As many of you know, schools across the country have been forced to cut art and music programs due mainly in part to governmental funding cuts. You might not know that schools are being pushed to focus instruction more on reading and math, and less on everything else. This is mainly due to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). To me, the acronymn makes more sense like this: No Clue Legislative Branch because obviously, the act was passed by people with no concept for reality. These congressmen were aiming for a utopian educational program. Maybe they got flustered by all the statistics claiming that children in the United States perform significantly less overall on standardized tests when compared worldwide. That utopian goal is not only unrealistic, but simply unattainable. Let me explain. The goal of NCLB is for all students to become proficient in math and reading by 2014. To reach compliance, schools must submit standardized test results of all students in elementary and secondary schools each year. If the students perform low on average, schools get penalized. Schools that are penalized are forced to meet various regulations set by our government. If schools do not meet proficiency standards by 2014, they will suffer great federal governmental funding losses.
Other negative impacts of NCLB happen within the school itself. Teachers are forced to "teach to the test" which means focusing on reading and math since that's all that is being tested. I know in first grade, I devote about 90% of my day to reading and math curriculum. We hardly have time during out day for other subject areas. Another case in point is that standardized tests do not always accurately determine exactly what a child knows. I know when I take a test, I sometimes get so bored with the act of taking the test itself, that I just start filling in bubbles. Some chidren face the exact opposite problem and freeze up during a test due to severe test anxiety. Do kids really take those things as seriously as the government does? Or can they even read the question at all? There are too many variables left unconsidered by our federal government.
How does that make sense at all? We can thank the brilliant politicians for this one. Some big shot guy getting paid three times as much money to work half as many days as everyone else, one day woke up and thought, "Hey lets penalize the schools that are performing low by providing them with even less resources than they started with!" And some other dingbat was like, "By George (it's no accident I used this name), you're right! That way the federal government can spend less money toward something important, like education, and more on providing resources for a war that is completely baseless!" Brilliant! I am proud to be an American, but politics are corrupt and irrational at times.
Did you know that teachers spend, on average, about $450 of their own money toward classroom supplies? I am embarrassed to say how much money I spent on my classroom this year. Let's just say that it is significantly more than the national average. I spent money from my own pocket because I felt it was necessary to provide my students with the necessary resources to learn. I care about the future of our youth. The sad fact is that overall, the state and federal governments alike, do not fundamentally support education to the full extent necessary for proficient learning to occur. Underpaid educators are too busy teaching to fight for what is right.
And all of you that think teaching is easy... you couldn't be further from the truth. If you could spend a day in my room, you would see just how hard it can be. I'm not complaining. I am stating a fact. Contrary to popular belief, I do not get off when the kids leave. I stay a few more hours to prepare for the next day and sometimes take my work home with me. I have no preparation days allotted to me. All of these days have been cut due to lack of funding. I cannot afford to take the summer off, beacause I need to pay my bills. I don't know about other teachers, but I don't get paid the full amount I do throughout the year during the summer. In fact, I'm lucky to even have a job in this economy. Lots of positions in my field are being cut due to lack of funding. That means bigger class sizes and less one-on-one time between teacher and student. What are our tax dollars being spent on anyway? I don't know. I barely have enough time to get in my three meals a day, adequate exercise, and eight hours of sleep daily, let alone time to watch CSPAN or read the bills passed by Congress. I just know what American taxpayers money is NOT going toward: education.
Back to art. I went through all of elementary school without ever experiencing a formal art class. Oh, the possiblities that could have been! Luckily, I had another creative outlet: MUSIC! I had one particular music teacher who encouraged me to express myself through music and drama. I finally felt free to be my goofy self! I starred in many plays throughout elementary and middle school. I can read music, and I play three instruments. Then in middle school, God brought me Mrs. Manley. I don't know what I would have done without art in middle school. Puberty tortured me throughout middle school, and I have never had more homework in my life (aside from Methods block in college)! Middle school sucked. Art didn't. Mrs. Manley created amazing art lessons which stimulated my internal desire to express myself through creativity. I could do whatever I wanted and I didn't even have to study. It was much more gratifying than getting an A on a test any day. In high school, I signed up for every art class I could and never looked back. I also discovered what I am doing right now: creative writing! Thank you Mrs. Mundt, Mr. Monahan, and Mrs. Mathieson. And that's what art did for me.
If you are not taught how to draw or do not learn on your own through practice, you will develop an idea that you cannot draw. It's like anything else: you must practice to get better at it. I know alot of you reading this probably believe that you, indeed, cannot draw or "suck at art". I hope to enlighten you when I say that we can all draw. We just have some preconceived notions of what is "good" and what is "bad". Even my first graders are dying to know whether I approve of their artwork. They hold up their pictures all the time and ask me the same question, "Do you like this?" The expression on their face reads, "Please, please like this because I worked really hard on it!" I am careful to always reply with the same question every time, "Do YOU like it?" Because that is the important thing isn't it? That you like what you do. Self-expression. Screw what everyone else thinks for a few minutes!
Kids have an innate desire to express their individuality through different outlets. Maybe doing math problems faster than everyone else is one student's "thing"; or maybe it's reading the most amount of books. Well, that was never my thing. It wasn't gratifying. I needed to create my own reality through art. I know a lot of other kids who need art too. Just look at what first graders are capable of creating when they have no restrictions:
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| Artist: Shae Watercolor on Drawing Paper 18 X 24" Discovered the "splatter" technique on her own in art center. |
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| Artist: Ethan Watercolor on Drawing Paper 18 X 24" An independent study of mixing colors in art center. |
Did I impress you yet? Either one of these could be shown in an art gallery and passed as works of art by a prestigious artist. Give kids an opportunity to create something on their own and they just might amaze you. If you never give them the opportunity... they won't have a chance!
