Let's Talk Arts Integration

Recently a Harvard professor spoke to administrators in our district.  He was a guest of the local college of art and design and was talking about the arts in education.  Someone asked him to speak about those who are struggling in reading and math and what they should receive in arts education/integration.  Basically, the principals that attended reported that this gentleman said, "no arts until they can read and do math".  In other words, struggling students need to do MORE reading and math to get better at it.  And arts should not be crowding out the opportunity for more.  


I have to tell you I wish I was at the presentation so I really had a fuller picture.  BUT from this little snippet, it makes my skin crawl!  I have spent the last 13 years in a school FILLED with struggling readers and mathematicians.  And I agree they need more reading and math opportunities to improve.  In fact, that was the very essence of my job the past four or five years of my time there.  But I believe we can utilize the arts to make the difference for those who struggle.  


It's my unofficial observation and "research" that leads me to think that many kids who struggle with academics ARE very artistic.  They can often draw what they heard in a story far better than they can write it.  They can act out a story to internalize it.  They can even learn basic skills better through music (oh the number of times I've "rapped grammar rules" or information to help it stick in their minds!).  


I know the job at Title I schools is huge.  It's downright overwhelming and frustrating at times.  Kids and teachers are drained as they try to find one more magic bullet that might make a difference for a struggling student.  I know that Principals are trying the best they can to improve their scores so that they can achieve whatever status the state or federal government will bestow upon those who are high performing.  


But these are still kids!  They are young.  They have stuff filling their lives that many in the middle class will never understand.  



Some schools in our district are responding by putting kids into more computer assisted instruction programs.  For some students they are on the computer listening to an automated teacher for more than 90 minutes in the school day.  One teacher asked me recently if there is research that shows it will make a difference.  I am pretty sure that anything done for 90 minutes daily might make a difference.  What I do know is that it may not be a sustainable difference.  And how very impersonal it is in my mind to put headphones on them and take away the human element that I believe can make such a big difference for the struggling learner.  

Why not give kids something to latch onto?  Why not fill their lives with music, dance, drama and images that might help bridge their learning gap?  Why not allow them to utilize the right side of the brain to help enhance the left?  


I would argue that we are robbing them if we expect them to only read more and solve more math problems.  And I think we are robbing them by expecting a digital miracle via the computer.  Perhaps they could read a song or a poem and suddenly get it.  Perhaps they can look at art and see the shapes, patterns and spatial placement to finally understand a word problem.  Perhaps they could learn to dance words and letters and emotions.  


And the bottom line is there is no magic bullet; not the computer and not even the arts.  No one has one. But I think this quote by Peter Senge is important to remember: "'Many children struggle in schools... because the way they are being taught is the way is incompatible with the way they learn."   If they learn best by computer, fine.  But if its another way, by all means let's find it and give it to them.  


It's the professional thing to do!  And, in my mind, they all deserve to be under the care of true professionals.  

MOST Days I Like PB&J

I truly do like a good PB&J sandwich every now and then. I have my favorite peanut butter (Jif-Reduced Fat-Creamy) and my favorite jelly (Smuckers Grape). Add a nice cup of cold milk, and I am suddenly eight or nine or ten again.

But, around the second week of school, I really hate what the PB&J represents. You see, the school lunch program is a federally funded program. It is designed so that all children can get a well-balanced meal at lunch time (regardless of socio-economic status). Normally, an elementary school lunch consists of a "main dish", vegetable, fruit, and milk. Occasionally there is a roll or something thrown in there as well. On most days, I think they do a decent job of providing meals for our students.

But, on day seven of school, things CAN change for students. If you are a child who has a parent that neglected to fill out the application for free/reduced lunch OR you are a child of a parent who simply isn't responsible enough to hand you your lunch money, YOU are no longer "entitled" to the lunch that everyone else gets. Nope. YOU get PB&J. And for good measure, they'll add the milk! One sandwich and a milk.

Now, picture every five year old you've ever known. They're little. They have interesting thought processes. But the beginning of school is one GIANT training ground for them. Many of them think the people in the lunchroom are "giving" them a lunch everyday. In fact, these are the kids who genuinely LIKE their school lunches. They certainly have little or no understanding of "accounts" and paperwork and applications for free/reduced lunch. I'm not even sure they understand the "IOU" slip they get when they haven't paid. If English is not their first language (and many fall into this category), then they REALLY do not understand.

Add to this picture what I "got" to see and do today. For every child who fits in the category I described above, the scene goes like this.

1. Pick up my milk.
2. Tell the lady whether I want macaroni and cheese or a ham and cheese sandwich.
3. She adds carrots and a roll to my meal.
4. I get to pick out a fruit. I can choose from a banana, pineapple cup, or grapes. I choose grapes.
5. I go to the lady to pay and put in my PIN number.
6. The lady at the "money table" announces, "NOPE. You don't have any money left. You have to have peanut butter and jelly."
7. She picks up my tray and returns it to the first lady who gave me all the stuff to begin with.
8. She brings me a tray with ONE measly sandwich on it and smiles at me when she says, "Remind Mom to send money in with you tomorrow." And then she sends me to join my class while THEY eat mac&cheese and/or their ham&cheese sandwich.
9. While this was happening, one of my classmates is standing with their parent in line waiting to pay for their meals. The parent looks at the lunch lady with great pity because she knows SHE is not "like my family".

Can you imagine the devastation? Can you imagine the confusion? Can you imagine if that is the ONLY "real" meal that child will get today? Can you imagine what happens when a child has no "Mom" at home? Can you imagine what it feels like to be the "most" responsible person in your house and yet be shorter than everyone else and basically ignored?

Yes, MOST days, I like PB&J.

Today, however, is not one of them!