October 13, 2011
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The Daily News
1 I did lights for our Wind Ensemble's concert last night.
2 For the second time in the past few years, they're going to play Carnegie Hall.3 I'm pretty proud of Maestro Steve Barnhill for the absolute stunning work he puts in every year since I've known him.
4 For those of you who are classic DN readers, Barnhill is the guy who used to teach at Overfelt, and whose work was amazing over at that school as well.
5 The first day I was hired at the Chill, I walked over to the school's theater just to check it out. I walked past their Performing Arts offices and saw Barnhill chilling in the office listening to some classical music on his PC.
6 He was a familiar face in a strange land at the time. As Activities' Director, I had all-access to EV's incredibly beautiful theater, and now I had a Hall-of-Famer directly in my corner.
7 Steve and I go back to our very early days in the ESUHSD, when it was somewhat like the Wild West in the District.
8 The District at the time was still trying to define itself, but Steve and I both knew one thing: we were both WAY ahead of all their rules and regulations, because we BOTH knew about hard work and dedication to the students.
9 Nothing else mattered. Since that time, the District has observed the needs of many students, and has tried to put all the teachers into doing all sorts of bidding that would systematically benefit all students.
10 Much of what they have come up with has caused a lot of teachers to tow the line.
11 That's a good thing. A lot of teachers like structure, andlike being told exactly what it is they should be doing.
12 Some teachers NEED to be told that they have to be doing things exactly the way the District dictates.
13 And then there are the real teachers.
14 Teachers who are in it because they know it's a calling don't always respond well to becoming "bots". That's the fashionable word for "robots".
15 Some teachers know instinctively how to place passion and love into every single moment they're out there.
16 Many were taught by what I could only describe as Titans. Many had remarkably creative and innovative pioneers as their mentors.
17 Both of us were fortunate to have been brought up right.
18 I've often mentioned here that a lot of times when someone finds out I'm a teacher, they ask what it is I teach.
19 My kind answer is always the same. "Students," I'll say. I never say it in a condescending way. I say it to amuse lightly. It works, because it's a gentle way of saying that I am a professional mentor and memory-maker.
20 People who have had those sorts of teachers understand immediately.
21 My best teachers were always those who didn't play by the rules, but who obviously loved and had passion for their calling. They would talk as human beings, smile and laugh with the goofballs, and share in the experience of coming in each day to what sometimes looked like insurmountable absurdities.
22 Those teachers were always miles ahead of district regulators, who were often people who wanted to get out of the classroom as swiftly as possible. The general attitude by seasoned veterans was that they were never going to take direct orders from people who couldn't handle the trenches.
23 That attitude remains to this day, only I still see teachers trying to follow to the letter standards' based education that is often completely unrealistic. I used to spend much of my entire year teaching grammar, and mixing it with fun literature, films, conspiracy theories, and high-interest topics.
24 Teaching grammar used to take hours on end, and countless frustrations on the part of the students, because if you are going to teach writing, you need to come as close as you can to getting the students to master the rulebook.
25 Over the years, the district slowly eliminated grammar books. There used to be one grammar book for each level: one for freshmen, one for sophomores, one for juniors, and even one for seniors.
26 They now want us to teach all the same things, but with pretty much no realistic time frames and zero grammar books. We have grammar in our literature books, but it is superficial at best. In the pacing guide, they want us to teach all eight parts of speech, phrases clauses in like a two-week period.
27 It is so ridiculously unrealistic that we sometimes laugh. I could give the definitions of all those things in two weeks, but mastery would take four years.
28 So a lot of teachers with vision and passion would know instinctively that a lot of what the district demands is the result of short meetings with people who grab a California Department of Education script and try to squeeze ten pounds of sugar into a two-pound bag.
29 And over the years, different groups come in to morph it and change it according to whatever demands are being made at the top. And it all rolls down into a somewhat jumbled mess at the bottom.
30 To their credit, they have some excellent things in place, it's just that the timelines and continuity are absolutely absurd and nearly impossible to implement with any reasonable sense of mastery.
31 So instead, the more seasoned people, the people who were schooled by passionate and interested teachers, and other visionaries realize that lost in all of this "Bottism" is the fact that students will always be students.
32 They will need teachers who come in and who will engage them with passion on a daily basis, tell them ahead of time when they have headaches, have limitless patience, and always use humor and kind words to defuse tense moments.
33 All of which has nothing to do with standards, and everything to do with understanding the scattered minds of teenagers.
34 Barnhill is a teacher who would probably be considered one of those in item 32. He teaches students first, produces unbelievable concerts second, and somewhere in there knows instinctively that he has conquered every standard any committee might have thrown his way, without even looking.
35 The Wind Ensemble performed a part of their Carnegie Hall show last night. I sat with a young teacher, Matt Hall, staring down on one of the greatest musical conductors I've ever seen, and we both stood astonished. I have never seen Barnhill conduct with as much intensity. He pointed at every not, arms flailing, pointing, parrying with a musical beast, and with sudden alarm, stopping it all at once with arms straight out like bomber wings.
36 Matt Hall and I just turned and stared at each other. We were almost frightened, which is what good conducting should to to an audience. Matt is also a young dynamo who uses creativity and passion to reach his guitar students. Barnhill is his role-model, and talks musically while I do color commentary at the end of each piece. We both love music passionately, so it is easy to talk game.
37 I tried bringing some papers into the booth in order to stay up on my assignments, but the second the music started, I put my pencil down and let the amazing work of those students take me everywhere from October to the Trail of Tears.
38 As an added feast, Steve brought in a brass band he has worked with professionally for the past two years. They brought in Aaron Copland, as well as music about Samson and Delilah. That was all in the program.
40 The Wind Ensemble got a well-earned standing ovation last night. The brass band got an enormous welcome and applause after what looked to be their final piece.
41 But the devilish Barnhill added a surprise touch, which is what geniuses do.
42 He talked almost routinely about their last piece, which wasn't in the program. I smiled, because I knew he had something cooking, because that's what great teachers do.
43 He just said, "You'll know this."
44 The brass band went into a dramatic opening to "Maria" from West Side Story. I looked at Matt and said, "Bernstein dude. Awesome." He smiled.
45 The opening sounded like something from a 50's film score, loud, brash, bright. I wanted to sing, "Maria! I've just met a girl named Maria!" Intense.
46 Barnhill then looked over his left shoulder and threw a Bugs Bunny face at the audience.Within seconds, they went into the Simpsons' theme song. It was fast, perfect, and visions of Bart riding the board instantly hit every single person in the Theater.
47 They kept on with background music, and they got faster and faster as the Maestro continued his madcap conducting.
48 It finished abruptly and the audience, who stayed through the entire evening rose instantly to their feet, whistling, screaming, and cheering.
49 I'll leave it there. That said more to me about teaching than anything any committee ever tried to achieve. Committees create camels when they attempt to create a horse.
50 Barnhill brought in a golden Trojan Horse.
51 Barnhill taught students. He also taught teachers.
52 The brass band plays this weekend at the Chill. I'll get details to you tomorrow if I can remember.
53 Meanwhile, we all got taken to school last night.
54 I won't soon forget that performance. Neither will anyone in that thunderous room.
55 Awesome, Mr. Barnhill.
56 Once again, you took us all to school.
57 That's teaching.
58 Peace.
~H~
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