ASSOCIATION NEWS | DIVISION NEWS | FEATURES
GeorgIa music news MAN OF HISTORY
Derik Clackum
WHEN SHOULD I RETIRE? Fritz Siler
SENIORS TAKE THE LEAD! Tammy Yi
STEPPING OUTSIDE THE
BOX
VOLUME 78 | NUMBER 4 | SUMMER 2018
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GMEA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
President Evelyn Champion Immediate Past President Dr. John Odom
STEPPING
Vice-President for All State Events Amy Clement
OUTSIDE THE
BOX
Vice-President for Performance Evaluation Events Jon Cotton Past Presidents’ Representative Frank Folds
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MAN OF HISTORY DERIK CLACKUM
6 DIVISION NEWS
Editor, Georgia Music News Victoria Enloe
Executive Director Cecil Wilder
For the complete list of Board Members please visit:
Band Division Chair Dr. Matt Koperniak Choral Division Chair Kim Eason College Division Chair Dr. Keith Matthews Elementary Division Chair Emily Threlkeld Orchestra Division Chair Dr. Bernadette Scruggs
GMEA Staff Dr. Bernadette Scruggs Aleta Womack Brandie Barbee Ryan Barbee Advertising/Exhibitors Cindy Reed
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BREEZIN' THRU INSIDE FRONT COVER GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY PAGE 5
WHEN SHOULD I RETIRE? FRITZ SILER
14 SENIORS TAKE THE LEAD! TAMMY YI
District Chairs 1 - Kenza Murray 2 - Andrew C. Bell 3 - Jonathan Carmack 4 - D. Alan Fowler 5 - Stephen Lawrence 6 - Samuel Miller 7 - Blair Callaway 8 - Alan Carter 9 - Pat Gallagher 10 - Gene Hundley 11 - Todd Howell 12 - Paula Krupiczewicz 13 - Erik Mason 14 - Dion Muldrow
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SMOKEY MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL PAGE 15 YAMAHA PAGE 2 YOUNG HARRIS COLLEGE PAGE 1
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© Copyright 2018 by the Georgia Music Educators Association
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ASSOCIATION NEWS
THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS EVELYN CHAMPION, GMEA PRESIDENT
Greetings, GMEA members! Thank you for taking time to read the online summer edition of the Georgia Music News. Be sure to look at the agenda notes from the spring board meeting as well as the financial summary when those are published. You can learn a great deal about GMEA from those documents. Taking a little time to stay informed helps everyone in our organization. If you have questions regarding any of this information, feel free to reach out to me at president@gmea.org. I am happy to help.
to share announcements. Bernadette Scruggs is doing an outstanding job in her new office position and Ryan Barbee has created a beautiful newsletter design. We are continuing to work with Helium on the redesign of our OPUS platform. This will be an extensive project over several years. Soon, the platform will be easier to use for the membership and staff, and will be able to be maintained and updated properly over the coming years. We have come to rely so heavily on OPUS that it’s hard to remember how we operated without it, and it is crucial that we move forward and update the site. © Photography by Zelda
I hope you have noticed increased positive communication coming from the state level of GMEA in the past few months. The online newsletter has been well received, and many members have used the recently added “Contact” button on the GMEA site
I would like to welcome our newly elected district officers who will be serving GMEA for the next two years. You are the crucial link between the members in our fourteen local districts and the state level officers. Thank you for your service! I hope you are all able to enjoy some mental and physical rest this summer, and best wishes for the start of another school year!
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GMEA HISTORY BOYD McKEOWN MAN OF HISTORY HISTORIAN Derik Clackum Many of us were saddened to hear about the passing of Boyd McKeown. Boyd was literally a walking, talking GMEA Archive of Information. Anytime I needed to know where to look, or who did what, I knew I could count on Boyd. He had a phenomenal memory. From the time that he first came to Georgia in 1953, until his last days, Boyd was an integral part of GMEA. Not only was he a terrific musician and a caring teacher, he was also a path-finding administrator who always wanted to help. Early in his career in Georgia, Boyd became the director of the Marietta High School Band. His teaching style was the “team” method. His student’s often mentioned that they always felt they were part of his team. Boyd’s band at Marietta performed so well, that his peers elected him first as District Instrumental Chair, and then as District Chair. By the 1960’s, Boyd’s talents were gaining state-wide notice, and he was elected State Instrumental Chair, and then as GMEA Vice-President. He also served as Interim President when GMEA President Jerry Newman died suddenly, just before the 1963 state convention (now called the In-Service Conference). In 1965, Boyd was elected GMEA President at a critical time in our association’s history. Our membership had grown to the point that our leadership was being swamped with paperwork. In addition, GMEA was unable to pay our 1964 state convention bills. Boyd tackled both the paperwork and the financial problems head-on and solved them. First he found enough money to pay our convention bills, and then he changed the format of future conventions, so that they made enough money to pay for themselves. His new format worked so well, that it is still in use today.
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Boyd’s second challenge also involved money. The duties of GMEA Treasurer had grown so fast that the association couldn’t find a member who had the time to handle all the receipting of funds and paying the bills. It had become a nearly full-time job. After discussing the problem with his wife, Edna, she volunteered to handle the treasurer’s office duties, even though she was not a GMEA member. This set the stage for non-GMEA members to work for the association, another practice still in use today. Seeing the value of having a bookkeeper, GMEA hired their first staff member when Boyd’s term as President was completed. Also, GMEA had no central office. Boyd and Edna, turned one of their home’s bedrooms into the GMEA Office. Although Boyd’s term as President only lasted two years, he was instrumental in showing the association the value of having a central office and using outside help. This later led to our now having an established GMEA Office and a full time professional staff. In 1980, GMEA decided to set up a permanent central office and to hire an Executive Secretary (later changed to Executive Director) to head up the office staff. It was a tough job, with lots of duties and paperwork to handle, including running the state convention, handling the festival (LGPE) business, and coordinating the All-State groups. Due to the difficulty of the task, we went through the hiring sequence several times the first few years, looking for just the right person for the job. In 1983, then GMEA President, Virginia Oliver, asked Boyd if he would consider coming out of retirement to handle this task. When the GMEA Board offered Boyd the job, he took on the challenge. Not wasting any time, Boyd set up an office in Marietta and hired a staff. For nine years, Boyd continued to organize the methods for handling GMEA’s many tasks and worked to fine tune the role of Executive Director. Even after his final retirement in 1992, Boyd continued to serve GMEA in an advisory capacity. It is only fitting that GMEA chose to confer on Boyd the Lifetime Achievement Award, because he chose to give GMEA a lifetime of service.
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BOYD McKE SEPTEMBER 25, 1924 - APRIL 8, 2018
OWN The death of Boyd McKeown leaves a gap in music education and in GMEA that will never be filled. Boyd loved GMEA and was, in fact, a life member of almost 70 years. He assisted the association in many capacities, including state instrumental chair (before we had separate band and orchestra chairs), president (twice), executive director, and served several terms as past presidents’ representative on the executive committee. Boyd taught band at Marietta High School, was a school principal, and music coordinator for Cobb County. He was respected by all who knew him as a colleague, mentor, teacher, supervisor, and friend. Here are just a few of the comments made by his colleagues: This is a great loss to the Georgia Music Community. Once I received a superior from Boyd McKeown, I finally felt validated as a band director – Don Roberts Sad indeed. A great source of wisdom and compassion has passed from us, along with his enormous capacity to remember so many details of our history – Derik Clackum Very sad that he has passed. No doubt, we all hope to live such a full life – Mike Walsh A great force in state instrumental Music Ed. He was a super colleague, band director, clinician, judge, GMEA official in various offices and helpful friend just to mention a few of his many contributions – Archie Sharretts The Marietta service for Boyd McKeown was a Memorial Musical concert on Sunday May 13. 4:30 PM at the Marietta Performing Arts Center on the Marietta High School Campus where the Band Room was named for him last April. A reception will follow (location to be announced). The Cobb New Horizons Band and former students will play some of Boyd's favorites. Boyd wanted a joyous, happy occasion with all his friends there.
DIVISION NEWS BAND DIVISION Dr. Matt Koperniak I hope you all are enjoying safe and happy summers! Thank you for a great year in the band division! The quality and quantity of statewide participation in District Band auditions, All-State Band auditions, Large Group Performance Evaluation, and in-service conference applications continues to grow stronger each year. I am especially pleased to report that all fourteen of our districts held Solo & Ensemble festivals during the past school year. Two districts held fall Solo & Ensemble events, ten districts scheduled events in the spring, and two districts held both fall and spring Solo & Ensembles. As a GMEA event, Solo & Ensemble has great flexibility to serve your students in a manner determined by your district. We do not have a required music list, although there are suggested lists linked in the GMEA handbook. Students are free to select their own music, with the approval of their band director. Hiring quality judges for Solo & Ensemble is crucial. We want our students to play for knowledgeable, professional, compassionate adults. Performing for a judge is an intimidating experience, especially for younger players. A great judge will make students feel at ease, keep the schedule moving quickly, and provide appropriate written feedback and rating. The GMEA handbook stipulates that judges should have at least five years of teaching experience. Ensembles allow our students to experience music in very different ways than the usual band rehearsal. Students can engage in the music-making process on their own, if we let them. Students are capable of selecting music, assigning parts, and rehearsing on their own. As directors, consider stepping back from the process. Guide students towards a positive performance experience, but avoid doing the work for them. For younger students, consider giving them three or four pieces as options, to allow the students to ultimately make the final choice of repertoire. Ensembles have different space and repertoire demands than normal band rehearsals. Most band rooms are not designed with plenty of small ensemble rehearsal spaces. Find spaces for students to be able to play chamber music. Be creative. Beg, borrow, (and steal?) more space for your students throughout your school. Devote part of your annual budget to expanding the ensemble section of your music library. Mixand-match books are great, especially for younger students, because students can play in an ensemble with their friends. The socio-musical value of a quartet with two flutes, one clarinet, and one tuba far outweighs the possible balance issues. Hopefully, our students will enjoy
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playing chamber music and seek out opportunities to keep playing throughout the year and beyond. In each of my columns last year, I highlighted a new teacher, and will continue to do so this year. I close this column by highlighting Courtney Zhorela, who just finished her first year teaching as Associate Director of Bands at Central-Carroll High School and Central Middle School in District 7. She works with over 300 students each day, supporting the vertical alignment of the band program to ensure the students receive a comprehensive music education. Courtney teaches a wide variety in ability levels on a daily basis, from beginner fundaments to advanced high school repertoire and everything in-between. At the end of a wonderful first year teaching, Courtney looks forward to many more years in the profession, a goal we want for all our new band directors. As we prepare to welcome a new crop of first-year band directors to our profession this coming fall, let us work together to provide the support, guidance, and positive role models these teachers need to survive and thrive. But first, enjoy the rest of your summer!
CNAfME
STATE ADVISOR
Dr. Richard Bell
I am excited to begin my term as the CNAfME advisor for GMEA. During my career, I taught orchestra at the middle and high school level for thirty years and am currently beginning my ninth year at the collegiate level. Throughout this time, GMEA has been a wonderful resource in so many ways. With this in mind, I would like to make sure CNAfME is a strong entry point for college students into our professional organization. Plans are to provide our CNAfME members with sessions at our in-service conference along with other resources to enhance their teacher preparation, assist them in securing their first job, and provide them with a strong network of GMEA members to call on during the first years of teaching. With that emphasis on networking in mind, we will open our part of the in-service conference with a CNAfME reception hosted by our retired GMEA members and the GMEA executive committee. As the fall semester begins, I want to encourage the faculty advisors on each campus, along with current CNAfME members, to urge every music education major on your campus to join our organization. I would also like to ask all of our current GMEA members to be ongoing mentors and supporters for our college students to help their transition into a life-long career as a music educator.
RESEARCH CHAIR Dr. Martin Norgaard
ELEMENTARY DIVISION Emily Threlkeld Hi to all! As I write this, I am just getting off the bus from a ten day youth choir trip. I went straight from finishing a great school year to traveling and singing with forty talented young people in five states. I cannot wait to relax and rejuvenate a little and then begin to plan for another wonderful cycle of students in the fall. As the elementary division chair, part of my planning involves work for GMEA. It is a job for which I am so thankful. Serving with the Georgia Music Educators Association is as good as it gets. When I was first called and asked to run for division chair, I was floored. The people who have led the elementary division before me have been stellar: Victoria Knowles, Karen Leamon, Joanne Maples, et al. What an honor to be considered for a leadership role held by these respected music educators! My first thoughts were, “I am not qualified. Why in the world would they ask me?” But the truth is, I am qualified. And those valued leaders saw that in me. As I pondered my response, other concerns arose. I am always so busy. Would I have the necessary time to devote to my responsibilities? After serving the first of my two years, here are my answers. I was asked to run for elementary chair because former GMEA leaders recognized my leadership abilities and because we need leaders to serve. And yes, I am busy, but please show me any musician who is not. Musicians are notoriously balancing performances, families, and careers. As I considered my answer, I thought to myself: “It is my turn. Others have given valuable talents and time to our association, and now it is time for me to step up.” Perhaps it is a stretch at times with scheduling and planning, but the staff at our central office are so supportive and helpful. We are very fortunate in Georgia. So, if you feel called to leadership, please consider doing so with GMEA in one of our many areas and divisions. If you are asked to be an event organizer, to host an event, or to run for an office, please say yes. Thank you for allowing me to serve. It is an honor.
I am very excited to be the new Research Chair for GMEA. I would like to thank GMEA president, Evelyn Champion, for the appointment. I feel strongly that research in music perception, cognition, pedagogy, and learning has the potential to influence the way we teach music. Therefore, it is essential that researchers communicate their findings to practitioners. These researchers are typically graduate students and university faculty who themselves recently were or still are practitioners. The dialogue between researcher and practitioner serves both parties. As the profession progresses, researchers not still teaching in K-12 settings need to continue to keep abreast of new challenges and opportunities experienced by music teachers. GMEA has several avenues where music teachers can interact and learn directly from music education researchers and vice versa. First, the research poster session during the annual GMEA conference is a unique opportunity for researchers to explain their research and learn from practitioners. I look forward to working the Evelyn Champion and the GMEA staff to increase the visibility of this event. We hope to feature the research posters in the lobby of the conference center during the 2019 conference and to have the posters displayed on standard poster boards. Secondly, I hope to encourage more submissions to the research presentation track that also occurs during the conference. I plan to reach out to colleagues in Georgia and beyond to solicit proposals for interesting and inspiring research talks that appeal to all conference goers. I plan to evaluate proposals in a transparent process and to make sure potential presenters are notified at the same time as presenters in other divisions. Finally, I plan to use this column to highlight outstanding research in Georgia. Starting with the fall column, I will ask music education faculty to send me an outstanding newly completed dissertations. I will briefly summarize the topic informed by an interview with the author. I will provide a link to the publication in the column for readers interested in further details. Please feel free to contact me with suggestions related to research and how best to facilitate dialogue between researchers and practitioners.
I am looking forward to a wonderful 2018/2019 season. We have fabulous clinicians lined up for Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus: Craig Hurley and Melissa Keylock. Rob Amchin, among others, will be presenting at our in-service. Please make plans to attend. And now: Bring on the summer!
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summer 2018 // georgia music news
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DIVISIONNEWS RETIRED MEMBERS Jay Wucher It is an honor to begin my tenure as the new retired members chair for GMEA. The first order of business is to express my most sincere appreciation and admiration for the amazing job my predecessor, Fritz Seiler, has done for the past several years. Fritz, in my opinion, set the standard for this position in GMEA. The variety of articles, the practical approach he took to assist our retired members, and the contacts he made for us show just how important it is to serve our organization beyond the classroom for the benefit of our members. It is a daunting standard to live up to, but I will do my best. I am hopeful that you will contact Fritz at some point and thank him for his devotion, expertise, and the knowledge that he brought to the position. For the GMEA 2019 In-Service Conference, plans are underway to have a reception specifically for our collegiate (CNAfME) members in conjunction with our retired members and the GMEA executive board. Dr. Richard Bell, CNAfME chair, and I met earlier this month and started putting together a plan for the reception. The event will take place on Thursday evening, exact time and location to be announced. It is our intent to bring our collegiate members together with our retired members in hopes of building networks and providing CNAfME members with the information, support, and encouragement new music educators need. This is an invaluable opportunity for our college music students and an easy but important way for you to continue to have an impact on our young people. Please consider coming to the in-service conference this year and joining us at the reception. As an ongoing part of my communication as retired member chair, I would love to share the stories of other retired members. Every one of us has something different to offer and there is an audience out there that would like to read more than a post on Facebook. If you made it through a career in music education, you undoubtedly have alpha energy gene pool and are always looking for more things to do. What we do and how we do it is of great interest and could easily inspire other retirees to try new and different things. I will provide my contact information at the bottom so that you can be in touch with me and allow me the privilege of letting our membership know about the legacy you are leaving and the interests and activities in which you have engaged during and after your career. I am happy to take the first step, so here goes: I began and ended my first career of thirty-two years in the Fulton County School System, where I served as a band director for grade levels four through twelve for seventeen years. For the remaining fifteen years, my primary position was Coordinator of Music Education. In addition to that role, at varying points, I held the positions of Executive Director for Secondary Curriculum, Magnet Program Director, Director of the Teaching Museums, and Chair of the Employees Charitable Fund. Upon my retirement/unretirement in 2004, I have held adjunct teaching positions at Georgia State University and Clayton State University, worked as a product representative for Peripole and Silver Burdett, and held consulting positions with Clarke County Schools and Baldwin County Schools. Since 1991, I have chaired the Spivey Hall
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Education Committee and continue to work with the Baldwin County Schools. Perhaps the most rewarding professional part of my life now and for quite a while has been my private teaching studio, where I work primarily with saxophonists but also teach flute and clarinet. The extra income takes a big back seat to the opportunity to continue to make a difference in the lives of young people. I have been doing this for over 50 years and it never gets old. My attitude about teaching is based on something a principal I worked for said to me about parent meetings. He said, “I don’t care about how they come in, just how they go out.” I have been a GMEA member for 46 years and continue to serve our organization as state ethics chair. Beyond my professional life, retirement (thank you, TRS) has been even better than I expected. It is not what I thought it would be, but life is full of surprises. My wife and I have been able to travel to countries all over the world, have taken cruises, and purchased a small second home on Lake Sinclair. We have time for our grandchildren; I play golf on a regular basis and there is still plenty of time to stop and smell the roses. My Belgian Black Malinois, Bella, expects me to be there for her for regular sessions of Frisbee and Chuckit (look it up). I try not to disappoint. Please share your stories with me. Let’s celebrate our lives now rather than letting someone else do it for us later.
Contact Jay Wucher
Email: jswucher@gmail.com Phone: 404.388.2994
ORCHESTRA DIVISION Dr. Bernadette Scruggs In Gwinnett County, where I taught orchestra, many of the orchestra teachers are lucky enough to work with a string colleague or two at their own school. Because of this, there is someone with whom we can share ideas, discuss repertoire, determine a course of action for behavior issues, double check emails, and split our hundreds of daily tasks. I have had an outstanding work partner, Victoria Enloe, for the past seventeen years and it has made my job tremendously more rewarding and, certainly, much easier. Though I have the best co-worker ever, I have other colleagues to whom I constantly turn to for advice for specialized needs. For example, as next year All-State full orchestra conductors are sending their programs in for consideration, I have been forwarding these repertoire lists to four orchestra teachers I know around the state. Each of these directors have a rich orchestral background and I feel confident that if they are comfortable with the programming, then our All-State students will have an enriching, rewarding, and successful All-State experience. I’ve been teaching for 34 years, and I’ve taught some measure of full orchestra in at least 25 of those, yet I still depend upon the expertise and mentoring of others. I believe that my instinct to ask knowledgeable others to share their expertise is one of the best inclinations I incorporate as an orchestra teacher.
What if you are not in a situation where you have another orchestra colleague in the same building? Jill Freeman once mentioned to me that, for a time, she and Whitney Duncan were on the phone almost every afternoon discussing their orchestra programs. They had similar teaching situations and gained valuable assistance from their discussions as well, I imagine, as the measure of confidence one achieves because another teacher assisted in creating a plan of action. During my tenure at Peachtree Ridge, we had four band directors and two chorus directors. Due to lunchtime discussions, and talking before or after school, each of these colleagues has had a hand in honing my teaching abilities due to their myriad of experiences and varying expertise. I also want to mention that having friends in my department, the people I spend more time with than my family, makes work not only bearable but immensely more pleasurable.
of the school year. Determine one or two experienced teachers who will look over your concert programming (especially at LGPE time) to warn you of any issues they may have come across with similar repertoire. Invite your school Fine Arts Department to lunch and connect with them outside the school walls to create a bond with them that will help carry you through the year. Most of all, make time to really enjoy any less busy interludes so that you have a good reserve to carry you through the crazy moments we all endure as teachers.
We are in a fabulous era where looking on the internet can help you find contact information for almost everyone. I think that most orchestra teachers are very happy to assist those who ask and, indeed, wonder why less-experienced teachers may consider it a weakness to reach out for help. Take this summer (or early part of the school year) to develop a teacher support system that you can call upon during stressful times
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WHEN SHOULD I
RETIRE? FRITZ SILER, RETIRED GMEA MEMBER
W
hen should I retire? Great question! There are several answers, and they are all connected to two questions: Are your finances in place for you to retire? Are you mentally ready to retire? Leaving an occupation that has been your life for probably over 30 years will take some adjustments, too. Advice? Think of the possibilities of things to do once you have the freedom to make daily choices with your life. First, think of your new life a one day at a time. Then make plans for you instead of students. Or, make no plans for a year, if that is possible. Have a mixture of what you want to do and what you need to do. Your age, health, and family situation could be determining factors in your retirement. Each person who retires has different reasons to do so. Retirement is very personal in the long run.
RETIREMENT is very personal in the long run.
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Your financial considerations should be at the center of your decision. Have you projected what your income will be once you retire? How does this compare to your current financial requirements for your lifestyle? Have you talked to your retiree benefits representatives? If you are within 5 years of possible retirement, give your reps a call and make appointments to get started calculating your future income. You may have more than one source of retirement income. What are they, and how much does each pay? Do you have dependents that will be impacted by your retirement? Have you talked with them? There are answers available to you regarding all your questions. Georgia Teacher Retirement System (TRS) is very helpful in aiding you to find what your decisions should be. Nearly all school systems have TRS representatives. If yours does not have one, go to an adjoining system, or call the central office. TRS is the same system across the state. Some systems do not contribute to Social Security Insurance (SSI). If yours is one that does not participate in SSI and you have not contributed, you are not vested: you have no money in your account. SSI is like any other insurance. You have to contribute or be a legal dependent of one who is a member to receive benefits. Call SSA to find your status. Don’t assume. Examples: If you worked at a store growing up, or if you were in the military, you contributed. If you have been contributing to SSI over the years, you are entitled to your SSI benefits. The SSA is very helpful in determining your course of action to insure
your contributions will be a part of your income for your life and of your dependents. They will help you make those choices. Talk with an SSI representative. There is a lot to learn that will impact your income from SSA. What about healthcare after retirement? Weigh your options carefully. This industry is big business, so find what is right for you. Ask SSI and TRS about different coverages. Be thorough in your plan. For example: Are you a veteran? Will you use TRICARE? Also, if you are in SSI, find out about MediCare and MediCaid. Ask about supplements.
Each year, GMEA has representatives from TRS, SSI, and a financial planner at the in-service conference. If you are within five years of retirement, please make a point to attend the presentations. These representatives are there for you personally. TRS has a booth in the vendor display area, and SSI has information there with the representative. A financial planner will once again by present for information sessions and GMEA is going to make efforts to schedule the sessions at times available for those retiring.
This is a lot to consider, isn’t it? Once you decide on your income(s), and you receive your first check(s), you are done making decisions regarding your income distribution from those sources. Choose wisely. The goal is to have a worry-free retirement.
Elementary, Middle, and High School Band, Choir, and Orchestra
2018: April 20-21 April 27-28 May 4-5
2019: April 12-13 April 26-27 May 3-4
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spring 2018 // georgia music news
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TAMMY YI Reprinted with permission from TEMPO magazine, New Jersey Music Educators Association
W
hat valuable lessons do you want your seniors to learn from being in your ensemble? We strive to make our classrooms safe spaces for students to discover themselves and learn from their experiences, all while feeling the joy of making music. As a high school orchestra teacher, I have always wondered, though, how participation in ensembles contributes to student success overall. Would the experience of making music and collaborating with their peers lead to greater success in the future? Would they develop a wider range of problem-solving skills? Would these experiences make them more able, more intuitive leaders in the future? If these are the outcomes – as I believe they are - then our responsibility as high school orchestra teachers is to provide the most rewarding challenges as our students move forward in life. This year, I have enjoyed having a large number of seniors in the string orchestra ensemble. Due to its size, this multi-grade class is divided into two sections. My seniors have been taking orchestra for the past three years in high school, so I wanted to provide them with something beyond technical skills, to teach them valuable life lessons that
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georgia music news // spring 2018
they could carry with them forever. I have developed an approach which I feel encourages my seniors to take on leadership roles, to problem solve and to be more compassionate. I want to share some of the positive results I have had with this approach.
Connected, Live Time Students may become aggressive, or conversely, may withdraw when they are experiencing anxiety-provoking situations. As technology can sometimes diminish live social interactions, students may struggle expressing their concerns in real time. Because much of their communication is done indirectly, their methods of conflict resolution may not address the core conflict because the assumption is that the conversation can be continued digitally. It is important for students to practice face-toface communication and ways of handling conflicts in different settings. I have stressed that live time communication is an important part of learning and that without proper communication, bigger conflicts will arise. I provide my seniors with ample guidance in this area because they struggle in understanding how to communicate about the problems that arise between them. It is particularly challenging for them to take others’ opinions into consid-
eration and to not take offense to well-meaning commentary or criticism. This is particularly true during peer group settings such as sectionals, chamber ensembles and student led performances that requires collaboration. When students evaluate each other’s performances, I have also provided them with some language of de-escalation and have discussed the body language that communicates a desire to resolve conflicts.
Taking Risks What do you learn when you work past your comfort zone? Most people are averse to risk taking, but the ensemble provides an excellent space to confront and manage risk. Conducting, a high stakes activity, is the first major skill I taught my senior class. This met resistance in the beginning; many of the seniors in my ensemble did not feel comfortable doing something that they were not used to. This may be compounded by insecurity or fear of being judged by their peers. In order to ease the tension through practice and familiarity, I had students at all levels and grades take the baton. This casual and frequent practice encouraged the seniors to be more open about conducting, to take to it like it was a new mode of performance outside of their element. After they ob-
served each other’s failures, and laughed at their own mistakes, they were excited to jump on the podium again. My seniors became increasingly more confident in their abilities and I saw collateral effects in other areas; they might get up and tune the orchestra at the start, and I noticed more confidence in their solos. Sometimes we would practice improvisation on top of scales and this encouraged the seniors to explore and create new melodies, which then encouraged them to compose music on their instrument. What was most important to me was that they had taken a big risk and it turned into a powerful learning experience.
Following As A Way Of Leading In my string orchestra, there is no section leader or concertmaster. A concertmaster is considered the most skilled player in the group and functions as a leader. Concertmasters can be important mediators between the ensemble and the conductor, and have other advantages. Nevertheless, I have decided to teach all seniors the skills and responsibilities of a concertmaster and spread leadership around the ensemble. My orchestras already practice seating rotation and scrambled seating practices; seniors mentor stand partners and can lead the ensemble from where they are sitting. At times seniors assume the roles of teacher, conductor, and coach.
They might be asked to take attendance and get to know all the students in the orchestra class; they monitor their stand partners’ or underclassmen’s performance and guide them through the music. These roles will be passed along to different seniors from week to week, and this sharing of authority I believe symbolizes the strengths and challenges of a pluralistic and democratic society.
ters. They will teach them how to play their instruments, show them proper care and maintenance of the instrument, and also provide them with free private lessons. Although compassion can come in many forms, primary is the desire to be compassionate and care for others; these opportunities provide them with a chance to experience that feeling.
Compassion In Action
Looking To The Future
When students are moved around the orchestra and take on different roles, they come to learn about and appreciate the different personalities, interests, learning abilities, and backgrounds of our richly diverse ensemble. They assist their stand partners and provide them with care and support. Another way that I have tried to help my seniors to be more compassionate is by creating a mentorship program in which they are paired with underserved children or special needs students in the elementary schools in our school district. Working with these students has provided the seniors with a sense of community awareness and a path to discovering their own identities as members of the larger society. I have also encouraged my seniors to mentor children outside of the school district and sometimes I bring them to other neighborhoods, where they mentor young children in low income city schools and homeless shel-
There are many ways that we can help our seniors gain valuable life learning skills and every music teacher has, I am sure, considered a number of ways to achieve this goal. The methods and approaches discussed here have helped my seniors become more successful in my class and hopefully they will remember these experiences and carry them into the future. After all, music provides many life learning lessons, and as teachers, we do care about our students as whole people, not just as ensemble performers but as compassionate, engaged, well-rounded individuals. Many valuable lessons learned in late adolescence come from the school environment, where social interactions and committed teachers can make a huge difference in the lives of young people. We should both teach and model how we ourselves constantly work to expand our capacity for compassion, for respectful communication, and for social responsibility.
CALL FOR BOOK REVIEWS Submit your review of a recently published book at GMEA.org to help other music educators build their learning libraries. There is no length requirement and submissions will be accepted throughout the year. Questions?
Email gmneditor@gmail.com summer 2018 // georgia music news
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STEPPING
OUTSIDE THE
CREATIVE MUSIC MAKING THROUGH STUDENT-CENTERED, INFORMAL LEAR Reprinted with permission from INform, A Quarterly Publication from the Indiana Music Education Association. This article was first printed in INform Magazine, Volume 71, Issue 1.
A
s experts in our field of music education, we are expected to know what students in our classrooms should know, be able to do, and what sort of curriculum and pedagogy we should use to achieve these objectives. For many, this entails a great deal of planning, repertoire selection, score study, classroom organization, etc., which produce a multitude of decisions we make about the kind of learning environment we establish for our students. I realized early in my career that as important as this planning can be, flexibility and openness to student input along the way can lead to unexpected surprises and learning opportunities. Specifically, engaging in student-centered, informal learning through creative music making with my students created new learning opportunities for me and helped me to become a better shepherd to my students’ rich musical intuitions. During my first year as a band director, I taught a high school percussion class involving four students, only one of whom was an actual percussionist. After discussing this unique situation with my students, we collectively chose to modify the curriculum by devoting half the class to improvising and composing and the other half of the time performing percussion
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georgia music news // summer 2018
by C. Michael Palmer
ensemble music. The improvisation and composition portion of the class involved the students on their principal instruments, which in this case was trumpet, tenor sax, drums, and bass. Like many first-year instrumental teachers, I entered the teaching profession with a strong performance background in traditional band and orchestral music. Having had no formal education in improvisation and composition, other than some experience with jazz, I was unsure how to approach teaching these concepts in a formal manner. Thus, I relied upon my instincts and explored these practices informally by “jamming” with my students in the class. I would sit at the school’s Yamaha Clavinova and begin improvising a melodic or harmonic idea.
I RELIED UPON MY
INSTINCTS AND EXPLORED THESE
PRACTICES INFORMALLY BY "JAMMING" WITH MY STUDENTS
G
E
BOX
RNING PRACTICE
The drummer would begin playing a groove with me. Soon, the trumpet player and tenor sax player were adding their own ideas and a song emerged. No one knew where we were going, or how it would end. Yet, our focus on the moment of making music together, following our hearts and intuition, was a very powerful experience, and one that had a profound impact on me and my students. Some years later in another school, I chose to expand an introductory music theory course to include composition. Initially, my teaching approach focused on what I had learned in music school: Teaching standard theoretical concepts involving the elements of music. While discussing various concepts such as key signatures, chord progressions, and ternary form, I utilized William Russo’s Composing Music: A New Approach. Although this book is still rooted in Western compositional practice, I learned a new way to approach composition, one that did not require formal theoretical knowledge as a pre-requisite. We began writing music on manuscript paper, but soon migrated to using Sibelius on classroom computers. Over the course of succeeding months, I gave the students composition assignments with broad parameters so that they could experiment with a variety of instrumental sounds and styles of music.
Each day was filled with energy and excitement I had not witnessed before. Students came into the classroom asking, “Can I continue working on my piece right now?” And outside of class, it was common to see students coming in during lunch, or outside the school day to continue working on their pieces. In the end, not a single composition sounded alike and I was truly amazed at how the pieces that emerged seemed to fit the personalities of the composers. Similar to my early experience “jamming” with my students, the introduction of composition into my class and its incredibly positive effect on my students made a deep impression on me. I did not have any formal education in composition, and had to find a path and approach to teaching it. I began with a more formal, theoretical approach, and then gradually shifted towards the informal by addressing compositional problems as they emerged. Often, this meant recognizing students’ implicit understandings of music and making them explicit by describing what was happening theoretically. My students were eager, even hungry to create music of their own. Rather than being subjected to a carefully sequenced pedagogy developed and dictated by the teacher, they took the reins and composed music according to their
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own interests and abilities. They sought my assistance when needed, and my role became re-defined as one of support and facilitation. Although this particular class did not focus on performing and group collaboration, the experience of facilitating learning opportunities rather than directing them was a powerful one. And it still required that I plan a scope and sequence for the learning objectives I expected the students to meet. In doing this, I maintained control of the curriculum, yet provided the flexibility and space for individual learning styles and creativity. I also created a class for some students who normally would not have participated in the music education curriculum due to style restrictions and performance requirements. Through these two experiences, I demonstrated several important lessons for my students. First, by playing music with them, I was an active participant in the music-making process; I felt more of a facilitator and team member than a master teacher dictating what was to be learned and in what sequence. As a result, we shared the responsibility of leading, creating, and performing new music. Second, we used an improvisatory approach to composing music. In the percussion class, we would play music freely, selecting ideas that sounded appropriate and incorporating those into a song. We memorized our musical ideas, which served as an adequate form of preservation. The students in the theory class also improvising musical ideas for their compositions. Upon selecting the best ones, I helped them preserve them with notation, developing their musical literacy. Next, the jam sessions allowed the students to bring their total musical experience and sensitivities to the class. By jamming with my students, I validated and provided space for their individual musical identities. Influences such as rock, pop, grunge, jazz, and alternative styles of music emerged in our musical musings. It was a wonderful way to explore informal music making, as expressed and advocated by British music educator Lucy Green. Finally, as the teacher in the classroom,
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I modeled an openness to learning new dimensions of making music (i.e., improvising and composing) and took pedagogical risks to further my students’ musical development. As I look back on these early experiences in my teaching career, I realize that it was ultimately that moment when my mind began to recognize the disconnectedness between informal and formal forms of music making and learning. Students bring a wide variety of experiences with them when they walk through the door. By taking full responsibility for planning every detail of who, what, where, when, why and how students should participate in music making, I was not fully acknowledging these experiences. Through the jam sessions in my percussion class and composing in my theory class, I let go of the decision-making for a time and let students determine the nature of the interrogatives. The result was a student-centered classroom with a healthy mix of formal and informal learning experiences. I learned a tremendous amount about the importance of engaging my students’ musical intuitions and added a new dimension to my understanding of what it means to be a teacher.
C. Michael Palmer C. Michael Palmer is Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music Education at Ball State University. Formerly, he taught instrumental music at the secondary level in Indiana, North Carolina, California, and Michigan and served on the faculty at Prairie View A&M University, Adrian College, and Concordia University – Ann Arbor. Palmer’s research interests examine musical creativity, improvisation, social justice, service-learning, and teacher education. He can be contacted at cmpalmer@bsu.edu.
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