A blog for college students of Music Education
Hard to believe it, but the year 2010 draws to a close this evening! It has been an incredibly busy year for MusicEdMajor.net, and I wanted to take this opportunity to recap some of the posts and pages that have been the most popular over the course of the last twelve months: [Read more...]
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...]
You walked across the stage and accepted your Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education-congratulations!
Now what?
For some, the next logical step is graduate school. For others, it’s time to start your teaching career. The great thing about getting a teaching position is that, from now on, you can expect and demand to be paid for your services as a music teacher. But, the real challenge is getting hired.
As a professional music educator for the past 12 years, I have changed teaching positions four times. I was in my first job for six years, then have jumped jobs quite a bit the past six for a variety of reasons. This process of applying and interviewing multiple times has given me a pretty good handle on what it takes to get hired in American public school systems. [Read more...]
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:
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:
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!
MENC: The National Association for Music Education, has had it’s Biennial Conference in the works for a year, now, and the event is almost upon us! Are you going?
The conference will take place from March 25-27 in Anaheim, CA, and will include many sessions geared specifically towards Collegiate members. Some of these sessions include:
The Biennial Conference is a result of MENC’s creation of their annual Music Education Week-a week full of advocacy and development that takes place every summer in Washington D.C. The Biennial Conference, however, is more like a traditional conference, and is an extension of the national conferences MENC held before the establishment of Music Ed Week. The conference will have a special focus on research and music teacher education, and will also provide opportunities for brainstorming, discussion, and networking. For more information, be sure to visit the Biennial Conference page at MENC’s website.
This event is sure to be an extremely beneficial experience for any music educator, current or future. While I won’t be able to attend, I strongly encourage that you try to make it to Anahaim next weekend, if at all possible. If you are going to be attending, please consider contacting us-we would love to have some updates from the conference here at MusicEdMajor.net! Don’t fret if you won’t be able to make the trek to California, however, Music Ed Week is only a few months away! It will take place June 24-29 in Washington, and I will definitely be there!
As Music Education Majors, one way we can help prepare for the teaching world during our studies is by networking. Meeting the people who will eventually be our colleagues and administrators will help prepare us for the job search, increase our knowledge in the field, and leave us better-equipped to find the job we’re looking for. This 3-part series looks at three different ways we can use networking to our advantage.
Before diving into this very broad topic, think about these questions:
The term social networking is one that tends to scare a lot of people. In reality, many of us already engage in social networking on a daily basis! We just network with our firends and family, instead of professionals in our field. Regardless of how we go about it (this post will outline just a few of your many options), any means of meeting current music educators online can be considered social networking, and will help you create relationships that will help you as you prepare for your job search. [Read more...]