On behalf of the Oakley Union School District, I want to express my great appreciation to the NAMM Foundation for it's help in supporting the Guitars in the Classroom program in our district. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, our visual and performing arts program and district plan is on permanent hold. If it were not for GITC and the NAMM Foundation, this great program would not have been possible this year.Our teachers were so appreciative of this fantastic opportunity to engage in professional development in the arts, and specifically in music. They have all raved about the experience of learning to strum and make music. The teacher is such a wonderful model of excellent instruction. In addition, our teachers enjoyed meeting and working with others across the district; it is always so helpful to share our craft with other enthusiastic professionals.
Our District Visual and Performing Committee has really promoted learning with and through the arts. One of our focus professional development programs is Project GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design). As I am writing this letter, we have a group of teachers in GLAD training in our summer school. GLAD is a model of professional development in the area of language acquisition and literacy. The strategies and model promote English language acquisition, academic achievement, and cross-cultural skills. GLAD was developed and field tested for nine years in the Fountain Valley School District and is based on years of experience with integrated approaches for teaching language. Tied to standards, the model trains teachers to provide access to core curriculum using local district guidelines and curriculum.
GLAD is an instructional model with clear, practical strategies promoting positive, effective interactions among students and between teachers and students. GLAD develops metacognitive use of high level, academic language and literacy. During the staff development, teachers are provided with the instructional strategies, the theory and research that support the model, and the curriculum model that brings these all together in the context of district and state frameworks and standards. The second part of the training is a demonstration session in the classroom where the model is demonstrated with students.
GLAD training results in teachers’ renewed commitment to high expectations and high standards for all students. The results for students have been continued gains in standardized test scores as well as renewed involvement in a classroom that is, not only student-centered, but fosters a sense of identity and voice.
GLAD is all about using lots of language including both written and oral verse, rhymes, chanting, and songs. Many of our teachers develop their own chants and songs to promote learning the content of our state standards in social studies and science, as well as in English/Language arts and mathematics. Playing guitar is such a perfect accompaniment to both planned and spontaneous verses during learning and really supports the teachers’ use of GLAD strategies in the classroom. Our English learners and special needs students are especially benefitting from this “right brain” approach to learning in the classroom.
Gina Minder, one of our Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum Specialists did such a great job of coordinating this event across our district. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Guitars in the Classroom through the support of GITC and our enthusiastic guitar-playing teachers.
I am forwarding this letter to the Oakley Union School District Board of Education. This letter will be placed on their July board agenda so that both GITC and NAMM can be publicly recognized for your contribution to our district teachers and students.
Sincerely,
Carol Boyd, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services
cc: NAMM Foundation
Gina Minder
