Inservice Information

Hello, everyone!

The MMEA Fall Inservice is coming up. I hope you turned in your forms! If not, you can still mail yours in by following the directions on the form.

The session schedule is located here: http://www.mmea-maryland.org/October-2012-Session-Schedule.php. Take a look so you don't miss any of the good stuff! If you come to Lori Reichl's 8:30AM session, she'll be doing a special followup for us later on in the fall.

In other news, we now have a MERC schedule tab, so you'll never be without method books, secondary instruments, and friendly grad students.

Event Summary: Handbells and Handchimes

A lot of you told me you wished you could have made it to the handbells workshop this weekend, so you'll be pleased to know that sophomore Maurice Watkins didn't miss a ding.

"On Saturday September 23, 2012, Kathleen Wissinger and Linda Sims visited the University of Maryland to host an informative workshop how handbells and handchimes could be incorporated into the music classroom. My knowledge of handbells/handchimes was very limited and I thought that they were only used for added effects in choral concerts during the holiday season. I quickly found out that there is an association called the Handbell Musicians of America (http://handbellmusicians.org/), an association in which handbell musicians throughout the country can share their music, experiences, and techniques. They even have chapters in locations as far away as Korea! Handbells are way more popular than I thought!

                  During the workshop, we learned techniques of handbells and handchimes such as echoes, muffling, martellato, and thumb damping. Ms. Wissinger led us through her arrangements and compositions that taught these techniques along with ensemble techniques. She explained to us that usually she starts her younger students with simple things in C major, sometimes not even requiring them to read music. For example, she reads the book “Chicken Soup with Rice” by Maurice Sendak to her first graders and they play their handchimes every time the phrase “sipping once, sipping twice, sipping chicken soup with rice” is repeated. In this way, they learn the basics of rhythm and some improvisation. For her older students, they begin reading music usually starting with I, IV, and V chords then moving forward into more complex literature. Ms. Wissinger and Ms. Sims both teach children, teens, and adult groups that perform at various locations such as school concerts and senior citizen homes.

                  I really enjoyed the workshop. It opened my eyes to a new way of teaching general music and ensemble techniques with an instrument I would never have thought to use. As both Ms. Wissinger and Ms. Sims pointed out, they only see their students in school for one hour a week, but their students always thoroughly enjoy themselves in class and can’t wait for music class to begin the following week. I really hope to use handbells/handchimes in my classroom when I begin teaching!" 

If you've got an event to share with everyone, feel free to email us at nafmeatumd@gmail.com.

Event Summary: Orff Workshop

Hello, everyone!

Music education events are happening all the time in our area. This blog will keep you updated so you'll never miss a beat.

This event summary comes to us from ace reporter Zack Henderson, one of several students who attended the Orff Workshop last week.

"On Sept. 8, 2012, students (and professors) of Dr. Montgomery's Elementary General Music Methods class journeyed to the Waldorf School of Baltimore to attend a workshop on the Orff approach to music education. The event was coordinated by the Greater Baltimore Orff Schulwerk (https://sites.google.com/site/greaterbaltimoreorff/) and was entitled "Propelling To Pleasure and Purpose: Releasing the Greatness in Children Through the Orff Schulwerk Approach." The clinician was Judith Thomas Solomon, a veteran Orff-Schulwerk teacher, author, and certifier from Nyack, NY.

Ms. Thomas highlighted her personal views through her acronym PRISMS (Playing of elemental instruments; Rhythmic exploration; Improvisation; Speech play; Movement; Singing). The Orff-Schulwerk approach seeks to synthesize these elements and to shift the classroom environment from didactic to evocative, and students are able to construct a personal learning experience.

Favorite lessons from the workshop include:
– Drama: Frog's and Toad's Random Acts of Kindness
– Group/Class Creations: Using a silly story or writing on a t-shirt to create speech pattern games
– Eastern Birdsong in improvisation games
– “Turn the World Around:” a 20-minute world music rondo featuring music and dance from England, Bulgaria, Greece, Bolivia, S. Africa, Ghana, and the United States.
– The Three Little Pigs in 5/4
– A motivating introduction to soprano recorder

    Our class had a wonderful experience attending this workshop. Judith Thomas brings brilliant energy and creative spirit to her lessons, and helped to share with us the vision that Carl Orff had for modern music education."

If you've got an event to share with everyone, feel free to email us at nafmeatumd@gmail.com.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

Our very first general body meeting will be this Monday, September 17th, 7:00PM, at the Applause Cafe.

Please, NAfME members, we all know the only thing you have to do on a Monday night is homework, and that is way less fun than hanging out with us. Attendance will earn you a point from the morale officers.

Madame President will be posting an agenda this weekend. Make sure you take a look, and be thinking about ideas, suggestions, goals, and cookies you'd like to share.

Happy Friday!

Edit: Here's the link for tomorrow's agenda. https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ToYrOAVC6_eCbk11dPhmFYdpoyxRo3v2MTGhHzYd8M/edit

NAfME National of the Week

Hey, folks!

NAfME National has some great resources on their website. I'll be picking some highlights for you. Their magazine has more great stuff like this... Yet another great reason to become a member.

1.) "Fun, Advocacy, and Learning With a Student Created Method Book." This recent article suggests using student created method books as a way to introduce composition to beginning ensembles. It includes step-by-step instructions.

2.) "Creating the Chemistry." The author of this article explains that creating chemistry in a choral ensemble is achieved via five "motivational fuels":

1. Compassion: sharing, caring, giving loving, serving
2. Community: roots, place, belonging, family, friends
3. Challenge: attain, accomplish, achieve
4. Reasonability: data, logic, analysis, good sense
5. Commitment: loyalty, duty, obligation 

3.) "YouTube Brings the Recorder to Life." Enough said.

The "About Us" Tab

That is where all the officer bios will be moving. I know you were wondering.
How many of you are moved in already? Did it go smoothly?

Get to Know Your Officers!

Hello!

Arielle, your friendly publicity officer, here. If you're like me, you may have been tempted to do some internet stalking after receiving a NAfME officer email. You might be thinking, "I wonder if any of these officer kids are as cool as I am. Who do they think they are, anyway?"  Never fear! I have gathered all of the really important, riveting stuff right here in this post. Stay tuned for more later in the week. (If you want more pictures of Dan in a snuggie, however, you'll have ask him directly.)

The Head Honcho
Kristi is a third-year music education and clarinet performance double major at Maryland. She completed the College Park Scholars program with a concentration in the arts in Spring 2012. During the academic year, she regularly performs with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, chamber ensembles, and Femmes de Chanson, an a capella group dedicated to exploring classical repertoire for women's voices. As president of the NAfME Collegiate chapter at Maryland, her responsibilities include organizing and creating agendas for chapter meetings in addition to collaborating with outside organizations to share music with the community.

The Vice Honcho
Dan is the Vice President of NAfME. He is a senior music education major and his main instrument is percussion. Dan marched in the Mighty Sound of Maryland marching band his freshman and sophmore years, his favorite animal is the manatee, and he hates tomatoes.