PMEA 2009

There’s nothing like spring. Everything “feels” clean and fresh. The grass is greening, bird songs erupt in the morning and last into the evening, and the beauty of the flowering trees is unmatched. You can always count on the constancy of spring to end winter’s long stay and brighten your spirits.

Each year spring also brings the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) annual in-service conference. I don’t know how many years Clarion has had a booth at the PMEA conference, probably more than most can recall. Many of our alumni who teach in PA and attend the conference make a point to stop by the Clarion booth and say “hi.” It’s always great to see so many of our friends from the past, and I enjoy hearing what they have been doing since leaving Clarion.

While Clarion has always had an exhibitor’s booth, relatively new is the increased presence of Clarion’s music faculty at the conference as invited presenters and clinicians at the conference. This year 3 music faculty were invited to present.

Dr. Stephen Johnson, Assoc. Professor of Music, was invited to give a poster presentation of his ongoing research into sight-reading. His project, titled “A Descriptive Study of Rural Sixth Grade Instrumental Students’ Thought Processes while Engaged in Sight-Reading,” also will be presented in a research forum at the conference. Dr. Henry Alviani, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choirs, will offer a session on his vocal manual Voiceworks, published by Alfred Publishing. And, at the end of the week, I will be presenting a session on internet applications for music educators, focusing on getting novice users started on using the web to help manage, enhance, and assess their music programs.

Many other great sessions take place during the conference, not to mention the many, many fine performances presented. So, if you ever have the opportunity to attend the PMEA conference, I think you’ll agree that it is a great experience. You have to promise, though, between sessions and concerts to stop by our Clarion booth to chat for a minute. To make it worth your time, I’ll even give you one of our “world famous” Department of Music pens!

BTW – I’m video blogging about my PMEA experience at the booth just for fun at http://clarionmusicalumni.ning.com/video

Ah….Summer!

There’s nothing like summer to enjoy time with family and friends, time away from Clarion, relaxing while sipping a cool drink on the back deck on a warm summer day, and maybe sleep in every once in a while! But, summer is actually a realtively busy time for Theresa in the music office and for many of the music faculty.

The New Student Orientation kept Theresa and me occupied throughout June. It is always exciting to see the new music students “officially” become Clarion students. The information they receive during their one-day orientation is quite overwhelming, but we do manage to go over the Music Education curriculum, make sure they have their Fall and Spring schedules, and offer a few pointers for being successful music students at Clarion. However, I know that much of this information gets lost as they are heading home from Orientation, so I am grateful to have our annual New Music Student Orientation held each year just before classes begin to go over much of the information again.

For many music faculty, this is our best opportunity to focus on professional development activities (and many of the things we really enjoy doing but never have the chance to do during the school year). Dr. Register, professor of woodwinds, again traveled overseas as a member of the International Flute Orchestra. This year’s tour included performances throughout Peru. Dr. Toney attended the 2008 International Trumpet Guild Conference in Banff, Alberta, Canada. He is still telling stories of the “monster” players he heard and met. Don’t worry, though, he’s well prepared for this year’s upcoming Marching Band season! Dr. Dura taught several music subjects at a summer music academy in Warren, PA while teaching a course on-campus in June! Needless to say, she wasn’t overly thrilled with the higher gas prices.

Dr. Johnson has been busy collecting and crunching data for a research project involving the sight reading skills of elementary-aged instrumentalists. Dr. Alviani will be attending the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA-PA) conference in August, and Dr. Wells has been busy preparing to teach an online version of MUS 253-History of Jazz, which he designed, created, and will teach for the first time this fall.

I created and taught an online version of our MUS 131 – Music Fundamentals course during the Summer I session (this brings the number of online music courses offered at Clarion to 4!). And when I haven’t been teaching, cooking, or playing with my kids, I have been busy researching Web 2.0 applications in education and Project Based Learning. I am excited about implementing many new ideas and technologies into classroom instruction and department management this fall (e.g., this blog, our Events Calendar now on Google, department photos on Flickr, etc. – students beware!). Also, the university is changing its web site design and management as a result of a new marketing approach, and is asking all departments to recreate their web sites using the new content management system. So…guess who gets to redesign the website AGAIN?

Other exciting changes taking place in the department this summer include the installation of a SmartMusic studio in one of the practice rooms and the much anticipated (and longed for) installation of a Smart Classroom in one of our regular classrooms. Also, look for an announcement about additions to our faculty in the near future.

So, even though the perception of many is that teachers “take the summer off” (all you teachers can stop laughing now), actually it is one of our busiest times. Yes, we DO try to take some time for ourselves, since it is very important to return in the fall refreshed and energized, ready to meet the new challenges that await us, but our passions are never far from our thoughts.

I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am enjoying mine.