I am an elementary school principal, and I've been thinking about how things change and continue to evolve. The students in my school have just completed this round of state testing, and without taking any stance one way or another on this, I can tell you without hesitation that it consumed a significant amount of time and energy, both for our staff and for me personally. The tests may not have been the way any of us (students included) would have chosen to allocate instructional time, but our students mostly sailed through without incident, despite some technical glitches. The real burden fell, as it often does, to staff and administration. I was physically and mentally exhausted after this week, and I know that our teachers were feeling much the same.

After a bit of time to reflect, it struck me that while there are many things that are "new" about the state tests, from an administration and student impact standpoint, the tangible toll it took was not dissimilar to other new tests during the first years of administering those assessments. I say that not to dismiss any of the conversation or concern about common core and this assessment, but to remark on the way we currently experience change as a society. New initiatives are announced much more loudly and common experiences are felt much more strongly than was true even twenty-five years ago. Social media and media in general connects us in a way that brings a new gravity to every change and every event. Think of the way we anticipate and brace for weather systems we wouldn't have even been able to see coming 15 years ago! At times that connection helps us to recognize the impending reality of change and react to it with appropriate levels of concern; other times that instant delivery of information can bring an intensity that might cause us to react too quickly, without fully understanding the deeper implications of a new situation. How have we reacted to PERA (Phonics and Early Reading Assessments)? Or to the Danielson frameworks, and having to interpret them ourselves? To having learners with exceptionalities included in our classrooms without specified training and development? To the ever-changing landscape of technology? To the impending measurements of student growth as part of our evaluations?

The inevitability of change alongside the reliability of new state mandates demands a teacher who is responsive and flexible in virtually every situation (domain 3c for those Danielson-ites keeping score at home). However, I believe the skill we should seek isn't the ability to transform immediately; it's the adaptability of quality instruction. The basic truth held in common by everything in the previous paragraph is simple: if we strive for truly excellent instruction, we will meet the need of every mandate, so long as we are willing to adapt our language a bit to reach the ears of our evaluators.

In discussing this, I am reminded that no on will argue with you that music isn't important. What we have to show that is that music is relevant. Every teacher in your building is being asked to provide quality instruction, to differentiate, to assess with integrity and fidelity, and to provide students with experiences that will allow them to grow as learners and as citizens—we are no different as music teachers. We are also (all) asked to reflect, and the discover the areas that we can all grow as educators—because even though it may be true that "music teachers naturally and inherently already do all of those things" (as we often say), it is also true that not one of us still drawing breath is done growing as an educator. It is our responsibility to engage—not necessarily in creating something to "fit" the next mandate, but in self-reflection and honest self-assessment that will help us ensure that the instruction we provide is consistently meaningful, consistently of the highest quality, and consistently relevant.

How will you do this? Perhaps you carve out time for daily or at least weekly reflection about your own teaching—if not, try it! Perhaps you will pull out a handout from a workshop or conference session and take the time you promised yourself to think about how you can really apply this to your classroom. Perhaps you can commit a day to sharing and reflecting with some colleagues, or connect with a friend over a cup of coffee and "talk shop" for a few minutes—it may inspire you both! Whenever the time, whatever the process for that reflection, make the commitment to capture it (and then document it, because that's domain 4a behavior you just demonstrated!). While we may sometimes need to adapt a bit, we ARE relevant, and we don't need to "change" to prove it.