August 2021 Southwestern Musician

SOUTHWESTERN MUSICIAN

AUGUST 2021

AUGUST 2021

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VOLUME 90 ■ ISSUE 1 AUGUST 2021

CONTENTS FEATURES

The Power of Re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 b y m at t h e w e d w a r d s

As we begin this school year, we have the opportunity to reimagine and reinvent our approach to music education for all students.

Rebuilding a Small School Music Program . . . . . .18 by kevin broome, k ase y chitmon, and tre y singleton

These directors share their experiences about what worked for them in turning around a small school program in decline.

Q&A for Music Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 by tmea members

Music educators share what they started last year that they’ll continue as well as strategies for getting to know students better.

It Works for Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 b y c r i s ta l c o n n e r

In addition to building musicianship, we help our students develop fundamental qualities, including accountability.

Thriving in a Turnaround School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 by tiffiny reckley

Teaching in a turnaround school carries unique challenges and opportunities. Learn how you and your students can thrive!

26 COLUMNS President John Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Executive Director Robert Floyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Band Vice-President Dana Pradervand . . . . . . . . . . 15 Orchestra Vice-President Ann G . Smith . . . . . . . . . . 23

UPDATES Attend Your Fall Region Meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Time to Renew Your TMEA Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Vocal Vice-President Jesse Cannon II . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Elementary Vice-President Katherine Johns . . . . .40 College Vice-President Paul Sikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Invest in Our Future: Start a TFME Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Keep Your Information Current in the Membership System . . . . . 43 College Division Fall Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Teach TMEA’s Centennial Anthem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

ON THE COVER: Faustina Beltran, now a senior at Rouse HS (Leander ISD), prepares for auditions during the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention. Photo by Paul Denman.

Southwestern Musician | August 2021

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF TEXAS MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION

Editor-in-Chief: Robert Floyd

rfloyd@tmea.org | 512-452-0710, ext. 101

Managing Editor: Karen Cross

kcross@tmea.org | 512-452-0710, ext. 107

TMEA Executive Board President: John Carroll, Permian HS

john.carroll@ectorcountyisd.org | 432-553-2780 1800 East 42nd Street, Odessa, 79762

President-Elect: Michael Stringer, Arlington ISD

mstringe@aisd.net | 682-867-7662 1200 West Arkansas Lane (Annex 1), Arlington, 76013

Past-President: Brian Coatney, Wylie ISD

Attend Your Fall Region Meeting Region Date 1

Aug 7

Time

Location

10:00 a.m. mtg,

Amarillo HS Cafeteria

9:30 a.m. food

2

Aug 14

10:00 a.m.

Guyer HS, Denton

3

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Sachse HS

4

Aug 20

5:30 p.m.

Mt. Pleasant HS

5

Aug 14

9:00 a.m.

Arlington ISD Center for VPA

6

Aug 7

1:00 p.m.

Permian HS

7

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Graham HS

8

Aug 7

10:00 a.m. mtg, 9:30 a.m. food

Midway ISD PAC, Midway MS

Brian.Coatney@wylieisd.net | 972-429-3111 2550 West FM 544, Wylie, 75098

9

Aug 7

9:00 a.m.

Tomball Memorial HS

10

Aug 9

6:30 p.m.

Lamar Univ Music Bldg

Band Vice-President: Dana Pradervand, University of Houston

11

Aug 14

12:00 p.m.

Southside HS

12

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Madison HS

13

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

George Ranch HS

14

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Online

15

Aug 14

10:00 a.m.

Sharyland Pioneer HS

16

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Frenship PAC

17

Aug 7

10:00 a.m. mtg,

Clear Springs HS

pradervandd@yahoo.com | 713-743-3627 8226 Lakeshore Villa Drive, Humble, 77346

Orchestra Vice-President: Ann G. Smith, Plano East Senior HS ann.smith@pisd.edu | 469-752-9237 3000 Los Rios Boulevard, Plano, 75074

Vocal Vice-President: Jesse Cannon II, Duncanville HS

vocalvp@tmea.org | 972-708-3764 900 West Camp Wisdom Road, Duncanville, 75116

Elementary Vice-President: Katherine Johns, Floresville South Elementary kjohns@fisd.us | 281-370-4040 116 Oaklawn Drive, Floresville, 78114

College Vice-President: Paul Sikes, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD paul.sikes@gcisd.net | 817-251-5637 8554 Kensington Court, North Richland Hills, 76182

TMEA Staff

9:30 a.m. food

18

Aug 14

10:00 a.m.

Austin HS

19

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Sam Rayburn HS

20

Aug 7

9:00 a.m.

Adamson HS

21

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Tyler HS

22

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Hanks HS

9:00 a.m.

Alief-Taylor HS

23

Aug 14

Executive Director: Robert Floyd | rfloyd@tmea.org

24

Aug 14

10:00 a.m.

Centennial HS

Deputy Director: Frank Coachman | fcoachman@tmea.org

25

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Allen HS

26

Aug 14

10:00 a.m.

McNeil HS

27

Aug 7

9:00 a.m.

Cypress Falls HS

Administrative Director: Kay Vanlandingham | kvanlandingham@tmea.org Advertising/Exhibits Manager: Zachary Gersch | zgersch@tmea.org Membership Manager: Susan Daugherty | susand@tmea.org Communications Manager: Karen Cross | kcross@tmea.org

28

Aug 7

10:00 a.m

Harlingen CISD PAC

Financial Manager: Cristin Gaffney | cgaffney@tmea.org

29

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Brandeis HS

30

Aug 14

10:00 a.m.

Chisholm Trail HS

31

Aug 7

10:00 a.m.

Birdville FA Complex/ Online

32

Aug 15

3:00 p.m.

Vista Ridge HS

33

Aug 14

10:00 a.m.

Summer Creek HS

Information Technologist: Andrew Denman-Tidline | adenman@tmea.org Administrative Assistant: Rita Ellinger | rellinger@tmea.org

TMEA Office Mailing Address: P.O. Box 140465, Austin, 78714-0465 Physical Address: 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, 78754 Website: www.tmea.org | Phone: 512-452-0710 Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:30 a .m.– 4:30 p.m.

www.tmea.org/regionmeetings

Southwestern Musician (ISSN 0162-380X) (USPS 508-340) is published monthly except March, June, and July by Texas Music Educators Association, 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, TX 78754.

Subscription rates: One Year – $20; Single copies $3.00. Periodical postage paid at Austin, TX, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Southwestern Musician, P.O. Box 140465, Austin, TX 78714-0465. Southwestern Musician was founded in 1915 by A.L. Harper. Renamed in 1934 and published by Dr. Clyde Jay Garrett. Published 1941–47 by Dr. Stella Owsley.

Incorporated in 1948 as National by Harlan-Bell P ­ ublishers, Inc. Published 1947–54 by Dr. H. Grady Harlan. Purchased in 1954 by D.O. Wiley. Texas Music Educator was founded in 1936 by Richard J. Dunn and given to the Texas Music Educators Association, whose official publication it has been since 1938. In 1954, the two magazines were merged using the name Southwestern Musician combined with the Texas Music Educator under the editorship of D.O. Wiley, who continued to serve as editor until his retirement in 1963. At that time ownership of both magazines was assumed by TMEA. In August 2004 the TMEA Executive Board changed the name of the publication to Southwestern Musician.

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Southwestern Musician | August 2021

RENEW YOUR TMEA MEMBERSHIP TODAY Don’t Wait for a Deadline! www.tmea.org/renew membership + liability coverage + convention registration

Questions? Email susand@tmea.org. We’re here to help!

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Grades 5-12

TMEA President

JOHN CARROLL

Let’s Strive for More Than Normal As we begin this new year, let’s refocus on why we do this job—our love of students and our love of music.

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR check www.tmea .org for updates

August—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2 for details).

August—Renew your membership and register for the convention.

August 20—Liability insurance purchased last year through TMEA expires.

November 1—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA email/mail convention registration deadline.

January 20—TMEA convention online early registration deadline.

February 9–12—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

s I announced in my May column, TMEA will be hosting our annual Clinic/ Convention in person in February.

Additionally, most of us will be back in the classroom, face-to-face with our students very soon. Notice that I did not say we would be “back to normal.” Like you, I have read many social media comments centered on the idea that we don’t want to return to the pre-COVID norm. Those posts continue by asserting how we should take what we have learned in this past year and make ourselves even better. In this issue, you’ll find multiple reminders of how to do this effectively.

This improvement includes our greater appreciation for our students.

We all know that when we miss something good in our lives, we tend to appreciate it more. This past school year, schools across the state had varied levels of in-person attendance. It seems that every school district had different guidelines for attendance as well as dissimilar philosophies within the school and its community for what was judicious with regard to the health of our students, teachers, and other staff.

Some schools met mostly in person throughout the year, with preCOVID schedules, while others had low or no in-person attendance.

Some elementary-level ensembles had no performance experiences.

In UIL evaluations, some schools that would normally send multiple groups had fewer participate. We are also aware of college ensembles and music students who had different levels of concert opportunities. I reflect on this because I believe the reduced in-person interactions led us to appreciate our students even more.

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Credit does go to those ensembles and their directors who still had the opportunity to perform. They have been a model for others as we look toward the 2021–2022 school year. We also acknowledge those teachers who couldn’t perform in a traditional manner and yet managed to keep their students engaged, creating innovative ways to display their students’ talents and growth.

I am a strong believer in the value of competition, including UIL evaluations. I am also a strong believer in enriching our students with the love of music for the sake of the music. On both the elementary and college levels of music education, there are not as many opportunities for competitions and adjudications as on the secondary level. Nonetheless, those teachers do a wonderful job in helping students realize the intrinsic value of music and the fun of singing or playing a musical instrument.

I know I have come to a greater appreciation of music for music’s sake this year.

While I still enjoy the competitive side of what we do, as more students began returning to school, I just thoroughly enjoyed seeing them and making music with them.

I gained a higher level of appreciation for them and for each student’s unique situation, whether in this past year, or even before COVID. I have always appreciated my students, but I do honestly believe I appreciate them more now.

As I wrote this column, I was completing a percussion camp at a nearby school.

Over just three days, I saw a look in these students’ faces—they simply enjoyed being in their school band. Like any other secondary music program, most of those percussionists won’t pursue music education in college. And while it’s wonderful to teach a student who wants a career in music education (perhaps we take pride in

having some part in that decision), that is not our primary goal. Our goal is to make sure that we instill in our students something that helps them grow into adulthood. That something is the love of music and the camaraderie that comes with being involved in our programs with other students. I’m so happy when a student leaves with a good feeling about having been in a musical group.

As we begin this new year, let’s refocus on why we do this job—our love of students and our love of music. If that is a result of performances and competitions, so be it. But nothing matters more than the value of our students. While it’s clear that Texas music educators have this figured out, it’s always important to remember as we begin a new school year.

TMEA Membership and News If you haven’t yet, please renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the Clinic/Convention now to check that off your list and ensure you pay the lowest fee. Go to www.tmea.org/renew to do both today!

In conjunction with your membership, go to www.tmea.org/regionmeetings (and page 2) for information about your fall Region meeting. At these meetings, you’ll have a say in your Region business and get news about any upcoming TMEA workshops and any UIL updates.

The TMEA Executive Board met in Austin for its annual four-day meeting in mid-June. Many decisions were made involving our divisions, the upcoming Clinic/Convention, TMEA programs (such as our Scholarship Program, Distinguished Administrator Award Program, and Texas Music Scholar Program). Our divisional Vice-Presidents will update Region Chairs, and those Region officers will convey that

ADD DIVERSITY WITH AN INTERACTIVE, INTERDISCIPLINARY

PROGRAM

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Southwestern Musician | August 2021

information to you during your fall Region meeting, so be sure to attend!

TMEA Online Resources If you haven’t reviewed the resources available to you on the TMEA webpage in a while, be sure to take a few minutes to do so. Go to the Resources menu on the website to look through a variety of resources that could be helpful in many ways, including Teaching Resources, Advocacy, Law & Policy, and more. There are a myriad of valuable items in this section of the website.

Volunteer to Help TMEA is an organization that relies on volunteers to ensure its success throughout the year and especially during our annual convention. Please consider this as my personal request for you to sign up to be a volunteer. Go to www.tmea.org/volunteer to log in and complete the volunteer form online.

Code of Ethics and Eligibility Requirements This is an important time of year to review our association’s Code of Ethics and Eligibility Requirements for TMEA Activities. Both are linked from www. tmea.org/about/policies. Neither will take long to read, and I hope you will familiarize yourself with them. They do indeed contain important information and convey TMEA’s commitment to do what’s best for all students.

Mentoring Network TMEA continues to believe in the value of new teachers and those new to Texas being mentored by more experienced teachers. Go to www.tmea.org/mentor to learn more and enroll (either to get a mentor or to become one).

In closing, as we embark on the adventure of the 2021–2022 school year, let’s enjoy our students, let’s take care of ourselves both physically and emotionally, and let’s make sure this year is better than any pre-pandemic year of our past. The best is yet to come.

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TMEA Executive Director ROBERT FLOYD

The Small Things Matter We are in the life-changing business. It is a shared humanity in our profession that compels us, and we are positioned better than other teachers on our campus to render such a life-changing result.

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ver the past several months we have all read numerous articles about what the priorities and new school year should look like come August. Titles such as “The New Normal,” “Starting Over,” “Where Do We Go from Here,” “An Opportunity to Fix What’s Broken” are widespread online and in print. The content has been as varied as the authors.

I would add to your reading list on this topic the article by Matthew Edwards on page 10, “The Power of Re.” It is thought-provoking and inspirational. The truth is that educators have never had a more timely opportunity to revisit our academic discipline as a whole and explore better ways to serve our students and touch their lives in the way only the art form of music can.

A popular pastor in Austin with a deep admiration of musicians recently began a series of messages entitled “A Symphony of You.” He is exploring the questions we should ask ourselves individually as we return to face-to-face church and determine our roles in serving as a member and contributor to such an organization. As I listened to the inaugural message, my head was spinning about a series of similar questions we must ask ourselves as we return to the music classroom in this (hopefully) post-pandemic era.

What Are My Weaknesses?

This first is one of introspection. What are my weaknesses as a teacher and what must I do to improve? Candidly, what is it I do in the management of my program or in my classroom that is not working? Whether from a clinician, a colleague on your staff, or an evaluation sheet at UIL,

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Southwestern Musician | August 2021

MARK YOUR CALENDAR check www.tmea .org for updates

August—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2 for details).

August—Renew your membership and register for the convention.

August 20—Liability insurance purchased through TMEA last year expires.

November 1—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA email/mail convention registration deadline.

January 20—TMEA convention online early registration deadline.

February 9–12—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

we must put our egos aside and create a plan for continually improving our pedagogical and interpersonal skills. With their candor and wisdom, our students often provide the most beneficial information about us, even if it is sometimes hurtful. As a young teacher, my students shared with me that I never complimented them. That was during my “fix it” days as a teacher when most of my comments from the podium were indeed negative. I focused more on what was broken, without much information on how to fix it or compliments about what was right. And I delivered those comments with a raised eyebrow and a slight frown rather than a smile. Students are blatantly honest. Listen to them.

Do You Admit Your Mistakes?

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to not admit when we make one.

I believe we all learn early on with our more advanced ensembles that on the podium we certainly should not try to fool our students when we make a conducting mistake. How many times have we been conducting, stewing inside because students weren’t watching, and then we made a conducting error or missed a cue, and 65 sets of eyes were glaring at us?

Either stop and admit the mistake, or preferably, continue and point to yourself and smile. Do not pretend it did not happen. While only a miniscule example, when our credibility with students is eroded over time, it can be difficult to rebuild. As it relates to our overall program, for everything from a teaching technique to a strategy for working with your parents or administration that is not effective, take another approach. What a great time to get rid of the “but I have always done it that way” mentality. Quoting poet Ogden Nash, “When you are wrong, admit it. When you are right, shut up!”

Do You Share Your Talents?

We have a responsibility to serve and make ourselves available to each other.

What are your talents and expertise that others seek from you? Be ready and willing to share them. Through the years, mentoring and simply talking shop and sharing pedagogical ideas and techniques have contributed greatly to the growth and quality of our programs and our growth as teachers. Certainly, the TMEA Clinic/ Convention and Connections events represent a sharing mentality. But giving your

talents and not just taking from others should be our ongoing priority throughout a school year. It is a part of our sharing mission and your contribution to strengthen our profession. Also, don’t overlook a willingness to serve in a TMEA leadership position. It takes a village.

What Do You Do When No One Notices?

So how do we react to something we do as a teacher when no one is watching or listening? How do we respond when there is no applause or accolade or no one hands us a trophy or UIL Sweepstakes plaque?

As reflected in Social Emotional Learning, students are looking for a place where they feel safe but more importantly accepted.

As Matthew Edwards addresses, in this time of recapturing former students or recruiting new ones, the magic that makes that happen may have nothing to do with music. Instead, it is the one-on-one relationship and support you give students when they need it the most that will make the difference.

While training in counseling wasn’t part of our music educator preparation, it doesn’t take a psychology degree to understand the importance of making every student feel like they are part of our program and supporting them musically and personally. Take advantage of the opportunity. The reward comes not from public praise but from knowing in that moment you touched one student’s life in a way they will cherish and perhaps always remember.

In my early years with TMEA, I always wanted to quickly share any victory at the capitol with the membership. I recall one experience when No Pass, No Play went into law and the TEA attorney determined that a failing student could not perform with their ensemble under any circumstances even though our state standards included performances. I was able to get an appointment with the Commissioner of Education and explain why a student should be allowed to perform on their own campus, even if failing math. He listened and concurred. It was within his purview as Commissioner to make that accommodation in rule.

As I drove back to the office, I thought about what a huge win that was and how we needed to immediately send an email to celebrate the accomplishment. I quickly got my ego in check and refocused my thoughts on the students this new inter-

pretation would positively touch as it was implemented—victory parade canceled.

So, what does this have to do with how you teach? When you are equally satisfied by helping the shy beginning clarinetist cross the break for the first time as you are hoisting the Best-in-Class trophy at the awards ceremony, your motives and reasons for being in this profession are driving your teaching priorities in the appropriate way. That is a good thing, and that is our calling. It is also what will help music education survive this post-pandemic time still marked by so many distractions and unknowns.

What Do You Do That Brings Students and Colleagues Together?

One of our missions is to unite people.

Teachers teach, and in short, as music educators we are called to meet the needs of our students through music. We are in the life-changing business. It is a shared humanity in our profession that compels us, and we are positioned better than other teachers on our campus to render such a life-changing result.

Our passion must be obvious to those around us—our students and colleagues must sense it. Are we driven only by a desire for greatness in the competitive arena or something more? Somewhere between arrogance and humility, we must be the strong protector of our program and constant champion of our students. How absurd it would be if we helped only those students we determined were the most talented. We should make decisions that serve all students, even if they impact only one in the moment.

So, what is your role in “A Symphony of You?” What is your contribution? Your calling? What difference will you make in this thing called music education, and what difference can you make in each of your students’ lives? In our individual purpose and mission in this profession, it only works if each of us picks up our instrument and plays our part and continues to enhance our contribution.

Rehearsal is about to begin. Have a 0 great start to this new beginning!

Southwestern Musician | August 2021

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The Power of Re

by Matthew Edwards

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have been thinking quite a bit about the 2021–2022 school year and what it holds for music teachers and students. It seems that in almost every conversation with colleagues, the desire to return to normal in our classrooms arises. I will be honest and state I find this notion problematic. Was normal really all that great?

While I agree the lack of normal in both performance and practice has created a huge void in our lives, I see our programs as so much more than that. I would submit that normal was a major contributor to many students feeling marginalized in our music classrooms.

Whether it was gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic, the possibility exists that our classrooms were not nearly as inclusive as we might have thought. Were our music classrooms spaces where student voices, regardless of any labels attached to them, were truly heard and honored? The numbers in our programs possibly suggest otherwise.

In a successful music program at a large high school in Texas, if 10% of the student population were involved in a program, that program would be considered successful. A program with 20% participation would be off the charts. For the sake of discussion, let us assume that 10% of students are in the choral program and 20% are in the instrumental program. That is 30% of the student body involved in music education! Great, right? What about the other 70% of students? What if we could shift our focus to include just 10% more of those students?

The intentional recruitment of those students who may have been an afterthought in previous years has dual benefits: program growth and establishing a place for the marginalized to call home. The impact of that inclusion would be monumental for the programs and, more importantly, student success at the campus level! This happens when we become intentional in how we approach what it means to welcome students into our classrooms. We do that by asking tough questions about inclusivity.

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Restart.

Rebuild.

Recover.

Rebound.

Reinvent.

Regain.

Reimagine.

These are powerful words that hold significant meaning for music educators in the coming months. How can we embrace them in our classrooms to intentionally impact the lives of our students?

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Part of our reimagining must focus on making decisions about what is best for our students and not what garners ribbons, ratings, patches, and plaques.

Can We Restart, Please?

What if you had a do over? What if you could restart your program? What would you do differently? I bet we have all thought about this at least once in our careers. This school year gives us that very opportunity. We are all restarting. We are all rebuilding. We now have the chance to rethink and reshape how we go about the work. Let’s reimagine in three ways: a short fix, a medium fix, and a long fix.

The short fix is something simple like changing the physical setup of your classroom. Move the piano and chairs to the other side of the room. If possible, change the direction of the risers. For instrumental ensembles, perhaps switch chair directions or relocate sections. Try something as simple as moving the student supplies area.

Change out your visual aids and décor.

These simple changes lead to subtle differences in our daily routine. These changes in routine lead to different approaches to our processes and to changes in our outcomes by offering fresh perspectives on established routines.

One example of a medium fix could be changing how you select repertoire.

Engage the students in a real conversation about the music they would like to learn and perform, and then work in high-quality arrangements of those pieces alongside repertoire of your choosing. I am not suggesting you give students free rein over song selection, but I am suggesting a willingness to give up a bit of control and get outside your comfort zone in selecting

music for the year.

Now, for a potential long fix. Consider dedicating an ensemble, class period, or afterschool club to students who don’t fit the traditional mold. Go to the counselor or administrator in charge of the master schedule and ask for students looking for a home and a place to feel accepted. Ask for those students who others might avoid!

Start that club or group based on nothing more than students who want to be there and participate. No auditions. No prerequisites. No stipulations other than a desire to make music together. Think about the powerful impact that environment would have on the students and you. Then, watch as the rest of your program grows organically based on what is happening during that amazing class period!

Things to Reconsider: Change, Advocacy, and Decisions Being open to change will play a huge role as we consider the power of Re in moving forward with our music programs post-pandemic! This means being open to students, old and new, as they walk through the doors of our classrooms this year. For some, it will be the first time they have stepped into a music room since March 2020—17 months ago! In the life of a student, that is an eternity. Think about the possibilities and be open to them! Be open to all the brilliant minds coming through your door! Be open to suggestions from them as you engage them in conversations about what they need from your

Distinguished Administrator Award Do you work with a school administrator who was especially supportive of music education last year and is now in the planning for this new school year? Submit a nomination! TMEA has the opportunity at the state level to thank these individuals for their dedication and support. At the local level, this offers you another opportunity to share your success story with the community.

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class. Then, use what you have learned to reimagine your music classroom and program.

How often do you think about advocacy and what it means to be an advocate for your program at all times? Consider this: every interaction is an advocacy opportunity! What you do with the opportunity makes all the difference. We are constantly engaged with other people—at the grocery store, gas station, shopping mall, restaurants, and more. Re becomes a powerful tool in each of these interactions as well.

The opportunity to rebrand your program as one that is an advocate for change and open to being reflective of the students you serve cannot be missed. Talk about what your students are doing. Talk about the conversations you are having with them and how they are shaping your music classroom. Be excited! People will notice, and they will want to be a part of it and be advocates as well.

If we are genuinely interested in rebounding through reinventing our music classrooms, we must talk about our decision-making processes. The unfortunate reality in many music programs is that decisions are made about students in ensembles or music selections based on contests or assessments that take place every spring. In essence, our year-round programs are being held hostage by events that take place only on a few days each year. Part of our reimagining must focus on making decisions about what is best for our students and not what garners ribbons, ratings, patches, and plaques.

As we embark on the exciting journey of a new school year and begin the work of reconstructing our musical “normal” to reflect our students and their narratives, be fearless. In this reinvention, we will rediscover our purpose and passion and introduce our students to the intrinsic joy of music-making itself, not just to the out0 comes.

Matthew Edwards, EdD, is the Director of Choral, Elementary, and General Music for Dallas ISD.

Just Six Months to Go! 2022 TMEA Clinic/Convention FEBRUARY 9–12 • SAN ANTONIO

www.tmea.org/convention Southwestern Musician | August 2021 13

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DANA PRADERVAND

Happy New Year!

We cannot help but reflect on the challenges of the past months. Now, hopefully, we can take these lessons learned and turn them into program goals for the new year.

In Memoriam Stuart Bird December 8, 1947–January 21, 2021 Jerry Bartley July 30, 1938–April 30, 2021 Ralph Zamarippa January 23, 1937–June 12, 2021 LaFalco “Corkey” Robinson August 11, 1927– June 20, 2021

MARK YOUR CALENDAR check www.tmea .org for updates

August—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2 for details).

August—Renew your membership and register for the convention.

August 1—Deadline for waivers to the audition process.

August 20—Liability insurance purchased through TMEA last year expires.

September 1—All-State etude errata submission deadline.

December 31—TMEA email/mail convention registration deadline.

January 20—TMEA convention online early registration deadline.

February 9–12—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

I

t’s a new year, so let’s count down the last days of summer and ring in the start of the new school year with anticipation and excitement!

As we prepare for the beginning of a new year, why not observe it with as much celebration and pageantry as we do on December 31? We do have so much to celebrate!

There are many traditions that people observe when ringing in the New Year. Some people celebrate by connecting with friends. I hope you were able to attend the fantastic TBA Convention that was happening as this issue was being completed.

It’s always wonderful to catch up with friends and attend the amazing clinics. As we look forward to reconnecting with our colleagues at our fall Region meetings, there are many new and exciting things happening in TMEA. Now is the perfect time to consider how you can serve our amazing organization. Volunteer to host an audition, run a Region band clinic/concert, or work at our convention. Have you considered serving on a Region committee or running for a Region or state office? A new year = new opportunities!

Making a New Year’s resolution is a tradition I bet each of us has done at some point. The New Year’s resolution is the promise of hope for good things to come. Why not make a resolution for your program as you begin this new year? We cannot help but reflect on the challenges of the past months. Now, hopefully, we can take these lessons learned and turn them into program goals for the new year. Remember that a New Year’s resolution is about being better. A new year = new goals.

Dressing up and attending a New Year’s Eve party is another common

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 15

tradition. Why not organize a party for the first day of school and dress up to welcome everyone back? Have a theme day for a summer band rehearsal and break out into an impromptu dance party in the middle of your marching basics! Perhaps you watch the different fireworks displays from around the world. You can observe this tradition by having your program display its “fireworks” at a summer marching band exhibition performance, or the first notes of your middle school concert band, or even the first time your beginners open

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their instrument cases. Take the opportunity to mark the occasion and celebrate the moment. A new year = new audiences.

The most celebrated tradition on New Year’s Eve is the countdown to midnight, toasting to the start of a new year, followed by the playing or singing of “Auld Lang Syne.” Why not count down the start of the new school year with as much celebration as you can? Let the first sounds of music be your school’s alma mater or another melody that celebrates this new beginning.

Raise your water bottles and make a toast to the new year!

Here’s to a bright new year, and a fond farewell to the past; Here’s to the things that are yet to come, and the music that will last!

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1—happy new year!

Note of Gratitude Thanks and congratulations go to the Texas Bandmasters Association and its outstanding leaders for hosting an inperson summer convention! While I wrote this before that event happened, I’m certain we all will have a great time being

back together again. The clinic and concert offerings are fantastic, and I anticipate us all leaving San Antonio motivated and excited to start the new year.

The TMEA Band Division extends our gratitude to TBA for providing time and a platform for the All-State etude presentations as part of their virtual Student Day. Membership Renewal It’s time to renew your TMEA membership and to purchase liability insurance for this year. All memberships expired June 30 and if purchased last year through TMEA, liability coverage ends August 20.

When you renew (www.tmea.org/renew), verify and update your member record to ensure its accuracy. You must be an active member to enter students into the TMEA audition process. Do not wait until the last minute. Renew well in advance of any contest deadline.

Changes to the All-State Audition Process The TMEA Executive Board approved the following during its June meeting: Live, in-person auditions will be held for every zone, phase one, Region, and

Area rounds for the upcoming 2021–2022 year.

Additionally, the Board voted to approve changes to the All-State seating auditions that have been traditionally held on the Wednesday evening of our convention after the student receives a packet of excerpts. These seating auditions will occur the week of January 10 in a virtual format as follows: • January 8: In-person Area contest.

Winds and percussion students are named to All-State.

vote on your Region’s nomination for TMEA President-Elect. Be sure to attend (go to page 2 for the full schedule).

All-State Audition Material All-State audition etudes and performance guides are on the website (as of July 15). The website is the official record and September 1 is the deadline for errata submissions. Special thanks go to the etude selection committee for their musical expertise and video presentations during the TBA student day.

Convention Volunteers Please consider serving as a volunteer for the 2022 Clinic/Convention. It truly takes a cast of hundreds to produce a successful convention experience for all attendees. There is a wide variety of critical roles available from which to choose.

Please go to www.tmea.org/volunteer to submit your information and availability.

You can volunteer your time for as long or as little as you want.

0

• January 10–January 13: Directors record and upload the seating audition recording by their All-State students (of the same etude cuts from Area).

• January 15: Seating audition recordings adjudicated by wind/percussion panels.

• January 16: Students join an online meeting to receive seating results.

Top-ranked players will select their ensembles. Following this meeting, students will receive online access to their ensemble’s concert music.

• February 9, evening: Section rehearsals for each ensemble.

• February 10, morning: First full rehearsal of each ensemble.

The Board’s rationale behind this decision includes: • TMEA has an online platform available to conduct the seating auditions virtually.

• By seating ensembles in advance, students can obtain their concert music weeks before the event (like our jazz ensembles have for years). They will have time to prepare their parts and have a more productive and enjoyable ensemble rehearsal experience.

• With section rehearsals on Wednesday, the ensembles gain three more hours of full-group rehearsal time.

You will receive more specific and extended information concerning these changes during the Band Division segment of your Region meeting.

Region Meetings In addition to learning more about these All-State changes, you will receive important calendar updates and agenda items to discuss and learn. You will also

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REBUILDING a Small School Music Program

T

he majority of students across Texas attend schools with 4A or smaller UIL classifications. With limited resources and smaller staffs (often a single music educator), those starting a job in a small school can face the challenge of a declining program in need of repair. Our thanks go to Kevin Broome, Kasey Chitmon, and Trey Singleton for sharing their experiences on what they found to be most important in this rebuilding process.

By Kevin Broome Becoming the new director of any music program can be stressful. Assuming leadership of a struggling program can present challenges that make the job even more difficult and time-consuming. When I began my current position, school culture, student abilities, and budget concerns were three areas that required attention.

The culture of a school has a major influence on how students view performing arts classes. During my first few months at my current school, I heard disparaging comments from non-band students, parents, and faculty members. Their intent wasn’t to put down the music students, it was simply to identify the current state of the band program. It became clear that remarks were often ignored in the past. They needed to be addressed.

Student morale depends on an environment where students feel valued in their work. No one should be allowed to comment negatively about a student group. I heard comments like “Oh, it’s just the band” or “We can never recognize what they are playing.” No matter the source, I would always mention that the students need 18 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

to hear only positive words. Musical pieces may not have been recognizable in the past, but we focus on continued improvement and development. They aren’t “just the band.” These are kids who are developing skills that take time to master.

Student abilities also play a major role in program success.

Students who aren’t confident in their abilities will quickly become disheartened and stop participating. This lack of confidence can be the result of insufficient training in the first year of band or from students entering a program without prior experience (an issue that must be addressed with administrators and counselors). For my high school students, I had to address posture concerns that were holding students back from higher achievement. Once those issues were resolved, students could focus on correcting their tone and technique problems.

It is critically important to develop a fundamentals routine that addresses all aspects of musical development. When I began at this school, students were not accustomed to any warmup sequence.

Developing a cycle of fundamentals that includes long tones, chorales, and rhythm training allowed band members to build their confidence when it was time to work on concert pieces. Always remember that it will take years for your students to grow, so it is important to celebrate every small victory.

The first time I entered the band hall to take inventory of school-owned instruments, I discovered our inventory was not sufficient to meet the current needs of the band. It certainly could not accommodate any growth. When I approached my administrators regarding our needs, I asked for everything that would be necessary for the projected growth of the program over the next four years. The response was a resounding no. I returned a

few days later with a request for enough funding to provide large instruments for the students currently in the program plus one per instrument family to keep on hand in case emergency repairs were needed. That request was approved. As the program has grown, our instrument needs have expanded, and my administrators have supported those funding needs. Many administrators, who are also under tight budget restrictions, will resist excessive purchase requests. It is important to aim high when it’s time for budget requests, but repeatedly asking for the moon will get you nowhere.

Once our students felt comfortable in their abilities and were part of an encouraging school environment, they began to flourish in their performances. After seven years, the band program at Midland Christian School has progressed from playing unrecognizable tunes to winning the TAPPS State Music Contest in 2019 and 2021 and the TAPPS State Marching Contest in 2019.

Students now can perform as a part of the concert band, jazz band, steel drum band, and small ensembles, as well as perform solos in TAPPS competitions throughout the year. Many students have also made the ATSSB All-State Bands. Giving students every opportunity to perform in front of an audience will help alleviate performance anxiety and give your students a boost in their confidence. Most importantly—take care of yourself and hang in there! Recovering a struggling program is challenging, but it is also highly rewarding.

Kevin Broome is the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Director at Midland Christian School.

By Kasey Chitmon Upon arriving for my July 2016 interview at Louise HS, a 2A school in a rural farming community midway between Victoria and Rosenberg, I decided to do some additional, last-minute research on the band program.

A quick Google search yielded nothing I hadn’t previously learned, so I went to YouTube expecting the same lack of results. To my surprise I found several recent videos of a program I wasn’t expecting, nor one I was certain I would want to take on.

In 2008, they moved to the “scramble band” performance style to salvage what remained of a crumbling marching band program that had dwindled to just eight members.

Five minutes prior to my interview time, I called a trusted mentor who I knew would offer the honest advice I needed in that moment. He encouraged me to complete the interview and ask the principal about their desire for the future performance style of the band. If the principal wished to continue the scramble band style, he advised me to simply offer my thanks and explain that I wasn’t open to leading that marching style and that it wouldn’t be an effective utilization of my skills as a music educator. I entered the interview fully prepared to walk away, but fortunately I never needed to.

I was hired with a mandate to rebuild and revitalize every aspect of a 5–12 band program. Since 2016, the overall educational and musical quality of the band program have improved tremendously.

The high school band has seen an unprecedented annual increase in student participation, and one year after implementing corps style marching techniques, the marching band participated in the Region UIL Marching Evaluation for the first time in over a decade.

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The following are some key philosophies and strategies I have utilized that I believe have been central to the band program’s improvements, accomplishments, increased student participation, and renewed community support at Louise: Strive to instill in students a genuine sense of ownership in their band program. I do this before all else. Students and you will have a difficult time building a sense of pride for their band program without their first developing a sense of ownership in it.

I often remind students that the Louise HS Band doesn’t belong to me; Louise HS is not my school; I did not graduate from there; I am not an alumnus. It’s their school, they are the heart and soul of the school, and the band program ultimately belongs to them with me serving as their guide. Their band program, its successes (or lack thereof), and its place in their lives depends almost entirely on what they choose to put into it. After they graduate and reminisce on their time in band, what legacy do they hope to claim?

Every decision must be based on what is best for your students and their band program. Each decision that affects the Louise band program considers the best interests and needs of the students and their band. Students are extremely perceptive in figuring out which teachers truly care about them and their education. Undoubtedly, your students will quickly discern the type of band director you are, maybe even before you do. Are you working tirelessly so they have the best band experience possible or are you more concerned with your reputation and the ratings next to your name in the contest results page on UIL forms?

Set high yet attainable expectations for your students and remain firm in meeting them. You get what you expect out of students is a simple concept from our educational philosophy classes in college. Do my students meet all my expectations? Of course not. Whose fault is it when they don’t? No one is to blame because I know they are trying their best to do everything I ask of them.

Understand that most band students’ lives do not revolve around band. Today’s students participate in multiple activities and programs. This is especially true of students who haven’t had the most positive band experiences or who have been led by a new

band director every year or two. Most students are in band simply because they have fun playing music and enjoy the social aspects of band. You will of course teach those who never leave the band hall, and if you’re lucky, a rare student or two who aspire to become a band director like you! (In my 11 years of teaching, I have taught only one student who attended college as a music education major.)

Never beg a student to be in band. In my experience, students who have informed me they aren’t doing band next year or semester are mostly trying to see what my reaction will be. I typically respond with: “Okay, I understand. If you change your mind, just come talk to me, my door is always open.” If the student is sincere in their decision, a more in-depth conversation will usually unfold. However, I believe when you beg and plead for a student to remain in the program, you relinquish your position and authority as administrator of the program to the student.

I hope that if you are entering a program in distress, considering these ideas and strategies will be helpful. The work of any music educator is never easy, but once you have rebuilt a program, your satisfaction and community support will reflect that success.

Kasey Chitmon is Director of Bands at Louise High School

By Trey Singleton In 2011, my family and I decided it was time for a fresh start in a new community. I accepted a position as Director of Bands in Munday CISD, a small community of 1,300 located between Abilene and Wichita Falls.

Long before, the band program had enjoyed many years of success, but after the director of that successful program left, the enrollment decreased, and from 2005 to 2011, they experienced a revolving door of directors, and the pride of the program was lost.

The year before I started, the band had made a fourth division and had been disqualified in sightreading before that.

One of the first issues to address was enrollment. Twenty-five students had signed up for the high school band. Immediately, I decided to promote the eighth-grade band students into the high school band. This made an immediate positive impact and was the starting point of rebuilding a failing band.

Have You Renewed Your Membership? www.tmea.org/renew 20 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

From the very beginning, adaptation was key. The first rehearsal in summer 2011 was almost a disaster and it made me question my decision of accepting this position. My first instruction was to play Concert F. The looks I received from students were of confusion and heartbreak. They did not know what I was talking about. From that first moment, I had to adapt my instructional process to fit with them. I changed the summer band schedule from full band to sectionals so that I could immediately begin teaching students in smaller groups. They needed this extra confidence before playing together again as a full ensemble.

I had been told by community members that no one could understand the band’s playing of the school’s fight song or The Star-Spangled Banner (many home games featured someone singing the national anthem instead because the school leaders didn’t want the band to play it). The turning point in rebuilding came during our very first football game of the year. We were the home team and were tasked with playing the national anthem. Before we began, I could hear the rumblings coming from the crowd. They didn’t want us to play it simply because of what they remembered.

As we began, I could see some of the crowd turn toward us in amazement. When we finished, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. The superintendent at the time even turned around and gave two thumbs up toward the band. As I looked at the members of the band, they were all smiles because they realized they had done something that hadn’t been done in years. That small moment of success is when we turned the corner in rebuilding the band program.

I do not have all the answers and I am learning new strategies

every day, but here is what I can offer anyone who might be in a similar situation: • Adapt to your situation. Try new things; they may not work, but at least you tried.

• Do not change everything in the first year. I cannot stress this enough. Work on small changes before big ones.

• Seek the advice and help of other local directors. Do not think you can do it all on your own. I was very fortunate to have a good friend and colleague help me out many times and that continues today.

• Get your students to buy into the band program again.

Implement leadership roles, ask students for input, and let them take ownership of the program. Ultimately it is the students who are performing. The director just shows them how.

• Build on small successes and the big ones will happen.

• Communicate often with students, parents, teachers, administration, and community members.

• While not a new concept, it holds true that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Take an interest in your students outside the classroom (sports, one-act play, other academics, church, etc.).

I hope that if you are beginning the rebuilding process, you have gained some ideas for your program.

0 Trey Singleton is the Director of Bands and secondary school principal for Munday CISD.

Invest

in our future

Texas Future Music Educators offers students who have an interest in a music education career the support and information they need to help them prepare for their future. TFME members who preregister may attend the annual TMEA Clinic/Convention on Friday and Saturday.

1. Go to www.tmea.org/tfme to create a chapter—it’s easy!

2. Market TFME to all high school music students.

3. Submit your chapter charter and dues to TMEA.

www.tmea.org/tfme For more information, email kvanlandingham@tmea.org

4. Request a grant to help your chapter get started.

5. Support TFME members and enjoy the significant return on your investment!

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Southwestern Musician | August 2021 21

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TMEA Orchestra Vice-President

ANN G. SMITH

The Benefits of Pruning Taking a careful look at our programs and examining what can be pruned will set them up to be strong and healthy and will support their growth.

W

MARK YOUR CALENDAR check www.tmea .org for updates

August—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2 for details).

August—Renew your membership and register for the convention.

August 1—Deadline for waivers to the audition process.

August 20—Liability insurance purchased through TMEA last year expires.

September 1—All-State etude errata submission deadline.

December 31—TMEA email/mail convention registration deadline.

January 20—TMEA convention online early registration deadline.

February 9–12—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

elcome back! I hope you had a restful and restorative summer break.

I know I approached this summer break a little differently from how I have in the past. The areas I focused on were both personal and professional, looking at them differently based on the unique experiences of the past year and a half.

An idea I’ve been tossing around in my mind and trying to apply to my personal and professional life is that of pruning.

When trees and other foliage grow in their natural habitat they can spread their branches, extending as high as possible, and as old branches are shed, they drop to the forest floor. The trees in our yards don’t typically have the freedom to grow in the same manner. To maintain their health and longevity, we regularly prune them.

According to dictionary.com, prune means “to cut or lop off superfluous or undesired twigs, branches, or roots.” Pruning can also be defined as selectively removing branches from a tree. Prune is a verb and requires action. If a horticulturist doesn’t take action and prune a tree or foliage, the plant will become weak and unhealthy. By pruning a tree, its structure will become stronger, making way for new and stronger growth.

Pruning a tree is one of the best things you can do for it. Some of the benefits are that the foliage will no longer be supporting dead or damaged parts, it has room for new growth, and the plant or tree will grow on your terms, look better, and have a good foundation. Pruning trees or other plants requires appropriate timing. Pruning trees in Texas should happen after the temperatures cool down in the fall, before the spring buds start to emerge.

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 23

To utilize a pruning process, one must first start with a mission statement. Does your program have one? This statement defines the purpose and vision for your program. If you don’t have a mission statement, creating one can be a great starting point in the pruning process. Keep it concise, think long-term, get input from others, and take into consideration current needs. A mission statement provides the shape or scaffolding for your program.

It is your program’s foundation—the critical base on which it grows and becomes healthy and strong.

Use your mission statement to evaluate the facets of your program. If an aspect of your program isn’t supported by your mission statement, you should question whether it is a vital part of your strong program and community. Decide what needs to be changed and make the change.

One of the aspects of our program that fits within our mission statement is building a strong sense of community. We realized that our students were spread across too many ensembles to create a stronger sense of community. We decided to reduce the number of ensembles, giving students a chance to build community and friend-

With the start of the school year, it is time for us to act and do some pruning.

This is a time for greater works, greater capacity, and greater purpose. If we do not take a careful look, evaluate, and make changes, our programs will become weak and unhealthy. Taking a careful look at our programs and examining what can be pruned will set them up to be strong and healthy and will support their growth.

While the word prune or the act of pruning may come off as harsh or negative, examining and pruning will have quite the opposite effect. We must be selective and prune the nonproductive and unwanted branches from our programs. Our pruning season is short but the long-term outcomes will bring about good fruits for our programs and our students.

What does pruning look like in our profession? For each of us and our programs it will differ, just as the pruning process is different for different vegetation. As the gardener of our program, we have the knowledge and expertise to make decisions that will put our programs on the path of growth and strength. Pruning provides an opportunity to evaluate our programs and adjust to current needs.

ship through their performing group.

Additionally, we initiated non-musical community-building opportunities.

Change can be daunting, but we must be willing to make adjustments that reflect our program’s mission. If our mission is strong and built on solid fundamental ideas, change may be painful, but in the long run, it will be for the best, creating an even stronger program that will flourish.

Some aspects of our profession will not fit neatly into your mission statement.

These outliers, like campus duties, communication, and evaluations, can’t be ignored even though they may not be obviously related to our mission. Like a rosebush that bears both beautiful flowers and painful thorns, our profession will include some unwanted facets. These thorns are important to the rosebush, aiding in protecting the plant so the beautiful flowers can flourish. Just like accepting the role of thorns on a rosebush, we must accept the non-musical duties and make them a part of our mission. For example, turn that lunch duty into an opportunity to build strong student–teacher relationships.

Those connections will ultimately support and strengthen your program.

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24 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

You are your program’s gardener. You know what you want it to look like. Take the start of this school year as an opportunity to examine and make changes that will allow your program to grow stronger and be healthier than it was before.

Summer Convention Thanks go to the Texas Orchestra Directors Association Board for the courage and commitment required to hold an in-person convention—it is greatly appreciated. While the event was happening at the time this issue was being printed, I’m quite sure that just as in past years the convention was fabulous! Summer convention has always provided an opportunity to renew and strengthen our commitment to music education. Returning to a live convention provides the backdrop for reconnecting with many colleagues and friends who have been missed. This convention shows strength and leadership of the highest level from the TODA Board.

Region Meetings At the start of the summer convention, Region Chairs were given information and trained on the policies and procedures for Region and All-State auditions.

Please attend your fall Region meeting to get important updates on these policies and procedures. Now is the time to be informed and your Region meeting is the best place to get the information you need, while having opportunity to ask questions.

Go to www.tmea.org/regionmeetings and page 2 of this issue for a list of meeting times and locations. Region meetings will include the general membership meeting followed by separate division meetings.

Volunteer and Mentoring Network The Orchestra Division needs volunteers to help with all things related to auditions and the convention. This is a great way to get involved, to help the division move forward and to make an impact on your profession. Go to www.tmea.org/ volunteer.

TMEA has a strong mentoring program that pairs new teachers and those new to Texas with veteran teachers in their area.

Each Area has a coordinator who works closely with the protégé to pair them with a mentor who can provide support and feedback. Consider volunteering to be an advisor in the Mentor Network. As veteran teachers, you have a wealth of information

and understand the support that is needed for new teachers. Go to www.tmea.org/ mentor to enroll as a mentor or protégé.

All-State Audition Material All-State recording cuts will be posted on September 1. This is also the deadline for any All-State audition material errata to be submitted. When entering students in the audition process please review all details fully to ensure you clearly understand the process. Keep your students apprised of the errata that has or will be posted. We want all who audition to be

aware of the process and errata.

Renew Your Membership and Liability Insurance If you have not done so, it is time to renew your TMEA membership.

Remember to purchase the low-cost liability insurance that TMEA offers. Your membership expired on June 30 and, if purchased through TMEA last school year, your liability coverage expires August 20.

Go to tmea.org/renew to stay current and purchase liability coverage.

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Thanks go to TMEA members who offered responses to the following questions. Go to www.tmea.org/q&a to view additional answers to these and other questions or to suggest a question for a future issue.

What do you do to get to know each student (including how to pronounce their names)?

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• • •

The idea for My Musical Autobiography came from Scott Edgar, a leading voice for SEL in music education. Students choose songs that represent their past, present, and who they want to become in the future. They write about their choices and make a Google Slide show to present. Students enjoy sharing the music they like and the stories behind their choices. I share their work only with their permission (while some choose to keep it between us, many allow me to share with the class). I learned so much about them! —Beth Shier Having taught both elementary music and choir, I find it very important to have a seating chart! It helps me learn names fast. I also call students by name when I see them outside my class—in the hall, in the lunch room, or morning car line greetings. This really helps me! —Amy Logan As a private instructor, I spend a couple of minutes at the beginning of every lesson asking the student about their week and how they are doing. I had a student invite me to a solo dance recital, and afterward she thanked me because I always asked how she was doing in our music lesson. Get to know your students! It shows you care. —Davina Sloat Each student completes an information card on the first day.

I ask them questions about their name, favorite music, video games, color, candy or treat, birthday, and more. For a couple of weeks, we play a game where I read something from one of the cards, and classmates determine which student I’m talking about. I got this idea from a choir director at the TCDA convention several years ago. —Cherie Bell

26 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

•

• • •

•

From questions of the day and a song of the day to group activities where students introduce themselves to each other, there are many ways we can get to know our students, discover our commonalities, share stories, and in the process, get to know one another. We can also support our students in their activities outside our classroom. I want my students to see someone familiar in the audience supporting them. My immediate family never showed up, and I hated that feeling. As their teacher, I want to be that familiar face for my students. Even when they don’t acknowledge it, it’s clear that they appreciate my being there. —De’Evin Johnson When I do voice placement, there is a section on the form requesting information that helps me get to know the student better: do you play any instruments, how many siblings do you have, what do you like to do best in your free time, what is your dream car, what kind of pets do you have, and what are their names? —Tim Klingler In the first week we do a lot of the restorative discipline strategies, learning a lot about everyone in the class. This helps ease fears of playing in front of others. —Leigh Ann McClain During class, I go down the row asking questions so I can be sure to connect with every student. My game is to call out each student’s name and recall something interesting about them. Then, I restate all previous names. As I continue, I must remember more information—this becomes fun for the kids when I mess up! The best part is that students learn about each other as they hope I trip up and as they correct me when I do. —David Rodriguez Students create a short get to know me video on our Canvas platform. This assignment helps them learn how to use the

software without the stress of turning in a playing assignment. It’s helpful to include a set of questions you’d like them to answer as well as the opportunity to just say what they want about themselves. —Tonia Mathews

What did you do differently last school year that you want to keep doing?

our typical multitude of concerts and programs, we • At the beginning and end of each semester, I hold one-on-one • Without could better teach through the TEKS and incorporate fun mini-interviews to spend quality time with each student. This is outside of class and allows each student an opportunity to get to know me, as well. —Nyadia Thorpe

• After playing, singing, and chanting name games and songs

music games, instrument usage, and more—it was wonderful!

I am currently in dialogue with my principal about a more balanced approach to the number of concerts and programs.

He was very supportive and is working with me to see how we can accomplish that. —Joe David Ward

during the first few weeks of school, I give students the opportunity to drum their names. When students drum their names and the rest of the class echo drums them back, I can better focus on each student, their name, and how they say it.

—Jennifer Patterson

• We’ve used a virtual self-paced levels-based system with

contains pictures of each student. When they are in breakout groups, I study it. I play name games with them and make sure I call them what they want to be called.

—Mark Nichols

• Last year, I played my primary instrument a lot more dur-

• I spend most of summer band with our “Facebook” that

• My colleagues set up a Flipgrid last year and the first week of

school, kids used it to introduce themselves, tell us something about themselves, and pronounce their name, giving us their preferred pronouns if they wished. —Kari Gilbertson

• On the first day, we complete a short Google form where

students identify their likes (favorite color, candy, drink), what they hope to learn throughout the year, and any fears they have. We quickly learn something about them, and later we refer to the form to reward students by giving them their favorites. I also feature a “Student Spotlight” weekly in our newsletter and on social media with a few students so everyone can get to know them better. —Katie Lewis

• I learned this from Colton Blake: each student writes a poem about themselves and performs it for the class (it’s more of a freeform, fill-in-the blank type of poem, which is great for names and getting to know kids). I let them all know I will definitely get names wrong several times before I get them right. —Leslie Hooe

• I write each name in calligraphy. On the first day, I share how at their age, I learned calligraphy as a hobby. We talk about how each individual in the band contributes to the music we make and the experiences we enjoy together in their unique way. Then, they write or draw a personal goal, an academic goal, and a musical goal on a folded name tag to place on their stand (on the inside so it is optional for them to share publicly). The back of each name tag features reminders they see when its placed on their stand (lines and spaces, rhythm tree). On the front, they create a background design and their calligraphed name is glued to it. —Kristi Strother

• After about a week of learning names, I play a game with my fifth graders where I project a digital stopwatch and time myself naming each student. Then, another student gets the opportunity to beat my time. If a student beats my time (they usually do), they earn credit toward a reward.—Anna Sutton

rubrics and guidelines that incorporate technique and music theory using MusicTheory.net, Schoology, and SmartMusic.

We will continue using aspects of this, especially for those musicians developing fundamentals. It allows them to track their progress and work toward skill mastery. —Sean Kime ing rehearsals. I plan to continue that daily, moving forward.

While I don’t need to play the piccolo parts on euphonium, I can demonstrate the many patterns inherent in any piece of music. —Dustin Seifert

• The most important thing I’ll remain intentional about

continuing is self-care. Work will always be there, administrative tasks will always exist, emails will always pile up, and we all would love to spend more time rehearsing. By being intentional about allowing work to exist only at work, I could explore interests apart from teaching. I have set this challenge for myself and I hope others can as well. —De’Evin Johnson

• Last year, I began each K–5 class by playing a YouTube video

of a piece of music to feature a wider representation of music and cultures in my classroom. After watching and listening, students responded with “I noticed, I valued, I wondered” statements. These led to teacher-guided, student-led discussions about geography, culture, history, current events, and more. As my students’ curiosity about music and the world grew, so did their respect for others. I can’t wait to continue this practice next year! —Jennifer Patterson

• I will continue to provide recordings of individual parts for

home practice and have students return recordings of themselves as assignments. —Eric Wharton

• We introduced our first band website/classroom using Canvas

and plan to continue using the platform to publish assignments, instructions, news, and videos of lessons. We also used SmartMusic for the first time and it was a game changer for us. I want to continue using it. —Steve Mohacey

• I plan to continue spacing students out as much as possible.

This allowed me to move more freely around the indoor ensembles, especially my beginners. —Josh King

• I am considering going completely paperless with quizzes

and student self-assessments using the Canvas quizzes and surveys feature. I also like the Canvas Studio and have made a collection of educational videos that I will likely use to some degree next year. —Beth Shier

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 27

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• • • •

By reminding myself to take the pressure off, I was able to reflect on what mattered most in the moment and be present and approachable. I will continue that approach as a way to gauge where I am emotionally, related to the pressure to perform and the stressors in work and in the world. This will help me stay present and available to enjoy my students and myself throughout the school year. —Nyadia Thorpe

•

Last year, we spent a lot more time accommodating individual student’s needs. We will be more willing to adapt assignments to meet students where they are and ensure that what we ask for is reasonable while accomplishing what is needed.

—Mark Nichols I plan to continue using Kami, a great tool that makes worksheets into interactive PDFs. Not only is it a greener choice for student work, but it integrates into Canvas and Google Classroom, so grading is easier and students like it better than a regular worksheet. —Susy Gulley We will continue to sanitize hands before and after using classroom instruments. I believe this will help mitigate transmission during cold and flu season. —Andi Lavu We plan to continue recorded placement auditions. Students can take their time to submit their best playing and not

•

be sabotaged by nerves in a high-stakes, live audition.

Additionally, I like being able to watch audition videos several times to better evaluate a student’s skill set to place them in the correct ensemble. —Joshua Thompson Because I had to travel with a cart to every classroom, and with restrictions in sharing instruments/equipment, I made 350 music bags that included small percussion instruments, manipulatives, response cards, recorders (3rd/4th grades), and Ann Eisen and Lamar Robertson’s Music Book (copypermissible). At the end of the year, the students kept the bags as my gift. It was fantastic for them to simply pull their bags from their desks when it was time to use their books, response cards, or chopsticks. There was no need to devise some elaborate way to distribute materials. —Melissa Jurick I plan to continue using Zoom for all parent meetings. We had such a high attendance rate compared with in-person meetings. Parents enjoyed the flexibility to log in from home, work, or even their car! They didn’t have to arrange for child care for other siblings and could chat questions instead of raising their hand. We were able to keep the meetings shorter and parents were more informed than ever! —Katie Lewis 0

But wait— there’s more!

Go to www.tmea.org/q&a to read even more responses to these questions.

Bonus online question

In July, we published answers to “How do you get students engaged even before the first day of school?” Many great answers were submitted.

If you haven’t viewed them yet, be sure to now!

Submit a Question

Go to www.tmea.org/q&a and submit questions for consideration for a future issue.

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 29

It Works for Me

I

n our classrooms, not only are we building and fortifying competent musicians, but we are also reframing (and teaching) the basic, fundamental skills of being a human being; accountability is one of those skills.

As teachers, we spend a lot of time complaining about students losing their pencils, yet many of us fail to establish a sequence of consequences for their lack of accountability and instead, we solve the problem for them. The Pencil Principle is a tool to teach students how to maintain sustained accountability and responsibility for themselves and their education.

Why Does This Matter?

When students fail to meet an expectation and don’t receive an immediate and direct consequence, they don’t learn how to take responsibility for their actions. Rather than giving them another chance, have them solve the problem.

Implementing the Principle You don’t have to use a pencil; use what works best for you.

Make your object something that is always important for students to have to succeed in your ensemble and something that is frequently used so that they understand the importance of it. The object becomes a necessary tool so that when they don’t have it, they are ill-equipped for learning.

The importance of the object (in our case, a pencil) should be established immediately. Whatever your principle object is, be sure it holds educational merit and is used daily.

At the beginning of the year, I provide my students with a folder, pencil pouch, and pencil (I replenish the pencil at the semester, regardless of whether the student needs it). I make my expectations clear about what I’m giving them and why. I also tell them that it is their choir pencil only, and if they choose to take it out of the classroom, it is their responsibility to replace it. “It can’t be your math pencil because you need it for this class. It’s your choir pencil.” Students have become much more accountable since I began enforcing the rule as related to their education in my room.

When I give them the pencil, they hold it up and repeat after me: “This is my choir pencil. It is for choir, and choir only. I will not remove this pencil from my choir folder. It is my responsibility to take care of this pencil, and I will have this pencil to use for the rest of the year.”

When establishing your principle object, create an accountability strategy that works best for you. Be sure that your plan includes

by cristal conner why they need the item, the worth of the item, and what their solution plan options are. Whatever your accountability plan, make sure that you are willing to stick with it!

Whoever makes the first offense, be sure that you adhere to your accountability plan with no exceptions. And, lastly, don’t help them until they have attempted to help themselves. Remember, this is about their learning by doing—not you fixing it for them!

Checking for Accountability • Pencil checks every grading period or as frequently as needed • Folder checks that include pencils and music (50 points for each item; if they are missing both, it’s a zero) • You can also use a reward system: tickets, stickers, etc., turned in for prizes If you try an enforcement method and realize it doesn’t work, change it! Be honest with your students and move on.

Handling the What-Ifs What if an offense turns into defiance? With any behavioral reformation plan, consistency is key. If the behavior repeats itself, you respond with the same questions and the same options every time. For example, “You either ask someone or you go get one.

Also remember, the last time you chose neither and you ended up in ISS. This is another option, but it is not available today.”

What if it happens repeatedly? If you go through the scenarios 10 times, then that’s what happens. Eventually, they will understand that they are responsible for their materials, their choices, and their prescribed consequences.

Persistence There is no timeline for the success of this strategy. I have taught students who took two days and others who took two years to master this skill. Be patient. Be persistent. We are still cultivating humans and these humans still have choices. We are not in control of the choices they make; we can only encourage them and do the best we can to teach them to make the right ones.

Our consistency is the key to their success.

0 Cristal Conner is Head Choir Director at Killeen HS.

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 31

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Change Your Default Settings Take time now to question aspects of your default mode and give yourself the opportunity to divert from them.

In Memoriam Brenda Varvoutis October 1, 1956–May 4, 2021 Megan Pitcock July 11, 1988–June 28, 2021

MARK YOUR CALENDAR check www.tmea .org for updates

August—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2 for details).

August—Renew your membership and register for the convention.

August 1—Deadline for waivers to the audition process.

August 20—Liability insurance purchased through TMEA last year expires.

December 31—TMEA email/mail convention registration deadline.

January 20—TMEA convention online early registration deadline.

February 9–12—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

T

he beginning of the school year is such an exciting time! Many of us have already returned to work with students and others will later this month. I hope you were able to rest and recover during the summer break and find content-specific professional learning opportunities to help transform your instruction this school year. It was a busy summer for me as I was completing my master’s degree.

During a conducting course I was in this summer, Dr. Packwood shared with us that while many of us were progressing, we often relied on our default mode when in front of the choir. This made me wonder how many of us would revert to our defaults after all that we have learned during the pandemic.

There is nothing as powerful as a changed mind. You can change your hair, your car, your clothing, or even your school, but if you don’t change your mind, the same experience will perpetuate. While you might have changed everything others can see, you might not have addressed what can really make a difference—those ideas that you hold internally. Take time now to question aspects of your default mode and give yourself the opportunity to divert from them.

I realize the default modes in our profession have often been inherited from those who paved the way for us. While much of what we learned from our predecessors is of highest value, we also must recognize that some aspects of how we instruct need to change based on what our specific students need. Our default can also be motivated by the desire to keep up with other colleagues around the state—our “Joneses.” My challenge for you is to change your default and unapologetically do what’s

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 33

best for your program and your students.

We are all getting a chance to redefine what music education can and should be for our students. It’s up to each of us to be open to that rebirth. For more on this, be sure to read the fantastic article on page 10. by our colleague Matthew Edwards.

Resources.” Thanks also go to Educational Enterprises Recording Co. for their invaluable support and resources they provide for this process. The link to their site for purchasing the accompaniment tracks is available from that same audition materials page.

TCDA Convention Congratulations to Thomas Rinn and the wonderful TCDA Board and staff for providing another outstanding TCDA convention! This convention was happening when this magazine issue went to print, but I’m fully confident in thanking everyone for providing what I know will be relevant resources and for guiding us through extremely challenging times. I hope you attended this fantastic event and enjoyed reconnecting with colleagues.

TMEA Invited Choirs Congratulations to the students and their directors who submitted entries in the Invited Choir process. The level of musicality was truly extraordinary and inspirational. We greatly appreciate the selection panel for their time and insight. I know everyone will be inspired in February when we hear these groups perform. Look to a future issue for more information about these wonderful ensembles.

All-State Music Resource Committee Thanks go to several of our colleagues for their hard work and dedication in creating resources for our All-State students and teachers. You can download these resources from www.tmea.org/vocal/ audition-material/ under “LSC and SSC

Become a Vocal Division Volunteer Many of us are looking forward to our in-person convention held February 9–12 in San Antonio, and there are many opportunities for you to serve to ensure that our convention is successful and beneficial for all attendees. To specify your interest, go to www.tmea.org/volunteer.

TMEA Mentoring Network Are you a new teacher or new to Texas or a veteran teacher who wants to help?

Enroll in the TMEA Mentoring Network at www.tmea.org/mentor to serve as a mentor or to request one. Every new teacher should benefit from the help and support of colleagues during the critical first years of their career.

Attend Your Region Meeting During your fall Region meeting, you’ll receive updates for the upcoming school year and the latest information from TMEA, and you will vote. Details can be found on page 2 and visit www.tmea.org/ regionmeetings to confirm the schedule.

Be active in TMEA’s future by attending!

Renew Your Membership and Liability Insurance If you haven’t renewed your TMEA membership, do so now and purchase the low-cost liability insurance that TMEA makes available as a benefit to members.

No educator should be without liability insurance, so if you don’t purchase with TMEA, get it somewhere. Go to www .tmea.org/renew today.

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www.tmea.org/mentor Southwestern Musician | August 2021 35

Thriving in a Turnaround School

by Tiffiny Reckley

N

ew directors often take the first few years to find the perfect fit for their career. Many may find themselves drifting toward a program similar to the one they progressed through, and it’s understandable given there’s comfort there! In some cases, we arrive at a school that seemingly has all the needed resources, while others experience quite the opposite.

So here it is, your big day. You got the job! It’s a turnaround school. You don’t quite know what that means, but you presume that in a large urban school district it can’t be that different.

Programs in urban turnaround schools aren’t typical, and while you might not be familiar with their construct, I will share some of the things I’ve learned through the years as a teacher at urban turnaround schools and as a mentor teacher for others in that situation. If you aren’t teaching in a school with this specific classification, I encourage you to read on as some strategies here could still be helpful.

Let’s start off by clarifying that a turnaround school is a perennially failing school with strict guidelines from the state and district for improvement. They face closures if not turned around, and they are often, yet not always, urban Title I or rural Title I (primarily serving low-income populations). Keep in mind though that turnaround school is not synonymous with urban or inner-city schools, nor is it synonymous with schools serving high underserved minority populations, even though that is where it is commonly found. It’s important to be comfortable and confident that you can thrive in these settings and communities, not just survive.

I hope the following encourages and motivates you to generate and utilize the tools needed to support success on your campus.

Prepare for the Long Game and the End Game The fate of a turnaround school is limited to a three-year period for turning it around and improving its overall score. Directors must plan for the long game or the end game. If the school turns 36 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

around, we are setting a foundation for our program to build on.

If it does not, we must focus on preparing our students to be able to transition successfully into other programs. This is a great time for you to prepare to advocate for your program.

What won’t be effective is to present a barrage of problems to administration. Instead, offer bite-sized solutions along with a one-year plan that will help you better seek equity for your programs. Be prepared to look at what is viable for your program while also acknowledging what simply isn’t possible at that time.

Break down what you do for administrators in terms they understand. Work to highlight ways the program can support the greater school improvement picture, such as helping increase attendance, lowering discipline issues, or even improving other academic performance through tutoring sessions in the rehearsal schedule. Unless it’s absolutely necessary to get assistance from the school, try to be as self-supporting as possible. I find myself asking for permission more than I find myself asking for resources to be provided.

When you do ask for resources, there is always a probability of receiving a no because of the other priorities administrators will have, especially when leading a turnaround school. To be able to bounce back from those rejections, have a backup plan that can support the goal, even at a different level. The more your administrators witness your positive efforts, the more inclined they may be to assist in the future.

Be Fully Present, Authentic, and Consistent Students will be able to sniff this out quickly, so it’s important that you always just be yourself. This is not the time to automatically try to replicate or emulate what you have seen in the past.

Gone are the days when we don’t smile until January. This is a different generation, and students respond best to adults who keep it real, truly listen, and respond to what is being said in a calm, positive way.

The goal is to start by getting students to trust the role that you occupy. Do not pretend to know something if you don’t. If you know things are not all good, don’t speak or act as if they are. It is okay not to know everything; it is okay to not have all the answers.

It’s also important not to enter this role with a savior complex.

It is not good to express high expectations and then let down the students and school community with promises you can’t keep.

Be honest with students and they will respect and trust you for it. Keep your mindset on what is real and in front of you. Some students may not always have what we consider appropriate responses. Many students in the communities we serve may have unstable home lives and their values may not always reflect our own. Be mindful of the discipline structure you employ. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with social emotional learning, start learning how to embed it into your music education!

that’s fine. Until the program can be rebuilt, the key is to remember that consistency is the higher purpose. If students are not at the level they should be, that’s okay. They will get there one day!

We start by providing students access to a variety of musical styles in and outside the Western canon music system. Do not presume that hip-hop will resonate with all Black students or that all Latino students want to learn mariachi. All ethnic backgrounds do not have the same lived experiences. Give students an opportunity to see themselves reflected within the music, and provide them the tools they need to connect with music in which they do not find themselves.

This can be difficult to visualize when there is little or nothing at a campus. It’s difficult to create a three- or five-year plan at a turnaround school because you don’t know what to expect from year to year, including scheduling, when the priority of the school is different. So, first we fix, then we shine. Focus on student growth, even when it doesn’t mean mastery. This is important because students should be able to walk into another program, understand what is going on, be confident in their abilities, and navigate appropriately. It’s okay if it takes a little longer than expected, just do your best to move your program forward.

Job Eclecticism Working in a turnaround school, you may have a variety of roles on your campus. From your dream of just being a band director, you might become the band director, choir director, piano instructor, elementary general music teacher, and beyond. On a positive note, these opportunities allow you to step outside your comfort zone and become a more well-rounded educator in ways Be a Resource Gopher! you wouldn’t experience elsewhere. In my opinion, this provides Many turnaround schools do not have budgets for fine arts. If you the opportunity to gain a variety of experiences to benefit your they do, the budget may be very small. We must be able to do a lot teaching on any level. that is low-cost or free and find ways to help our students experiRemember this is your journey and your experience is unique— ence equity despite these challenges. It will take baby steps and you this includes being flexible to do your job on that campus. I may encounter setbacks. Again, attend professional development encourage you to continue pushing through by exploring profesoutside your district required trainings, especially in the areas that sional development opportunities where you can strengthen your you want to learn about. Explore resources and trainings, not just skill set. This is also a great time for networking with directors in from the state level but nationally as well. There is so much out other disciplines. there to learn and much of it is free!

If you are new to the field in one of these positions, you may As far as resources, if it benefits the program to go old school, not have an assistant director or the opportunity to be an assisdo it! There are some solid resources that may not be widely used tant director. You are solely responsible for all aspects of the proanymore but may work best for the students, like those Rubank gram: curriculum, grades, transportation requests, band boosters, Method Books you found in the school inventory. scheduling and programming, etc. You must have the tools to be able to navigate and manage work with efficiency. If you don’t have those tools, it’s simply time to acquire them.

This is going to be key to wearing many hats on campus. Education is our occupation and The Go Performing National Concert Festival is open to HS Bands & Orchestras and will be held music is our medium. Take your ego out of it March 25th - 26th, 2022 in the Lila Cockrell Theatre in Beautiful San Antonio, TX! and don’t limit yourself. Use what you know Confirmed Clinicians Include: Allan McMurray, Craig Kirchhoff, H. Robert Reynolds, Robert Cameron, Jerry Junkin, Stanley DeRusha, Richard Floyd, and The Boston Brass. and put those musicianship courses to good Mark Custom Recordings will record all performances. No Audition or Set Repertoire List. use.

For Details and Registration information visit our website at www.GoPerforming.com.

Start Where Your Students Are, Not Where You Think They Should Be We have to realize that in turnaround schools, students may not have had consistency that some of us had as students, and the program might not have benefited from an adequate budget, parent organizations, private lessons, or even instruments that work properly. The key here is to focus on operating within the scope of your students’ abilities. If that means that all grade levels must operate at the same level for a while, Southwestern Musician | August 2021 37

If newer resources work best, then do it! We get complacent with what’s proven, but sometimes we need to have flexibility. Remember this is not a textbook classroom. Most universities don’t prepare us in what to expect or anticipate in an urban or rural turnaround setting. Instead of recreating or reinventing the wheel, focus on reinvigorating your thinking and getting creative in your classrooms. It is okay for the design not to look like anything

you’ve seen before, including your mentors’ designs. Push yourself to create a program that is amazing for your students, the school, and the community.

Stay!

Most turnaround schools are failing for a myriad of reasons. Turnover in leadership, shift in school culture, and personnel are some of the obvious ones.

Students divest from school and programs

Attend Your Region Meeting Get Important Updates • Vote on TMEA Business.

See page 2 for the schedule and locations.

WWW.TMEA.ORG/REGIONMEETINGS

frequently. This is a norm across many urban schools, but especially in urban turnaround schools. It’s about the process, and not the progress. What I mean by this is that some years you may not make major gains, but your students have learned. One of the best things you can do is to stay and be the constant. This work is not for everyone, and that is okay. Create relationships with students so that they look forward to seeing you year after year. Find what works for your students. Get on their level and find what makes them tick. We are impacting a community in what we do.

I hope you recognize that I have not mentioned competitions or awards. Being in a music class may spark a goal for students to thrive in other areas of their academic lives. Give them a quality education and make the experience memorable for them.

0 Tiffiny Reckley is the Band Director at Albert Thomas MS (Houston ISD), creator of Black Girls Do Band, Too!, and founder of The Talented Teacher, LLC.

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TMEA Elementary Vice-President KATHERINE JOHNS

Did You Reboot?

I hope you discovered time to reboot—to shut down, unplug, and then restart. I also hope you do that not just for your family, your school, or students, but primarily for yourself.

H

ave you ever had to call the IT department or go to an electronics store because something was wrong with your device?

Have you ever been embarrassed to discover that all you needed to do to fix it was to turn it off and then turn it back on? That is what happened over a year ago when we had the longest spring break of our careers. Everything shut down. In my district, first it was one week, then it was until the beginning of May, until finally it was decided that we could not return face-to-face that school year. I wasn’t prepared to deliver all my lessons virtually. My district is so small that we have only two elementary music teachers; I didn’t have a team to guide me. We did the best we could and finished the year with drive-by graduation ceremonies.

Then with the new school year approaching, there was still so much uncertainty. Virtual versus face-to-face? If you’re virtual, do you prerecord lessons or present them live? If you are teaching in person, are you in a music classroom, frantically cleaning between every class, or are you traveling from room to room with a cart? No matter your experience, you had to adjust. It wasn’t business as usual for anyone.

As we navigated new ways of connecting with our students, we had other reasons to shift in our teaching, specifically after learning more about the painful origins of some traditional repertoire in elementary music. We found alternatives to replace songs that many had relied on for years, and we shifted for good reason. While opinions will always vary, as time passes, we will always learn more, and once we learn anything that influences our teaching, we must act on that knowledge to best serve all students.

40 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

In Memoriam Saundra “Sandi” Ashworth December 15, 1943–July 3, 2021 Elementary Vice-President 1983–1984

MARK YOUR CALENDAR check www.tmea .org for updates

August—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2 for details).

August—Renew your membership and register for the convention.

August 20—Liability insurance purchased through TMEA last year expires.

September 15–November 1—TMEA Elementary grant application period.

December 31—TMEA email/mail convention registration deadline.

January 20—TMEA convention online early registration deadline.

February 9–12—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

Moving Forward So, now what? 2021–2022 is a new school year. Are we back to normal? And what is normal? I spent the entire 2020–2021 school year traveling from classroom to classroom with a cart. Each room I entered was set up differently. The students were at desks. There was not much room to move around. I could not safely pass out manipulatives and instruments without spending my travel time cleaning. I had to find new ways for students to demonstrate what they learned and teach them in an exciting way that made music a joy. That situation was far from being in a music classroom, with a huge space, and no tables and chairs to interfere with instruction.

And something else that happened this year was the absence of afterschool clubs or performances. I didn’t stay late for rehearsals or to prepare music. I went home at a decent time every day. I had more time for my family and myself.

In this issue, you’ll find answers to TMEA’s question about what you plan to keep doing that you did throughout last year (see page 26). I hope some of the skills you adapted in your classroom this past year will help you grow as a teacher. I also hope you discovered time to reboot—to shut down, unplug, and then restart. I also hope you do that not just for your family, your school, or students, but primarily for yourself.

TMEA Grant to Support Elementary Music Education I’m excited to announce the TMEA Executive Board approved up to $800,000 in funding for grants to benefit elementary music programs across the state (up to $800 maximum per campus may be awarded). This program is a benefit offered exclusively to active TMEA members who teach elementary music (if you haven’t already, be sure to renew now).

The application period is September 15 to November 1, 2021, and applicants will be notified by December 1 of acceptance or rejection.

Grant funds must be used by elementary music teachers (PK–5) to purchase music, music equipment, instruments, instructional software, and other music educational materials for use during this school year. Learn more about the criteria and process at www.tmea.org/ elementarygrant.

Attend Your Region Meeting Fall Region meetings will be taking place this August and September in person. My Region is so spread out that it is a 45-minute drive to attend meetings, and for elementary, it hasn’t always been worth it. The 33 Elementary Division Chairs are working during their training at TCDA to make this Region meeting worth your time and drive! Stay tuned.

Volunteer with TMEA The 2022 TMEA Clinic/Convention will be February 9–12 in San Antonio and the Elementary Division needs your help for this event to run smoothly! I first volunteered to help with convention after I became a Region officer, but no one has to wait to hold a position in TMEA to help with the convention. Here are some of the things you can do to be of service to everyone: • Clinic Presiders introduce and assist clinicians: you will receive an email

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Southwestern Musician | August 2021 41

from TMEA with a script and list of things to do a few minutes before and after the clinic.

• Invited Performing Group Hosts meet and escort our invited performing groups: This can take most of a day on Thursday or Friday. If you have any interest in applying for your choir or instrumental group to perform at a future convention, this is the best way to learn about what is expected on the day of the event.

• Convention registration volunteers are the first faces all attendees see: Registration is so efficient now, and this is an easy and fun job of assisting people as they get their badge and start their convention experience.

• Gold Star Position is someone willing to work where they’re needed: This is exactly what it sounds like. Sign up for this if you’re simply willing to help wherever needed. You are especially valuable as any number of unforeseen needs arise during the convention.

Becoming a volunteer doesn’t mean you are giving up your entire convention.

You can choose the days and times you are willing to work. You will not be assigned a position without your consent. So, what are you waiting for? Go to www.tmea.org/ volunteer today to submit your information and choose the opportunities that appeal to you. I look forward to working with you to host our most successful event yet!

Mentoring Network Do you remember when you first started teaching? For me, it was in Queen City, Texas, and I was the only elementary music teacher in the district. I have never worked for a large district, but I understand that many have wonderful mentor programs for new elementary music teachers. What about the teachers in the small districts, like mine? Not only do new teachers in smaller districts need mentors, but they need mentors who teach music.

If you are a seasoned music teacher, especially in a small district, please consider joining our TMEA Mentoring Network. As a division, we also need to seek out new elementary teachers in the smaller districts and create a network of

support. If you know of someone new to the profession in a smaller district who needs support, please encourage them to become a TMEA member and enroll in the mentoring network (www.tmea.org/ mentor).

TCDA Convention Elementary music educators are so fortunate to be included in the TCDA convention every year. TCDA has been thoughtful in selecting workshops specifically for the elementary music teacher and elementary choir director. Our thanks go to TCDA’s leadership for another wonderful convention.

Elementary Invited Ensembles Following the 2020–2021 school year, I wondered whether there would be any submissions for elementary choirs and ensembles for the 2022 convention. I was surprised and overjoyed by the number and amazing quality of submissions!

Look to future issues for more details and on the convention website where the ensembles will be listed (www.tmea.org/ convention).

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42 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

Keep Your Information Current in the Membership System

S

ince all memberships expired June 30, now is the time to renew if you haven’t already! When you renew, or at any time, you can log into your member record to verify and update your profile. Especially now, it’s important that you maintain accurate contact information so TMEA can communicate with you via email, and if you opt in to the directory, this ensures other TMEA members can access your accurate contact information you choose to share.

Be in the Member Directory!

The TMEA Member Directory is a great member benefit, allowing you to connect with your colleagues locally and around the state. Our membership software gives you more control over what information to show in the Member Directory (you can even add a headshot!). The directory is not public—it requires a TMEA login to access.

If you choose to be included in the TMEA Member Directory, you also get to choose which contact data items you want displayed in the directory. Note that changes you make to your directory listing take place overnight.

To be included in the Member Directory, go to your member record and update the settings on the Security and Privacy tab. Check Show My Personal Information. Then you will make further selections to choose what displays, especially your email address.

Save those changes.

Accessing Your Record You can access your membership record from the TMEA website under the Membership menu, or go to https://my.tmea.org/account/profile.aspx.

Thank you for your membership and for keeping your member record current!

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 43

TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC

SCHOLARSHIP AUDITIONS Scholarships are available for both music and non-music majors.

These awards are intended to provide recognition for scholarship and talent in the study of music.

SCHOLARSHIP AUDITION DATES: Saturday, November 13, 2021 | 1-3 p.m.

Saturday, February 19, 2022 | 1-3 p.m.

Saturday, March 26, 2022 | 1-3 p.m.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC DEPARTMENT HEADS

Elizabeth Lee Asst. Professor, Cello

Douglas R. Boyer Director, School of Music and Director of Choral Activities dboyer@tlu.edu 830-372-6869 or 800-771-8521

Deborah Mayes Accompanist

Beth Bronk Director of Bands bbronk@tlu.edu

Individual audition dates may be requested if necessary.

Eric Daub Director of Piano Studies edaub@tlu.edu Liliana Guerrero Director of Vocal Studies lguerrero@tlu.edu Eliza Jeffords Director of Strings ejeffords@tlu.edu

Nicole Narboni Asst. Professor, Piano Sung-Eun Park Asst. Professor, Collaborative Pianist Carlos Quesada Asst. Professor, Collaborative Pianist Keith Robinson Instructor, Tuba & Music Education Jill Rodriguez Instructor, General Music

Mark Ackerman Instructor, Oboe Michele Aichele Asst. Professor, Music History Adam Bedell Instructor, Percussion Carol Chambers Instructor, Music Education

For specific qualifications for each award, visit

William Hayer Asst. Professor, Clarinet

www.tlu.edu/music-scholarships.

Sean Holmes Asst. Professor, Horn

BACHELOR OF MUSIC IN ALL-LEVEL MUSIC EDUCATION BACHELOR OF MUSIC IN PERFORMANCE BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MUSIC

Carla McElhaney Asst. Professor, General Music David Milburn Instructor, Double Bass

FACULTY

Saturday, April 9, 2022 | 1-3 p.m.

Scott McDonald Instructor, Saxophone & Jazz Band

Chad Ibison Asst. Professor, Guitar Hilary Janysek Asst. Professor, Flute & Music History

Mikio Sasaki Instructor, Trumpet Eric Siu Asst. Professor, Violin Bryce Turner Instructor, Percussion Shareen Vader Instructor, Piano Sophie Verhaeghe Instructor, Violin Steven Vogel Instructor, Trombone & Euphonium Ryan Wilkins Instructor, Bassoon

www.tlu.edu/music

TMEA College Vice-President

PAUL SIKES

Creating Good Habits I encourage you to think about those traits and actions that define who you want to be and who you want your students to be, and then work to instill a culture that supports those habits.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR check www.tmea .org for updates

August—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2 for details).

August—Renew your membership and register for the convention.

August 20—Liability insurance purchased through TMEA expires.

October 1—TMEA College research proposal grant application deadline.

October 15—TMEA College Fall Conference in Austin.

December 31—TMEA email/mail convention registration deadline.

January 20—TMEA convention online early registration deadline.

February 9–12—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

I

hope everyone has had a relaxing summer. No doubt, this has been a well-earned time of rest and rejuvenation. As we prepare to start this coming year, I hear phrases like “reset,” “starting new,” and “creating the new normal” to describe what we are all planning to do this fall. With the worst of the pandemic behind us, we are all looking forward to more in-person teaching and learning. We are also all eager to take the lessons we have learned and apply them to our lives and work moving forward.

In thinking about this, I was reminded of a column I wrote last year in which I shared how time away from playing helped me forget bad habits and adopt positive ones in their place, thus providing an opportunity to make changes to improve my playing. A few months later, I started reading a great book called Atomic Habits by James Clear (2018). In this book, Clear describes how habits are often more powerful than motivation or mindset, and that by creating good habits and eliminating bad ones, a person can, over time, change their lives for the better. In fact, habits can shape your identity and define who you are.

What I found interesting is that most of the information in the book wasn’t new to me. I had learned most of it while studying and teaching music. As in so many other aspects of my life, I found that music has taught me so much about how best to live my life. I would like to share a couple of highlights from Clear’s book and offer how learning and teaching music has already ingrained the lessons of habit-building into us and our students.

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 45

Your Actions Define Who You Are When we describe ourselves, we often use our actions as the definition itself, such as “I am a teacher” or “I am a musician.” Just doing an action once or twice, however, does not make us who we are. As Clear puts it, each time we do an action or choose not to do an action, we are casting a vote on who we want to be. If after a few years the action has more votes, then we are more likely to choose to call ourselves that person. As we do an action repeatedly, our sense of self changes over time.

We move from “I dabble on guitar” to “I play guitar” to “I am a guitarist.” When we have done an action many times, we begin to embody that action; we no longer do the action, we are the action.

We have known this in music even if we have never actually defined it. In our personal lives, we are all musicians. We don’t dabble in music, we don’t play music, we are musicians. To borrow from David Elliott, we have “musiced” so much, that we have all embodied that action to the point that it is a part of who we are. In our work, we have taught music so much that we no longer “teach music,” we are now “music educators.” It is so ingrained

in who we are that we even included it in the name of our wonderful association.

Because what you do repeatedly defines who you are, it is important to ensure that your actions and habits point to the person you choose to be. A good question that we should constantly ask is “What actions would a successful music teacher take?”

Or in the case of a student, “What actions would a successful music student do?”

Once you have answered that question, you will have a roadmap for the actions you and your students need to do repeatedly to be successful.

As music educators, we have set a goal to create the next generations of musicians. It is not enough to simply teach kids music, we want them to practice, compose, study, and perform so much that they embody their actions to the point that it becomes a part of who they are. To do this, we work daily to instill in our students the habits that successful musicians have.

These include daily practice, listening to music, and studying music. The more our students act out being a successful music student, the more they will see themselves as musicians.

Be Around People Who Embody the Habits You Want to Emulate James Clear points out that habits are often associated with a certain group or culture. As he says, “One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior” (p. 117). This is because we are all social creatures, and we have a strong desire to fit in. Research into expertise development and education support this idea.

Young children learn and fit into the social norms and habits of their family. As people grow, they move from trying to fit into the family to trying to fit in with their peer group and, eventually, fitting in with those who are leaders in a society. This need for acceptance is a strong motivation to copy the habits of those who are in your group.

Again, as musicians, we knew this. For almost all of us, one of the most rewarding actions is making music as part of an ensemble. That action gives us such joy that we constantly seek out opportunities to perform. We also know that our preparation and performance will often rise, or fall, to the expectations of the group.

If we are getting ready to sing with a top-

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46 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

2021 COLLEGE DIVISION

Fall Conference October 15, 2021 TMEA Headquarters Austin, Texas RSVP to collegevp@tmea.org

Southwestern Musician | August 2021 47

notch vocal ensemble, we will make it a habit to practice early and often to ensure we are meeting the expectations of the group. If we are playing with a mediocre jazz band, we will probably spend less time practicing. The norms and habits of our group will drive our actions.

As music educators, this is why we work to create a culture of excellence, family, or place to belong. Each culture will have specific actions each member is expected to do, whether it’s staying late and practicing, being nice to each other, or simply listening before speaking. We know we must intentionally create a culture because the people in it will emulate that culture and over time embody those habits that lead to success.

This is also why TMEA is so important to the students and teachers of Texas. As TMEA, we give everyone an opportunity to be a part of a group whose culture is about excellence in music for all students. We give members an opportunity to be around individuals whom they want to emulate.

And so, as we prepare to reset, start new, or create a new normal, I encourage you to think about those traits and actions that define who you want to be and who you want your students to be, and then work to instill a culture that supports those habits. Remember always that TMEA is full

of people who can help you on your way.

Through repeated actions, you and your students will start to move toward an even better version of yourselves.

Call for Research Proposals I’m pleased to announce that TMEA is commissioning a yearly research grant open to Texas music education researchers for the purpose of advancing knowledge in the area of music education. Each year, TMEA will open the grant proposal process and offer sample research topics important to the organization and its members. Researchers aren’t restricted to that list and may submit proposals researching any areas they believe are important to the TMEA membership and music students.

For this first year, topics include music teacher retention, music student retention, music student recruitment methods, especially those that increase diversity in the music class, social emotional learning in music education, and cultural responsiveness in music education.

TMEA will offer a grant up to $1,200 to complete the study. Applicants must be qualified and willing to complete the proposed study in the time proposed and be members of TMEA for the duration of the research project.

The grant proposal portal will open in August and proposals will be accepted through October 1. The grant recipient will be announced at the TMEA Clinic/ Convention. Learn more and submit a proposal at www.tmea.org/researchproposal.

Proposals will be reviewed by a College Division selection committee, with final approval by the TMEA President’s Committee. Please email me at collegevp@ tmea.org with any questions.

Fall Conference I hope to see you in Austin for our College Division Fall Conference on Friday, October 15. College faculty from across the state come together to discuss issues relevant to teaching music at higher education institutions. We will also receive important updates from TMEA staff who work daily on behalf of music education in our state. This event is always a wonderful time to come together. If you are unable to join us in person, you can attend via Zoom. An invitation will be sent to all College Division members.

Reference Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Penguin Random House, New York.

0

Teach TMEA’s Centennial Anthem: “It All Begins With Music” In 2020, composer Frank Ticheli gifted TMEA an a cappella anthem in two and four parts. “It All Begins With Music” is based on a theme from Sailing the Sky, the work TMEA commissioned him to write in honor of our centennial.

Accessible for all levels, this anthem would be a perfect piece to include on your first performance of the year!

Download the two- and four-part anthem, as well as 13 instrumental arrangements, at www.tmea.org/about/anthem at no cost.

It all begins with music, Like the dawning of the day.

Like the moon and stars above, It will guide us on our way.

Ev’ry generation hears its call, The language of the soul.

Through time and space it dances on, A blessing for all.

Listen to VOCES8 Sing “It All Begins With Music” To close our 2021 TMEA Clinic/Convention, British vocal ensemble VOCES8 offered a stunning performance of the anthem. This version is available on TMEA’s YouTube Channel. Go to www.tmea.org/about/anthem to find the link to that performance.

48 Southwestern Musician | August 2021

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