So, everything demands practice. You can’t just show up and expect to improve if you don’t take individual time to teach yourself. Yes, watch, look, and edit your rehearsal. Rehearsal is different from playing.

I was always intrigued with new piano students and their practice skills. The students that STOPPED themselves when they made a mistake to correct it. The students that kept going, did not correct themselves never really improved. 

However, the next step, after correcting your mistakes is to put the entire piece together. The high achieving student not only stopped, but also played the entire piece in order to have a PLAN for the next rehearsal. 

I loved talked to students and ask the question “What is it that you are working on?” If they could not tell me, that was a red flag. Everyone should have something they are working on or going to “practice” or “figure out,” the next time they practice. 

So, I practice singing everyday, in the effort to extend my range since now I am in a choir that demands my high register. I also go over all of the songs and rhythms. I am currently working on a Latin piece that is quite tricky with the notes and words.

I started a drawing class a month ago, and I am drawing every day. This is quite a risk since I haven’t had an art class since the eighth grade. I have erased and redrawn many objects in my first drawing. I need to work on shading and practice the shading technique.

Golf, sad to say it had taken a back shelf. I did manage to golf last Sunday and played the best round in the group and a personal best. I hit seven greens and had two terrific puts! I look to work on my putting this week. 

Finally, my Pickleball game. I currently am going to take a few lessons from a great Pickleball player to improve my strategy and direction of the ball. The soft game is really what I need to work on and I also need a faster and harder serve, that will mean an hour by myself serving on the court. 

Yes, I am working on my third career. Here it goes!

Something artsy old - Singing. 
Something artsy new, take a risk - Drawing
Something athletic old - Golf
Something athletic new, take a risk - Pickleball

Got to go practice right NOW!

Some interesting points concerning teacher tenure. It's about protecting the effective, independent innovative teachers. 

1. The idea that teachers protect their friends who are bad teachers is ridiculous. Administrators hire and fire. Tenure is state-regulated. Teachers have no power and are not involved in any way in the retention of teachers. I have not seen ANY teacher support their "friends" who are ineffective in the classroom before the students. 

2. The jury of charter schools is still out. Using charter schools as the standard for not having tenure, is wrong. Suburban schools with strong unions that have extremely high test scores. They beat the charter schools hands down. Test scores need to take in account for poverty, resources, and parental involvement.

3. Here is an excellent article concerning the LA lawsuit, Veteran teachers were replaced with beginning teachers, and YES test scores went up. Having a revolving door of teachers is not the answer to achieving. Again, teaching is not simply about standardized test scores. 

4. Standardized test scores do not best represent the complete learning environment. Over sixty=percent of teachers are in subjects that are not tested and some schools use all-school scores. Meaning the music teacher may be accountable for students he/she has not even taught as part of their summative evaluation.

5. The big lie is that tenure does not mean you cannot NEVER be fired or removed from the classroom. I have personally witnessed three tenured teachers be fired or removed from the classroom to be reassigned to a non-teaching role. Yes, it takes documentation, but it can be done.  Again, this is an administrator problem, not a teacher problem.

6. Many outstanding teachers  have been protected by tenure. Once they win any awards outside the classroom they have been a target for administrators because they demand excellence and are not completely compliant to the administrators. I personally was a target by administrators. They felt they could no longer "control" me. When is was discussed at a teacher's meeting that the Fine Arts assembly would be eliminated, I stood up to my fellow teachers and administration. I was disciplined because I "didn't listen" to the discussion and "refused to agree" with the non-arts teachers about the awards assembly for outstanding work and performance. How do you listen and agree with a CUT?  Of course I stood up for my students and excellence. I took the hit and got written up and was given a poor mark on "working with others." This is why we have tenure, for independent thoughts, not to protect poor teaching practice.

7. The real issue with tenure is MONEY. Getting rid of the highest paid teachers and replacing them with lower paid teachers, with the premise that seasoned teachers are bad, young teachers are good.

8. Having been a union president and negotiated four contracts, I understand how the teacher-administration-board relationship and how it works. We protected teachers that were ineffective and made sure those teachers who were the more effective AND had independent thoughts were allowed to continue teaching. That is the attack that is really happening, the most effective and independent teachers are being forced out for teachers who are young, lower paid, compliant and follow in lock-step with the administration.