NHMEA Conference: Biggest Takeaways!
- Serena Gorham
- Apr 15, 2018
- 3 min read
Last week, the New Hampshire Music Educators Association held it's annual spring conference for educators. I love these conferences for the sheer amount of information I am able to absorb from them. I went to the sessions about ensemble efficiency, a presentation from Steinway and Sons/ConnSelmer, and a session about student teaching and how to prepare for a huge step in our careers!
Session One: All the Days I Learned Nothing: How to Stop Sabotaging Your Ensemble- by: Dr.Mark Stickney
My band director, Dr.Stickney, gave an enlightening presentation about how excuses need to stop being made for our lack of enthusiasm, burning out, etc. During his session he discusses Music Selection, Focus, Tuning, Conducting, Evaluation, and Lifelong Learning. I truly appreciate Dr.Stickney and his constant willingness to better himself as a musician, teacher, director, and person. I have not met many people in my short 20 years that make a daily conscious effort to create a better self for the success of the entire program. He gave some great points about how to better yourself as a conductor, and how to create a system that prospers growth in your band. One thing he said to try that I love is having all the students close their eyes, and choose to play a concert Bb, D, or F, and then with their eyes closed they have to start together using only the sound of their breath. This teaches the band to listen to others, and provide focus on something other than themselves.
Another big takeaway from his session was the excuses that music teachers make for themselves, and how those excuses transfer to our students. He said a constant excuse is saying, "I don't have time!" Dr.Stickney said that we need to make the time for our priorities, as well as making time for ourselves!
Session Two: Steinway and Sons k-12 Program
I was so excited to see Steinway at a New Hampshire conference for the first time since I had started college! I loved the presentation given by Gary Girouard, who is a New England representative, teacher, and father. Gary discussed reasons to take inventory of your pianos in your school, and asking Steinway to come out and evaluate the state of a piano. They will come out for free, and will assess any piano, and make recommendations for repairs, or for new pianos in your budget, even if you're not interested in theirs. Lastly, they will provide you a booklet detailing their visit, and your school's pianos. Wicked cool!
I learned that a piano's life span is 20-50 years, and a Steinway can be rebuilt up to three times. Boston, a sub-company of Steinway, is a common choice for public schools. To prolong the life of a piano, the room should be kept at around 40-50% humidity, and that humidity fluctuation is one of the most devastating things for a piano to go through! I thought that Steinway's initiative to assist music programs really shows what is at the heart of its company, and that is the customers, musicians, students, teachers, etc. who deeply enjoy the quality and sound of their pianos. I think it is incredibly heartfelt for a company of their stature to assist us teachers, even if we don't buy their pianos. Talk about a company with real values!
Session Three: Student Teaching
One of the scariest parts of this degree: Student Teaching. I am nervous for my student teaching, since it is the ultimate determining factor of whether or not teaching is everything I had hoped it would be. The session was informative on classroom control, faking it till you make it, and how to connect to students in a genuine way. The gentleman leading the session was very helpful in discussing the aspects of student teaching that are scary, like behavioral issues. Many of my friends have experienced behavioral adversities in the classroom, and not known how to deal with them. Outbursting like that is scary, and if we aren't well versed in how to deal with it, the entire class could potentially walk all over us.
Overall, the conference was a fantastic experience, and I cannot wait until the fall for the next one!
Above: Dr. Mark Stickney at the NHMEA Spring Conference
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