Monday, October 18, 2021

Engaging Your Beginner...PARENTS!
by Kale White
Educational Representative, PMC Broken Arrow

Shannon Waldo

What ideas are you using to introduce your beginner's parents to your class and encourage them to be engaged in their child's progress on their new instrument? For some of those parents, their child is the first family member to participate in band or orchestra. With a little effort and communication, you can educate your parents on ways to support their child in this new endeavor. Furthermore, as the parents become more familiar with you and your vision for the program, they will likely be supportive of their child's continued participation in the years to come. Below are a few suggestions of simple ways to communicate with your beginner parents and educate them on ways to encourage their child at home.

Parents love to see their child surrounded by friends. Post small group pictures or short videos on your class' web page or the school district's social media platforms. Use an occasional instructional picture or video (i.e. proper posture, hand position, reed placement, etc.) to give your parents something simple they can monitor during home practice.

Utilize music advocacy websites for quick and easy documents that can be posted on your class web page or attached to an email:

Schedule and/or record an abbreviated "Daily Routine" demonstration concert. Your class could demonstrate counting, note naming, and play their daily warmup and 1-2 lines from the method book. To avoid yet another evening commitment, host the concert in your room during the normal class period and record it for those parents unable to attend.

Give your students an extra credit assignment to perform a simple Christmas carol for their family over the holidays. This ensures the instruments get taken home and encourages at least a little practice over the break. The proud parents can submit a recording of the performance or sign a form for credit.

Kale White Kale White retired from band directing in May 2016 to join the Palen Music Center team. He was a band director in Oklahoma for 27 years, having taught in Purcell, Owasso, the Putnam City schools in OKC, and the last eighteen years in Jenks. He earned his BME and MME at the University of Oklahoma. He is a member of the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, Oklahoma Music Educators Association, and the Percussive Arts Society.

Palen Inventory System: Music Library
by David Gorham
PMC Broken Arrow

In the September 27th Quicknote, I detailed some of the features of the Instrument module of the Palen Inventory System. This week, I'd like to point out some things you'll find in the Music Library module. Everything works the same as the Instrument module, just with some different buttons and options appropriate for your music library.

Expert
The default Music menu and sub-menus are as shown. However, ALL of the submenus (marked with arrows) can be customized to your needs. More submenus can be added as well.
As with instruments, if you have several school sites with separate libraries, items can be filtered by site, or listed in full.

With the Music Library you can track performances, and loans (so you can keep up with those scores you loaned to another school.)

Expert
If you enter a link to an online recording, a clickable icon will appear.
Please visit with your PMC Educational Representative to get signed up to use the system.

Contact Your Local Palen Music Center Representative
Can we assist you with anything? Please contact your local Palen Music Center school road representative for all of your music education needs.
(417) 882-7000 (573) 256-5555 (816) 792-8301
OKC
(417) 781-3100 (405) 896-8111 (479) 464-8877
(918) 286-1555 (636) 229-1904 (417) 882-7000

If you would like to submit material, make corrections, give comments, or wish to be removed from this mailing list, please contact David Gorham.