids education and the hopeful idea of retirement, but it's not always easy.

In an effort to sleep at night and keep my inner demons at bay, we met with our financial advisor who very seriously punched a bunch of numbers into his computer to try and determined our "net worth." Truly, a number this small should have not required this much work! My first grader, using his fingers and a couple of toes, could have figured this one out. Let's just say, we won't be yacht shopping anytime soon.

"That's my net worth?" I said in disbelief.

Had we missed something? Did I mention I have a shoebox full of baseball cards from 1976 in my closet? How are those not worth something? I have a mint condition Reggie Jackson and a Pete Rose still in the package WITH THE GUM! This can't be real! I mean, each and every year we cut a few corners and save a little more and this is what we have to show for it?
In a nutshell, your net worth is really everything you own of significance (your assets) minus what you owe in debts (your liabilities). Assets include cash, investments, your home, cars, or anything else of value you own minus your liabilities and obligations.

• What about my beautiful wife and two knucklehead kids?
• What about all of the people I love and love me back?
• What about all of the memories I have made with my wife and kids?
• What about the students I have taught and the music we have made?
• What about the places we traveled and the things we saw?
• What about the early mornings, late nights, and long weekends we spent together?
• What about the leadership retreats, honor bands, and private lessons?
• Are you telling me those have no value? That they aren't worth anything?

It was then that I realized that my net worth had nothing to do with my self worth. Yes, I was reeling from the fact that my net worth is so small, but beaming from the fact that my self worth is so large. Given the choice, I will take the latter every time.

As a teacher, you will always struggle with your net worth, but should never question your self worth. You can't calculate your worth using a computer and an algorithm. You can't place a numeric value on your impact on the lives of young people. You can't confine your life's work to an Excel spreadsheet.

You are measured by more than your net worth, you are measured by your self worth.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Airport Bars, Bookstores, and Celebrity Magazines

I travel a lot... And I mean A LOT. Just so we're clear, my travel life is more akin to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles than it is to Up in the Air. There is virtually no major airport in America that I have not frequented over the past decade. Honestly, some are more of a second home to me than an aeronautical pass through.

Want to know where the working power outlets are? I'm your guy. Want to know where to get the best eats or seats? Shoot me a text! Interested in ways to make your unexpected and unwanted overnight stay in Concourse A more bearable? Give me a call.

Regardless of where you travel, every airport in America has two things in common: bars and bookstores. I suspect that they both exist for the same reason, boredom. But for the sake of professionalism, we will only chat about bookstores.

Airport bookstores typically contain only three types of products: celebrity gossip mags, leadership books, and gum. Lots and lots of gum. Despite my wonderment, these products wouldn't be on the shelf if people didn't buy them, but why? Why are people so obsessed with celebrities, gum, and leadership?

While I can't speak for the first two, our obsession with leadership is nothing new.
If you look back long enough, you will find that people have been looking to define and understand leadership for a VERY long time. The likes of Plato, Confucius, and Sun Tzu pondered the concept of leading long before indoor plumbing and the internet. Despite thousands of years of research and tens of thousands of books on the subject, do we have that many more leaders today than in times past? We know want better leaders, but how do we make them?

Schools teach that knowledge is power and that information is paramount in the decision making process. Seems obvious enough. But, is it true? Your students all know the importance of eating right and yet McDonald's still exists. They know the importance of getting enough sleep, but most of your students are powered by a dangerous concoction of caffeine and energy drinks. They know the importance of practicing, but...

So where is the power in knowledge alone?

Knowing is easy, doing is HARD. Yes, information and knowledge are important parts of being a leader. But leadership is not just information, its the willingness to act upon it. That is what makes music the perfect laboratory for creating and training student leaders.

• Music measures not just what leaders know, but what they do.
• Music provides opportunities to not just learn about leadership, but practice it.
• Music challenges leaders on an intellectual, physical, and personal level.
• Music provides leadership opportunities for every type of leader.
• Music provides for real time feedback from peers and adults.
• Music provides students a safe place to fail and try again.
• Music provides a culture that embraces the concept of servant leadership.
• Music teaches leaders when to lead and when to follow.

Unlike other curricula, in music students don't just study leadership, they practice it on an almost daily basis. They don't just learn about leadership, they actually do it.

Listen, information is important and knowledge can change a person. In the hopes of bettering myself and my looks, I just read an entire article about George Clooney. Next time you see me, you will have to let me know how well it worked.

Gotta go, my plane is boarding. Just wish I had bought some gum.

Kids Will Be Kids... at Least for Awhile

"Today's kids are immature, self-absorbed, and just need to GROW UP!" This is a comment I hear from teachers on an almost daily basis. And, I must confess that I have shared a similar sentiment on more than one occasion.

However, just yesterday, I was talking with a former student who credited his band experience with helping him to be the adult that he is today. But when did that happen? I don't remember him being particularly grown up when he was in my class. I remember him trying to raise a baby rat in his band locker...

So when did he become a grown up... 21? That seems like a good age to be a grown up. After all, that's our legal drinking age.
Maybe even younger. Eighteen? That's when he become emancipated, assumed liability for his actions, could vote, and could have even served in our nation's military. Yes, perhaps it was when he turned 18. Right? Or maybe not.

After all, you're allowed to watch adult movies at 17, drive at 16, and hold a job as young as 14. You can deliver newspapers, babysit, or work for your parents even younger than that. When you enter middle school at 12, you can choose "career education" tracts to help plan your pathway to adulthood. And, with today's technology and social media, 10 year olds have often seen more tragedy, violence, and sadness than people twice their age did a decade ago. It seems that kids are exposed to adulthood younger than ever before.

So when did he grow up? It did not happen in my class. I was there. I would remember it. And trust me, locking his best friend in a tuba case is not grown up!

Maybe he wasn't grown up, but he was in fact growing up.

Growing up is not defined solely by time, but by experiences. He grew through trial and error. He grew during good times and even more so during bad ones. He grew when I challenged his mind and body. He grew up when his soul was nourished. He grew when expectations were set, and passions were ignited. He grew when boundaries were drawn and consequences were assigned. He grew before, during, and after school and on weekdays and weekends!

I was right, he wasn't GROWN up when I taught him, he was GROWING up.

There is no singular time or seminal moment which defines a young person's passage into adulthood. It is as different as the children who experience it. We never really know WHEN kids grow up... But we do know WHERE: in your rehearsal room!

Yes, right in front of your very eyes it is happening. You may not always see it, but trust me, it's happening. Not just in front of you, but because of you.

They are GROWING up. Well... Most of them.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

I am a green type guy. My wife has me reduce, reuse, and recycle on a regular basis. Yes, I even know the difference between type 2 and type 3 recycleable products. Well... Actually, I don't, but my wife has explained it to me several times!

Despite all of that, I generally try not to "re-cycle" articles. It's not that the ideas aren't current or relevant, it's just that... Well, it makes me feel lazy! You know, like I took the easy way out and didn't dig deep to find something new and fresh.

But recently, I received a request to re-print an article from three years ago called, "A Night of Firsts..." The teacher who wrote to me said she had read it before every first football game but could not find her copy. She encouraged me not to just to re-send it to her, but to reprint it for everyone. Her letter was so sweet and passionate, I decided to honor her request.

Here's to Beth and my attempts at bein' green.

A Night of Firsts!

Admit it... There's a secret part of you that is excited that football is FINALLY here. Gone are the long days of band camp and basics. Gone is the smell of sunblock and teenage sweat. Gone is band camp and the all day rehearsals that came with it. It's time to ditch the tennis shoes and white t-shirt and see the kids in uniform!

• Friday night will be full of "firsts."
• First time loading the bus.
• First time putting on a uniform.
• First time performing in front of a crowd.
• First time under the stadium lights.
• First pep assembly.

Yes, your students will experience these memorable moments and more. They are also likely to experience their:

• First "time tear."
• First electronic malfunction.
• First time when the melody can't be heard because of the drum line.
• First panic attack.
• First time losing their flip folder under the bleachers.
• First time being out of step.

Yes, today will be full of firsts, but not "lasts," as all of these things will occur again (and again and again).

Knowing that the first performance is special, I encourage you to sit back, enjoy, and take it all in. There will be plenty of time for reflection and rehearsal next week, but this performance is different. It's special. It's the first one and THAT won't happen again.

This Friday, take the time to enjoy the look of terror on the face of your first time marchers. Look away from the field and enjoy the beaming smiles of their parents. Enjoy being under the lights instead of the burning hot sun. Enjoy the feel of fresh cut grass under your feet instead of hot asphalt. Enjoy the look of pride and excitement you see in your seniors' eyes. Enjoy watching the sophomores council the freshman with their newfound wisdom.

Enjoy watching friendships being forged while memories are made. Enjoy the lives you have touched and the impact you have made.

Friday night won't be perfect. It may not even be good. But it sure beats the alternative: kids with nothing to do, no friends to do it with, and no music in their lives!

ENJOY Friday night!

Things you should know AND feel good about!

At the end of last weeks e-zine (Split Test Marketing and the Teenage Mind), we asked whether you preferred to "feel something" or "learn something." The results were interesting with roughly 55% of you choosing "to feel" with the remaining 45% choosing "to learn."
But why can't we have both?

Several recent studies have correlated experiencing emotion while learning to deeper levels of learning. Specifically, Frank Thissen, a German a Intercultural Communication professor, stated that while negative emotions tend to make us clearly remember data including the minutest detail, positive emotions tend to help us remember more complex things. In short, feeling good helps to create learning, which is one of the many reasons music education is so important to our nation's schools.

It's not just the "what" we teach, but the "how" we teach it... With JOY. Sometimes in an effort to create great art, we sometimes forget the joy. Yes, our curricula and literature should be challenging and rigorous, but still joyful, for when the two occur simultaneously, true learning is taking place. The joy is part of the reason;

• Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons.
• Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.
• Secondary students who participated in a music group at school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (tobacco, alcohol, and drugs).
• Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93.9% attendance rate compared to schools without music education, which average 72.9% graduation and 84.9% attendance.
• Regardless of socioeconomic status or school district, students (3rd graders) who participate in high-quality music programs score higher on reading and spelling tests.
• A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory.
• Children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to those who do not receive musical training.
• Schools that have music programs have an attendance rate of 93.3% compared to 84.9% in schools without music programs.

source donors choose.org

These are but a few of the examples as to why music matters. It as much about the "how" we teach as it is the "what" we teach. It is about "feeling" AND "learning." It is about feeding the mind and the heart simultaneously to teach the WHOLE child.

Yes, the statistics above were meant to assuage those who chose to "learn" while affirming those who chose to "feel."

See, learning can make you feel good.
 
 

Split test marketing and the teenage mind

Split test marketing is a method used for figuring out what messages resonate the strongest with your clientele. It can be used to test everything from website copy to emails, creating ads, or anything else that is designed to grab people's attention.

Think of it as a randomized experiment in which the basic content is the same, but the subject line, headline, or graphics have been altered to resonate with a different audience. Before you poo poo this, trust me, it makes a difference.

Last Spring I wrote an e-zine entitled An Open Letter to My Son's Band Director in which my response rate shot through the roof. NAILED IT! Feeling quite proud and thinking myself to be somewhat of a "Hemingway-esque" writer, I mentioned my triumph to a buddy who snarkily remarked, "You do realize that the subject line made everyone think it was a letter from a parent... Right?"

It turns out I'm NOT Hemingway and that subject lines DO matter! If only I was purposeful and split tested all of my subject lines, maybe my readership would be more than my mother and my golden retriever. DOH!

Split test marketing helps us better understand what people respond to. In the case of this blog, it does not matter what I write if you are unwilling to read it. Similarly, it does not matter what we teach if the student is either unwilling or unengaged. In other words, the HOW we teach can be just as important as the WHAT we teach. So how do we assess the "how" of teaching? Split test marketing, of course! Try and experiment with the following things:

• Teach the same thing in the morning and again in the afternoon. Is it different?
• Teach the same thing on a Monday and again on Wednesday. Is it the same?
• Play a chorale twice, once with the lights off. What is the difference?
• Play a fast piece at the beginning and end of the same class. Which is better?
• Change the classroom setup and see how it affects rehearsal intensity?
• Give the same instruction to a freshman and a senior. Is the result the same?
• Do students behave differently if you dress more formally (tie/skirt)?
• How do boys respond differently than girls in different leadership roles?

The variables are as infinite as the results, as every child learns differently. So does every ensemble. Jazz band learns differently than marching band. Freshman learn differently than seniors. Orchestra learns differently than band. Students of Smith High School learn differently than the students of Jones High School. The question is, do you alter your teaching "style" to match the students, ensemble, or school? It's not enough to know WHAT to teach, we have to know HOW to teach our students.

This is where the "art" of teaching comes in. This is the part the pundits and politicians don't see. This is where teaching becomes learning!

For fun and amusement, next week, I will write two different e-zines to find out what resonates the best. Choose one of the two buttons below to determine which e-zine you want to receive. If you don't choose a button, I will choose for you! This should be interesting.

Until the next time, have a great week!