clinicians and conductors

Tracy Ross - clinician

Session: Action Steps to Save Music Programs

Tracy Ross has been teaching for 14 years. she is currently the sheldon Band director in 4J and has been there for 9 years. she taught middle school Band at meadow View and K-12 general music and band in the Harrisburg school district. Tracy received her Bachelors and masters degrees from the university of oregon. she also received her Initial administrative License and worked this past year at Lebanon High school gaining administrative experience. Tracy has been on the om E a Board for 14 years as small schools chair, district 12 chair and currently serves as the om E a Treasurer. Tracy has been a guest conductor for district 7 Honor band, guest conductor at WIBc, and her jazz band performed at the om E a convention in 2006. In 2006, she received a “Humanities award” centered around “putting kids first” from sheldon High school.

Lanette shepherd - clinician

Session: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Illustrations and Storytelling to Teach the Fundamentals in Instrumental Education stop students from tuning out and tune them in with stories and illustrations to teach music in all disciplines at all levels. step-up your success and save your voice by referring to visual mnemonics and pictograms in your music room. Teach students to connect long lists of pedagogical information at the drop of a hat. Brain research shows most people learn best; first through the use of kinesthetic learning, then visual, and finally through auditory input. Yet, most instruction for proper musical posture and performance is generally done via verbal cues and modeling. “music in Pictures” will revolutionize and revitalize the foundational work that every student needs for success!

Lanette shepherd teaches middle and high school strings in Longview Washington, a small logging community on the columbia River north of Portland. she is also the founder and co-director of KL ass (Kelso/Longview associated schools symphony). she has a Ph.d. in music Education from The university of Iowa and is a candidate for National Board certification in music. Her dissertation topic explored the use of a vibrato practice video with middle school students and the results of this study indicated that vibrato performance can improve with systematic video-based instruction. she has been teaching for over two decades and her current work has been in the area of check-list assessments for various string techniques. several of the assessments incorporate illustrations from familiar children’s stories to help students easily remember details of bow hold or left hand posture. These assessments may enhance lessons to clarify lesson objectives for students and to provide data for use in grading, lesson planning or curriculum efficacy. If you want your lessons to have a clear objective, aligned activities, student engagement and appropriate assessments, these ready-to-use checklists can be a helpful tool for planning instruction.