Doing Your TIme

Everyone has to start somewhere. More times than none, somewhere is nowhere close to where you want to be. Often, it is not until we have made the journey and looked back that we realize we were exactly where we needed to be.

My first job as a choral director was at a high school that had seen around eleven directors in nine years. It was a program that had once experienced great success but now it (and some would politely say to me, the school) was, shall we say, not what it used to be. The school population was poor (90% on free/reduced lunch). There was a Magnate School on the Campus but many of the students came to me via the local middle school feeders, whose programs also had revolving doors where Directors were concerned. In other words, I had nowhere to go but up.  It was no surprise that the principal who hired me only had one question for me in the interview: "How long do you plan to stay?"

He was not interested in someone, necessarily, that was a skilled teacher, knowledgeable in the content, he had them and they left. He needed a Director who was willing to go the distance because building relationships is fundamental to building success. In order to do that-build relationships, a couple of things need to happen:

One. Resolve to be in it for the long haul. How do you do that? Have a vision. A vision that involves smaller goals related to larger goals both for students and the program. Know that achieving this will take more than a couple years (try five to seven) and then decide right there and then if you are going to commit to it. I told my soon to be new principal that I would stay at least six years. I also assured him that I would leave the choral program better than I found it. And I had a plan.

Two. Have a plan. Five years, to be exact. Share it with your administrator and show him/her what you will be accomplishing on the way to the bigger goals. It will be different depending on where you teach but still worthwhile. It will set your students up for success and show your Administrator that you know exactly what your are doing.

Three. Get to know your students. Pizza Parties, choir socials, visiting with them when they come to the choir room for lunch, calling parents, connecting to or creating a Parent Support Organization. All of this will go a long way towards creating student ownership in the program. In the rehearsal, meet the students where they are and begin the journey of music making of all kinds. If you do this respectfully, thoughtfully, and with some planning, they will go with you, whether it is learning music skill sets or music for performance.

Four. Quickly assess who your leaders are and reach out to them. Share your vision with them. Chances are, even if they will not be around as students to see the fruits of your vision, they will become inspired about the idea of leaving a legacy for future choir students. Building the leadership will take time but once it is there it will not go away, even if you do. When I left this school to take a job elsewhere, the new director quit before school even started. Students were running their own rehearsals while they waited for a new director. They did this because the students understood that the choral program was theirs and took responsibility for the culture of music making that they developed.

Five. Make sure you have a support system. From family to friends to colleagues-have a support system. You cannot and more importantly, do not have to do this on your own. Reach out. in doing so, you will keep yourself from burning out. I did not do this and it almost cost me more than my job. I had a great friend and mentor in the way of David Custer, an accomplished choral educator and graduate of the school at which I was working, who had the fortitude to sit me down, give it to me straight, and help me get back on me feet again after a particularly difficult year. His advice was the best I received as a new teacher. Do not wait until you are chest deep (or deeper) to ask for help-especially when it is all around you in the way of amazing colleagues, friends, and especially, your family.

Six. Be patient. It is true. Rome was not built in a day and neither will your program. Building a program takes time. Fostering relationships with students and their families takes time. As long as you are giving good instruction, consistent with your student management, reaching out for help when your need it, and willing to learn from students as much as they are learning from you, it will come together.

In the six years that I was at this high school, I had some of the most memorable teaching moments of my life. I learned much about myself, not only as a teacher but as a human being. And yes, the students achieved everything that was in my plan during that interview with a Principal who showed me the value of "doing your time."

Believe

I remember calling my father after the first week of Marine Corps Boot Camp.
"Dad, I don't know if I can do this."
"Why do you say that?"
"These guys! They are all so strong: in stature, confidence, ability-I am starting to wonder if I have what it takes."
"Son, you are looking at the recruits who are fixing to take on the title of Marine. They have spent months working and training to receive that honor. Believe it or not, they were where you are now: unsure, insecure about your abilities, wondering if they will make it. When I see you in three months, we will talk about this again. Do your best. I know you will. I love you."
Three months later, Dad came to see me graduate Boot Camp and he was right. I was walking taller, more sure of myself than I think I ever had been in my life, confident in my abilities. He pointed this out to me as we walked around the base that afternoon.
"See those young men over there?"
"Yes, Dad."
"You were once just like them. Now they see you as you are now. I guarantee you at least one of them will be talking to their father the way you spoke with me. We all have to begin somewhere, son. Sometimes, we may have to work a little harder but that is not what determines your success. Your resolve to work for it is what gets your through.
I will never forget that conversation. I learned so much from my Dad on that day.

One. Let someone who is willing to be vulnerable and express self doubt or fear do so, and do not place a value judgement on that person for it. Dad could have easily told to me to "suck it up" and hang up, but he heard me. He recognized that I was lost-that my perspective needed some re-adjusting. He guided me to where I needed to be in order to make it through Boot Camp. After all, being told to suck it up was a daily mantra by our Drill Instructors. This lesson has served me well as a teacher, when a student needs some extra guidance, or someone with whom to speak, or a little motivation. I hope that I have been half as good as my Dad with my own children.

Two. Life is hard. Sometimes, it can be really hard. You still have a choice to make. I had to work really hard at being physically strong but Dad's advice showed me that being mentally strong was a greater thing. There were days (still are) when I had to literally tell myself "you can do this" or better still, "DO THIS, NOW!" to get through the day. I would love to say that has changed since my time in the Corps, but I would rather say that it has been exactly this that has helped me get through some of the most difficult times in my life-personally and professionally. It is a waste of time and energy to look over at what the other person have going for him/her when you can be busy about the business of getting things done for yourself.

Three. Being there. Dad was there for me: on the phone, in the letters he sent, and most especially when he showed up in his Alphas to salute me, shake my hand, and hug me after graduation. This is a tremendous leadership trait and the hallmark of any good parent. He listened to me. He reassured me. He did not sweeten things up but he did let me know he had faith in me to get things done. Sometimes, that is all any of us need. When a student or my child says to me "I probably won't do this very well," my response is, "I have faith in you." Leaders inspire. It would not matter if I washed out of Boot Camp because all my Dad would have asked of me was "did you do your best?" Similarly, If my students or children do not get it right the first time, I ask them, "did you give your best?" Sometimes, we can get everything right and still come up short. That is life. Knowing that you did all you could is what gets you through those times. It is what allows you to re-group, figure out what went wrong and then do it again-better. Having Dad come on to the Drill Pad in his uniform and having him salute before hugging me was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. He believed in me. Through it all, he believed in me. He still does. Later he would say these things when I received both of my degrees (I am a first generation college grad).

As I said, I learned a lot from this time in my life. I have done my best to be what Dad has been to me both to my students, colleagues, and especially, my own children. I will be the first to tell you that I have come up short on occasion. But I will also tell you that no matter how hard it was (is, or will be), I will resolve to get up-and do better. Because someone believed in me.

It is my belief that you can do the same-for yourself and each other.

You're doing it wrong

I was having a conversation with a colleague today about an issue involving a parent that became a part of a larger conversation about what it means to argue. What does it mean, exactly, to argue with someone? That is to say, form an argument? Is it more important to win the argument than it is to learn from it?

Spend about five minutes on social media and the answer to that question is easily "WIN".

In the Medieval Universities of Europe, debate was used as a means to learn. One side of the room took on one aspect of a topic and the the other side another. The result was that everyone learned about the subject at hand. Rhetoric and Logic, which used to be taught in public schools, were the means and tools readily used in these debates. Ideas were also discussed in the public forums of the ancient world. From this arena of ideas, the polis came to agreements on things ranging from best practices for farming to ideas that informed the working of the government.

Healthy, rigorous, and respectful debate is a good and necessary thing for a Democracy. An insistence on being right, however, is dangerous and sets the stage for a Democracy in decline as debates turn into an exercise in shouting people down or a way in order to assert an idea instead of testing it in the public square. This is how despotic regimes emerge. This is how people eventually lose their rights.

I see this on all sides of just about anything in social media and even the news media. For example, "Such and Such DESTROYS Such and Such's idea/policy/belief", or "This is how you shut down a So and So." Click on it and the "argument" is just as hollow as the message that got you to click on it. Now you are in the rabbit hole and probably not coming out for a couple hours as you vigorously let the person who posted this ridiculous message know how wrong or how right they are for letting Facebook or Twitter worlds (or both) know how right you are. All the while this contributes to the "echo chamber" that can be the internet. In other words, nobody is any more informed than they were from the beginning because the whole discourse to place with a mindset of proving the other wrong. Not only is this NOT the way to argue, we find ourselves even more isolated.

Entering into a argument requires that you recognize the possibility of being wrong. I am not suggesting you be so flexible that you adapt any idea presented to you. I am saying that you should be willing to entertain the notion that a different point of view may actually provide a significant insight you did not consider. Test what you hear against what you know and have the courage to change your thinking when properly persuaded. This is not a sign of weakness, rather, it is a sign of strength-the ability to adapt and change. This can be done without being insulting.

I regularly present a different point of view, if for no other reason, than to remind people that the subject at hand needs to be seen from as many points of view as possible in order to really understand it. Perception is not reality. It is a mean to understand it. As a choral educator, this is how I get my students to understand this concept:

Sometimes, when reading a piece of music, we will begin with reading their "own parts" (SATB, for example). After the first read, I have them switch parts. Sopranos are now singing Bass, Altos-Soprano, Tenors-Alto, Basses-Tenor. Now they are singing the same song but different parts. I shift them until we get back to their original parts. Once there, the piece of music sounds better than the first time. "This is not", I tell them, "because you reviewed your part. By singing the other parts, you came to understand your part (and that of the others in the choir) in the context of the whole."

Then I ask, "Would this be possible if you insisted on just singing your part?"

Maybe we should have more people on social media and the like spend time arguing for the "other side" for a bit. Maybe the perspective will change their mind. Maybe it won't. Either way, they will be more informed and maybe have a greater desire to persuade passionately and respectfully. If you are not arguing in this manner,  then I would suggest that you're doing it wrong.

Hello

I have been wanting to create a blog for some time now. I have struggled with what I would share but I have so many ideas, experiences, maybe even a dream or two, that I want to share.

A little bit about myself before beginning this journey. I am a music teacher. Specifically, I am the Choral Director and AP Music Theory Instructor at the High School level. I love my job. I get to teach and create music with young people. I have worked with young people, either in private/public schools or in churches for as long as I can remember. At the end of the day, I guess one could say I like to teach.

I am also a veteran. A Marine to be precise. I served my country just as my Dad, uncles, and grandfather did before me. I had some interesting experiences that proved to be fundamental in my formation as a young man.

Lastly, and more importantly, I am a man of faith-Christian to be exact. I grew up in the Baptist Church (although my mother was Roman Catholic), became a Roman Catholic while working on my undergrad (my Baptist Grandma was not too happy about that for a while), and eventually found myself in the Episcopal Church. Along the way, I walked away from God a couple times and still find myself struggling with my faith from time to time but I have learned that I am not alone.

For the time being, I think that is as much as I wish to share. Maybe it is good that one does not find out too much about another too soon. Time reveals and time also allows us to process what is revealed to us.

I am not interested in this being some kind of political space beyond the desire to try and understand what is going on around us. I do like discussing ideas, so long as it is understood that eventually, we will disagree. And if we disagree, it only means we are hashing out our ideas, not attacking each other. Our "winner takes all" discussion habits (just spend about five minutes on social media) is something I would just as soon avoid.

If I do write something with which you disagree, I would welcome a thoughtful, respectful, rebuttal.
This way, maybe we both learn something.

If I write something that somehow affects you in a positive way, please let me know as I could use the encouragement!

That's all for now. Looking forward to my first "real" post.

All the best,

Charles