This is the first in a month-long series that I'll be co-writing with Javi Lucero. The title of the series is "Indie Teachers." 

Some indie bands are indie only because they aren't good enough to be discovered. They play the empty bar tour with the illusion that some day they'll be playing before a packed crowd.  Likewise, some indie listeners prefer indie music only because it hasn't been discovered. Then the minute a band hits it big, they scream about how awful it is to watch a band sell out.

However, this isn't indie. This is novelty. I've been there as a teacher, especially in my first two years. I wanted my projects to be noticed. I wanted to be discovered. Worse still, I followed bloggers and then complained bitterly when they were recognized or offered a book contract or given the top slot at a conference.

Some indie bands are indie because they despise all things mainstream and so, out of a sense of elitism, they deliberately create a reactionary sound that will be as radio unfriendly as possible. Or they quote as many obscure poets as possible with the hopes that they will sound unabashedly intellectual and attract just the right art house crowd to their music. There's an audience for this type of band; people that think that a tune doesn't sound good unless it sounds like the polar opposite of anything remotely popular. They'll listen to the Neutral Milk Hotel, not because of the profound lyrics, but because it isn't easy on the ears.

However, this isn't indie. This is snobbery. I've been there as a teacher, each time that I mocked an idea simply because it was popular. I blasted PLC. I mocked Instruction by Design. I called Marzano a Collage Artist. And yet none of it had to do with ideas, but with my rejection of all things mainstream in education.

But there is another type of indie. It's the kind of music that doesn't make the radio, because it is too creative and quirky for an audience with a short attention span.  It's the kind that doesn't shy away from sounding a bit mainstream, but is also bold enough to say something profound. This type of music has its listeners as well. They're the folks who might enjoy some pop music every once in awhile so long as it moves them and makes them think and has a deeper aesthetic quality.

I want to teach like an indie listener. I want to be open to quality ideas, regardless of how indie or mainstream they may seem. I want to hear about what works. I want to listen to ideas from public and charter and homeschool and unschool as long as it moves me and makes me think and ultimately transforms my practice.

I want to teach like an indie artist. I want to be a teacher who does something different, not for the sake of novelty, but because it is meaningful. I want depth, not for intellectual snobbery, but out of a desire to think well about life. I want to remember that it's not about being noticed, but about doing what matters.


photo credit: the photo of indie folk singer Hayden is by sarae