Most-Read Music Education Blogs of 2015
It has been a year since the launch of NAfME’s new “Music in a Minuet” blog. Guest bloggers, including NAfME members and national In-Service presenters, have shared classroom management ideas, practice and audition tips, ways to support your program, why music makes a difference for all students, and ideas for booster programs. Here’s a sample of what you and your colleagues have been reading most.
Marching Band Is Needed Now More Than Ever
By James Divine
Marching band should be a part of the music program at all schools. It adds to many students lives in several ways.
The arts are often one of the first things cut when a school district is cutting their budget, but here are three reasons why marching band is needed now more than ever before.
6 Do’s and Don’ts for New Music Teachers
By Teaching Guitar Workshops
You’ve just been told to teach guitar and you quickly google, How many strings on a guitar?!! Sound like you? Whether you’re a newbie getting thrown into the pool (sink-or-swim style), or a classroom veteran, check out these do’s and don’ts for new music teachers!
7 Tips for Teachers to Get Today’s Students to Practice More
By Donna Schwartz
A colleague of mine made a great point: she said that kids show up to sports practice or ballet and do the work there. They are usually not expected to go home and work more (unless they are going to be Olympic athletes). So there’s this expectation that students will learn whatever they need during their music lesson and not need to put extra time in at home. This is reinforced at home because as music programs get taken out of schools, fewer people are exposed to performance programs, and do not know what is involved with creating music.
What can we do to get our students to practice more?
11 Ways to Lose a Band Student (and 11 Ways to Keep Them!)
By James Divine
Nobody wants to lose a band student. Sometimes it’s inevitable—you get a student who doesn’t want to work at all for example. Other times it may be our own fault.
Here are 11 ways to lose a band student for sure (and 11 ways to keep them)!
How to Create Lesson Plans for Non-Music Substitutes
By Jennifer Hibbard
Creating sub plans is the sort of task that should be defined in an encyclopedia as “unavoidable misery”. Picture it. You’re trying to survive a bout of stomach flu, and after a few gallons of Gatorade (with a side of crackers), you finally admit that you won’t make it to school. You’ll have to take a sick day.
That’s when the bargaining process begins. You think “Maybe I’ll be all right. Maybe I can make it through the day without vomiting on myself or my students. I can do it!” But eventually, as you’re hobbling out of the bathroom door for the hundredth time, you realize that there’s no use fighting it. You’ll have to write sub plans.
NAfME staff along with outside contributors who are music education experts and supporters offer an array of articles and resources to support music educators and those who advocate for them.
To search by article subject, visit this page and search by Categories of Interest, such as general music, choral, band, orchestra, advocacy, and more.
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The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides a number of forums for the sharing of information and opinion, including blogs and postings on our website, articles and columns in our magazines and journals, and postings to our Amplify member portal. Unless specifically noted, the views expressed in these media do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Association, its officers, or its employees.
