Events & News

1.  The Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Columbus, OH meets this week.  (Conference Program)
2.  Middle Level Essentials Conference, April 4-5, 2008 in Minneapolis
3.  The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Conference in Saline, MI, March 13-14.

Advisory:  Origami
So caught between the Reading Committee’s demand for dropping everything and keeping Advisory moving and active?  What about taking the pages of an origami book, offering several selections based on level of difficulty, and allowing the students to pick a project to produce and then teach others in the advisory?  Scale it to teaching another advisory (preferably another grade level).

Place it in order:
8,5,4,1,9,7,6,3,2,0
Why do these numbers belong in this order?

Get kids to think in different ways. This comes from a 16 year old in New York. He rode the bus for 2 hours a day. He started a “logic class” in the back of the bus. In order to join the class, a student had to present a logic problem. This one comes from a 13 or 14 year old.

Special Ed must Give way to NCLB:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/02/20/24nclb.h27.html?tmp=820046599
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Chicago, ruled unanimously on Feb. 11 that even if the NCLB law was at odds with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the special education law “must give way” because NCLB is the newer statute.
But the 7th Circuit panel quickly moved on to conclude that, on the merits, the Illinois suit “is too weak to justify continued litigation.”
“There are many school districts that are missing AYP only because of special-needs children, and only because they are being required by the regulators to measure [such students’] progress by standardized tests, in a manner that is inconsistent with their” individualized education programs, Mr. Izzo said.

Reading List:

Innovate Like Edison:  The Success System of America’s Greatest Inventor  Innovation Literacy

“We’ve got to get every member of the organization, from top to bottom, literate in innovation just like we make them literate in finance, or literate in marketing, or literate in an other management disciplines.  Innovation is not about ideas and creativity, it’s a whole discipline about how you turn an idea into reality.  Innovation literacy has to be across the board.  It’s got to be done.”

Edison’s Five Competencies of Innovation:
1.  Solution-centered Mindset:  Setting the goal and defining success at the outset.
2.  Kaleidoscopic Thinking:  Making creative connections between ideas and concepts.
3.  Full-spectrum Engagement:  Balancing work and play, solitude and collaboration, concentration and relaxation.
4.  Mastermind Collaboration:  The “… coordination of knowledge and effort in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”  -Napoleon Hill
5.  Super-value Creation
See a sample here:
“He formed multidisciplinary teams to develop his products.”  – Curtis R. Carlson

Commenters Criticize Spellings After Homecoming

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, at right, is barnstorming states trying to improve NCLB’s image. The press coverage of her stops so far has been rather favorable, leaving out some of the voices of the law’s most strident critics. See, for example, this story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

But when the secretary stopped in her hometown of Houston last week, commenters on this Houston Chronicle story weren’t buying her message. One pointed out the logical inconsistency of all students reaching grade level if that term is defined as the 50th percentile. Another calls her a name that my sons (ages 10 and 7) like to use on each other, and then adds that the secretary enrolled one of her daughters in a Catholic school. (That’s news to me. Send me an e-mail if you know this to be true). All in all, not a good hometown reception.

But I doubt Spellings will be deterred by these remarks. She’s been using pseudo-religious language about NCLB’s achievement goal, calling it “righteous” in interviews and public appearances. Maybe she’ll find comfort in Matthew 13:57.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/NCLB-ActII/

NCLB for Lawyers & Advocates:
Questions for the Attorney and Advocate

• Is the child proficient in reading?
• Is the child proficient in auditory processing?
• Does the child have phonemic awareness?
• What is the child’s grade equivalent level when reading aloud as measured by the Gray Oral Reading Test?
• What is the child’s grade equivalent level when reading silently as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests Revised or the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test?
• If the child is not proficient in reading, what steps has the school taken to bring the child to proficiency?
• Has the school administered a screener? If so, what were the findings?
• Has the school administered a diagnostic reading test? If so, what were the findings?
• What reading program is the school using to teach the child to read?
• Is this program a research-based reading program? Does this reading program include the “essential components” listed in 20 U. S. C. § 6368(3)?
• What research supports the use of this program?
• What assessments does the district use to identify children who may be at risk for reading failure or difficulty learning to read? Has the district used such an assessment with this child? What were the findings?
• What “additional educational assistance” is the district providing to this student?
• Is the child’s teacher qualified to teach reading?

http://www.harborhouselaw.com/articles/nclb.reading.research.htm

Teaching Ambassador Fellowship
http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/index.html

Margaret Spellings is asking teachers with three years or more classroom experience to apply to be an “Ambassador” teacher and consult with the Department of Education on the application of No Child Left Behind. There are three levels of participation. Twenty-Five Teacher Ambassadors will be selected from applicants who are highly qualified and paid an hourly rate. 20 Classroom Fellows will be selected and paid a stipend on an hourly rate and 5 will be Washington Fellows and work on a one year contract for the Department of Education out of Washington D.C. itself. The participants will put together a project for them to complete during the year and the U.S. Department of Ed. will provide resources to finding funding through grants and other sources. Collaboration will be encouraged after the program is over in June of 2009. Applicants have to demonstrate an impact on student achievement, potential for contribution to the field and leadership qualities.

Teams that Make a Difference Award – NMSA

Know a team that has done an outstanding job implementing the middle school concept, give ’em some NMSA recognition!

Advisory Idea: Teaching Moments – Educational Ownership – Homework Help
http://www.teachingmoments.com/ (a curriculum)

Goal Setting for Students is divided into eight sections:

• What is Success
• Principles of Goal Setting
• Samples & Practice
• Investing in Yourself
• Measuring Your Progress
• Meeting the Challenges
• How to Get Started
• Summary

The website promotes their book with the above sections. In addition to the book, there is an email component that provides regular features and topics. I love the initial sentence on the Teacher page, “Teachers want you to succeed but YOU have to help them!” On the website are free resources called “Teaching Moments” and many are archived for quick usage. Here’s what a sample looks like:

10 Ways to Help Your Teacher

Your teachers want you to succeed, but YOU have to help them.
They teach you about a particular subject like science, math, or English. And they do much, much more.

In combination with your parents, teachers show you how to take responsibility, how to get along with others, how to handle stress, how to improve your communication skills and how to believe in yourself. They teach you how to manage your time, how to set goals, and how to make better personal decisions. So how can you help them?

10 Ways to Help Your Teachers

1. Listen – really listen – in class
2. Improve your note-taking skills
3. Take part in the class discussions
4. Review your subject notes before class
5. If necessary, change your seat assignment
6. Do an extra-credit project
7. Ask questions
8. Double check your homework and test material before handing them in
9. Hand your homework in on time
10. Two days before a test, do some additional studying in that subject area

Teachers have goals, called lesson plans, for each of their classes. For example, how do you teach students about the metric system if they have never been exposed to the concept? A lesson plan is a step-by-step breakdown of how the teacher plans to accomplish this task. Then, how do teachers measure how well you are learning the material?

You guessed it. Tests, quizzes, class participation and term papers are the tools they use to measure their success. They tell the teacher if your class needs further review or can move to a new topic.

Here’s the key. The above ten rules will help your teacher succeed. The bonus – you will succeed also.

Ideas for implementation:
Take one item for the week and work to improve in that area.
Show your teachers what you are doing and ask for their help.
As a student who is good in note taking to give you a couple of pointers.

Taken from: Teaching Moments at http://www.teachingmoments.com/Teaching-Moments-10-Ways-to-Help-Your-Teacher.html

Transitions: Smoothing the Way for Students and Parents –
In combination with your parents, teachers show you how to take responsibility, how to get along with others, how to handle stress, how to improve your communication skills and how to believe in yourself. They teach you how to manage your time, how to set goals, and how to make better personal decisions. So how can you help them?

What kids are concerned about:

• Changing classes
• Having multiple teachers
• Not having recess
• Peer Pressure
• New Friends
• Lockers & Locks
• Finding the Bathroom
• Changing into P.E. Clothes

Note: Survey your students to find their particular concerns and needs.

How to help:

1. During Spring have 6th grades go back to the elementary schools
   1. Take work samples
   2. Explain how things really work
   3. Reassure the students
2. Allow students to tour the building and ask questions
3. Have a Parent Night to allow parents to tour the building and ask questions
4. Distribute student schedules just before school starts

Wisconsin moves to Avert Court Shutdown of Virtual Schools:
From Education Week – January 30th edition:

Wisconsin lawmakers announced a compromise this week that would allow virtual schools to remain open and receive the same amount of state aid as they do now.
“Allowing parents to choose virtual schools helps keep Wisconsin a national leader in education policy,” said Mr. Davis, the chairman of the education committee in the state Assembly, the legislature’s lower chamber.
Virtual schools allow students to learn from home under the guidance of their parents and instructors who teach over the Internet.

They are a growing and popular option for families who want their children to learn from home instead of at traditional public schools.
But critics, such as teachers’ unions, have started to question their quality and complain they drain money from public schools. Some say they amount to taxpayer- subsidized home schooling.

“People are paying attention because online learning is really a growing phenomenon,” Ms. Patrick said of the Wisconsin controversy. “And for us to arbitrarily shut down online learning for students is a very dangerous precedent to set.”

Mr. Lehman said he was proud of the compromise, pointing to new rules that would require schools to provide a minimum number of hours of education per year and have parent advisory boards that meet regularly, among other provisions.

Looking for a creative way to write to send us a comment?  Give The Bureau of Communication a try.  Select the appropriate form, fill in information you’d like us to know and zip it off to middleschooleducators@gmail.com.

Middle School Matters Podcast #21

How has professional practice changed over the last 10 years?

• Medical Model.
• Teaching ALL (Each and Every) Student
  • Inside-Outside in the Middle Reflective Strategies for Middle Level Teachers by David L. Puckett
  • Drumming to the Beat of a Different Marcher by Dr. Debbie Silver
• Data
• Collaboration
• Expectations
• Edutainer

How do you tear down the walls of the fiefdom?

• Establish a relationship with another teacher.
• Videotape yourself
• Discuss practice
• Interdisciplinary units

Observation of another

• Set up a reciprocal arrangement
• Agree to the ground rules and norms of observation.

Center the Observation and discussion around observable characteristics:

Observable Characteristics of Effective Teachers

• Begins class promptly and in a well-organized way.
• Treats students with respect and caring.
• Provides the significance/importance of information to be learned.
• Provides clear explanations.
• Holds attention and respect of students, practices effective classroom management.
  • “Studium Discendi Voluntate Quae Cogi Non Potest Constat.” – Marcus Fabius Quintilianus
• Uses active, hands-on student learning.
• Varies his/her instructional techniques.
• Provides clear, specific expectations for assignments.
• Provides frequent and immediate feedback to students on their performance. Praises student answers and uses probing questions to clarify/elaborate answers.
• Provides many concrete, real life, practical examples.
• Draws inferences from examples/models and uses analogies.
• Creates a class environment which is comfortable for students….allows students to speak freely.
• Teaches at an appropriately fast pace, stopping to check student understanding and engagement.
• Communicates at the level of all students in class.
• Has a sense of humor!
• Uses nonverbal behavior, such as gestures, walking around, and eye contact to reinforce his/her comments.
• Presents him/herself in class as “real people.”
• Focuses on the class objective and does not let class get sidetracked.
• Uses feedback from students (and others) to assess and improve teaching.
• Reflects on own teaching to improve it

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/resources/peer/guidelines/index.html

National Middle School Association Standards

• NMSA standards and guidelines could be turned into observation statements and used to help assess teacher performance.
• What if we took a snapshot of ourselves as teachers from the viewpoint of the stakeholders?
• Survey Administrators, Parents, Students, and Teachers.
  • Survey Prototypes:  Listed as “Dispositional Inventories”

Other:

• The Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference, February 21-22, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio (www.ohiomsa.org)

1. • Sample of session topics:
     • Dealing with difficult people, Ed. Vittardi
     • Because You Teach, Monte Selby (Keynote)
     • NMSA Toolkit, John Swaim
     • Effective Collaboration Practices, J. Wilson
     • Enhanced Leadership: The Principal’s Role as a Change Agent, D. Major
     • Podcasting: A Creative Hook to Master the Achievement Tests, H. Grunenberg
     • Starting RTI at the Middle Level, B. Kermayner
     • Transescent Transitions to Middle School, S. McGirr (Magnolia Room, Session III 1:45 – 2:45 p.m.)
     • Engage ’em, Assess ’em, … and Watch ’em Achieve: The Classroom Performance System, D. Delaney

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators, March 13-14, 2008 in Saline, Michigan. (www.mamse.org)
• Japanese Scientists put a camera in a brain!
  • What I could do with this ….
• Michigan Joint Education Conference, July 25, 2008 (www.mijec.org)
  • Presenters wanted on interdisciplinary education topics.

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education.
Dr. Martin Luther King.

Ideas to try:

Side-by-Side (team level activity)

• • On a team, take a half day and send the students to advisory.
  • Assign a question sheet which the students fill out for the first 30 or so minutes of the half-day advisory.
  • Allow students to select group board games.
  • Call students up to you and have them sit beside you. Ask them to pick two or three items from the sheet to talk to you about.
  • Rotate through topics allowing them to initiate conversation and prompt as the conversation goes along.
  • Source: MAMSE Conference Advisory session 2005.

Walk The Line (individual Advisory activity)

• • Challenge students to line themselves up in order, by birthday, from January to December without using lips or sound.
    • Other methods of organization: student number, street address, alpha order by middle name, alpha by first name.
  • Check for success. Mentally keep the number of errors in month and date in the back of your mind to use later.
  • Ask them to turn toward you and touch the outer edges of their feet. For the remainder of the activity they must remain connected.
  • Define success in the next step of the activity as, “Everyone gets across the finish line.” They will most likely forget this little tidbit, which is ok as it is a learning experience in and of itself.
  • Rules for walking the line:
  • Outer edges of feet must stay connected. (Note: This is where you keep track of the number of errors in the line-up part of the activity. If there are two people out of order, allow two or so separations of feet as you progress through the game.)
  • Everyone must make it across the finish line.
  • If feet separate, the entire group must start over.
  • Set the goal out a distance from the group and let them problem solve a solution. There is more than one way to solve this problem.
  • Possible solutions:
  • • The “Side Slide”: Students move to their right or left and snake across the finish line keeping constant pressure on the foot next to them. It looks like a giant U turn/Michigan Left.
    • The “Shuffle”: Students move forward in little, tiny “shuffles” keeping their feet together as they inch toward the finish line.
    • The “Inch Worm”: Students move one foot at a time forward and move in a wave down the line forward toward the finish line.

Who are You?
Introductions (Getting to Know You)

• • Supplies needed: Foam Ball
  • • Start by having the students form a circle.
    • Each student will say their name and then toss the ball to another student. Each student can only get the ball once (thus, the student’s have to pay attention).
    • Once they have done that, have student’s say the name of someone in the circle and then toss the ball to that person. Again, each person gets the ball only once.
    • Once they seem to know everyone’s name, the teacher can time them. Give them time to talk about strategy to see if they can “beat” their previous time. (Eventually, they will figure out to go in a circle). Discuss with them the process for improving their time. Did different students take on different roles? Was it important that everyone participate and cooperate?

Sponsor a Soldier (Advisory level activity)

• • One of the key ways to take one’s mind off of one’s life problems is to focus on the needs of others.
  • Many sources to find soldiers overseas in need of letters or care packages.

Teacher Appreciation

• • The advisory chooses one teacher who has made a difference in their lives that week or month and writes a short note articulating how they were helped and in what fashion. This can be sealed in an envelope if the student is concerned about others reading the note inside.
  • If available, students can put together a small breakfast for the teacher to enjoy.
  • If that’s not an option, make a “LifeSaver” note where LifeSavers are strung together and the note(s) of appreciation are attached at the end of the string.

TP Shuffle (individual Advisory activity, higher level of challenge for both the advisory teacher and the students involved)

• • Materials: 3 or 4 3.5 x 3.5 inch beams and 4-6 cinder blocks and a relatively soft place to fall.
    • Note: Don’t use beams you want to use later as construction material. Humidity and weight will warp these quite well.
  • Set up:
    • Put the beams inside the cinder blocks so the rest a few inches off of the ground.
  • Challenge:
    • Students can pick any spot on the beam to stand. You want to see how many seconds they can stay on the beam. If there looks like there’s a tight fit, put in another beam (I’d recommend two full 10′ beams and then cut the remainder in 5′ lengths to scale the challenge to the number of students participating in the activity.) If there’s too much space, take away a beam.
    • After all the students have the hang of standing on the beam for a period of time, tell them that the two end people must switch spots on the beam without anyone touching the ground in the process. If anyone steps off or falls off, the process begins anew.

Origami

• • Materials: directions, paper, patience, and an origami book with a variety of challenge levels.
  • Rationale:
    • There can be a point at which extending a lesson/activity can be beneficial by having the students teach each other something.
  • Process:
    • Allow students to select their own piece from choices you have provided.
    • Students practice pieces.
    • Students teach other members of the advisory how to make their piece and experience the interpersonal side of teaching others.

Take a Stand

• • Materials: Short news or policy article (www.izzit.org, The Annenberg Project, etc.) that generates an opinion that can be measured on a scale of 1 to 10.
  • Process:
    • Students formulate an opinion on a topic and the place themselves on a scale from 1 (very pro the article/opinion) to 10 (very negative the article/opinion).
    • Take the line that is formed and divide it in half. Students step out, turn toward the 1 end of the line and then walk so the two lines are next/across from each other. 1’s should be across from 5’s and 5’s across from 10’s. Then they discuss the basis of their opinion in terms like, “I think …”, “I understand …”, “I hear you say …”, “I disagree with …”, “I agree with …”.

CopyCat
Communication

• • Supplies Needed: Paper & Pencils
    • Have students pair up (birthday order and fold in half, random numbers, take a stand, etc)
    • Instruct 1/2 of the students to draw a simple shape on their paper.
    • Without their partner seeing the drawing, the first student simply describes the shape to their partner. Their partner is to replicate the picture as closely as possible. The partner may not talk at all. The describer can NOT look at the drawing of their partner.
    • Have them compare drawings. How close are they.
    • Have the students switch roles and complete the assignment again. This time, however, the one who is replicating may ask as many clarifying questions as they want (but they still can’t look at the orginal).
    • Discuss which one worked better and why. Discuss Why we ask questions? Did the questions result in a better product? Was it easier? Less frustrating? Extend to classroom assignments. (You may even want to a student volunteer to come up and receive complex homework assign directions. Then have that student deliver the directions to the class. Have the students write down what they understand the assignment to be and discuss).

Take a Side
Have students take a side about a variety of topics.

• • • Ask a variety of questions and have students line up on one side of the room (hallway) or the other.
    • You can ask controversial or basic questions.

Resources:

• NMSA Bookstore
• Stenhouse Publishers: Adventure Education for the Classroom Community, Laurie S. Frank (spiral bound edition)

Please share your Advisory Activities via the Comment Section.

Definitions:
According to NMSA:
Advisory programs are designed to deal directly with the affective needs of [young adolescents]. Activities may range from non-formal interactions to use of systematically developed units whose organizing center are drawn from the common problems, needs, interests, or concerns of [young adolescents], such as “getting along with peers,” “living in the school,” or “developing self-concept.” In the best of these programs, [young adolescents] have an opportunity to get to know one adult really well, to find a point of security in the institution, and to learn about what it means to be a healthy human being. (p. 40)

Among the purposes of the advisory, Stevenson writes, are to

• ensure than each student is known well at school by at least one adult who is that youngster’s advocate (advisor);
• guarantee that every student belongs to a peer group;
• help every student find ways of being successful within the academic and social options the school provides;
• promote communication and coordination between home and school.

Traits of Achievers:

1. Achievers spend more time in conversation with adults — eight to ten times as much as non-achieving students.

2. Achievers receive explict achievement training such as music lessons, sports coaching, skill, craft or hobby instruction.

3. Achievers have a regular pattern of behavior; they can count on certain routines in their lives regarding after school activity.

4. Achievers engage in anticipatory behavior, planning for tomorrow, next week, next summer or the long-term future.

5. Achievers participate in activities extending the opportunity to read and write by being engaged with technology or other activities which require them to read high level material and communicate with others for a specific and important purpose.

6. Achievers engage in constructive learning besides homework, such as hobbies, games and related intellectual or high skill endeavors.

7. Underachievers over participate in unsupervised recreational activity, such as watching T.V., or just “hanging out.”

8. Later research (Johnston, 1992) found that Achievers describe themselves as doing something “important” or “special” in their homes, families and communities, such as taking care of a younger sibling, preparing family meals, helping with chores or helping in a family business or other activity.

Some statistics about teacher – student relationships:
In a recent survey of middle school teachers, parents and students in five large northeastern and Midwestern states, the advisory program of the middle school came under the most intense criticism. Although 75% of teachers and 68% of parents found that advisory programs were promising ways of helping students develop strong self-concepts and decision making skills, only 32% of teachers and 40% of parents thought the program was fulfilling those goals. Further, while nearly 90% of parents and teachers agreed that it is important for a student to have one adult to whom he or she can turn with a problem, only about half of the parents and two-thirds of the teachers believe that this condition exists for all children in the school.

Student views of the nature of adult-child relationships are even more disturbing. In this sample, students reported the following perceptions of their relationships with teachers.

Most alarming is that students feel that they know so little about their teachers — or are so uncertain of their relationships with the adults with whom they spend much of their time. It is difficult, probably impossible, to form a guidance-oriented relationship with someone you know so little about.
How do schools overcome the perception that advisory is an extra, that it takes away instructional time, causes extra work for teachers, and is so contrived in an attempt to “connect” to kids that it is irrelevant.

A2 and AYP

• How does A2 effect AYP?
• Is there a relationship with academic progress?
• Proposed solutions abound. Hold the parents legally and financially accountable for the actions of their children. Get tougher with juvenile offenders: adjudicate them as adults, set up boot camps, build more prison facilities. Throw disruptive youths out of school. Take away their driver’s licenses. Withhold welfare payments.All of these solutions have one thing in common: they are institutional, organizational and systemic solutions to the problem. They assume that by changing the school system, the justice system, the welfare system…any number of systems…we will produce better behaved and more successful children.

  All of the solutions suffer from one fatal flaw: a overzealous faith in the ability of large-scale interventions…systems…to produce good children and youth. They don’t. Good children are raised by communities of adults who share common beliefs and values about what constitutes reasonable and appropriate behavior, who accept responsibility for sharing the wisdom of their years and experience with children, and who share a common commitment to all of the children of the community and nation.

  http://www.middleweb.com/johnston.html

• The advisory period is the linchpin in the middle-school movement, some experts say. Many middle-school programs suffer from poorly implemented advisories, however. This week, Education World answers the question What makes a successful advisory? We also include activity ideas for improving advisories! “I think an advisory of some type is essential to a middle-school program,” teacher Pamela Chandler told Education World. “These kids have needs beyond academics that must be addressed. Advisory allows for a consistent, cohesive program that puts all school community members on the same page.”http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr127.shtml

Advisory Activities

Team Academic Support
Students report to Advisory for attendance and then go to the Team Teacher they need additional help from for the duration of the Advisory.

Team building/Adventure Challenges

• Promotes learning to work with others.
• Promotes communication with a purpose.
• Promotes interpersonal relationships.
• Creates success and success breeds success.

Relationship building

• Creates a sense of belonging for students in the school.
• Adult-student relationship.
• Easier to keep tabs on a student.
• There are schools who use Advisory to make disciplinary and academic phone calls home.
• Underscores one of the principles from Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne: Relationships are a top priority among the poor.

Personal General Observations

• Advisory at the end of the day doesn’t work out the best.
• Advisory has to be scaled to the needs of the individual advisory and to the needs of the school. Cannot be “programmatic.”
• One way to think of choosing items for Advisory is to ask oneself, “What can I do with the students or have the students do that will take their focus off of the problems of life and put their focus on readiness for learning for the day?”

Well, there is a delay in the posting of podcast #19. Funny thing about trying new things, sometimes they just don’t work out. In this case, I tried switching from Audio Hijack Pro to WireTap Studio Pro. All went somewhat well, at least for Shawn. The thing is, only Shawn’s bit got recorded. Since I talk too much, there are large gaps of silence. We’ll have to rerecord at a future date. On the other hand, we had a chance to practice.

Troy