The year, I believe, was 1987. All teachers in Mississippi now had to be evaluated according to state standards. "MTAI" was the acronym of the year, Mississippi Teacher Appraisal Instrument. All teachers now had to be officially assessed, according to guidelines set out by the state. These guidelines included several different areas, or "domains" in which a score was given. We were carefully trained (made to sit through hours of meetings....), so there would be no way we could score badly. We chose a class period, turned in a lesson plan - in the hand-written lesson plan book with the carbon copy pages - had a meeting to discuss the plan, and then the day came. The principal had to stay thirty minutes. They watched and checked everything. I remember leaving the lesson plan on my desk with a pack of M&Ms, as if chocolate could make anything I did wrong disappear! I was, and still am, quite good at putting on a show, so it went very well, high scores all around. But in between the observation and the actual knowledge of the scores, my brain told me everything I did was wrong. "Uh-oh, you accidentally started the wrong song on the record the first time." "You shouldn't have given that Mean Look, maybe that brought the score down." "WHY OH WHY did that kid have to do a total snot-sneeze in the middle of the lesson?" I am my own worst critic, and almost every teacher I know is the same way.
Evaluations have evolved, and still exist in every state. They are a federal requirement. Remember "No Child Left Behind"? It required every state to evaluate their teachers yearly. Everybody likes to think that a "bad" teacher would get a poor evaluation, and poof! - disappear. It doesn't happen that way, though. The evaluations sound harsh, but if you don' score well, you're given many opportunities to fix it.
Flash forward 26 years to this past Friday. I was not 'officially' evaluated. First of all, after so many years in Texas, you move to an advanced level that just requires three "drop-ins" a year. Each drop-in is about ten minutes. Secondly, drop-ins haven't started yet this year. However, the district has added something called "mega-monitoring". We've been told what they look for when they mega us, but we've not seen any feedback, or been told how the statistics will be used. All I know is that they enter the classroom when a lesson is in full bloom, stand there and look around while playing on their phones. Ok, that's exaggeration - because we are aware that they are checking a checklist of the required items on their phones. (I wonder if the district pays for the administration's Iphones???) About three to five minutes, and whoever mega'd you is gone. This past Friday, I had the illustrious experience of being mega-monitored twice in thirty minutes. The first time, it was the main boss. In she comes, while we're singing "Zombie Style" (a lovely parody of "Gangnam Style). I was scared to death. Schools are not very open about celebrating Halloween these days. I personally choose the attitude that I don't do anything scary, only fun. "Zombie Style" is fun! Quickly, when the song ended, I called the class' attention to the vocabulary word 'parody', already written on the board. Quick thinking. In a flash, she was gone. The class sang a few more songs that they got to choose. I call it "Fun Song Friday", and it's one of my ways to foster a singing student body. They can choose ANY song! So when the assistant main boss walked in, the kids were singing "Mousie In the Snow". It's definitely a Christmas song. And it's early October. Every child singing, smiling, doing motions.....did that count? I went with my mental defenses and told myself not to worry.
I didn't worry - until the students were gone and it was my lunch. Then I started thinking. (Oh no, not again.....) Why did I tell that child that I didn't have to give him a reason for changing some one's seat? Why were we singing a Christmas song? Why did I have magazines in a Guinness Stout box sitting on the table? Why do I teach? Why don't I answer phones and create spreadsheets somewhere?
After lunch, there was a nice note in my teacher mailbox from the assistant main boss, telling me how much she had enjoyed her visit and seeing all the smiles on the students' faces. If she had told me in person, I probably would have said "That's because I gave them the Guinness, haha" very nervously.
It's a good thing that the feedback from the official evaluations is on paper. I should have three drop-ins this year. For the past two years, my evaluator(s) did not finish my three by the deadline. Once again, I took it personally. I felt that nobody wanted to come see me teach, because they would have to be writing down so many things that go wrong! Once again, I did well. I don't know what I worry about, except that I truly care about being a good music teacher. I made my peace about eight years ago with the fact that I am "just a music teacher". I decided to be the best one I could be. I certainly hope, though, that this year's person is able evaluate in a timely manner. Evidently I'm quite awesome, zombies, mice and all.
"Zombie Style" and "Mousie In the Snow" published by Music K-8 Magazine
Plank Road Publishing, Inc.
*I learned that the district does not supply the Iphones for the mega's. They use their own phones, but the app is free. Cheapskates.
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