Monday, April 6, 2020
PMC Video Professional Development Sessions
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April 8, 8:00am
Best Practices for Emergency Remote Learning in Music
Mike Steffen
Meeting ID: 398 474 801
Password: 032925
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April 8, 8:00am
Non-Virtual Home Music Instruction
Matt Carmichael & Melissia Goff
Meeting ID: 743 957 8818
Password: none
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April 8, 1:00pm
Charlie's Round Table Post-Lunch Soiree
Charlie Bartrug, Kirby Swinney, & Susan Clothier
Meeting ID: 500 403 173
Password: 150053
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April 10, 9:00am
Recruiting
Bridgett Randolph
Meeting ID: 288 273 5136
Password: none
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Over the last few weeks several directors have asked for suggestions on how to continue Beginning Band & Orchestra Recruitment while still practicing social distancing. The two biggest concerns are how to have the students try the instruments while schools are closed and how to have the students try the instruments when classes resume. Although this does present a challenge, I think it also offers an opportunity to try some new and old resources. Band & Orchestra recruitment has always been about finding a way to get the kids excited about music, and encouraging them to join your program.
Before Schools Re-open: Think Digital
Social Media Outreach
Does your school have a Facebook account? Does your program use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or any another online platform? If so, I would suggest posting performances daily. Get your program in the feed! Post instrument demonstrations for every instrument. Assign current members to make 10-15 second demonstration videos at home and tell them the best ones will be shared on the district website!
Invitation Email
Take the time now to create a JOIN THE BAND/ORCHESTRA document. Make it simple, yet exciting. Let the students know they have been selected to be a part of the band/orchestra. Include photos of current members, testimonies, and information about events and activities. See if the administration will email the document to every student in the incoming class.
Online Music Aptitude Tests
While the students are at home, ask their current teachers to assign the Selmer music aptitude test. The test offers a way for students to demonstrate abilities in tonal memory, ability to discriminate among tones, ability to recognize repeated musical patterns, rhythmic counting abilities, and ability to discriminate among rhythmic combinations. It works well for both band and orchestra.
Be Part of the Music
This is a fabulous website to share with the parents and members. It is broken down into three sections: Instrument Demonstration, Ensemble Exploration, Advocacy. I would highly recommend sharing this with the parents. www.bepartofthemusic.org
When Schools Re-open: Get Out There
Get Into the Classrooms
There will be no state tests this year!!! This will allow you a more flexible schedule to get your ensembles out to do demonstrations, performances and share the message: JOIN BAND! JOIN ORCHESTRA!
Get Your Videos Out There
Several years ago, I walked into a cafeteria at an elementary school to a room full of students quietly eating and watching Drum Corps shows. What a great idea!!! Take advantage of the media resources within your building. Ask the administration to show videos of your concerts, marching performances, solos and ensembles, jazz events, etc. Get your videos out there.
Be Patient
Look at the current situation as an opportunity to get creative as well as try new ideas and resources. The more you are proactive, the better the outcome will be; but you also need to remember to be patient. Take a breath and remember why you became a teacher. It is about the kids. Show your heart and the love of the program and they will join. Hang in there!
 | Melissia is from Willard, Missouri. She performed and taught for years with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corp. She was the 1992 Percussive Arts Society International Keyboard Champion. She graduated from Missouri State University and has teaching experience in Missouri, Illinois, and Las Vegas Nevada. Melissia has achieved many things as a director including leading her marching band to the BOA Grand Nationals Semifinals and directing her concert band all the way to the Missouri Music Educators Association State convention. Ms. Goff's professional affiliations include Who's Who Among America's Teachers, Missouri Music Educators Association, Missouri Bandmasters Association, MENC, Phi Beta Mu. |
As an Educational Representative for Palen Music Center in St. Louis, my daily visits to classrooms take me on a journey of extraordinary examples of teaching in a variety of situations and communities. I am reminded each day that teaching is truly the greatest and most noble profession, but I also realize that educators face unique and difficult challenges.
From my time on the executive board of the Missouri Music Educators Association, I found myself writing and/or speaking on this topic. And though nothing from this list of challenges is shocking to any reader, I feel the need to list them again, hoping that educators can relate and understand that they are not alone, and that there is much work to be done in the field. It is our responsibility to the profession to continue to mentor, advocate, develop and serve!
The pause and reset of our daily lives due to the coronavirus pandemic affects all forms of music education, music performance, and the music industry. Clearly, these past weeks can be considered a unique and bold challenge. I hold a high degree of optimism and faith in the human spirit that we will find ways to continue filling our lives with music.
This is my list of educational challenges to music education. With it, I offer the "serenity prayer" -- a plea for the ability to accept the things one cannot change, the courage to change the things one can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
New Teacher Mentoring
The first year of teaching and the unfamiliar role associated with it is a most difficult time for any educator. While the pre-service experience is designed to make the shift from college to that first job easier, many new teachers still find the transition period difficult.
It is paramount that teacher education institutions collaborate within the profession to ensure that candidates are prepared for success. Music educators cannot teach what they do not know, therefore, they must develop the skills and knowledge that will be required of their students. Comprehensive preservice education coupled with professional development is essential to enable young music educators to be productive throughout their professional lives. To meet this challenge, colleges and universities need to work in partnership with local school districts and professional associations to find new ways of mentoring their graduates.
The profession's best thinking is needed to support and shape our young music educators. State Music Educator Associations as well as the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) are working together to identify first year teachers and assist them with information, support and service. But the most effective mentoring happens when the young teacher finds the support in a willing educator, and dialogue, goal setting, and modeling can happen on a consistent basis. I applaud the many state MEA's that now hold mentor training and first year teacher conferences!
Budget
In December of 2015, the Federal Government passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, which put the No Child Left Behind Act to rest. Within the ESSA, Title IV - Part A, the Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant was named, a program created through bipartisan support in Washington that was designed to provide supplemental funding to school districts for critical areas of need, such as providing a "well-rounded education", -- including music. While music educators from around the country worked to encourage the release of allocated funds to schools and music programs, politicians chose to eliminate that funding in the FY2018 budget, stating that education was a local issue.
When many school districts face budgetary crises, there is a tendency to focus resources solely on core subjects, such as English and math, often leaving arts and elective classes underfunded. In many schools, parents are left to assist the funding in music through booster clubs and parent groups. However, in order to fund programs and instruction, the price tag goes well beyond the scope of these organizations. In order to meet budget, many programs underserve the student enrollment with poor equipment, no music, and in the worst cases, eliminating music programs. It is extremely important that we advocate for music education in our schools and continue to stress the importance of its funding at the local, state, and federal levels.
Advocacy
It is vital to the profession that music teachers remain active, articulate advocates for the value of music in the education of the whole child, and to not resort to superficial reasons for the inclusion of music in schools. While music programs in some schools are thriving, the erosion of the music curriculum is substantial in other schools. All educators are charged with being proactive in their advocacy efforts to preserve and enhance music education in the schools. Proactive advocacy means improved communication with the public sector and with education decision makers prior to the decisions that adversely affect our music programs. Effective collaborations and increased support from a wide variety of constituencies is crucial for keeping music at the core of the school curriculum.
Accessible Opportunities for Quality Music Education
Educators who teach young musicians share a unique opportunity in our 21st century classrooms. Never before have there existed as many avenues and forums which offer collaboration, camaraderie, and creativity to help us improve and even an occasional chance to commiserate when things get tough. As professionals, we have multiple issues with which we must grapple. The diversity-related challenges in our student population and in our music education profession as a whole must be addressed by our profession in order for us to provide a well-rounded and better relatable education for all students. Despite the obvious ideal, the accessibility of music education for every child is still not a reality. The issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity can seem insurmountable at times and when combined with a lack of appropriate funding on arts education, it offers unique challenges for music educators.
Assessment and Learner-Centered Education
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Artistic Processes of the 2014 Music Standards allow for both traditional and non-traditional methods of student engagement. Creating, Performing, and Responding are components of the process that all students need in order to understand the cycle of music selection, study, rehearsal, performance, evaluation, and planning. If you have not yet added these processes into your classroom, I would encourage you to consider implementing them.
By adding divergent thinking strategies to our classes, we offer the possibility of doing more than fostering a creative classroom environment. This way of thinking pushes students to better understand and appreciate the differences in all areas of their lives. Applying this strategy to the process of Creating, Performing, and Responding will offer amazing growth opportunities for students of all ages.
Cultural and Social Relevance
We've become very well-grounded in traditional education theory, techniques and subject matters. But being culturally responsive means teaching music where kids are, and with what interests them. The diverse cultures in our classroom have never been greater. It is very difficult to meet the needs of a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, emotional or behavioral disorders, and learning disabilities in a single class. We now face the reality of a very real problem of drug addiction among young adults, and many LGBTQ students struggle with unique and individual challenges. How we teach students in the 21st Century is as important as what we teach. There was never a time when inclusion, genuine collaboration and divergent thinking were needed more than now. It is imperative for a successful educator to know students individually and find ways to meet their needs.
Teaching, Leadership, and Learning in a Time of Innovation and Reform
"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." - Socrates
Teaching toward independent and lifelong learning is an opportunity we face each day in our classrooms. Do we prepare our students to assess, create, evaluate, and design their own pathway to a lifetime of music making? Will our students be able to make critical decisions about music (or life) without the guiding hand of the teacher? These questions are key to successfully preparing students to be lifetime advocates of music and music education. "Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." - Socrates
Teaching toward independent and lifelong learning is an opportunity we face each day in our classrooms. Do we prepare our students to assess, create, evaluate, and design their own pathway to a lifetime of music making? Will our students be able to make critical decisions about music (or life) without the guiding hand of the teacher? These questions are key to successfully preparing students to be lifetime advocates of music and music education.
Creating a student-centered learning area with divergent thinking and problem-solving techniques is essential when fostering independent learners. A student who hungers for musical opportunities is a student who has developed the innate desire to create, perform, listen, and critique. This musical independence is only achieved if it is experienced in the rehearsal.
In many classrooms where the leader or director is the only voice, musicians may miss the opportunity to make their own artistic interpretations. Directors who dictate louder/softer, faster/slower, higher/lower, and longer/shorter instructions are removing the art of creativity and musical decision making from the student learning process. Creative and collaborative musicianship within the classroom environment promotes a sense of wellbeing and allows for active social contact. It stimulates creativity and the desire to make positive connections with others. This interaction with others leads to a sense of inclusion and shared ownership in the music making process.
The effective classroom leader understands the importance of precise performance, but also seeks to empower students to make creative choices (as offered by leadership) to establish a stronger sense of intrinsic motivation. Leaders will curate talent and allow students the freedom to do their best work in an open and collaborative culture. By guiding students to make creative decisions in a collaborative community, we help our students to seek musical opportunities and we nurture the lifelong learner.
Creating a student-centered learning area with divergent thinking and problem-solving techniques is essential when fostering independent learners. A student who hungers for musical opportunities is a student who has developed the innate desire to create, perform, listen, and critique. This musical independence is only achieved if it is experienced in the rehearsal.
In many classrooms where the leader or director is the only voice, musicians may miss the opportunity to make their own artistic interpretations. Directors who dictate louder/softer, faster/slower, higher/lower, and longer/shorter instructions are removing the art of creativity and musical decision making from the student learning process. Creative and collaborative musicianship within the classroom environment promotes a sense of wellbeing and allows for active social contact. It stimulates creativity and the desire to make positive connections with others. This interaction with others leads to a sense of inclusion and shared ownership in the music making process.
The effective classroom leader understands the importance of precise performance, but also seeks to empower students to make creative choices (as offered by leadership) to establish a stronger sense of intrinsic motivation. Leaders will curate talent and allow students the freedom to do their best work in an open and collaborative culture. By guiding students to make creative decisions in a collaborative community, we help our students to seek musical opportunities and we nurture the lifelong learner.
 | Jeff Melsha has been an Educational Representative for Palen Music Center since 2018. Jeff retired from Kirkwood High School after serving thirty years as a music educator. Jeff is a past president of the Missouri Music Educators Association and the Missouri Association for Jazz Education. |
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