06/20/13

Moving From Student to Teacher to Student

Student…

The life of an undergraduate music education major is incredibly busy.  Most students will take on ridiculous course loads filled with all kinds of classes, performances, proficiency requirements, and part-time jobs.  Some of these obstacles seem incredibly important while others seem vaguely relevant.  Somewhere in the midst of all of this, the new graduate has also managed to complete at least a semester of student teaching, and is ready to take on his or her own classroom. The new graduate is deployed into the world with a stack of official university transcripts, a pending teaching certificate/license, letters of recommendation, and an enormous collection of three ring binders containing nearly half a decade’s worth of important handouts.

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Benefits of Drum Corps for a Music Education Major (Part 1/2)

Drum corps these days seems to have transformed into an activity in which music is not the main focus, or so its critics would say. Those who participate naturally argue for the musical validity of drum corps, while most musicians from the indoor world struggle to see any reason to play while “running around”, as some may say. And we are not even mentioning the idea of doing this out in the elements, every day for the entire summer. Taking all of this into account, I am composing this article in hopes of inspiring other music education majors to participate in drum corps by giving them as many reasons as I can muster to do so. [Read more...]

Welcome From Music Ed Week!

Music Education WeekHello, 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. [Read more...]

SoundTree to Sponsor LiveBlog From Music Ed Week

Music Education WeekI 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.

Check Out the Live-Blog Here [Read more...]

BREAKING: Select Academies FREE to CMENC Members

Music Education WeekMENC 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!