moving forward with music.

Dearest Music Teachers of the Interwebs,

I’m giving a presentation at the end of January titled, “Expanding the Musical Offerings in Our Schools: Energizing Our Students and Saving Our Jobs”. This will be the second of two talks I’ll be giving on Thursday (1/27), but I must say I need some help.

The session is designed to provide suggestions and materials for ensemble teachers who are looking for another class to add to their teaching schedule in order to help maintain a fulltime course load and, of course, to reach out to students who aren’t currently participating in their high school music program.

Here’s where you come in:

In the comments below, please leave a description of the general music courses you teach and the resources you use. If you’ve got a website or a blog with any information, please link to it. I’ll use the information in my talk and also provide your links to conference attendees. 

If you think you teach something more traditional, still leave your thoughts! If you KNOW somebody who does something interesting or unique, please let them know to come visit here. Lastly, make sure that you leave a way that I can get in touch with you. If you want to email me (rather than posting to the comments), send an email to nick at leadingnotes.org. 

You assistance would be greatly appreciated! You’ll be able to check the comments for suggestions from other music teachers AND check back at the end of January for my take on everything.

Start commenting and share with others!

(If you’re reading off of the main page, click “Read More” and scroll down to get to the comments.)

I know, it’s hard to believe. But, it’s true. You can see me LIVE AND IN PERSON… talking about nerdy music education things. There might be some additions to this list, but I’ll update when I hear about those. If you have an idea for a place I should speak, then let me know!

PechaKucha Night - July 22 - 8:20 PM - Krannert Center, Urbana-Champaign, IL

If you look at the picture above, you’ll see a sketch of me in the bottom right corner. I was very excited to be asked to participate… I think the whole event is going to be great.

What is PechaKucha? 
Well, it goes like this:

Presenters are selected because they are passionate about an idea - it could be anything! Each presenter (there are 10) creates 20 slides. Those slides are then assembled to advance every 20 seconds. This means that every presentation is 6:40 long! This brevity (along with the beer) allows for a fun evening of ideas and passion. 

I will be talking about the changing nature of music and the unchanging nature of music education. It should be fun!

There were 400 people at the last PechaKucha night in Champaign. Don’t YOU want to see what all of the hubbub is about? Click here to see the Facebook page for it. 

Illinois Music Education Conference - January 27, 2012 - Peoria, IL

I will be giving two presentations on the Friday of the next Illinois Music Education Conference (formerly the All-State Convention). I think I might be participating in a panel discussion, too. I’m just happy they invited me back after my session last year. 

(Read below the break to see what I’m talking about!)

Read More

Welcome IMEA peeps, make sure to look around while you’re here!

The Lessons page might be a good place to start.

Get the latest updates from this blog and me in a number of ways:

1. Add my site to your Google Reader account (or equivalent site). (Here is the RSS feed.)
2. Follow this site on Facebook. Click HERE to check it out.
3. Follow me on Twitter: @JaworskiMusic.

Also, please remember to check out Leading Notes - the online music education magazine that I’m starting with Justine Dolorfino. If you’re interested in getting involved, please let me know! For the latest updates, follow Leading Notes on Twitter or on Facebook.

______________________

Thank you to everyone who had a chance to check out my presentation this past Thursday! I apologize for not having more handouts, but I didn’t want to waste paper AND I didn’t expect nearly that many people to show up (and I wanted to avoid that sad moment when you see how many leftover handouts you have).

I have included most of the slides for my presentation in a .pdf file below. I apologize that not everything is cited properly. If you have specific questions about where you can find something, please contact me.

Here is why you should keep me informed:

At the conclusion of the All-State convention I became the VP-Elect of Secondary General Music (SGM) for the IMEA Board of Directors. As I tried to imply during my session (but maybe didn’t explicitly state), I think that in order for music education to flourish in the 21st century, secondary general music will have to lead the way. I want to know what teachers are up to and help find ways to actively engage in the conversations that we need to be having. ALSO, I just want to hear how things turned out if you’ve tried some of the lessons on here! I’m also open to just talking through ideas… so, no excuses for failing to get in touch.

Notes from “Teaching Music Through Technology (And Not the Other Way Around)”:

(Click “Read More” to read about the steps to planning a project, Music as Identity, The Meet The Beatles project, and presentation slides.)

Read More