Teacher Walk-Ins and Walk-Outs: Where I stand

It's been a hot minute since I've posted, and I guess I have no excuse, except for that life happened. I have been busy teaching and working on a masters degree, and living my life. But being that there is a lot going on in the field of education right now, I felt the need to break the silence and share some perspective.

The state of funding education in Arizona has been abysmal. This is honestly, not a new development. I went into the field being told that I would have to be creative with my resources, careful with spending the limited budget I had for supplies, and to not expect to be able to get new things for my classroom. There just wasn't (and still isn't) the money. The further I got into my career, the more I relied on programs like Donors Choose to fund items for my room that I knew we needed to make a better experience for my students. I am fortunate to work in a district that allocates money well and to have had a principal that fought for me, and was able to get new carpet recently. That is something, however, I consider that a rare, lucky moment. We have volunteers from several local churches that come in and offer their time beautifying our campus and other campuses in our district  with fresh paint and weatherized coating for our roofs. We have incredible community support, and I know many of my colleagues are not that fortunate. Good teachers are leaving because a job that is already taxing and difficult, is even more so due to lack of funding and lack of support from the state. I'll be honest, leaving Arizona (that has been my home for all 29 of my years) has been on my radar. Feeling supported financially by the state is not a small thing. It is really not surprising that educators are done accepting poor conditions as normal. And with other states leading the way, it isn't surprising that Arizona created their own movement.

So now here we are. Two months into a major movement towards protesting education funding and trying to make it better. We have been rallying in Phoenix and Tucson, walking into school united, standing out on major streets to generate support. The #redfored movement is about funding education, and generating the support from the community needed to vote for the inevitable tax increases that would be necessary. It seemed that the walk-ins were beginning to work. The Governor provided his 20x2020 plan in which he stated teachers would receive raises, equaling 20% by the year 2020. That sounds great, right? Teacher raises are so much of what we are working towards. But that's not all that educators are working towards, so the movement continues. And now we are on the precipice of a walk-out. The date has been set, and the Governor and legislature have been put on notice. Next Thursday, teachers will walk-out.

I will be honest, I'm terrified. There are so many potential consequences that I am honestly not sure I'm ready to deal with. There is a very real possibility that jobs could be lost, and even as an extreme, certificates can be revoked. However, despite all of these concerns and very real consequences, on Thursday, I will stand with my colleagues and participate in a walk-out. Here's why:

* Governor Ducey's plan is not inclusive. The raises he is proposing only go to certified teachers with a classroom roster. This means in the state's eyes, Special Education teachers, Reading Specialists, Physical Education teachers, Art teachers, Music teachers, and support staff such as custodians, attendance clerks, instructional assistants and so many more people who help raise our children will not see that raise in pay. Funding education means funding everyone. Support staff wages are not livable, and they are just as important in the school community. I have a friend who works as a member of the support staff for a local school, and when she recently did her taxes, she said she had made a grand total of $22k for the entire year. This is not okay. There is not a universe where that is an appropriate amount to live on. I have other friends who have to take on roommates or still live at home because they just don't make enough to survive.

* The plan does not include finding funding for supplies, capitol items (such as carpet, desks, chairs, air conditionings, etc.), or anything else related to keeping a school functioning and our kids safe. This movement has never been solely about teacher pay, and it still isn't.

* MY STUDENTS DESERVE BETTER. This is really the biggest reason I stand with my colleagues. I see my students doing the best they can with the things they have at home, which in my district, isn't much. And then I see them come to school and struggle to do the best they can with the things they have, which again, isn't much. That isn't fair. They deserve so much better. They deserve an education with limitless possibilities. They deserve to have working air conditioning, and functional plumbing, and textbooks that were written in this decade. They deserve to have functional playground equipment, and instruments that haven't been patched together 100 times. They deserve to have one place in their life that can give them comfort and make them feel loved and safe. And they deserve quality educators and support staff to provide all of those things for them.

I know there is so much to consider in a movement like this. There is so much that could go wrong if it is not executed properly. But the other side of that coin is, there is so much that could go right, too. I know that it is a BIG risk. I know that there is a lot a stake. But, I believe my students are worth it. I believe that my colleagues are worth it. I believe that the field of education is worth it. So I stand with my colleagues. I will walk-in for education, and on Thursday, April 26th, I will walk-out.

For more stats on what is happening, here's an article:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2018/04/19/arizona-teacher-strike-gov-duceys-nightmare-redfored/534941002/

The Big Move and a NEW Music Room

I know it's been awhile, but I've been saving my posting for when I could really take the time to tell you and show you the new, fantastically large music room! At the end of the year last year, I was packing instruments like a crazy person, putting every music room belonging in a box to go into storage for the summer. You see, the portables that used to exist at my school were demolished and replaced with a fancy new building over the summer. It was a big game of "shuffle the classroom boxes" at the end of the school year for 7 classrooms. Then it was a waiting game. And was it ever painful. I am the type of person who likes to be proactive about things when it comes to work. I'm extremely anal retentive when it comes to organizing things at work and I like things to be done well in advance. Classroom set up however, was not an option this summer. So the music room possessions sat in their new big classroom in conjunction with Reading Lab's possessions that were to be moved into the fancy new building ALL SUMMER. When I say all summer, I don't mean like a month and a half of summer and then I had 3 weeks to get myself ready for school. I literally mean ALL SUMMER. The Friday before school started, was moving day, and the weekend was spent scrambling to put it together for students. After 5 long days in my room and lots and lots of help from friends and maintenance workers I managed to assemble the best music room I have ever had the pleasure of working in. 900 square feet makes a huge difference when it comes to making music with little ones, and I am absolutely in love with it. Here are some pictures of the space: 

I was so lucky to have custom built instrument shelves from the first music room I taught in that now house the instruments in the new room. It really keeps the instruments organized and so much safer than stacking them on the floor. I used to be so against them, until I realized how nice they would look in an appropriate sized space! The upper cabinets were amazing storage too! They were already in the room, and I was so excited to get them! In the most recent music room, I had a giant closet that housed extra instruments, my filing cabinets and props for grade level performances. It was a little tricky finding places for these things in the new room without a closet, but I made it work, and I love having all of my things more accessible. Plus, this room has so many more opportunities for student friendly spaces!

I spent a couple weeks with the room like this. I loved it already, but the carpet was a little worn and in need of replacing which made it difficult for me to be okay with students sitting on the floor. Fortunately, my most recent Donor's Choose project (a classroom rug!) had been funded, so I was just waiting on it arriving for things to get better. It came in this last week early on- and it was seriously exactly what I needed that day to make it so much better! I love when little things like that make my day. Here is what the rug looks like:

 It's beautiful and colorful and it makes a huge difference when you're trying to hide worn carpet underneath. It doesn't take up the whole space, and it's actually a little smaller than I was anticipating- but it works wonders. My Kinders, 1st and 2nd graders can all sit fairly comfortably in the colored squares, and I adapted my seating chart so that my big kids can sit on the rug too. The coolest part about this room is what I experienced this week with the rug in 1st grade.

My 1st graders were working on high versus low sounds. I had them sitting on the rug in their assigned seats to start. In the back of the room I had a bass bar and a glockenspiel set up. After their warm-up, I had them leave the rug and make a circle around the set up instruments. The circle and the rug didn't even touch! I was amazed! And SO EXCITED! I can't wait to do parachute activities and folk dancing in this room. It was never a possibility in the old music rooms. There just wasn't enough space. Every music room should be this big. Seriously, with the curriculum and standards that we have, it's a necessity. 

I mentioned that Donors Choose funded my rug. It is really a great non profit organization that is so supportive of teachers. This was my first project, and I am so grateful to everyone who donated for it. And I didn't have only family and friends that donated. There were an equal number of strangers that donated- simply because they wanted to help. It was an amazing experience. Because of that, I've started a new Donors Choose project. This one is for iPads for the music room. There are so many apps and programs out there that can help my students learn how to read music, compose music, etc., and I want to share them with my students. This room is now really big enough to do centers, and how cool would it be to have an iPad center where my students can do a note reading game, or a note value game or a composition activity?! If you are moved to help out, you can click on the link at the bottom of the page. If you click on the link before August 26, you can enter the word INSPIRE on the payment page and have your donation doubled. It's just so easy! 

There is so much more I could tell you about the first few weeks of school. Things got busy so fast, and there just isn't enough time in the day to accomplish everything I want to. I will do my best to update once a week with something exciting about the music room. There's so much I could share!! 

Until next time, 

Sam

My Donors Choose Project

The beginning

I have been struggling for some time now what it is I want to write about exactly. It has been almost a month since I created this blog with the promise of music teaching perspective- and generally speaking that is what I want from this blog. But I find myself grasping at straws for what exactly I want to share. Even now, I sit here with my iced coffee trying to stay cool from the harsh Arizona sun and think "what do I share?" I could share lesson plans I have taught; but having just finished only my 2nd year, I'm not sure I have much to offer in that regard yet. I could tell you about my new music room and how big and grand it is- but alas, it is not ready for me to share. Instead, I sit waiting for a new building to be built so that the storage facility that is the future new music room can become just that: a music room. So instead, I think I'll start by sharing my story. It's as important as knowing what I teach and how I teach it. And hopefully, it will give insight to future posts about lessons and my classroom and various other topics.

So let's start at the beginning. I mean the very beginning. I remember as a kid setting up stuffed animals and my little sister as my "students" and sharing with the room everything I had learned in school that day. You'd have to ask my mother exactly when that started, but I feel like it was at a pretty young age. Teaching was fun even then- playing school was as common in my house as barbies and baby dolls. And then I found music. I started playing the violin in the fourth grade- when I was 9 years old. I knew I wanted to play it way before then though. It was something that- cheesy as it sounds- called to me. I remember being in 3rd grade and going to the information days at school for band and orchestra and deciding almost instantly that I would play the violin the following year. And I loved it. It was the instrument for me. It came easily to me; something that sports never had been. I found my niche- and I lived in that niche all the way through high school. Teaching went by the wayside as a career path. Honestly, I think I forgot about it. I wanted to play professionally- in a symphony. And then, on a whim I didn't apply for music programs when I was applying for college. Instead I was decided I wanted to do forensics. It was a silly plan- I was never one for monotony or desk jobs. I wanted excitement and change. So when I decided forensics wasn't for me after a less than exciting tour of the local crime lab I felt lost. I had never been so unsure of what I wanted, but I knew I didn't want science. It was my dad who said to me "why don't you do music?" I had a million reasons of why I didn't think I could do music- I wasn't good enough being the biggest one. I was a music minor at the time, and my private teacher did not help that thought that echoed in my brain. When I asked her to accept me into the Music Education program (because, that one made the most sense for me) she told me that because I was a hard worker, she would accept me, but it was a good thing I wasn't trying for performance. The stigma with performance being for "better musicians" is a ridiculous one- probably to be covered in another post. I mean really- don't you want great musicians teaching your children about being musicians?? But, I digress.

I knew from the moment I started my Intro to Music Education course that I was meant to be a music teacher. And then, I took my Elementary Music Ed course and I fell in love. I honestly could not imagine doing anything else now. The journey I took to get here seems silly and trivial now. I certainly cannot imagine sitting in a lab everyday analyzing the same bullets hour after hour, or looking at the ridges in fingerprints for the umpteenth time. Teaching music is exciting; I never teach the same lesson twice- even if it is the same lesson. Each class is different, and therefore, each lesson is different too. Plus, it's fun! There is nothing like getting to play and sing and dance all day long for a living.

I don't regret the decisions I made throughout my life in regards to finding my career. They made me a better person; I grew through those decisions. But I am certainly glad I landed where I was supposed to. Because although every day may not be roses and sunshine- there are enough of those days that I wouldn't trade this job for the world.

Sam

The Start of a New Project

Hello! Welcome to my new blog. My plan is to use this to discuss and share teaching ideas. Stay tuned- I fully intend on updating a lot more over the summer months when I have some actual time!

Here's to a new project and a new point of view.

Sam