Spend Your Spring Break with
NAfME Academy!
It’s finally March, which means the weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and teachers and students alike could be embracing a long-awaited Spring Break! Make NAfME Academy a part of your Spring Break by checking out this school year’s most watched webinars.
General Music Webinars
Essential Time Management Strategies for Teachers
By Emily Schwartz
Without excellent time management skills, even the strongest teachers can become overwhelmed with all of the extra “stuff” that comes with teaching. In this webinar, Schwartz shows new teachers how to set themselves up for success by implementing simple time management strategies from Day 1. Taken from her book, Life in Cut Time: Time Management for Music Teachers, and her professional development workshops, this webinar shows new teachers how to stay organized, develop a plan, avoid common time management mistakes, and stay motivated when unexpected work starts to pile up.
What is Conversational Solfege and How Can it Fit into My Elementary Music Classroom
By Missy Strong
Conversational Solfege by John Feierabend is a research-based, literature-driven method for notational literacy. Literacy develops as children engage in and begin to understand music through the use of rhythm/solfege syllables conversationally before moving on to reading and writing. It is not a comprehensive curriculum, but 1 of 3 parts of every lesson. It allows teachers the freedom to add musical activities from other methodologies in addition to the CS work.
Help with Handheld Percussion
By Kelly Mraz
This webinar will cover playing technique and basic repair for handheld percussion instruments. I will demonstrate proper ways to hold instruments, appropriate striking materials, and the best way to get good sound out of unpitched percussion. It’s probably been a while since you’ve taken percussion methods, so let me refresh your technique and knowledge of handheld percussion instruments!
Band Webinars
Alternative Techniques for Teaching Middle School Band
By Todd Mahaffey
Some specific teaching strategies will be shared that are proven effective for Middle School Band. Additionally, technology resources will be discussed that aid in the implementation of these strategies. Discussion will include, but not be limited to: non-traditional seating charts, strategies for developing well-rounded percussionists, using drones to help with playing in tune, and incorporating chamber music into your curriculum.
Instrument Repair
By Bob Frushour
Learn all the tricks and trades for repairing general issues with your instrument through this webinar, presented by Bob Frushour. Bob discusses several everyday problems one can encounter with a saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, and trombone. Such problems discussed are key height, leaking instruments, sanitization, and proper care.
Mystery of Clarinet High Notes
By Meghan Cabral
The webinar will begin with a discussion of voicing on the clarinet and how this, in the initial stages of learning is actually the key to the high notes later on. Throughout we will discuss how to have a good inner and outer clarinet embouchure and how to within the first few months, no matter how the band program is setup get students popping out the higher register.
Choral Webinars
Fostering Independent Musicians in the Choral Classroom
By Karla McClain
This webinar will give participants classroom-tested ideas to help students on their path to being independent musicians. Topics such as tools for music literacy, student engagement, assessment and self-evaluation tools, and incorporating the new Core Arts Standards will be covered.
Vocal Profiling: Flexible and Fast Assessment in the Secondary Choral Ensemble
By Joseph Svendsen
This session shares a successfully implemented, standards-based system for assessing individual singers in a secondary ensemble classroom. It incorporates assessment and curricular strategies put forth by Marzano, Wormeli, Understanding by Design, and Authentic Intellectual Work. This session details and teaches how to create a flexible template for collecting valuable data that will shape and improve curriculum and instructional strategy. This data can also be presented as evidence of individual and program-wide growth without requiring competitive comparison to other schools or districts. The template can be customized to reflect the standards and objectives you value.
Composing in the Middle School Chorus: A Three-Step Process
By Ruth Debrot
Participants will learn about a choral curriculum in which students learn to compose songs. The curriculum involves a gradual, three-step pedagogical process and can be accomplished in tandem with whole-group choral learning. In the first step, students learn, analyze and perform a “model” composition. In the second step, students participate in a teacher-guided composition project. Finally, the third step involves a student-directed songwriting project. Lessons are guided by essential questions and enduring understandings. Musical examples and sample assessments are included. This approach has been found to foster individual students’ construction of musical knowledge and broaden young singers’ ensemble abilities.
Strings Webinars
OMG Strings! Tips and Tools for the Non-string Playing String Teacher
By Kate McFadden
“Also, we need you to teach strings.” “What!! I’m not a string person.” This session will give tips and tools to help the non-string-playing string teacher. Topics that will be covered include getting to know the instrument, choosing an instrument and accessories, left, and right-hand techniques, producing a solid tone, tuning instruments, playing in tune, choosing methods and music. You will leave with ideas that can be used immediately in the string class.
The All-Inclusive String Ensemble: Activities and Exercises to Make Every Student Succeed in Strings
By Vivian Gonzalez
Getting Fit for Strings Strength, flexibility and agility are key components to string instrument readiness and success, but many times studio and classroom teachers neglect to focus on these skills. In more than fifteen years of public school teaching and private studio teaching, I have developed specific exercises that target posture and left and right had issues, so that students can acquire new skills faster and with less frustration, tension and injury. These exercises have proven to be especially effective with special learners, who sometimes have fine and gross motor control issues. In this session, I will gladly share the exercises that my students do regularly in my classroom (elementary strings) and private studio (elementary through college) to enhance their overall playing ability.
Singing in the Instrumental Classroom
By Kelly Thomas
This session will focus on incorporating singing in the instrumental classroom to make better players and sight-readers. Participants will learn how to easily make singing and solfege part of their daily routine through simple songs and games. Issues to be addressed include teacher modeling, encouraging student participation and buy-in, how to create your own musical examples for sight-reading, and collaboration with other members of your school’s music department. The goal of the presentation is for teachers to confidently include singing as a strategy in the playing classroom.
Other Webinars for All
Music Teachers
Set Up for Success: Keys to a Well Run Classroom
By Jenny Nichols
Classroom management is so much more than disciplining the child that is misbehaving. During this webinar I will broaden your view of what classroom management is. I will identify small, yet powerful things that are included in a well-run classroom. Secondly, we will work on establishing routines that will solve your issues. And finally, I hope to help you change your view of your students. I hope to help you see the child that is so difficult with new eyes, and a new heart. My hope is you will leave renewed, ready to make a difference.
Teaching Lessons to Special Learners
By Kate McFadden
Having trouble transitioning from one-on-one lessons to group settings? This webinar will touch on every challenge that accompanies a group teaching environment. Learn how to take advantage of differing age groups, level of ability, and differing instrumental competencies in the classroom.
Professionalism in the Education Workplace
By Tina Krawcyk
You’ve got the job, now how do you keep it? In this clinic, I share expectations for teachers. We discuss dress code, maintaining proper relationships with students, co-workers, supervisors and parents as well as cell phone and social media use. In music, there is a particular emotional attachment due to the nature of our art. I will share my own experience as a teacher coming in after a sexual abuse allegation and how it affected the students. There are some things that are not learned until you are on the job and I would like to share my own and other’s mistakes to help other teachers from making them.
Top Ten Tips to Energize Your Rehearsal
By Angela Ammerman
Student engagement is an essential component of any music teacher’s job description. Do you have a rehearsal that seems to last forever? Notice the students gawking at the clock in the corner every few minutes? Check out these 10 Tips to energize your rehearsal! An increase in student engagement leads to an increase in musical productivity which results in successful music making. Repetition is important to learning and improving musically but can make rehearsals drag and may cause drowsiness in students. Keep students excited throughout your rehearsal with these invigorating ideas. Raise the ROOF and let your students soar!
Find a list of all our other NAfME Academy Webinars here. If you are not yet registered for NAfME Academy, you can register here. Get access to 80+ hours of professional development and make NAfME Academy a part of your Spring Break today!
We also work with school districts to provide NAfME Academy subscriptions to the music teachers they employ. Are you interested in implementing NAfME Academy across your district? Email us at nafmeacademy@nafme.org for more information.
