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This project is finished. But read my responses to the questions of other users in the Recent topics area.
I began teaching at a peculiar time in music education. Our California State Standards were on the eve of their adoption, but were not being publicized, heavily. I came out of a university where the national standards were addressed, not stressed but we did spend a considerable amount of time talking about them. Then, fortunately for me, the district I hired into had a coordinator that was a big supporter of the standards adoption. So, I have been immersed in the standards since I was a first year teacher.
I have now been teaching for four years, and working with the standards vigorously for three years. My first year, I was just trying to survive. After my first year, I asked myself, what did my students walk away with this year? When I met with my returning students that next year, I received my answer. Very little. This is when I began taking a close look at the standards and found ways to change that. When I took a close look, I saw that there were things I should have been teaching, that would have made everyone’s experience richer. I fell into the trap of, they are just beginners they need to be playing constantly so they can be ready for middle school. After I began working with the standards I found that my students were more engaged, learned more, and were still performing at the level I thought they should be.
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