New Music Ed Major Facebook Community

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Posted on 18th October 2009 by Andy Zweibel in Website

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This website was started in an effort to create a community of Music Education Majors (and current teachers) to discuss important topics in the field. While commenting on formal “posts” here on the site is one way to do this, I have come to realize that a better avenue for more frequent conversation is a website that is much more frequently visited than this, and that already has a large number of Music Education Majors as registered users. That website, of course, is Facebook. I came to this realization after coming across a Facebook community for Band Directors, thanks to a tweet from Thomas J. West (@thomasjwest). The page has over 3,700 “fans,” and discussions occur frequently and on a wide variety of topics.

Because most college students (myself included) practically live on Facebook, and as a result of the success of the Band Director page, I have decided to start a Music Education Major page on Facebook! On this page, you can meet other Music Education Majors, as well as discuss topics  that are pertinent to the field, but may not be worth a full-length post here on this site.

Don’t get me wrong, I still plan on posting here frequently (at least more frequently than I have already). The Facebook page will be more for connecting with other students, and discussing more specific questions. If you have any suggestions for topics you’d like to see discussed on the page, please feel free to contact me at any time!

If you’re a Music Education Major, or already have your degree in Music Ed, I would encourage you to “become a fan” of the page, and to suggest the page to any other possibly-interested friends you may have!

Music Education Major | Promote Your Page Too

Weekly Twitter Question

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Posted on 21st September 2009 by Andy Zweibel in Weekly Twitter Question

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Logo (c) Twitter

Logo (c) Twitter.com

I try not to claim to be an expert on things I’m not an expert about. This was the guiding principle in why I chose to start MusicEdMajor.net, instead of continuing to blog about actual teaching; I don’t know much about actual teaching, while I do know quite a bit about being a student! That doesn’t, however, mean there are not very significant topics for Music Education Majors to hear about, that still fall outside of my “expertise.” One such topic was one I recently wrote on, dealing with a small age difference between you and your students as a young High School teacher.

How, then, was I able to put out a post on this topic that seems to have been beneficial to read? Since starting my “online presence,” I have had the pleasure of formulating a PLN (personal learning network) of educators, from retired teachers to high school students striving to be teachers, and everything in between. One such place I have had the opportunity to really have great conversation with these people is on Twitter (read more about the microblogging platform and why I use it here). In this case, my Twitter network helped me answer the question, replying with their thoughts on the topic, and all I did was expound upon their answers.

So I think I’m going to continue this idea! There are so many topics that can be covered, that I may not be an “expert” on, but that there are probably tons of experts on in the Twittersphere. So, I am going to ask one question of my Twitter community each week, and post the answers I receive, highlighting any main themes that come to be! Hopefully, this should be an extremely helpful process for the readers, myself, and the Twitterers who are answering the questions!

So What’s Next?

I need questions! What are some things you would be interested in knowing from current or retired teachers? What would you like to hear their thoughts on? I have a few questions of my own, but I would love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment with a question you would like to see answered in this series, and I will be sure to bring it up!