Day: October 2, 2019
Giving Our Best Effort
Oct 2 2019
Hello AMEA!
I hope that this issue of the Ala Breve finds you experiencing well-planned, effective, sequential, and standards-based lessons in which your students are learning a life-long love and appreciation of music and music making. We are all very much aware of the positive effects that the study of music provides our students and the empowerment experienced by students who have professional, caring teachers. I want to encourage all of you to find new ways of engaging your students and providing them with the best possible experiences in your classrooms. Our world is changing rapidly due to the continual expansion and use of technology, and we are going to have to develop methodologies which match the learning styles of our students as we move further into the future. Our noble profession and art form deserve nothing short of our best efforts, as do our students. When our students get our best, they give us their best!
Southern Division Meeting
The Southern Division of NAfME Board held our meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, September 8-9. Representing you there besides myself were Executive Director/Editor Garry Taylor, Past -President Susan Smith, and President-Elect David Raney. Some of the topics we discussed were Collegiate Voting, Technology, the new NAfME Membership Management System, Societies and Councils, Budget Review, the use of Lobbyists at the State Level, Partnerships with Arts Coalitions, Policies concerning Conference Presenters, Organizational Development at the State Level, and several other topics. The conversations were lively, informative, and thought provoking.
2020 Election
We have an election coming up in 2020 to determine our next AMEA President-Elect. Currently we are voting online through an email methodology. We have experienced somewhat low voter turnout, and are looking into possible solutions. One idea discussed at the August AMEA Governing Board meeting was to switch the voting event back to voting on site at our Conference. For this election cycle, we will continue the online process. That having been said, may I please challenge all of you to participate in the process and vote? Let us together as an organization achieve the highest voter turnout in AMEA history this spring when we get to choose our next leader. How awesome would that be? It has indeed been my pleasure to serve you as President, and I would like for the next President-Elect to feel as though they have the support and attention of the entire organization.
Making use of NAfME Resources
There is a huge amount of very useful information on the NAfME website. Some of the most valuable information addresses Advocacy, Lesson Planning, and of course the 2014 National Standards. The site also keeps very close watch on Legislative happenings in Washington, DC. I encourage you to search through the website and find out what our National Organization is doing and providing for your use. Your dues are paying for access to the resources, so why not make full use of them? You just might find some answers you are looking for, or a great solution to an issue which is preventing you from providing your students the well rounded education that they are guaranteed by Federal Law. So put aside an hour and check out all the information on the NAfME website. You’ll be glad you did.
2020 Conference Introduction
I am so excited about our upcoming Professional Development Conference, January 16-18, 2020. Congratulations to all who were selected to perform and present at the Conference. And Thank You to all our exhibitors as well. We could not have such a great event without their support. Each Division has planned some fantastic learning activities and performance opportunities. I hope that you have already registered, but if you have not yet done so, make it a priority to get it done soon. Dr. Carl Hancock has done a huge amount of work building our own website and interface with the new NAfME Membership Management System, and I’m looking forward to the registration process being the smoothest it has ever been. As you peruse the schedule you will see that we have moved the Keynote Address to Thursday morning at 10:30, so please make your travel plans accordingly. You will not want to miss this Keynote Session. It will include a combined schools Special Needs Drumming Group, The University of North Alabama Low Brass Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Thomas Lukowicz, and our Keynote Speaker, Mr. David Satterfield. Dave is absolutely one of the most dynamic human beings alive on the planet. He is currently the Director of Asset Development for the Office of Research and Economic Development at West Virginia University and a tenured Associate Professor in the School of Music. Mr. Satterfield also serves as the Assistant to the Director of the WVU Manufacturing Extension Partnership, as well as the Facility Security Officer for WVU and the WVU Innovation Corporation. Dave has also been a Staff Member and Board of Directors Member for The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. As you can already see, Dave will bring a very diverse background of experience, a huge amount of knowledge, and a fresh perspective to the Keynote Address. He is also one of the most endearing, genuine, and entertaining speakers you will ever hear. Dave will also speak at the Leadership Breakfast and spend some time with our FAME students. I would also like to highlight a couple more opportunities for you at the Conference. The first is Thursday, January 16th, 4:30-5:30 when the Jacksonville State University Steel Band, under the direction of Dr. Thomas McCutchen, will perform at the Exhibit Reception. Please also attend the President’s Reception on Friday, January 17th, 9:30-11:00 where the Gadsden State Show Band will be performing under the direction of Dr. Matt Leder.
Leadership
I have been blessed to meet a great many leaders in our profession throughout the country over the past four years, and I look forward to learning from them and sharing information with them for the next two years after I have “passed the gavel” to President-Elect David Raney. The one similarity that I have seen in all the truly great leaders is the mentality that Leadership is not about at title, but rather it is about responsibility and actions. Search out ways to be a leader in your community, your state, your Division, and in the AMEA itself. When you see an opportunity to serve our profession, go for it. When you see something that needs done or changed, do it. When you have discovered some information that would be useful to our profession, share it. Be a leader in our profession and enjoy enriching Music Education in the process!
I look forward to seeing all of you at our Conference!
Music Education is AWESOME in Alabama!
Respectfully Submitted,
Gregory L. Gumina
AMEA Registrar: From the Registrar
Oct 2 2019
Registration for the January AMEA conference in Montgomery has just begun and I am sure many of you have already been doing your online registrations. Being pro-active is very important and your attention to getting registered for the conference is one of the ways you can speed up the process of getting your badges, etc. I encourage you to remind your colleagues to get their registration completed as soon as possible. Invite new music teachers and ask the inactive music teachers to join NAfME/AMEA and attend the conference. Our young teachers need your encouragement so tell them how important the conference is to you and ask them to be present!
Remember that a pre-requisite to registering for the conference is to join/renew NAfME at www.nafme.org. Joining NAfME secures your membership in AMEA and your division.
You can pre-register now for the 2020 in-service conference at www.myamea.org. You may also pre-register by mail using the form in the Ala Breve. Do it now and you will save time and money! Join me and your colleagues from all over the state in January at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center for our wonderful Alabama Music Educators Association Conference!
Pat Stegall, Registrar
HED: Reflect, Be Creative, and Engage
Oct 2 2019
Have you reflected lately on what drew you to a career in music? Have you reflected lately on the depth of creativity that has been born out of your love for music? Have you reflected lately on the intellectual exploration of music that has challenged how you engage in critical discourse, teaching, and performing of music? If you have not reflected lately, the sessions to be presented by the Higher Education Division at the 2020 AMEA Professional Development Conference will allow you to do just that and more.
I am excited to come together with all of you, my colleagues, from across the state to reflect, to be creative, and engage in intellectual discourse. The HED is excited to learn from presenters from around the state. We are excited about topics on music curriculum, developing singers, next generation music leaders, self-efficacy, and much, much more. You don’t want to miss any of the sessions that will allow you to reflect, refresh, and redirect to go to the next level of your personal music expression.
As we feed our musical mind at the round table session and poster session, we will also feed our body at the HED luncheon, so please make sure to reserve your seat by emailing me. And not to be forgotten, we will feed our musical soul with ensemble performances at the HED recital. These musical gatherings and sessions will provide the opportunity for holistic music reflection for spirit, soul, and body.
Now is a good time for each of us to begin to reflect on our personal “why” about music and make plans to attend the 2020 AMEA Conference in Montgomery. If you have questions or want to reserve your seat at the HED luncheon, please don’t hesitate to contact me at (mlanier@jeffersonstate.edu)
AVA: Updates and Upcoming Events
Oct 2 2019
AVA Updates And Upcoming Events
It was great to see many of you at this year’s Fall Workshop. We greatly appreciate Huntingdon College and Dr. Damion Womack for hosting us again this year. Thank you also to everyone who responded to our membership survey. We received wonderfully positive feedback from those in attendance about all of the sessions. Please continue to send us any feedback or ideas for our future workshops. For those who were unable to attend, please see the AVA website for handouts and presentations.
CHANGES FOR 2019-2020
Here are the changes that were shared during our Fall Workshop General Membership Meeting:
All-State Festival student fees were increased to $35 in anticipation of increased costs due to being at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex this year.
The State Choral Performance Assessment adjudication form now includes an auxiliary information form. We hope this form will be useful to the adjudicators in providing relevant feedback. The score spreads on the adjudication form were also adjusted slightly. The minimum point total to receive a superior rating is now 74 points.
The SCPA sight-reading rubric was revised to add the dotted quarter note to the Advanced MS/Intermediate HS level.
ALL-STATE AUDITIONS
All-State auditions are fast approaching. Prior to the auditions, please make sure that your students have all of the required pieces, including “Alabama;” that all of their measures have been numbered; and that their adjudicator forms have been signed by a parent. Also, be certain to follow the instruction pages included in the music packets to ensure that your students are learning the correct notes for your district.
We are continuing to evaluate our All-State audition process in order to make it easier on our judges while also maintaining the integrity, rigor, and low cost of our current format. I shared with the membership at Fall Workshop that we will vote during AMEA to revise our bylaws in order to broaden who is allowed to judge our auditions. A motion will be made to change Article VII, Section 7.1 to read “The Executive Board will determine who serves as All-State audition adjudicators. Adjudicators will not judge their own students.” The handbook currently states that the Executive Board and Past-Presidents will serve as adjudicators. We believe we have qualified, capable, and willing retired directors who could serve as adjudicators in the future, if needed. This change will allow us to utilize those directors.
HONOR CHOIR
The Honor Choir Festival will take place during the AMEA conference. You may nominate up to two balanced quartets of your best sight-readers. The clinician for the festival will be Dr. Deana Joseph from Georgia State University. We hope to see great participation from across the state due to the new sight- reading format! There is no screening or preparation required for your students to participate. Register your students, order the music packets, and bring them to the festival to enjoy learning great music with a great clinician!
AMEA CONFERENCE
The 2020 AMEA Conference will be January 16-18 at the Renaissance Montgomery. Our guest clinician will be Dr. Tim Seelig, Artistic Director and Conductor of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. Dr. Seelig, who is said to be known for his enthusiasm and sense of humor, is the author of multiple best-selling books and DVDs on choral technique. I am very excited to be bringing him to Alabama and I hope to see his sessions completely full with AVA members!
Congratulations to all of the choirs who were accepted to perform at the conference. We will have performances from middle school, high school, and collegiate choirs from across the state. It is a great honor to be selected to perform during this state-wide conference, so please be sure to come and support these groups and enjoy the music they are going to share. In addition to these groups, we will also have performances by the Alabama Honor Choir and Alabama All-State Show Choir.
I am looking forward to seeing you all in January. Until then, if I can be of help in any way or if you have any suggestions or ideas, please contact me at meg.jones.ava@gmail.com. See you at AMEA!
Meg
AOA: Highlighting Orchestral Activity in Our State
Oct 2 2019
Thank you for taking the time to read this message from your Alabama Orchestra Association. I know how hectic the start to new school year can be, and I for one am already looking forward to some opportunities to rest and rejuvenate!
The start to the school year is always a busy time, and while those of us in the orchestral world might not be out there on the marching field, we are certainly marching towards our upcoming All-State Orchestra auditions. With a great lineup of conductors and some fantastic repertoire, students will have an experience like no other right here in their own state. We are excited to return to the University of Alabama for our 2020 All-State Orchestra Festival being held from February 6-9, 2020.
Auditions for our All-State Festival have changed this year with a new emphasis on scales and etudes, the combining of audition material for our two full orchestras, and additional audition dates in early- November for our wind, brass, and percussion students. The hope is that this will help alleviate any conflicts students might have with their marching band obligations. Wind, brass, and percussion students will need to register for an audition time by October 18, 2019. I would once again like to thank my colleagues in the Alabama Bandmasters Association for sharing their All-State Band materials with us. We hope that by combining our audition materials, more band students will audition for All-State Orchestra if for no other reason that they get a practice run for their All-State Band audition. And who knows, maybe they will make All-State Orchestra as well! Students that have a successful audition and are selected for the All-State Orchestra Festival will need to accept their spot by early December. Exact dates can be found on our website. Financial Aid forms will also be due at that time.
An exciting part of the All-State Orchestra Festival is the premiere performance of the winning composition from our annual Composition Contest. I am pleased to announce that the winner of this year’s competition is Alabama’s very own Dr. Mark Lackey. Mark currently serves as Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Samford University. We look forward to having him in residency at the festival and know that our students will enjoy preparing and performing his work, Reef.
The AMEA conference in January 2020 is the perfect pick-me-up as we transition into our spring semester. Richard Meyer, will be our headline clinician this year, and will be supported by a wonderful line up of clinicians who will present a wide variety of sessions that we hope will appeal to both our membership and the general membership at large. If you have not yet done so, this would be a great time to renew your membership and register for the conference.
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge all the wonderful work being done by the Alabama Chapter of the American String Teachers Association. They are doing our state a great service with their support of, and advocacy for, string and orchestra programs. Their annual Honor Strings Festival will take place at the Wallace Hall Fine Arts Center in Gadsden, AL from November 15-17. For more information about the festival and the other work being done by the Alabama chapter of ASTA, please visit their website at: http://astabama.org
Finally, your AOA wants to hear from you. We would love to feature you, your program, your upcoming events, and anything else you feel should be shared on our social media platforms. We want to continue to highlight all the orchestral activity occurring in our state. Please help us make this happen.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you, and hope to see you at an upcoming event.
Regards,
Guy Harrison
COLL: An Open Letter to cNAfME Alabama
Oct 2 2019
Hello all!
This is DeLee Benton, your cNAfME Alabama president. This has been a very exciting year of new beginnings and growth for our state chapter so far! We are excited to expand our horizons through the National Collegiate Summit, through our Alabama Collegiate Summit, and through our new Collegiate Buddy Chapter System.
Our state AMEA graciously sent two collegiate members to the National Collegiate Summit and Hill Day. Several other collegiate students traveled along with these two sponsored students and many of them shared their individual experiences with our Secretary Isabelle Page. You can read more about their experiences in the previous issue of the AlaBreve.
Our Collegiate Summit will be held on October 27th, 2019 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Samford University. We will have opportunities for professional development, networking, and a New Teacher panel. Dinner for this event is provided by AMEA and is free to all students in attendance. More information will follow soon, so please be checking your emails!
We as the Collegiate NAfME Alabama state board have instituted our Chapter Buddy System this past summer. This new system provides collegiate pre-professional music educators with the tools they need to network with others in their future field. Music Educators often feel ostracized or singled out in their education systems and individual schools, especially in the more rural areas where they may be the only music educator for their school system. We as a Collegiate Board have been working to institute this new system to promote inclusion and to create and foster an environment of community and learning together. As educators we are never truly done learning, we will continue to learn from our peers, students, and mentors. With this Collegiate Chapter Buddy System we now have a facet of our organization specifically designed for collegians to connect with their peers before entering the professional world of music education. Now is the time to reach out and get to know our colleagues, there is a plethora of available knowledge and an opportunity for networking that we have yet to discover.
Here are the pairings for our Buddy Chapter System:
|
Alabama <-> UAB |
Auburn <-> Troy |
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Montevallo <-> Samford <-> JSU |
ASU <-> Faulkner <-> Miles College |
|
UNA <-> A&M
|
If you are a cNAfME chapter president and have had trouble contacting your buddy chapter, or have not received an email from the cNAfME Alabama State Board regarding your buddy chapter, please send me an email regarding your situation.
Lastly, we encourage you all to ensure you are registered for the AMEA Conference scheduled for January 16-18, 2020! There will be several opportunities for professional development, networking, and the opportunity for a free meal at our Collegiate Luncheon!
I hope to see many of you soon at our Collegiate Summit.
Warm Regards,
DeLee Benton
University of Montevallo
cNAfME Alabama President
dbenton@forum.montevallo.edu
ELEM/GEN: Developing Successful Habits
Oct 2 2019
Developing Successful Habits
A few years ago, my school adopted the Seven Habits of Happy Kids as part of the counseling program. Every teacher in the school received a copy of the book by Sean Covey and was encouraged to incorporate the principles into the classroom. The seven habits are: 1. Be Proactive, 2. Begin with the End in Mind, 3. Put first Things First, 4. Think Win-Win, 5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood, 6. Synergize, 7. Sharpen the Saw. Students and teachers were trained on using these strategies in the classroom. We put them into action through our house system (based on the Ron Clark Academy) and through our Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies plan (P.B.I.S.). Students started taking ownership of their behavior and managing their time and tasks in a more efficient way than ever. Behavior referrals dropped as teachers practiced the win-win techniques in the classroom, showing students how being disruptive was a lose-lose for everyone involved. Of course, for many of us, these techniques started to bleed over into our personal lives as well.
In our last Ala Breve, I talked about dreaming big and setting goals. This would be a part of habits two and three. In this issue, I want to mention Sharpening the Saw, which is habit seven. To sharpen the saw, you set aside time for yourself and you do the things that bring you the greatest enjoyment. Take time to enhance your physical health, your cognitive or mental health, your spirituality and your social health. Stephen Covey details each of these in his book for adults, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, but let’s focus on mental health and social health. What do you do to expand your mind? Do you like to read books and articles about teaching? Do you like participating in a hands-on training? Do you like to hang out with your music colleagues and enjoy enriching conversations about work and life over a good meal? Your elementary AMEA is offering a great workshop on October 19 and a yearly in-service in January for you to sharpen your saw.
The fall workshop on October 19th will be held at Eastmont Baptist Church in Montgomery and will feature two fabulous clinicians, Dr. Madeline Bridges from Belmont University and Dr. Becky Halliday from The University of Montevallo. Dr. Bridges will present the morning session which is entitled “Developing Core Singing Skills through Multiple Modalities.” Dr. Halliday will present the afternoon session on arts integration “Weaving a Tapestry: Collaborative Teaching Through Arts Integration.” In between, we are offering a catered “meat and 3” lunch that you can purchase when you register. This will allow you the time to sharpen your saw as you socialize with your fellow music educators. Please take the time today to renew your NaFME membership and register for the AMEA Professional development Conference. Visit www.myamea.org for more conference details. We would love to see you at both of these events.
Thank you again, for your hard work, dedication and continued support of the Elementary/General Division of the AMEA and the children of Alabama.
See you in October,
Betty R Wilson, President Elementary/General Division
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Workshops and Other Professional Development Opportunities:
East Alabama Music Workshop
Grace United Methodist Church, Auburn Tiffany English
August 24, 2019
Contact: lydarob@me.com
AMEA Choir Festival:
Friday, October 18, 2019
Eastmont Baptist Church, Montgomery Contact Melissa McIntyre, Festival Director Ameafestival@gmail.com
Fall AMEA Workshop:
Saturday, October 19, 2019 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm Clinicians: Dr. Madeline Bridges and Dr. Becky Halliday Location: Eastmont Baptist Church, Montgomery Contact: elementaryamea@gmail.com
AMEA Professional Development Conference
Jan 16-18, 2020
Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa Featured Clinician: Jim Solomon. Details will be available soon at www.myamea.org
ABA: Take Something Back Home
Oct 2 2019
As the school year has begun with 14 hour days, beginners with their new instruments, Friday night football games and preparing for all the events of the year, don’t forget to register for the AMEA Conference in Montgomery, January 16-18, 2020. The conference is a great way to network with other professionals, attend some outstanding clinics and concerts and re-energize yourself as you begin the second semester of school. We have planned clinics that cover a wide range of topics that we hope will inspire you to “take something back home” to your program.
There were twenty-six applications submitted to be considered to perform for the conference. The selection committee had some outstanding groups from which to choose, from all around the state and all different sizes and types of band programs. It is exciting to see the quality of the programs in our state continuing to improve. The groups that were selected to perform include: Troy Wind Symphony, Wicksburg High School Band, Albertville Middle School Advanced Band, Pizitiz Middle School Band, Mortimer Jordan High School Band, James Clemens High School Percussion Ensemble, Tuscaloosa County High School Wind Ensemble, and the Grissom High School Symphonic Band 1. Make your plans now to be in attendance for these concerts!!
We are currently working with Carl Hancock to develop a new version of ABAfest. After talking with him, we feel that the new site will be an improvement over the old one and will be able to offer more to the membership. The current ABA directory and cumulative list are both available on the myamea.org site. Please take a moment and check the information on the directory and make sure that it is correct. If any corrections are needed, please send those to your district chairman so that we can get as complete a directory as possible.
We are currently working on a plan to be able to register for All State and MPA if we aren’t ready to launch the new ABAfest site before those deadlines hit. Any information about how we will register will come from either me or Doug Farris and will be sent to you through email. Again, its imperative that we have your most up to date information and email to make this happen.
The legislation that was published in the last Ala Breve will be voted on at the AMEA conference. Please make sure that you have read the proposals and are ready to discuss them. Do not hesitate to contact me or any board member if you have any questions about these. We will get a link to these put on the myamea.org site soon also so that you will have access to those there.
Finally, I encourage you this Fall to be passionate in your teaching, to be purposeful in your relationships with those around you and to take pride in your profession. We have the awesome task and privilege of being able come to work every day and to teach music to a generation of kids who will be the leaders of tomorrow, so let’s make sure they see our passion for what we do and let’s help them to find their passion along the way.
Terry Ownby
ABA President
