Hello, all! I come to you from the Mariott Crystal Gateway hotel in Arlington, VA, where I am getting ready to meet up with Justine Dolorfino, Brigid Moran, and Andrew Ritenour to live-blog MENC’s Music Education Week! While I wait, I want to give you a brief update of what’s on the agenda for the next few days. Don’t forget, thanks to SoundTree, you can catch all the updates at the Music Education Week Landing Page.
Welcome From Music Ed Week!
SoundTree to Sponsor LiveBlog From Music Ed Week
I am pleased to announce that, for the second year in a row, MusicEdMajor.net will be live-blogging from MENC’s Music Education Week in Washington D.C. from June 25-29. This event will be the 4th live-blog here at MusicEdMajor.net, and for this event, we are pulling out all the stops. We have created a live-blogging team of four people, and are extremely excited to announce sponsorship from SoundTree to help provide you with live updates throughout the event with wireless broadband access.
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BREAKING: Select Academies FREE to CMENC Members
MENC has just announced that registration for both the Collegiate Leadership Academy and the New Teachers Academy at this year’s Music Education Week in Washington will be free for all current members of Collegiate MENC. In addition, CMENC members will be given complimentary registration to the new “IN-Ovations” Academy, focusing on nontraditional forms of music education. Music Ed Week, in its second year, offered a similar promotion last year when CMENC members were able to attend the entire conference for free.
“MENC recognizes that the economic climate today can make it challenging for our student members to attend events like Music Education Week, which are important to their professional development,” explains Elizabeth Lasko, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for MENC. “We really believe that our student members will benefit greatly from the combination of education sessions and peer interaction available at Music Education Week. If waiving the registration fee will help more of them get there, we want to offer that option.”
MENC’s support of collegiate members is admirable, and their recognition of the financial troubles that many college students face is appreciated. This promotion will allow CMENC members to attend a total of fourteen sessions for free, in addition to admission to the United States Navy Band Commodores concert on Tuesday evening, June 29 and exclusive exhibit time on Monday the 28th. The sessions included in the promotion are:
Collegiate Leadership and New Teachers Academy
- “Hero Training: How to Harness Your Super Powers” with Milt Allen, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston
- “Policy and Practice: What Does this Mean and Why Should I Care?” with Lynn Brinckmeyer, Texas State University, San Marcos
- “Nine Liberating Habits of Change” with Scott Shuler (president, MENC), Connecticut Department of Education, Hartford
- “Using Technology to Keep Sane” with Jim Frankel, SoundTree, Melville, NY (Jim’s on Twitter: @jimfrankel)
- “Can I Do This for Thirty Years?” with Jack Elgin, Oscar Smith High School, Chesapeake, VA
“IN-Ovations” Academy
- “Teach Guitar! Everything You Need to Know But Were Afraid to Ask” with Glen McCarthy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
- “Across the Borders, Across the Sea: Creating Opportunities for Global Conversations and Memorable Music Making” with Patrice Rushen, Darla Hanley, and Cecil Adderley, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
- “World Rhythms West African Ensemble” with Ryan Camara, Medford, OR
- “Hands-on Introduction to Lap Dulcimer” with David Cross, Backyard Music, New Haven, CT
- “Putting It Together With GarageBand” with Mark Irvin, LaVista Jr. High School and Jeff Ingraham, Educational Service Unit #3, LaVista, NE
- “School of Rock” with Mark Biondi, Teaneck, NJ
- “Performing and Composing With the Keyboard”
- “Hand Drum Basics: Getting Started with African and Caribbean Drumming” with Mark Douglass, University of Tennessee
- “Putting It Together With iMovie” with Mark Irvin, LaVista Jr. High School and Jeff Ingraham, Educational Service Unit #3, LaVista, NE
Are you a Collegiate MENC member? Will this offer convince you to attend Music Education Week when you otherwise would not have? Leave us a comment and let us know how you feel! Also, stay tuned in the coming week for some exciting announcements regarding MusicEdMajor.net and Music Ed Week!
Collegiate Leadership Academy at MENC’s Music Ed Week
MENC has been planning for it’s 2010 Music Education Week in Washington, D.C. since last year’s event concluded. Music Ed Week is a week of advocacy, networknig, and professional development in the heart of the nation’s capital. I had the opportunity to attend last year, and was extremely pleased with my experience. The professional development portion of the week was done through “academies” in different concentrations (music technology, performance, jazz, research). The specialized academies were a wonderful way to separate the fantastic sessions that were presented.
The preparations for Music Ed Week 2010 (June 24-29, 2010) have begun in earnest over the past few weeks. MENC recently announced that housing and registration for the conference is open, and on Tuesday, they sent information out regarding a new academy for this year’s event, the “Collegiate Leadership Academy.” This academy is geared specifically towards collegiate members of MENC, and has sessions geared specifically towards future music educators. The (tentative) list of sessions includes:
- “Hero Training: How to Harness Your Super Powers” with Milt Allen, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston
- “Policy and Practice: What Does this Mean and Why Should I Care?” with Lynn Brinckmeyer, Texas State University, San Marcos
- “Nine Liberating Habits of Change” with Scott Shuler (president, MENC), Connecticut Department of Education, Hartford
- “Using Technology to Keep Sane” with Jim Frankel, SoundTree, Melville, NY
- “Can I Do This for Thirty Years?” with Jack Elgin, Oscar Smith High School, Chesapeake, VA
Additionally, registration for Music Ed Week grants you admission to many other fantastic concerts and advocacy events over the course of the week. The other academies that are being offered this year are:
- Choral
- General Music K-12 Technology (keynote by Amy Burns)
- Instrumental, “IN-Ovations” (Teaching techniques and opportunities for teachers of non-traditional curricula)
- Jazz
- Marching Music (registration includes ticket to DCI Show)
- NACWPI (National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors)
- New Teachers
Attendance at this conference last year was a very enjoyable experience for me, and one that I would strongly suggest you try to gain. If at all possible, try to find a way to get to Washington, D.C. between June 24 and 29 for this wonderful event! Hopefully, I will also be “live-blogging” the event this year, just as I did last year! Stay tuned for more information regarding this.
Are you already going to Music Ed Week? Let me know in a comment, and we can try to find a time to meet up!
How to Deal With Small Age Differences in a High School Setting
If you are a Music Education Major with hopes of teaching at the High School level (especially if you plan on teaching straight out of undergrad and not going to graduate school), you may find yourself in the difficult situation of being a teacher who is only 4-5 years older than some of your students. While there is some benefit to this situation-you will be able to relate to students better with a smaller age gap-there are important downsides to being close in age with your students that need to be considered. Students tend to see younger looking teachers more as “friends” than as instructors, which can make commanding authority, a skill that is already difficult for new teachers, even more of a battle. So how does the young high school teacher establish authority and a professional relationship with students? I asked a similar question on Twitter this morning during a class discussion on the topic, and these were some of the answers I got:
- Theresa White (@theresawhite) – it is difficult, I had to do it. Just remember you aren’t their friend, you are their teacher. And stick to your guns!
- Theresa White (@theresawhite) – make sure you follow through on discipline. If they think they can walk on you they will.
- Theresa White (@theresawhite) – and dress like a professional. Don’t look like one of them. You have to dress and act like you deserve to be respected.
- Josh Palmer (@palmerjosh) – Start early… the less you let them get away with off the bat the more in control they’ll understand you are…
- Thomas J. West (@thomasjwest) – Gaining respect as a young teacher is all about using your enthusiasm and passion tempered with a boatload of advanced planning
- Barry Zweibel (@ggci) – Share your insights/key messages in intriguing, creative, & counter-intuitive ways. Get them curious & they’ll engage more fully.
- Emily Widrick (@ubandtrumpet) – biggest thing is getting their trust/respect by showing u know what ur doing and that u care about them
First off, allow me to thank all the awesome “tweeps” who gave prompt answers to my question; I even had some responses before the class discussion I was participating in had ended! Anyway, there seem to be a few recurring themes in these responses and on the discussion topics. Here are some main ideas that will help you maintain professionalism with a small difference in age between you and your students:
Be a Teacher, NOT a Friend
While it is extremely important for your students to know that you care about them, and that you want to see them succeed, it is also important to establish that you are their teacher, and not their best friend. As a young teacher, you will still be able to relate to the students and the social issues they are dealing with. Furthermore, they are going to feel as though they can relate to you and your experiences, and want to know about your personal lives. Make sure you always approach students with the mindset that you are their teacher and not their best friend.
Dress Professionally
A colleague of mine shared a story about her brother’s first day of his internship. She related that he walked into the school, clean cut and young-faced, and on his way to the music classroom was apprehended by a school security officer for skipping class; her brother was mistaken for a student! This brings up an extremely important point: you will be significantly less likely to be mistaken as a student if you are dressed professionally. It always is a good philosophy to over dress, especially for the first few months of school. This way, you will set yourself apart from the students more clearly. Additionally, professional dress can also lead to a more professional attitude from your students towards you.
Follow Through with Discipline
Many teachers (and future teachers) have their own philosophies about discipline, but one thing is certain. If you are close in age to your students, it is to your advantage to start the year off by erring on the strict side in regards to discipline. This will establish that the students need to understand that you are the teacher and are in charge. While it will be tempting to be very lenient in an effort to get on the students’ “good sides,” this will only give them the impression that they can walk all over you. It is always easier to gradually ease away from a strict stance towards discipline than it is to become more strict as the year goes on, so if your teaching style is more laid back, remember that it will be to your benefit in the long run to start with a slightly stronger stance on discipline.
Be Passionate!
This is the most important way to deal with this problem. If the students can see that you care about them, and about what you are doing in the classroom, you will automatically be a leg-up in gaining respect. So many teachers nowadays give the impression that their job is just that-a job. This is painfully obvious in the classroom, and it is these teachers that students seek out and take advantage of. If you show the students you are passionate about what you do, and that you care for their well-being and their success in your class, then they will be more motivated to do what you ask them to.
Your Thoughts?
The “tweeps” above shared some fantastic ideas on this topic. What do you think? If you are a teacher who was in this situation, what strategies proved most successful for dealing with the small difference in age? If you are a future teacher, have you thought any about the potential problem? What solutions have you come up with? Let’s continue the conversation on this very important topic!
Interview-Nicholas DeCarbo of UMiami’s Frost School of Music
I had the opportunity to do an email interview with Dr. Nicholas DeCarbo, Associate Dean of Administration and Professor of Music Education at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL. Dr. DeCarbo has been teaching for many years, both at the High School and the Collegiate level, and has one of the greatest musical minds of anybody I have ever met. Here are his thoughts:
What was your earliest musical memory?
I remember that we had a baby grand piano in our home, right as you came into the front door – sort of a parlor, and I would spend a lot of my “free” time sitting with my feet dangling over the piano bench playing on the white and black keys. These recollections are from early childhood, certainly before I started Kindergarten.
When did you realize you wanted to pursue a future in Music Education?
I realized I wanted to pursue music education and be an instrumental music teacher when I was a sophomore in high school. Like many secondary students who venture into the music profession, my high school choir and band and orchestra directors also impressed me. They “convinced” me by their actions that I wanted to be like them.
However, through my undergraduate education, I discovered that perhaps it would be good to pursue a career as a professional conductor. Because all undergraduate music majors were music education majors, it seemed that I was on the correct path to either teach or conduct professionally.
As an undergraduate, I had the opportunity to conduct the combined choral and instrumental forces of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Sigma Alpha Iota fraternities. Since the memberships of these organizations were large, we could mount serious large-scale works. I had the opportunity to organize and conduct on concerts works by Purcell, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Barber, Copland, and Ives. These opportunities fed my love for teaching and conducting.
What was a musical memory that stands out to you the most from your years in secondary school?
Rather than a single musical memory, I have wonderful memories of a Sousa Band that I conducted while I was in high school.
As a junior in high school I started a “Sousa Band,” that met on Saturdays from 9 – 11 am, January through May, on the auditorium stage. All the first and second chair wind and percussion players from the high school symphonic band and orchestra played in the Sousa Band. We played Sousa marches!
The high school’s instrumental music library had a considerable number of John Philip Sousa marches that were published by John Church, the original publisher of Sousa’s music. I would sit for hours and study the scores and parts.
Can you believe it – two hours of playing Sousa marches every Saturday morning? This was the start of my interest in teaching and conducting.
What advice would you give a prospective Music Education major, as they prepare to decide what to do and where to study?
I tell students two things: first, gather as much information as you can about what you are studying, whether it be a future direction of study or a place in which to study, and then, follow your heart. Your heart will never steer you in the wrong direction!
What advice would you give a current Music Education major with regards to ways to get the most out of your undergraduate education?
Regardless of the music major, the most important part of studying music is listening to the great repertoire. That means students must go to recitals – lots of them, play in ensembles, and listen to recordings. All of this is done best after studying the scores of the music for which you are listening. I know of no other way to get a solid musical education. Listening to great music is everything.
What levels did you teach, and where? What was one lasting memory from your teaching years?
I taught elementary, junior high, and senior high instrumental music at West Middlesex Independent School District in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania. First five years, I taught all levels, band and orchestra. In my sixth year we were fortunate to hire a woodwind specialist that took over the elementary band and a string specialist that taught strings and orchestra on all three levels. This allowed me to concentrate on teaching the middle school and senior high school bands and high school orchestra.
It is difficult to point out one lasting memory because I have so many wonderful memories of teaching at West Middlesex. However, I believe a lasting memory occurred when the West Middlesex Symphonic Band played at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh with Frederick Fennell and Col. Arnald Gabriel as guest conductors. Fennell conducted Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posey; Gabriel conducted Verdi’s La Forza del Destino Overture.
I also conducted the Youngstown Symphony Youth Orchestra for 10 years. This was a first-rate musical organization. It was at this time that I studied conducting seriously with Franz Bibo, associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. He stood right beside me during rehearsals. The pressure was always on to make the best musical decisions using succinct language. Franz was one of my best teachers – an inspiration. This 10-year stint led to my involvement as an assistant conductor of the Youngstown (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra and conductor of its Opera Chorus.
What advice would you give any band director in today’s world?
My advice was given in the previous question/answer. One cannot teach music to others without knowing in your musical ear the sound that must be produced. To teach a beginning flute player, the teacher must know a good flute sound. One learns this by listening. It follows for all the instruments. One learns to know a good band sound by listening to good band. It follows for choir and orchestra, strings, a woodwind quintet, a brass quartet, et cetera. Considerable listening is the key to becoming a good music teacher.
How do you feel you have changed as a musician and educator as your career has progressed?
As I have matured, I have become more tolerant of young musicians who want to become teachers. When I was a young music teacher, I thought my job was to teach my students everything I knew about music. I now believe I want to excite in the young musician a boundless sense of curiosity about music, so that the growing musician will come to apprehend music with an excitement tempered by awe and wonder- curiosity that will never end.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions!
You are Welcome!